First, his opening shot (emphasis mine)… What worries me is the complete lack of accountability by Fannie’s and Freddie’s executives, as well as Wall Street investment bankers also now being insured by taxpayers. We’ve created the worst form of socialized capitalism—private gains combined with public losses. These executives and bankers are among the best paid in all [...]

First the graphic, which shows that Obama has gained in blue states, purple states and red states… Honestly, if this keeps up, Obama will win big. There’s just no other way to put it. McCain can’t be down by a 6 point average in swing states and win this election. It simply won’t happen. And, of note, [...]

Obama - 46% McCain - 45% Last month, McCain led Obama by 7 and in May the margin was 8. What changed? Among independent voters, Obama has a 23 point lead. Obama leads 50% to 43% among women. McCain leads 47% to 41% among men. Obama is viewed favorably by 51%. McCain is viewed favorably by 60%. 49% of voters say economic issues are [...]

He gains one since yesterday, and hasn’t trailed McCain since late June. The details… Many observers (and based on its reaction, the McCain campaign itself) have hypothesized that Obama could have the chance of making a major breakthrough in voter sentiment as a result of the streaming video and photos and news coverage of the Illinois [...]

With leaners Obama - 47% McCain - 45% Without leaners Obama - 45% McCain - 42% A little movement in Obama’s favor today, but still not enough to suggest he’s starting to pull away. Rasmussen share some numbers on Obama’s perceived level of experience among Dems… While Obama has been on an overseas tour, 45% of voters say the Democratic hopeful is too [...]

If I were Bobby Jindal, I’d be saying this too. There’s no way he’s ready to be VP (or President for that matter) at only 37, and he certainly doesn’t want to be used as a way to boost McCain’s “diversity” cred. From Fox News: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Wednesday he will not run for vice [...]

That nasty, despicable rag, Vanity Fair has released on their website what has to be the most offensive cover of all time. I am shocked. No, horrified. I’ve had my children leave the room and I’m preparing to burn this computer which has been irrevocably sullied by the display of such an image. How anyone could [...]

Some sage advice for McCain from the columnist who once supported the Iraq war… While we would like an Iraqi national movement — binding Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis — to coalesce, we don’t want it coalescing in opposition to us. Running against the continued U.S. presence in Iraq will be a very tempting campaign theme [...]

“This is a clear choice that the American people have. I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.” - John McCain in Rochester, New Hampshire yesterday Joe [...]

Is it just me, or could Barack Obama be the most skilled politician in a generation? If not more? I’m not talking about leadership, mind you. I’m talking about his ability to navigate this campaign with a poise and seamlessness that we haven’t seen anyone, not even Bill Clinton, manage in a long, long time. I [...]

I literally could not believe it when I read it (the article is from February), but here we go…because Obama came from a white mother and a highly educated black father…it follows that he’s more predisposed to be a Communist. I know, it sounds like the stuff of fiction, but take a read from Lisa Schiffren [...]

With leaners Obama - 46% McCain - 46% Without leaners Obama - 43% McCain - 42% Not much movement today as the margins continue to show that this a tossup. Rasmussen has some demographic breakdowns… When leaners are included, Obama leads by six points among women while McCain has a seven point edge among men. McCain is currently supported by 85% of Republicans [...]

Looks like yesterday was a momentary bump that didn’t last, as Obama lost a net 3. The details… Obama performed above par with voters in two of the last four days of Gallup Poll Daily tracking, spanning a period of heavy news coverage of his overseas trip to Europe, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. This resulted in [...]

Will his crowd rival that of the GOP’s? From AP: ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Supporters of maverick Rep. Ron Paul who are organizing a rally as an alternative to the Republican National Convention are moving their crosstown event to a larger venue. The Rally for the Republic featuring Paul — the Texas conservative failed in his bid [...]

Sorry all, been very busy and haven’t had a lot of time. I’ll have more later, but in the meantime…John McCain is complaining about press coverage?

This strategy would do so many good things for McCain’s campaign. It would render moot Obama’s single strongest issue against McCain. It puts McCain on the same side as the majority of American voters. It creates space between McCain and Bush. It makes it easy for independents, moderates, and libertarians to vote for McCain on the basis of maintaining the checks and balances of divided government.

So, the New York Times has just rejected an op-ed piece from John McCain on the Iraq war. The paper said the piece was too focused on criticizing Barack Obama and, before they could publish such an essay, McCain would need to specifically address: “a clear plan for achieving victory — with troops levels, timetables [...]

And this time, just so there’s no confusion, they say it in English. So…is this definitive enough for all of you who’ve been doubting that Maliki meant sooner rather than later? Is the word “timetable” specific enough? Meanwhile, Obama is talking about a timetable that specifically states we would get out by 2010, and McCain has hinted [...]

Whether you knew it or not, ObamaBayh.com is up and running in a subtle campaign to keep the public informed about how awesome this dream team is. Once a fiercely loyal Clintonite, the Indiana Senator has instantly thrown his support behind Barack Obama and most recently accompanied the presidential hopeful and Sam Nunn to the [...]

John McCain is running a new ad blaming rising fuel prices on opposition to oil drilling in the United States. The ad specifically references Obama as one of the hindrances to the drilling. That’s misleading at best and dishonest at worst. If we canceled the ban on offshore drilling today, we wouldn’t be able to add [...]

Politics is a nasty business and always has been. This is clearly the case in Illinois. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin is definitely liberal. He represents Illinois, which in the last four presidential elections has voted blue. Maybe this is why Republican Senate nominee Steve Sauerberg’s campaign has a note of desperation about it. On a Friday [...]

Some pretty significant gains for Obama since Sunday, so the two daily tracking polls aren’t showing similar trends for the first time in a while. Of note, the 41% represents the lowest McCain has dipped to in the Gallup head-to-head match ups. The details…: These results are based on July 18-20 polling, including two days since Obama began [...]

With leaners Obama - 46% McCain - 45% Without leaners Obama - 42% McCain - 41% Obama dropped a couple from yesterday and that 42% represents a low mark for his support. Rasmussen with more on that… Obama’s support peaked at 48% with data released on June 8, 9, and 10. During that same time frame, McCain’s support has remained steady in the [...]

I’m not a believer in the “liberal media” myth. Sure, liberalism influences the reporting of some journalists in some situations but political attitudes are far less important than modern journalism’s predilection to sensationalize the commonplace and create conflict in the mundane. So, if blatant liberal bias is not as pervasive in the media as some critics [...]

It was at one of the many endless debates last summer that Barack Obama was asked about meeting with the leaders of foreign countries, including those dubbed the axis of evil by the current Bush administration. Obama barely paused before responding that he would consider sitting down, face-to-face, with the leaders of all nations. The comment [...]

Why? Two words: Bob Barr. Republican strategists are privately conceding that the GOP could lose Georgia’s 15 presidential electors for the first time since 1992 because of Bob Barr’s ballot position as the Libertarian Party presidential candidate. The most recent Georgia survey by the polling firm Insider Advantage, conducted July 2, shows 46 percent for Sen. John McCain, [...]

As with the Rasmussen poll, he gained one since yesterday…and the race remains fairly stable. The details: This marks the third report in a row in which Obama’s support, at 45%, is slightly lower than his overall average for the last month and a half. The percent of registered voters interviewed who do not make a [...]

With leaners Obama - 47% McCain - 45% Without leaners Obama - 44% McCain - 41% Obama gained one in each and McCain lost one in “with” leaners. Rasmussen shares the electoral outlook… State polling was released this past week for Virginia, Nevada, North Carolina, Arkansas, Oregon, Kansas, Maine, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Louisiana, and Michigan. The Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator [...]

On two separate occasions, two different interpreters have taken what the Iraqi Prime Minister has said so far out of context that it basically meant the opposite? Hmmm… “U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months,” he said in an interview with Der Spiegel that was released Saturday. “That, we think, would be the right time frame [...]

My friends, this is why there’s no such thing as a true free market. :-) Discuss… (Update: I mistakenly put the image in the wrong tag so it didn’t show up…so I’m sure this post made absolutely NO sense. My apologies. Fixed.)

A gain of 1 since yesterday, but for all intents and purposes, this race is tied. The details… These results are based on interviews conducted July 16-18. In Friday’s report, Barack Obama’s support fell out of the narrow 46%-48% range it had been in for the prior 18 reports, and remains outside that range today. However, [...]

With leaners Obama - 46% McCain - 46% Without leaners Obama - 43% McCain - 41% The race remains tight today as both candidates lose a little support today. Rasmussen shares the favorability numbers… McCain is viewed favorably by 56% of voters, Obama by 55%. Obama is clearly the defining candidate of the race and energizes both sides of the political divide more than [...]

Okay, now we have an official statement… “Let’s be clear, the only reason that the conversation about reducing troop levels in Iraq is happening is because John McCain challenged the failed Rumsfield-strategy in Iraq and argued for the surge strategy that is responsible for the successes we’ve achieved and which Barack Obama opposed. Unlike Barack Obama, [...]

I just posted about the new “time horizon” that the US and Iraq have agreed to, and in that post I mentioned that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki endorsed Obama’s 16 month timetable, calling it “closer to reality.” Also, take note of the following statement from Maliki… “The Americans have found it difficult to agree on a [...]

Is a time horizon a timeline? Well, not really. But a time horizon is what comes right before a timeline is set. So what the news finally represents is an acknowledgement that, at some point in the future, the US will have to leave. From NY Times: The agreement, announced in coordinated statements released Friday by the [...]

Wow, he’s so old! (h/t: LA Times)

The race has essentially been tied the past few days, and both national daily tracking polls are showing very similar trends. Still, Gallup offer a caveat: The dip in support for Obama to 45% from 46% in Thursday’s report and from 47% earlier this week (when he held a four percentage point lead over McCain) is [...]

With leaners Obama - 47% McCain - 46% Without leaners Obama - 44% McCain - 42% Not much movement today as Obama’s overseas trip next week quickly approaches. Of note, Rasmussen shares that Obama’s support looks a lot like John Kerry’s… There has been much discussion about the potential demographic changes brought about by Obama’s historic candidacy and the fact that he won [...]

Via email, Eugene McCain (no relation) has this to say in response to posts by Alan and mw… I understand your position that this was satire and that Obama should have acknowledged that. In hindsight maybe that would have been best for his campaign. But…… 1. The Truth is that a large number (10%, 20%, 30%…. pick [...]

Why does Barack Obama seem to be maintaining his momentum despite hispolicy shifts and trouble with Clinton supporters? It’s probably because his supporters are far more excited than John McCain’s. Here’s what a new AP/Yahoo! News poll reveals: For now, the numbers favor Obama: 38 percent of his supporters say the election is exciting compared to [...]

The teachers and faculty of Broad Run High School, and most certainly, the school’s principal, had to be experiencing some serious concerns when guest speaker Patton Oswalt began delivering his oration at this year’s commencement. One of the most famous graduates of the school was a natural choice to address another generation of Broad Run seniors. But this, [...]

McCain gains another point to tighten it up. The details remain the same… The latest three-day rolling average is for the period of July 14-16, or Monday through Wednesday of this week. From a big picture perspective, this latest report represents little change. McCain is at the top of the range of support levels in which he [...]

Get off fossil fuels by 2018. That’s Gore’s completely unrealistic charge to our nation. Here’s more… Mr. Gore called for the kind of concerted national effort that enabled Americans to walk on the moon 39 years ago this month, just eight years after President John F. Kennedy famously embraced that goal. He said the goal of producing [...]

Want a Rorschach test? Answer this: is John McCain’s sense of humor refreshing or inappropriate for a presidential candidate? McCain has, on more than one occasion, gotten himself into trouble when his sense of humor has crossed into the realm of the offensive (or that shadow realm of the “perceived to be offensive.”). Anyone who cracks [...]

Here’s an interesting piece of data courtesy The Wall Street Journal: In the economic expansion that began in 2001 and now appears to be ending, the inflation-adjusted wages of the majority of U.S. workers didn’t grow, even among those who went to college. The government’s statistical snapshots show the typical weekly salary of a worker with [...]

With leaners Obama - 46% McCain - 46% Without leaners Obama - 44% McCain - 42% A very pronounced tightening today, with McCain quickly closing the gap. Some demographic details… McCain has 82% of Republicans and has an 11% lead with Independents… Obama gets 76% of Democrats… McCain takes voters over 65… Obama takes voters under 30… Voters 30-64 are split evenly among the two candidates… So how [...]

A few days before Obama’s planned trip to the Middle East and a week after his hasty, hush-hush meeting with the Veep Vetters, Obama led a roundtable foreign policy discussion at Purdue University that included Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and former Georgia senator Sam Nunn. Nunn is a non-proliferation buff, while Bayh is a four-year [...]

Note: I posted this yesterday, but didn’t realize that half the story didn’t show up. Yikes! My apologies. Reposted! First I reported about Obama’s big push in Missouri, then I talked about a renewed push in Iowa. Today, I read about a similar move in Virginia. From TPM: The Obama campaign plans to open 20 new field offices in [...]

Obviously this is big news, and it nearly matches the record breaking $55 million he raised in February. Also, McCain raised $22 million in June, so Obama is obviously running circles around the Arizona senator when it comes to fundraising. However, when you look at how much the McCain camp and the RNC has combined, you’ll [...]

The more and more I think about it, the more sense it makes for former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina to be McCain’s Veep. She’s like a female Mitt Romney, but without the religious baggage or fake veneer. Maybe that’s why he’s having her meet with former “Hillraisers”… Amy Siskind, a former Wall Street executive who helped organize [...]