http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/20 ... e-attacks/

McCain defends Palin against experience attacks

October 1, 2008
From CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

(CNN) — John McCain defended embattled running mate Sarah Palin in an interview released Tuesday night, telling an Iowa newspaper he thought she had the” experience and knowledge and background” to be president and that he was “proud of her record.”

McCain ticked off Palin’s achievements with the editors of the Des Moines Register – a swing state paper that endorsed his presidential bid before January’s Republican caucuses.

"So, with due respect, I strongly disagree with your premise that she doesn't have experience and knowledge and background,” he said. “I fundamentally disagree, and I'm proud of her record.”

Later, after continuing to counter Palin’s critics, he pointed to what he called a divide between the press and the public on their view of the Alaska governor. “…You and I just have a fundamental disagreement and I'm so happy that the American people seem to be siding with me,” said McCain.

When editors pointed to similar recent assessments from conservatives, McCain responded “Really? I haven't detected that,” attributing those sentiments to the “Georgetown cocktail party” circuit.

“Some people allege that others may have spent too much time inside the Beltway, and too much time not out in touch with the American people,” said McCain. “Some people that know that Franklin Delano Roosevelt didn’t address the American people on television.”

[snip]

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/s ... ily27.html

Poll: Obama has 15-point lead over McCain in Pennsylvania

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - 9:18 AM EDT
Pittsburgh Business Times

A new Quinnipiac University poll finds Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has opened up a 15-point lead in Pennsylvania over Republican nominee John McCain.

The poll was conducted after the first debate between the two candidates Sept. 26.

Prior to the debate, Obama was ahead of McCain 49 percent to 43 percent. But the post debate numbers show Obama ahead 54 percent to 39 percent.

“It is difficult to find a modern competitive presidential race that has swing so dramatically, so quickly and so sharply this late in the campaign,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “In the last 20 days, Sen. Barack Obama has gone from seven points down to eight points up in Florida, while widening his leads to eight points in Ohio and 15 points in Pennsylvania.”

[snip]

I know of a person that went to work for a loan originator, when everybody started re-financing. His qualifications? He was a DJ at a bar.

I knew then and there we all were in trouble.

Even mortgage institutions who weren't forced to gave subprimes out like candy, so the Dems won't take responsibility. In fact, I see it as a stupid policy that probably contributed very little to the crisis, because the loans would have happened anyway. Why should an institution avoid making risky loans when they know the bag is going to be in someone else's hands by the time the thing goes down the toilet? You've got to make your numbers, and it's all about volume.

Borrowers were incredibly short-sighted as well. It was all about whether they could afford the payment next month. Nobody thought two or three years down the line. The lenders knew it would be someone else's problem by then, idiot buyers figured their situation would be better by then, and there was nobody at the table to offer a reality check.

A preventative cure might be to somehow require an originator to hold on to a loan for a few years before they securitized and sold it. If that had been in place, a LOT of these shit loans never would have happened. I don't know how practical that solution would be, and I'm sure the banking lobbies would have a cow so it's a pipe dream.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... c-politics

Blacks Forming a Rock-Solid Bloc Behind Obama

By Steven A. Holmes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 1, 2008; A07

As Sen. Barack Obama strode onto the stage in the cavernous ballroom Saturday night, the audience jumped up, shouting, singing and clapping along with his campaign theme song, Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours."

That full-throated welcome from the huge, overwhelmingly African American audience at a Congressional Black Caucus dinner was tinged with growing confidence that victory -- and history -- may be within reach.

Recent polls show Obama opening up a lead over Sen. John McCain, both nationally and in some key battleground states, particularly on economic issues. The consensus among many analysts was that Obama held his own in last week's debate, which focused mainly on foreign policy, an issue considered one of his Republican rival's strengths. And Obama's black supporters continue to maintain a disciplined, united front, eschewing internal debates that could undermine his candidacy.

[snip]

In the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, Obama leads McCain 95 percent to 2 percent among African Americans, a margin which, if it holds, would be a larger advantage than that achieved by any Democrat dating back to the first presidential network exit polls in 1972. Over that time, Republicans have averaged 12 percent support among African Americans.

[snip]


If whites voted this monolithically, it would be "racism". Hell, if a few blue collar Democrats vote for McCain, they call that "racism".

The Obama campaign's illegal and/or improperly reported campaign contributions: story here

More on how the Clintons are giving less than 100 percent to the Obama effort here.

AP Newsbreak: Felons paid to register Wis. voters
By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press Writer
Oct 1, 3:51 PM EDT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- At least seven felons convicted of crimes including cocaine possession and robbery were recruited by a liberal group to register voters in Milwaukee, raising fears they may have committed voter fraud.

All seven were designated as special registration deputies, which allows them to solicit and keep voter registration applications before turning them in to local election officials.

"We have a lot of folks with felony records and, frankly, they need jobs," said Carolyn Castore, political director in Wisconsin for the group that hired them.

That group is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which describes itself as the nation's largest grass-roots community organization of low- and moderate-income people.

Republican Party spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said it was troubling that convicted felons were hired to register voters.

[...]

It's unclear whether state law prohibits convicted felons from holding such a position.

The law says anyone who can vote can be a special registration deputy, and felons can vote as long as they are no longer on probation or parole. But the attorney for the Government Accountability Board, which runs elections, issued an April 3 memo saying the board's staff believed convicted felons couldn't serve in the role.

Any convicted felon who served as a special registration deputy could face charges, said Assistant Milwaukee County District Attorney Bruce Landgraf. The district attorney's office is reviewing 49 cases submitted by city election officials where election law may have been violated. One person paid by the Community Voters Project was charged Monday with voter fraud.

[...]

ACORN interpreted the law the same way as Milwaukee election officials. Nowhere in materials provided by state election officials did it say that felons were barred from registering voters, Castore said.

Castore said she knew some of the group's workers had felony convictions, but since she didn't know of any still on probation or parole, she didn't think there was a problem.

[snip]

October 2, 2008 --

BILL and Hillary Clinton are doing their bare minimum to help elect Barack Obama president because the Democratic nominee refused to guarantee Hillary a US Supreme Court judgeship should he win the White House, sources say.

A rep for Sen. Clinton e-mailed Page Six yesterday: "Absurd. Nonsense. Rubbish. Hogwash. Malarkey."

But the word in Democratic circles is that Hillary - after being rejected by Obama as his running mate, the position given to Sen. Joe Biden - made it clear to Obama's camp that she wanted to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

[snip]


When Hillary says "Absurd. Nonsense. Rubbish. Hogwash. Malarkey." it makes me think the story is absolutely true.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/ ... annel.html

The Obama channel

Ben Smith

Channel 73 on the Dish Network is now The Obama Channel.

Obama's media buying strategy has been marked by a willingness to work the angles, and to try to pick up a few votes at the margins. The decision to go to everything from extensive radio buys to odd-hour infomercials reflects the fact that the campaign media buyers spend a lot of time thinking about how much persuasion any given dollar can buy, and given a very cheap format -- late night cable channels that need filler, for instance -- will settle for a thimblefull of persuasion.

The satellite channel is the latest of these marginal gambits: Three readers from different parts of the country email that Channel 073-00 on the Dish Network is now labeled OBAMA. ("What is up with Sen. Obama having his own channel?" asks a St. Louis reader.) The channel plays his two-minute ad laying out his economic plan on a loop, over and over.

The only explanation: The media buyers think they can reach enough people per dollar to make it worth the odd buy.

[snip]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/110881/Gallu ... in-44.aspx

Gallup Daily: Obama 48%, McCain 44%

Slightly closer race now than two days ago

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update of registered voters finds Barack Obama at 48%, and John McCain at 44%, marking a slight narrowing of the race from the eight percentage point margin Obama held earlier this week.

The latest results are based on interviewing conducted Sept. 28-30, a time period in which the American public watched the Dow Jones Industrial Average seesaw between a 700+ point loss and a 400+ point gain on Monday and Tuesday, while attempts by Congress to pass some type of legislation dealing with the financial crisis continued.

[snip]

The general election results are based on combined data from Sept. 28-30, 2008. For results based on this sample of 2,746 registered voters, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points.

[snip]


Gallup sez 4% margin among registered voters. McCain is still in this thing.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainme ... 7753.story

Stakes mount for Palin

Entering Biden debate, VP candidate's luster has faded

By Paul West
October 2, 2008

WASHINGTON - On the eve of the vice-presidential debate, a new poll shows that most Americans regard Sarah Palin as unqualified to take over as president should it become necessary.

The finding is a sharp reversal from earlier polling that showed she was considered qualified, and points to the heightened stakes for Palin in her faceoff with Delaware Sen. Joe Biden this evening.

"If Palin does well, her performance will go a long way to rehabilitating her image," said John J. Pitney Jr., a Claremont McKenna College political scientist.

In her successful run for governor of Alaska in 2006, Palin was seen as a confident and effective debater who built an emotional bond with voters. However, her national reputation has suffered as some of the excitement over her selection to the Republican ticket faded and media scrutiny intensified.

[snip]


Gosh, you think maybe the reason the luster has faded a bit is because the media engaged in a no-holds-barred assault on her for the past month?

It may be a 4pt matchup right now, but that bailout vote isn't going to help him.

If he voted against this calling the bill crap and asked for a clean bill, while Obama voted for it, this could have helped him in a huge way.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... inionsbox1

Economics Exam in Michigan

By David S. Broder
Thursday, October 2, 2008; A23

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- When I visited this battleground area in the suburbs of Detroit early this week, it was to check the public reaction to the first debate of 2008.

The Michigan polls I had seen just before John McCain and Barack Obama met at the University of Mississippi drew a confusing picture. One had Obama ahead by four points; another by seven, a third by 10 and the last by 13.

The Michigan politicians of both parties I spoke to before boarding the plane agreed that Obama should be considered the favorite, but none could credit him with a double-digit lead. Several cautioned that he might face a problem in the suburbs, where race has been an issue since the busing controversies of the 1960s and a succession of black mayors in Detroit has drawn fire.

[snip]

I asked about the debate and, despite his preference, Walker said he found Obama "hesitating in his answers," while McCain gave "strong answers and did quite well."

[snip]

In some ways, the most interesting interviews were with undecided voters. Charles James, a meat-cutter who has watched the shrinkage of his 401(k) account with dismay, leans to Obama but fears that the Democrats will raise taxes.

Marilyn Alberkorn of Pontiac, a disillusioned Bush voter and part-time school employee, watched the debate and thought "both candidates really avoided the questions."

And Beth Graves, a retiree who splits her time between Michigan and Florida, was "pleasantly surprised" that McCain "spoke as well as he did in the debate. Obama always speaks eloquently, so I like both of them."

[snip]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081002/ap_ ... ntial_race

AP poll: Obama takes a 7-point lead over McCain

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

Barack Obama has surged to a seven-point lead over John McCain one month before the presidential election, lifted by voters who think the Democrat is better suited to lead the nation through its sudden financial crisis, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that underscores the mounting concerns of some McCain backers.

Likely voters now back Obama 48-41 percent over McCain, a dramatic shift from an AP-GfK survey that gave the Republican a slight edge nearly three weeks ago, before Wall Street collapsed and sent ripples across worldwide markets. On top of that, unrelated surveys show Obama beating McCain in several battlegrounds, including Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and Iowa — four states critical in the state-by-state fight for the presidency.

Several GOP strategists close to McCain's campaign privately fret that his chances for victory are starting to slip away.

These Republicans, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid angering the campaign, point to several factors: Obama's gains nationally and in traditionally GOP states, no McCain boost from the first debate, McCain's struggles with economic issues as the financial crisis has unfolded and deepening public skepticism about his running mate, Sarah Palin.

[snip]

The AP-GfK poll involved telephone interviews of a nationwide sample of 1,160 adults, including 808 likely voters, from Saturday through Tuesday. Interviews were conducted on both landline and cell phones. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points, 3.4 percentage points for likely voters.


Smaller sample than Gallup, and not all likely voters.

Still, McCain has his work cut out for him.

Skepticism about Palin's ability? What do you expect, after the way she has been pilloried? A solid performance in the debate tonight will go a long way to easing people's concerns about her.

It's not the media's fault that she looks shockingly ignorant and stupid when she is being interviewed. Half the time she doesn't even make sense -- that's not Couric or Gibson's fault. I just watched the CBS clip from last night. Couric asked both Biden and Palin to discuss a SCOTUS case they disagreed with. Biden launched into an in-depth, passionate (though partisanly misleading) discussion, and Palin froze, then stuttered through a bullshit answer that would have embarassed a tenth-grader.

I've wanted McCain to be president since 2000, and I'm to the point where I won't cast any presidential vote unless she performs solidly tonight. I've never liked her, I think the pick was more-or-less forced on him by socons behind the scenes, and I think it's going to come bite him in the ass. You'd think they would have learned from 2006 exit polls.

Every "constituency" thinks they are critical but I do know a lot of educated, well-off, small-government civil libertarians like me who really want to vote for John McCain but won't be able to stomach checking a box next to her name.

Barring major disaster (2006), Michigan is always within 5% either way. I don't think Obama's up 10 here. Right now with the economy, I'd give Obama an edge, but not a major one. McCain could have almost solidified this state two weeks ago, but he has not closed the deal and it has hurt him.

Hillary Clinton I could see up 10% here. Not Obama.

I don't want Obama in the White House and I won't vote for him. But I have no question that he is an intelligent person. Call me elitist, but the fact that he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law and she barely managed to graduate college speaks for something. I bet if you asked him what newpapers he read, he could name a couple. She couldn't. And I'm not under the delusion that CBS is sitting on hours of footage that make her look like Cicero.

He also proved himself capable of thinking on his feet and expressing his positions in the debate, whether or not I agreed with much of it. At this point, I have serious doubts that she can do the same and if she can't, I'm off the train.

Reagan was the great communicator and commanded the great respect of even his adversaries. How could you trust President Palin to sit across the table from our nation's enemies when she practically shits her pants sitting across from Katie Couric?