Coverage about McCain instead of Obama: 26 July 2008

Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee in the upcoming election to choose the next President of the U.S.A., is reportedly displeased by the amount of coverage that Barack Obama's overseas trip has been getting - even though he himself had suggested that Senator Obama make such a trip. I realize McCain's been in the game a long time, and he probably feels that he's entitled to a little more respect than he believes he's getting.

So I thought I'd share a video with you; a musical tribute to his campaign speeches, you might say, reminiscent of that will.i.am "Yes We Can" video.

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South Carolina Has 670,000 Registered Black Voters, Or One Fourth Of Total

Some people are bothered by a new poll as of this writing that has Sen. John McCain ahead of Sen. Barack Obama by 13 points or so. But given that SC has 670,000 registered Black voters out of 2.3 million voters, if you think of that group voting as a bloc, then all Democrats, it's hard to see Senator Obama not winning the state, if not being within 4 points of McCain.

Blue Stars for Obama

Blue Stars for Obama is an organizing site for military families to take action in the presidential campaign. The campaign will both seek feedback from military families and publish endorsements.

Blue Star members may have the opportunity to get invitations to Michelle Obama’s round-table discussions with military families held near bases around the country.

The Blue Star Flag was designed in the early 1900s by Robert L. Queissner of the 5th Ohio Infantry, who had two sons serving in the military. It has become a widely recognized unofficial symbol of families with a child in military service.

Started by Army and Marine Corps spouses, members believe supporting Senator Obama's candidacy exhibits and reinforces support of their loved ones serving in the military. The initiative borrows the symbolism of the blue star flag which immediate family members of active duty service members in times of war may fly, but it is not in any way affiliated with the Service Flag or the Blue Star Mothers organization. Accordingly, the group has adopted the logo below, omitting the traditional red border of the original symbol.

Even if you belong to another military family site join Blue Stars, too. Blue Stars for Obama is “Pro Military, Pro Obama.” The commitment to the country made by all who join the military is echoed in Barack Obama’s unyielding personal commitment to public service. His dedication to make America safer by increasing the prestige of the US around the world is in total harmony with the decisions made by those in our military, and the families who support them.

Courage, Commitment, Honor...

Senator Obama’s candidacy parallels and reflects the values of courage, commitment, honor, loyalty and selfless service ~ values needed in the White House just as they are in the military. Now Michelle Obama is helping family members have a greater voice by becoming a “Blue Star for Obama.”

Blue Stars for Obama is open to any who have a family member serving in the military ~ that includes: spouse, child, parent, grandchild, niece, nephew, etc. For more information on Blue Stars for Obama and updates on Michelle Obama’s activities, check out the blog at MyBarackObama.com

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John Edwards' and Rielle Hunter Meetup Confirmed By Security Guard

Monday nights's report of John Edwards visit to alleged mistress Rielle Hunter's hotel room to see her and her new baby was confirmed by a security guard on the scene. It's a sad tale, with reports of "a shaken and ashen-faced Edwards" in it.

SEE John Edwards and Rielle Hunter

Dobson flip flops on McCain support, despite earlier vehement positions.

Religion kingpin, Focus on the Family head plugs his nose and prepares to back the Republican for president.

In a Friday column WorldNetDaily's John Lofton said, "You cannot do this, sir."

"...you cannot do this for the simple reason that you have said flatly, categorically, unqualifiedly, vehemently, repeatedly, that under no circumstances would you support McCain for president--period."

James Dobson, like Jesse Jackson, doesn't speak for me.That wouldn't be big news except for the fact that he also doesn't speak for Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell - you know, the guy who performed a marriage for the Bush family recently? Yeah, that Pastor Caldwell.

Caldwell's not sitting still, either, as you can tell from his new website -- so it seems that Dobson may have jumped the shark. Either that, or we have to say good bye to using "flip flop" as a means to deride people. Regardless, it seems you can't take James Dobson's word for what he believes, or will do.

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More Props to Nas

About a week ago, we gave Props to Nas for a song on his new album called "Black President." There's another song on there that you should check out, "Sly Fox." Here are sample lyrics:


Watch what you're watching
Fox keeps feeding us toxins
Stop sleeping
Start thinking outside of the box
And unplugged from the Matrix stopped you
But watch what you say, Fox Fire is watching

Only fox that I loved was the red one
Only black man that Fox love is
in jail or a dead one


Can you guess at which major TV news network that song is aimed? The song drew the attention of ColorofChange.org, which has its own campaign to get Fox to stop using "racist smears" (think terrorist fist jab and Michelle Obama as baby mama, for example). ColorofChange.org contacted Nas and they joined forces against Fox, most recently protesting outside Fox News HQ in Manhattan. We think this is a great partnership. For more details on the rally at Fox, see Fox News On-Air Racism Challenged by Huge Petition Drive and Hot Rapper Nas.

"Mindess McCain" - My New Name For John McCain And His Errors

"Mindess McCain" - My New Name For John McCain And His Errors

We've seen day after day of Senator John McCain's errors, from talking about countries that don't exist to saying that Iraq's boarder is next to Afghanistan, and forgetting that we attacked Afghanistan before we attacked Iraq. What else is next?

Well, I'm calling him Mindless McCain, because at times he doesn't seem to think about what he says at all. He just talks.

West Virginia Has Double Number of Registered Democrats as Republicans So Polls Are Wrong

Ok. Here's a question for you. Why is it that Rasmussen Polling has Senator John McCain over Senator Obama 45 percent to 37 percent, but there are 665,234 Democrats, 347,760 Republicans and 156,199 who are unaffiliated, according to figures released from the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office?

Think about it. That means there would be an overwhelming Democratic win in West Virginia, right? So what's Rasmussen doing with it's polling methods?

I check the site and it reads this:

Rasmussen Reports collects data for its survey research using an automated polling methodology.
Generally speaking, the automated survey process is identical to that of traditional, operator-assisted research firms such as Gallup, Harris, and Roper. However, automated polling systems use a single, digitally-recorded, voice to conduct the interview while traditional firms rely on phone banks, boiler rooms, and operator-assisted technology.
For tracking surveys such as the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll or the Rasmussen Consumer Index, the automated technology insures that every respondent hears exactly the same question, from the exact same voice, asked with the exact same inflection every single time.
All Rasmussen Reports' survey questions are digitally recorded and fed to a calling program that determines question order, branching options, and other factors. Calls are placed to randomly-selected phone numbers through a process that insures appropriate geographic representation. Typically, calls are placed from 5 pm to 9 pm local time during the week. Saturday calls are made from 11 am to 6 pm local time and Sunday calls from 1 pm to 9 pm local time.
After the calls are completed, the raw data is processed through a weighting program to insure that the sample reflects the overall population in terms of age, race, gender, political party, and other factors. The processing step is required because different segments of the population answer the phone in different ways. For example, women answer the phone more than men, older people are home more and answer more than younger people, and rural residents typically answer the phone more frequently than urban residents.
For surveys of all adults, the population targets are determined by census bureau data.
For political surveys, census bureau data provides a starting point and a series of screening questions are used to determine likely voters. The questions involve voting history, interest in the current campaign, and likely voting intentions.
Rasmussen Reports determines its partisan weighting targets through a dynamic weighting system that takes into account the state’s voting history, national trends, and recent polling in a particular state or geographic area.

So basically, Rasmussen uses an automatic calling system of "likely voters" which means they're older than the younger voters that have overwhelmingly went for Obama.

Which means they're more likely to produce a poll that favors John McCain. Consider that the Rasmussen methodogy calls listed number and many cell phones -- which young people generally use almost exclusively -- are not called.

Now I'm trying to determine if Rasmussen knows what party the people called are registered with. Rasmussen report that...

After the calls are completed, the raw data is processed through a weighting program to insure that the sample reflects the overall population in terms of age, race, gender, political party, and other factors.


"Political party" is used in the weighting? Really? So it's obvious that either Rasmussen has the wrong party registration numbers or the weighting formula itself is just plain wrong.

West Virginia has 665,234 Democrats, 347,760 Republicans and 156,199 who are unaffiliated. With those estimates, Obama should win West Virginia if all Democrats come out and vote. The polls are wrong, or Democrats are expressing a switch to vote for McCain? It's hard to tell that from the Rasmussen system. But even if that were the case, it would still not reflect what young voters are going to do, so you've got to give the advantage to Barack Obama.

Don't trust the polls in 2008.

TNR Reports No Media Love Affair With Obama; McCain Proved Wrong Again

In a revealing online article, The New Republic's Gabriel Sherman writes about the changing relationship between the press and the Obama camp, proving in the process, there's no media love for the Obama staff.

Barack Obama Before 250,000 In Berlin, Germany - Video

Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign, originally uploaded by Barack Obama.

This is a most amazing photo of a most amazing moment of a most amazing day. Senator Barack Obama waves to an estimated 250,000 people after delivering a great and historic speech that marks a change in his campaign, forever cementing the image of Senator Obama as President of The United States.

White House puts Obama speech off limits to US government workers

Citing a little used and rarely-interpreted-this-way rule, the White House let all of its employees in the region know that they were not allowed to attend Barack Obama's speech in Germany today. In theory, US government employees serving oversees are not to engage in any partisan, political activity. I can both buy into and accept this theory. How, though, an American citizen attending a speech by a US Congressman, even one who is running for President, can be seen as overtly engaging in partisan, political activity seems a stretch to me. The chances that a German citizen would have spied an American in the over 200,000 people who attended Obama's speech today, identified that American as being an arm of the White House (I'm sure they left their, "I obey W" shirts at home), and then, from that, drawn the conclusion that W, himself, is endorsing Obama, are slim to none.

Barring a foreign service employee from brandishing Obama welcome signs, raising funds at the Democratic-voters-abroad-for-Obama bake sale, or protesting Obama's visit by wearing nothing but a wooden McCain placard, seems completely legit to me. But barring them simply from attending the speech seems slightly silly and severely undemocratic. History has shown, however, that the paranoia of this White House has no bounds.

Obama Berlin Speech Draws Over 200,000 People - Zeit Online

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifThe German online news organ Zeit Online reports that over 200,000 people came out to see Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's speech.

That's double the number that some news organizations reported, and makes me wonder if attempts are afoot to diminish the power of this historic moment.