Obamacricy on Phil Gramm, McCain dose the unfortunate thing

Today, the ever-brilliant (and foot-in-mouth-desies prone) former Texas Senator Phil Gramm said this unflattering comment-

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners."

Of course our dear dear friends in the media have left off the "sort of" part (thus making the comment more harsh sounding) leading to much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Of course his full comments paint a different story, making it seem as if his "we" refers more to the media's influence then a dour outlook by the great unwashed masses.

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline," said the former Texas senator. "You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession."

Gramm also said the media was responsible for fostering unnecessary anxiety over the state of the economy. "Misery sells newspapers," he said. "Thank God the economy is not as bad as you read in the newspaper every day."

The O Show's response was to say that Senator McCain clearly didn't understand the economy. This comes from the Boy Wonder, who has been in Washington for fewer days then the Washington Nationals will win games this season (sorry Nat fans). How can a senator who's only distinguishing legislative characteristic comes from voting "Present" more time then any other as a member of the Illinois state legislature, and who's Washington carrier never started because the moment he was sworn in he started running for president, dare impune the credentials of a man who's passed more legislation on the economy then he's even read!

Aside from team "0 for 0"'s rambling, McCain (due to the flap over "Bittergate") has been forced to disavow the man everyone has been tapping to be his eventual Tres. Sec. Another one bites the bus...

Unfortunate Things

I've not posted in a while, things are a bit crazy as of this moment, but soon I'll be back at full strength. In the meantime if you need to be reminded of why B-Rock can't be president lets remind ourselves-

"Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English... you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish"

I'm going to go with "no" as my response to that one. More reaction to this tommarrow.

Who is the Puppet Master?

After reading my post below about Obama's "cunning", Patrick of Right and Reason (you should go there now, his post on oil exploration is a must-read) expressed to me the commonly held belief that Obama is nothing more then a charismatic empty suit and pondered who was holding the strings. Wonder no more! If Obama is not in control of his own destiny, one of these men is

David Plouffe- The churlish Obama campaign manager, David Plouffe is a top candidate for the puppet master to Obama's Grover on Sesame Street. He's smart and sneaky, and has the top position in the campaign (at least from an outsider perspective). He was a Deputy CoS to former Democratic Minority Leader Gephardt, and helped run his wildly unsuccessful 2004 campaign for president

The Far Left Netroots- A good suspect back in the day, but Comrade Markos and his ilk have learned that no promise from B-Rock is worth the paper it's printed on. The Far left has standards (AKA a manifesto that if you deviate from you're EEEEEVIL), and Obama can't let a little thing like his principals get in the way of winning now can he?

Tom Daschle- Former Senate Majority Leader, T-Dash has been out of the loop for a while but he was the man who convinced Obama to run for Preisdent in the first place (breaking his pledge not to run) and has provided the intellectual heft along with the establishment connections Obama needed to get the campaign off the ground. As a Co-Chair of Obama's campaign he wields no real power, but has the subtle influence to move Obama in any direction he wants.

Austan Goolsbee- Ok, theres no reason to think Obama's Econ Guru is pulling his Muppet-like strings. Sure he's got some behind the scenes heft (remember the infamous Canada/NAFTA meeting?). I just have him on the list because of how much fun it is to say is name. Say it with me now- AUUUUUUSTANN GOOOOOOOOOLSBEEEEEEEEE!!!!

David Axelrod- Look no further for the mastermind behind Barry O's current life. He was a consultant for the show "The West Wing" and created the character Matthew Santos based on Barry (Who ironically ran against a character based on McCain). He's the media master, and crafts the Obama message to somehow turn the heads of young, old, black, white, middle aged and everyone else you can think of. He ran the Obamessiah's 04 senate campaign and has been the dark man with the mustache in the background ever since. If Obama is a manufactured man, Axelrod is the person who owns his patent (he even has a second model of Obama out there in Deval Patrick, governor of Mass, a man who's campagin was run by Plouffe and Axelrod).

Obama's Brilliant Campagin for Total American Takeover (and what we can do to stop him).

I dislike Barack Obama. I think he's a shifty political operator, and I can't totally trust he'll do anything he says he will (this distrust is the only reason I'm not cowering in fear of his presidency, he might just be lying to get elected by the far left). But to give credit where credit is due, he ran a campaign in the primaries that was brilliant and all signs point towards him running a campaign that'll be just as good in the fall.

Obama today announced he's going to be targeting 14 states bush won in 2004. Why? well some states are just good politics, Virgina, Ohio, Colorado- states that have started to trend Democratic (partially due to local issues) since '04. But some of these states (like Texas) are not going to vote democratic in 2008. They just aren't. So why spend the money? well, aside from the basic "make McCain contest everywhere because we have more money then God almighty", there is the brilliant idea that they'll be able to affect down ticket races, SPECIFICLY state legislature races. The State Legislatures control redistricting after a census- particularly after 2010, which happens to the the same year as our next midterm elections. If Obama can control redistricting in these states, he can pad his congressional majorities by 10-15 seats. It's a brilliantly devious plan, but one that might ultimately cause him to spend more money on getting other people elected rather then him.

One of the keys to the Republican takeover of 1994 was that in 1990 the republican party took over a majority of state legislatures, allowing us to control redistricting in those states. In order to maintain a viable party nationwide, we need to control redistricting, to control redistricting we need to control the state legislatures, to control the state legislatures we need to stop Obama from this sort of influence. The best way to do that, in my opinion, is to point out Obama's political maneuvering as much as possible. In order to maintain his rational front, he'll have to openly admit he's trying to affect redistricting, thus harming his attempts to affect it (paradoxical, I know).

Obama is a cunning political creature and his campagin is sharp and crafty enough to prove this. Luckily for us, his message runs counter to this central truth about his character. We just need to hammer it home

Great Moments in Olbypocrisy: Wives Are Off Limits!

From the fine folks at Olbermann Watch. God, he's a tool.

Hating Obama's Silmy Political Promise-Breaking: The Leftwing Edition

Seems that Moderates and Conservatives are not alone in our condemnation of Senator Obama's Weaseling out of his Campaign Finance Pledge.

Here we have Russ Finegold, one of the most liberal members of the US senate, bashing obama for not taking the public financing.

The Associated Press, a supposedly non-partisan group with a slight leftward tilt has an article up saying "Obama chose winning over his word" and savaging him- " So much for being a straight shooter."

I'll update as more come in...

A Promise from Obama = Worthless

For all you Clinton-supporters and fence sitters out there, we finally got the best example of Obama's "New Politics" we could ask for. Turns out, it's the exact same thing as old politics with more charisma, like giving an old junker car a new shiny paint job.

Obama will break a SIGNED pledge to accept public financing for the general election. He said he was going to do so as long as the Republican Nominee was willing to do so as well. McCain has said he WILL take public financing. Obama, if he was as good as his word, would have to as well, something that would put major caps on spending and fundraiseing. Since Obama is an ambitious man, he's not willing to let something like his word or his honor get in the way of his dash to the oval office.

Of course the media will give him a pass on this because they adore him, but we should know better and spread the word- Promises from Obama are officially not worth the paper they are printed on.

Voter Turnout Vs. The Wilder Effect

There are lots of polls out this year, and in this post minor-Obama bump they are all showing the Junior Senator from Illinois leading, but many are still within the margin of error. Still, the media is unwilling to say what these polls really mean, or to explain how some polls, like todays Quinnipiac polls showing Obama leading in three major swing states by large margins, show vastly different results then most polls. So why are polls showing Obama leading by a large margin dismissed as well as polls showing McCain up in traditionally republican states?

Two Good Reasons- The Wilder Effect and the possibility of MASSIVE black voter turnout.

The Wilder Effect (Also known as the Bradley Effect and the Dinkins Effect) states that in order to either conceal prejudice or to seem more "progressive", people talking to pollsters will LIE and say they plan on voting for a non-white candidate over a white one. This patter will continue until they get into the voting booth and pull the lever for the white candidate over the non-white one.

Some relevant numbers for you

Chicago Mayoral Race 1983: Washington (Black) vs. Epton (White)-

• Polling- Washington 52, Epton 38
  
• Result- Washington 51.5, Epton 48.1
  

New York City Mayor 1989: Dinkins (Black) vs. Guliani (White)-

• Polling- Dinkins 53, Guliani 39
  
• Result- Dinkins 50, Guliani 48
  

North Carolina Senate 1990 Grant (Black) vs. Helms (White)-

• Polling- Grant 47, Helms 41
  
• Result- Grant 47, Helms 53
  

Lousiana Governors Race 2003: Jindal (Indian) vs. Blanco (White)-

• Polling- Jindal 48, Blanco 43
  
• Result- Jindal 48, Blanco 52

We can see a pattern emerging of non-white candidates doing much better in polling. then they do at the booth, and while the pattern has gotten better (Most modern races have had more correct polling where a biracial race has emerged) there is still concern that Obama's close leads are nothing but stuffing from a populace that doesn't want to be seen as being racist or trying to bar non-whites from office. given these patterns obama could lose as much as 5% of the vote to the Wilder Effect, somthing that would devastate him in many close contests.

On the other hand you have the possibility of tens of thousands of new voters coming to the polls for Obama that pollsters have no idea how to count. Massive numbers of newly registered African American voters may be able to do things for Obama thought impossible, winning deep south states like Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. These voters are also motivated largely by racial preference, though it's in a different light. Obama himself predicted that African American turnout across the nation would be "up 30%, minimum". In some southern states where the number of African Americans voting is normally far below the actually number of African Americans turning out, that would be an amazing figure, giving obama a boost well above his current polling numbers.

In the end we could finish with the Wilder Effect balancing out these new voters in a zero sum game bound to confuse everyone involved. It's the preferable outcome unfortunatly, otherwise you'd get a situation where you'd have a candidate rejected because of race or accepted because of it (both bad choices for america).

So what do you think? Will the Wilder Effect put McCain over the top? or will new black voter turnout do him in?

Obama's Bold New Approach to Foreign Policy

Richard Danzig, Obama's chief Foreign policy expert, said that American strategy in the War on Terror should be more like Winnie the Pooh. Really? I know you have to dumb most things down for the Senator from Illinois, with his vast 2 years of experience campaigning, but Winnie the Pooh? That's... great. Just fantastic. So if I'm following you...

Winnie the Pooh=America

So that would mean...

Christopher Robin=the UK?
Piglet=Canada?
Rabbit=France?
Tigger=Japan?
Eeyore=Germany?
Owl=The UN?
Kanga=Australia?
Roo=New Zealand?
The Honey Tree=The Middle East?
The Thinking Place=Switzerland?
Heffalumps and Woozles=Shia and Suni Muslims?


I'm sorry senator, Perhaps if Mr. Danzig did the finger puppets like they did for you I'd be able to get the metaphor better, but right now all I can see the analogy meaning is that you want America to becomecuddly with no ablity to extract ourselves from the honey tree without someone pulling us. Or perhaps you just want us to be popular and follow the lead of others. Either way you slice it, your final goal is clear- America gone soft.

Disgusting

Who wants to bet that despite his calls for "New Politics" Obama lets this ad slide? McCain has 3 sons in the military, 2 of whom have spent time in the Combat Zone in Iraq.

And what's the implication? McCain is going to start drafting babies? or that somehow McCain will still be president when that kid turns 18? The only party that has formally sponsored a resolution to re-instate the draft are the democrats (Charles Rangel and Ernest Hollings put a new draft bill up for a vote in 2003 and the republican congress rejected it). Wouldn't this count as the "Fear Mongering" that the democrats are constantly wringing there hands about?

Disgusting.

UPDATE- I was incorrect when I stated 2 of McCain's three military boys had spent time in Iraq. James McCain was with the Marines in Iraq until very recently, John Sidney McCain IV is still at the Naval Academy, after which his placement will be decided, and his son Doug was a Fighter Pilot in the Navy, but retired before September 11th.

Veepstakes Vol 4- Addendum, the ULTIMATE longshot

Al Gore is going to formally endorse Obama tonight. there will be lots of speculation as to his Veep prospects.

The Common wisdom is that Gore would take the spot if given real power and influence over the environmental policy of the nation- IE, total control of all policies related to it. If Gore is on the ticket Obama has to be willing to defer to his wisdom on any matter that might touch the environment, something Obama is not going to want to do since Obama's economic policy would be deeply tied in industry (he promised to bring all those manufacturing jobs back, remember?).

Obama dosn't want Gore, but if he put him on the ticket I'd wave goodbye to the McCain presidency for good. Then again, with Gore at his side, Obama would be doomed to serve one term.

Bad Pick.

ODDS- 200 to 1

Veepstakes! Vol 4- Obama's Darkhorses

Welcome back to Veepstakes! In this installment I'll be going over the 5 "Darkhorse" candidates for Obama's Veep spot. The rules remain the same as my previous installments, I'll give you the name, the Pro's and Con's from an electoral standpoint, My Take on them as a candidate and the Odds they'll take the nom (As darkhorses, expect the odds here to be high, with one notable exception). Here's a quick recap of Obma's Big Five (the odds have changed a little since then)

Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA)- 4 to 1 (Good Choice)
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)- 4 to 1 (Bad Choice)
Gen. Wesley Clark (D-AK)- 5 to 1 (Good Choice)
Sen. Jim Webb (D- VA)- 10 to 1 (Bad Choice)
Gov. Kathleen Sibelius (D-KA)- 12 to 1 (Mixed Bag)


Barack Obama

Joe Biden- Senior Senator from Delaware, unsuccessful 2008 candidate who got in line behind Obama a few weeks after dropping out.

Pros- He's been in the senate for a long long time, giving Obama the needed experience on the ticket. He's considered to be one of the Dems' top Foreign Policy guys, and his name is apparently one of three being bandied about for Obama's Secretary of State should he win (Kerry and Dodd being the other two). He's good at debates and can turn a phrase with the best of them. His "Federalization" War plan for Iraq (AKA the three state solution) is one of the few Iraq war plans from the left that make even remote amounts of sense.

Cons- The Anti-War Left love him. He's scandal prone and has a serious case of foot-in mouth disorder. He was knocked out of contention from running for president in '88 for plagiarizing speeches from the British Labour party leader Neil Kinnock. He is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Credit Card companies that are all headquartered out of his home state. He has been accused of racism and racist statements in the past (though Obama came to his defense). His long senate history can be used against him, just as McCains will be used against him.

My Take- Joe Biden is one of my least favorite people in goverment (#2 in fact, behind the man who I'll be profiling next). I my mind he exemplifies everything about slimy corrupt politicians that manage to get away with everything with a smile and a handshake. But, most of America will not see this snake in the grass for what he is, so I'll try and be objective. Biden is a moderately good choice for Obama. He helps with Foreign Policy matters and with his Scranton PA roots may be able to help in blue-collar regions. The Credit Card connection is trouble for Obama, but if Biden gets a walk from the media by association with Barry, then they don't have much to worry about there.

ODDS- 12 to 1

Chuck Hagel- Anti-Iraq War Republican Senator and Vietnam vet from the state of Nebraska. My personal Arch-Nemesis.

Pros- Putting him on the ticket makes Obama definitively post-partisan since, other then on Foreign policy matters, they disagree on everything. Adds real heft to Obama's FP credentials. Gets a good deal of Ron Paul supporters to give Obama a second look. Gets under McCain's skin because before the Iraq war Hagel and McCain were very good friends, causing him to lose his cool.

Cons- Disagrees fundamentally with Obama on everything (once again with the exception of military matters). will make it hard for Obama to stay on message on just about every issue but the war, playing into McCain's preferred field of battle. The dems might be wary of putting a republican, even a line crossing backstabbing one, a heartbeat away from the presidency.

My Take- I hate Hagel with more passion then I hate any other American politician, so I'll make this brief- the democrats will never let him pick a candidate who would pull a 180 on 90% of there platform if something happens to Obama. No way, No how. Bad choice.

ODDS- 30 to 1

Brian Schwietzer- First-Term Governor of Montana.

Pros- A Governor, very popular in his home state, understands rural economic issues and could help Obama close the gap in white, working-class areas. He loves guns and god. Helps obama win Montana and may extend his popularity to the rest of the mountain west area (Colorado, the Dakotas, Wyoming). Has interesting ideas on the use of Coal in America energy policy.

Con: No FP Experience. Unknown, and only really helps in Montana. The far-left would likely balk at his more conservative credentials.

My Take- A good, but unlikely, pick. Obama has others that can do what Schwitzer can better.

ODDS- 25 to 1

Janet Napalitano- Democrat Lady Governor of Arizona.

Pros- Helps with Women, and increases the "Republican Despair Factor" by putting Obama within arms reach of Arizona, McCain's home state. No presidential candidate has ever won without winning there home state.

Cons- Boring. Is to the right of McCain on the immigration issue, meaning that she could fataly wound Obama among Hispanic voters.

My Take- Meh.

ODDS- 22 to 1

Tom Daschel- Former Senate Majority Leader, Obama's earliest supporter, it's rumored that Daschel is the one who convinced Obama to run in the first place.

Pros- He and Obama trust each other. Most of Obama's "people" were once Daschell's people. He compliments Obama ideologically on almost every level. he adds experience and tradition to the ticket, while not seeming tied to the current Washington situation because of his absence from the senate.

Cons- First sitting majority leader to be kicked out off office for generations, he exemplifies the democratic losses that took place from 2000-2006. He is a deep Washington insider, was a lobbyist and has a lobbyist wife. He couldn't even deliver his home state to obama against clinton in the primaries making him all but useless.

My Take- A Good pick. This is the Vice-President Obama wants but his advisers will never let him have. Lets see of T-Dash can stage a comeback.

ODDS- 19 to 1

With friends like his...

Obama's Finance Chief in Florida has been cursing out former Clinton supporters via E-Mail.

Obama's half-brother has been telling the Jerusalem Post that brother Barack was raised Muslim.

Another one of Obama's Veep selection chairpeople seem to be in a wee bit o' trouble.

Look for this to be a theme lots of republican groups will hit in the fall- Obambi may seem innocent, but he surrounds himself with controversial people, and his advisors will be a major figure on the campagin trail.

Then again, in this back and forth game, it was Obama who started it- with his attacks on McCain's ties to lobbists.

McCain's "Confusion", Age-Baiting and General Back-Stabbery

The other day on "Today" Sen. McCain reiterated a point he has made dozens of times before-

Q: If it’s working, senator, do you now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?

McCAIN: No, but that’s not too important. What’s important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That’s all fine.

The part of the quote being lambasted? The "That's not too important". Obama and his little army are saying that McCain clearly doesn't care about the troops, despite his son being one of them, because he doesn't think the return date is important. The surrogates most commonly quoted say the senator is "Confused" on Iraq, a clear and underhanded age attack. The leader of this little band of dastardly men? None other then McCain's "Friend" John Kerry.

This is of course a Man who apparently begged McCain to be his Veep in 2004 because they were so close and who McCain came to the defense of when the "swiftboat" mess started. McCain even refused to attack Kerry on a personal level in 2004, instead focusing on above the belt policy decisions. Talk about returning the favor...

This is a clear example of the tone of the campaigns. McCain is talking to the American people about the big issues, and the Democrats are attacking McCain for anything and everything they can find.

Called It!

Looks like senator McCain is taking my advice on calling Obama Carter's second term!

Senator, if you're reading my blog and thus stole the line from me (he says, irrationaly) keep up the good work!

Boo-Ya!

Huhbuhwha?

I can't wait for the Townhall debates. I just can't. I'm bouncing off the walls here.

[EDIT- For the record, Obama is attempting to explain his health care plan]

[EDIT TWO- If McCain had done this, people would be jumping all over him because of his age and the clip would come before and after every commercial break on CNN and MSNBC. The Obamessiah has no such problems. All Heil the Obamessiah!]

Hat tip to Hot Air and Gateway Pundit.

Also Read This.

Website of the Day

Meet Barack Obama.

Re-Writing History, Obama Style

And so it begins...

The Obama Campagin's new Theme Song!

Via Mary Katherine Ham at Townhall.

Veestakes! Update: Romney and Clinton

Mark Halperin is the best reporter-cum-blogger in the game. I trust his instincts implicitly. And thus Romney gets a big boost and Clinton gets a knock down.


Mitt Romney

ODDS- 6-to-1

Hillary Clinton

ODDS- 4-to-1