Question For Senator McCain on Black Relatives - For The Situation Room on CNN

Monday, October 20th edition of the South Florida Times reports that your Black relatives have an event called "The Coming Home Reunion" and that each member of your family has attended, including your brother Joe, except you.

In 2000 you claimed that your family did not own slaves; in the article your Black relatives dispute this. Is that why you don't attend the event, and can you shed light on this matter?

Thank you and thanks for your service to our country.

Push Poll

I received the following email and am reprinting all of the info here, with permission. It's instructive to see what's really happening. Note: the respondent does not really believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim (but as Colin Powell says, so what if he were?). Several groups, listed below, are calling for a return call campaign to jam the phone lines of this push polling organization.

Dear friends,

I just received a presumably McCain push poll on my cell phone. The push poll was as follows:

* Push Poll (PP): Are you intending to vote in the 2008 presidential election?
o Me: Yes
* PP: Do you intend to vote for John McCain?
o Me: No
* PP: Do you intend to vote for Barack Obama?
o Me: Yes
* PP: Do you want a strong President who will manage the economy?
o Me: Yes
* PP: Did you know about Barack Obama's affiliations to Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac and that most of his contributors are Washington lobbyists representing the corrupt firms that caused the financial crisis?
o Me: Yes
* PP: Does this make you less likely to vote for Barack Obama?
o Me: No
* PP: Did you know about Barack Obama's affiliation to terrorist Bill Ayers and to the fraudulent voter registration organizationAcorn?
o Me: Yes
* PP: Does this make you less likely to vote for Barack Obama?
o Me: No
* PP: Are the values of the candidates important for you in this election?
o Me: Yes
* PP: Did you know that Obama is a muslim?
o Me: Yes
* PP: Does this make you less likely to vote for Barack Obama?
o Me: No
* PP: We are going to ask you a series of questions about your demographics. Is this ok? o Me: Yes
* PP: What is your age?
o Me: 34
* PP: (Inaudible)
o Me: (Silence)
* PP: Thank you very much for taking time to answer the survey of the Political Action Committee for Change (not sure, if this was the name or not). This is an independent survey and is not affiliated with the political campaigns of John McCain or Barack Obama. (End of call)
The number was registered on my caller ID as the following: 703-263-2155, Let's call this number and shut it down! :-)

UPDATE:You should read the comments on my blog entry in dailykos.com at http://www.dailykos.com/storyo... * Someone named NH Flaming Moderate (http://www.dailykos.com/user/uid:154372) claimed to have been called from that number today, but she was unable to answer because she was at a soccer game.

* Another person named Ballerina X (http://www.dailykos.com/user/uid:97334) claims the caller ID read "Perry Elaine."

* Another person named jgilhousen (http://www.dailykos.com/user/uid:108731) claimed the location was "Herndon VA" and said that "there are several marketing/political research companies there, any of whom could be the culprit." Another person says the caller ID read: PUBSRV 2008.

* Someone named Msanger (http://www.dailykos.com/user/uid:85832) received the same exact call in Georgia at 4.30 pm Saturday.

* If you google Elaine Perry, she does voice overs: http://voice123.com/elaineperry Also, there have been twelve complaints registered against this phone number online: * http://www.callercomplaints.co...AND * http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Nu...On these lists of complaints, one person who answered the calls said they were repeated calls by the Huckabee campaign.

The Mormons for Obama on Yahoo Groups have organized a concerted effort to call the number en mass. They said they were initially getting a voice mail but now are actually getting a busy signal.

Someone in the Feminists for Obama Yahoo Group wrote:
All I could find out about that number is that it is a verizon phone and it is in Centerville, VA. If you want to find out the persons name and address, you have to pay 40 bucks. I tried calling and it just kept ringing. You may want to check with verizon though.

A fellow Truman Scholar wrote me 15 minutes ago to say:
Based on other comments I've found online, I think this is the organization that pays for those calls:http://www.americansincontact.org/

Texas A&M Newspaper Endorses Obama; First Dem In 50 Years

The Bryant / College Station Eagle Newspaper of Texas A&M shocks the world and endorses the first Democrat for President in 50 years, Senator Barack Obama. Here's the editorial that took Andrew Sullivan by surprise:

Barack Obama is the better choice for president

In the past 50 years, The Eagle has never recommended a Democrat for president. We made no recommendations in 1960 and 1964 -- when Texas' own Lyndon B. Johnson was on the Democratic ticket -- nor did we in 1968 -- although we did praise Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey's position on the Vietnam War. We did not in 1976 and 1980. In 1972, The Eagle recommend Richard Nixon, in 1984, Ronald Reagan. We recommended George H.W. Bush in 1988 and 1992 and his son in 2000. We recommended Bob Dole in 1996.
Four years ago, the Editorial Board couldn't recommend George W. Bush for a second term, but we also couldn't recommend Sen. John Kerry either, so we made no choice.

This year is different, in large part because of the very difficult challenges facing this nation after eight years of a failed Bush administration. We are faced with a choice between Sen. John McCain, who claims to be an agent of change but promotes the policies of the past, and Sen. Barack Obama, who also wears the change mantle, but offers a vision for the future, even if he has yet to fully explain how he would carry out that vision if elected president in little more than two weeks.

Every 20 or 30 years or so, a leader comes along who understands that change is necessary if the country is to survive and thrive. Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the 20th century and his cousin Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan -- these leaders have inspired us to rise to our better nature, to reach out to be the country we can be and, more important, must be.

Barack Obama is such a leader. He doesn't have all the answers, to be sure, but at least he is asking the right questions. While we would like more specificity on his plans as president, we are confident that he can lead us ever forward, casting aside the doubts and fears of recent years.

John McCain is a great American, no question. He served his country with honor in the Navy - enduring five years of hell in a North Vietnamese prison -- and he has represented Arizona and, indeed, the country well in the Senate. He has been a maverick at times, but his unbridled support for the Iraq War shows a lack of understanding at the weariness of the military and the country to remain much longer in a country unwilling or unable to govern itself.

Perhaps Obama won't be able to bring American men and women safely home from Iraq in the promised 16 months, but at least he is willing to make the effort.

Also of great concern is McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Like Obama, she has little experience in governing, but unlike the Illinois senator, she is a candidate of little intellectual curiosity who appears to be hopelessly unready to be president. The fact that people are confused by the difference between Palin and comedian Tina Fey's caustic impersonation is clear evidence that Palin should not be, as they say, a heartbeat away from the presidency.

We also are dismayed by the tenor of the McCain-Palin campaign. If their goal is to severely wound an Obama presidency should that come to pass, they are dangerously close to succeeding.

It is time for America to look to its future with hope and optimism. It is time to say we can be better. It is time to redefine who we will be as a leader of nations.

With hope in our hearts and confidence in our choice, The Eagle recommends a vote for Barack Obama for president.

The Palin Plunge: Voters Sour On McCain VP Pick

The more voters learn about Sarah Palin, the more wary they become. Once the focus of post-convention Republican euphoria, the Alaska Governor is now viewed as a serious liability to the McCain campaign.Her favorable to unfavorable ratings have switched from a positive 40-30, to a negative 32-41.

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In NC: Obama slams McCain for calling him a "socialist"

Obama in NC

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BREAKING: Head of GOP Voter Reg. Outift Arrested

Head of California GOP voter registration outfit charged with voter registration fraud, according to CA Sec. of State's office. The firm, YPM, also under investigation in several states for allegedly illegally switching thousands of registrations from Democratic to Republican...

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Colin Powell Destroys McCain's Negative Smear Campaign

From Ayers to using "Muslim" as a smear, Bachmann to the socialism charges, Powell gives a bit of straight talk. Thank you for some real honesty.

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Colin Powell Destroys McCain's Negative Smear Campaign

From Ayers to using "Muslim" as a smear, Bachmann to the socialism charges, Powell gives a bit of straight talk. Thank you for some real honesty.

read more | digg story

Joe The Plumber - Palin On SNL - Obama Draws 100,000

This is my blog report on "Joe The Plumber", where I point out that he's actually not part of of the labor force, but a member of the growing underground economy in America.

Then I praise Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's appearance on Saturday Night Live and state that she's got the wrong job -- she should be a political comedian.

Finally I look at what is the largest crowd in American Political history. 100,000 people came out in St. Louis to see Senator Barack Obama.

Diane Fanning, North Carolina's Example Of Racism Toward Obama

How many examples of racist people do we have to see between now and the November 4th election? I bring you the latest one, Diane Fanning of North Carolina, who's ugly self was on display and recorded by The LA Times:

12:33 p.m. Sen. Barack Obama entered the barbecue joint where an older and majority white clientele of dozens was eating lunch after church services. At the other end of the restaurant, Diane Fanning, 54, who works at a discount club, began yelling: “Socialist, socialist, socialist -– get out of here!”

There was a lot of noise and excitement and positive reception as well and it was unclear whether Obama heard her.

The gentleman next to Fanning, Lenox Bramble, 76, flashed an angry look at her. “Be civil, be courteous,” he admonished her. Another woman, Cecilia Hayslip, 61, yelled back at Fanning (per Reuters), “At least he’s not a warmonger!”

Mr. Bramble told Reuters’ pool reporter that he wasn’t voting for Obama because he didn’t think he had enough experience. Bramble’s wife, Kit, 75, said after meeting Obama, “He was very nice” but added she’d been a conservative Republican since Barry Goldwater’s era and she wouldn’t vote for Obama.

Fanning said (after considerable public Colin Powell discussion) that she’d heard Powell had endorsed Obama but...

...that “Colin Powell is a RINO, R-I-N-O, Republican In Name Only. This is my one day off,” she muttered.

Later, Obama came to the long table where Fanning and other members of a local First Presbyterian church were gathered. He held out his hand to her to shake it and asked, “How are you, ma’am?” but she declined to shake.

He spoke at length with many of the other parishioners at the long banquet table, however, and got a much friendlier reception as he spoke about healthcare, taxes and Social Security. Fanning told the pool reporter, “Some of them are just nicer than I am. I know how some of them think.”

But several of her fellow churchgoers said their support was genuine. Betty Waylett, 76, told him, “You’re doing a great job.” She told the pool reporter she is a Republican but will vote for Obama because she likes the way he speaks and his manner.

Waylett, who is white, said Obama’s race was not a factor. “I never thought about it one way or the other.”

Waylett, there's a lot of folks just like you.

Sarah Palin Rap Performed By Amy Pohler on SNL

This Amy Pohler's much-talked about performance of "Sarah Palin Rap" on Saturday Night Live, in which they trotted out every Palin stereotype for full hilarious view.

What will Colin Powell's Obama endorsement mean "down-ticket"

"Obama's a muslim who consorts with terrorists. He'll raise your taxes."

We've all heard rhetoric of that sort, and attacks suggesting Obama will turn the IRS into, “a giant welfare agency,” during the current campaign. On Meet the Press this morning (19 Oct 2008) General Colin Powell (Ret.) cited that sort of old-school attack among the reasons that a life-long Republican who served both the Bush presidencies has decided to vote for Senator Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential election.

Will Powell's public announcement be the tipping point in the decisions made by some of the as-yet-undecided voters? Will he lead a shift of centrist Republicans who find their party no longer epitomizes their values to vote for Obama and re-consider their political affiliation(s)?

Powell was clear in his admiration and respect for Senator McCain, and stated unambiguously that, "We are still the leader of the world that wants to be free. We are still the inspiration..." With his own attention turning to Education as a priority, Powell asserted that the candidates had faced a "Final Exam" in dealing with the financial crisis that the sub-prime mortgage lending mismanagement has created in the banking industry.

How will it play in down-ticket?

Consider Minnesota: In the 3rd Congressional District a former Marine Corps Captain who served in Iraq, Ashwin Madia, is running as a Democrat. Powell's support of Obama will lend credence to the thinking that not all who support our troops align with the current values of the Republican party. That has to work in Madia's favor - and it likely helps Steve Sarvi, too.

In the lesser observed 2nd MN CD race another Iraq vet, Sargent Sarvi, is running as a Democratic challenger, too. Sarvi, who had already served in Kosovo, resigned his duties as a Minnesota Mayor to serve in Iraq. Powell's public stand isn't so much taking the lead as it is a reflection of the reality that even within the armed forces there's a sense that the country needs a new direction. The Republicans clearly no longer own "patriotism" exclusively as part of their brand.

The only incumbent Republican Representative in Minnesota not being challenged by an Iraq War vet is Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, running for re-election in the 6th Congressional District, and she's driving people away from the party (as Zennie mentioned here earlier) with recent extremist statements widely reported in the national press. The result is nearly unprecedented levels of donation to Elwyn "El" Tinklenberg's campaign. Tinklenberg is enjoying Bachmann's discomfiture, though she's trying hard to walk back her comments that remind older voters of the worst of the Joe McCarthy era.

Powell's expressed distaste for the old-school, divisive approach of those controlling the Republican party and making statements such as Congresswoman Bachmann's mirrors a significant rejection of those tactics by voters throughout the country. The memo to ease up on inflammatory, over-the-top rhetoric evidently reached her a little late. She used precisely the sort of smear which Powell this morning characterized as demagoguery, and it's changed the entire nature of her race.

It will be ironic, indeed, if revealing her thoughts in one appearance on TV ends up turning the entire MN Congressional delegation Democratic. Michelle Bachmann's sudden notoriety may improve Obama's party-majority. It has certainly kept the attention on Minnesota, already thought to be a battleground in November.

To round out the Republican problems in Minnesota:

Poll numbers have even caused incumbent Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) to withdraw his negative TV ads against his challenger, Democrat Al Franken (though it should be noted he seems to have left them running against the third party candidate, oddly enough.) Coleman's tried to use that reversal to his advantage, but the excessively distorted negative ads had been such a hallmark one doubts even Coleman is safe in the current climate.

Had McCain's earlier promises to run an honest, respectful campaign guided the actions of his staff, had he exercised more of his own style in determining policies and the choice of a running mate, perhaps his weakness on the economy wouldn't have so utterly undermined his standing in the minds of the voters. Perhaps his leadership would have changed the tone of Coleman ads, or Bachmann's rhetoric, too. While Powell faults the leadership of the party as distinct from McCain, I find that the party's nominee must, in fact, bear some of the onus since he is during the campaign the de facto leader.

The Powell Doctrine

General Colin Powell, the man who has defined U.S. military strategic doctrine, who stands by his actions urging the invasion of Iraq based on the belief intelligence showed there were weapons of mass destruction, summarized his endorsement - his decision to vote for Barack Obama based on the merits of Obama's intellectual rigor and the choices of Republican leaders despite his obvious affection and admiration for John McCain - by saying, "I strongly believe at this point... we need a transformational figure." He's found the leadership of the Republican party lacking lately, and he's ready for change. I agree.

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