Obama Campaign: "You all are idiots."

Hat tip to Hotair.com:

Yesterday in Missouri, Obama predicted McCain and the GOP would use racially-tinged attacks against him.

“What they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me,” Obama said. “You know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”

An Obama spokesman denied that the line about “dollar bills” was related to the Democrat’s race.

“What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn’t get here after spending decades in Washington,” Gibbs said Thursday. “There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn’t come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race.”

How completely stupid do they think we are? As for McCain, I imagine he's thinking what Jon Lovitz is saying right about here...

Answering two of the biggest concerns on Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin's Vice Presidential stock has been consistently rising as of late. In fact, in the latest Intrade she is ranked #4. However, in my discussions with friends regarding her viability as Vice President, two concerns have been paramount. One, is she ready to be President....and two, does she have enough name recognition?

I've quickly jotted down some thoughts on both. While I don't cover every angle as to the whys and why nots of Sarah Palin, this does touch on some of the major concerns.

1) Can she be POTUS?

It's a tough question. Would I feel comfortable with her taking over on inauguration day? No. But, there are very few candidates that one can really feel comfortable answering 'yes' to that question. A couple Governors...perhaps a couple Senators.

Speaking for Palin specifically, while she has served as Governor and accomplished quite a bit, particularly on ethics reform and energy, she admittedly will be a 'learn on the job' Vice President, but hey, that's part of the reason for having the gig in the first place.

What must be acknowledged is that 'Can she be POTUS' not be the only question asked when determining who should be VP. Obviously, it's immensely important, but it isn't the end all, be all.

2) She's relatively unknown.

Yep. Definitely true. But, politically speaking, you make your pick based on who won't hurt you. She definitely won't. She's a likeable conservative and while she may be unknown when she's announced, she won't be unknown on announcement day +1. In fact, her anonymity could actually be a blessing. Imagine all the 'Get to Know Sarah Palin' articles and stories there would be all over the MSM. Politically speaking, she seems to be very gifted and appeals far beyond her conservative base as the recent 80% approval rating confirms.

My concern about her is that I have yet to hear her speak much on foreign policy/WoT, but that can't be blamed on her...she simply hasn't had an opportunity to share those feelings with the MSM. If anyone has some background on this, I'd be very interested to read it.

Where in the world is Mary Jo Kilroy?

As some of my readers know, I'm a diehard Ohioan. In fact, that's where I got my start in the world of politics by working on local and statewide campaigns. An unavoidable aspect of these types of campaigns is the 'parade'. There were always four big rules we followed when organizing a parade event for our candidate:

1) Always get twice as much candy as you think you'll need.
2) Use an American car whenever possible.
3) Have enough water for the long parade routes.
4) Never have less than 10 volunteers walking with the candidate.

I never realized there should be a 5th.

Make sure you don't use a stand-in for the candidate.



Yep. That's not Mary Jo Kilroy, candidate for the 15th congressional district of Ohio.

Weird.

Hat tip to Naublog, and whoever is doing the commentary on the video. Brilliant.

He's a witch!

For those that don't read it, The Corner is a blog that includes several contributors to the National Review. On the blog they post throughout the day on politics/policy.

They seem to be ok with Gov. Jindal, but the recent surge in talk of him being McCain's Vice-Presidential choice has really made them bring out an ever so subtle carving knife to cut the buzz on him.

Apparently back in college Jindal, a converted Catholic, witnessed and wrote a paper on an exorcism. The Corner has been obsessing over this all day in a very sly attempt to discredit the Governor as a potential VP candidate. While they've been talking a lot about his time as Governor, they keep bringing up the exorcism as something that hinders him. An example:

"The Exorcist as Veep? [Andrew Stuttaford]

Bobby Jindal seems like a smart guy, but I think he needs a successful stint as governor to exorcize, so to speak, the memory of some of his more esoteric spiritual adventures."

Just bringing it up is an effort to 'demonize' the Governor. While some Corner posters do defend him, the continued harping on the topic is clearly an effort to increase awareness of the incident and part of an effort(organized or not) to remove him from the mix.

As any who have read the blog know, the National Review has been in the bag for Romney since the primaries and they clearly are trying to knock out Jindal in a way that doesn't seem like a smear of his abilities as Governor. Pretty lame, in my opinion.

It's gonna be Romney or Pawlenty!!!!

Or not.

I'm not a huge fan of either of them. Neither will inspire the base or convince a swing voter that this isn't the Republican Party of George Bush.

Or, their recent promotion by the GOP establishment could simply be distractions used to keep McCain in the news cycle while Obama continues his world tour.

Politics is goofy.

Ooo! Games!

Now here is the perfect timewaster for a political junkie, 270towin.com. These guys put together an interactive electoral map and you just have to click the state until it turns red or blue. From there you can see where your map stands. Currently I have McCain winning 274-264. Of the key states, I have New Mexico, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania going for Obama; and Colorado, Nevada, and Ohio going to McCain.

Check it out.

Ka-Boom.

This is how you put a Democrat in his place.

"...no matter who is President..."

I'm not sure who is running Vets for Freedom, but they know how to produce a solid ad.

Speculation, Schmeculation!

Those with any sense of logic or decency have been annoyed for quite some time at the assertion from liberals that drilling in ANWR, or any other location infested with black gold, would not produce any oil for 7-10 years and in turn, would not reduce gas prices one cent until then.

(some of that ANWR oil supply would have been nice right about now if we started drilling back in the mid-90s like many wanted to, eh?)

But now we have real and hard evidence that liberal claims are just plain bunk. From today's NRO:

"In a dramatic move yesterday President Bush removed the executive-branch moratorium on offshore drilling. Today, at a news conference, Bush repeated his new position, and slammed the Democratic Congress for not removing the congressional moratorium on the Outer Continental Shelf and elsewhere. Crude-oil futures for August delivery plunged $9.26, or 6.3 percent, almost immediately as Bush was speaking, bringing the barrel price down to $136.

Now isn’t this interesting?

Democrats keep saying that it will take 10 years or longer to produce oil from the offshore areas. And they say that oil prices won’t decline for at least that long. And they, along with Obama and McCain, bash so-called oil speculators. And today we had a real-world example as to why they are wrong. All of them. Reid, Pelosi, Obama, McCain — all of them.

Traders took a look at a feisty and aggressive George Bush and started selling the market well before a single new drop of oil has been lifted. What does this tell us? Well, if Congress moves to seal the deal, oil prices will probably keep on falling. That’s the way traders work. They discount the future. Psychology and expectations can turn on a dime."

Before Bush rescinded the executive order we had two barriers that prevented us from increasing America's oil supply and, just as importantly, increasing that supply ourselves rather than buying from foreign entities. But still, as of right now we still can't drill for any oil offshore. Yet one distinctly symbolic effort by our Executive Branch decreased the price of oil. Imagine how speculators will react when offshore drilling truly is opened up by Congress and Americans are able to fully engage in digging our way out of ridiculously high gas prices.

I survived. Barely.

Off to Dewey Beach....no posting til Monday.

Drinkin' time, bitches.

Oops. Did I do that?

From Jake Tapper's blog on ABC:

By the time we all heard about it the unscheduled stop that the campaign plane of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, made in St. Louis yesterday was ultimately uneventful. But the incident was quite dicey there for a spell.

As the pilot struggled to re-gain control of the pitch of the plane - the angle of the nose of the plane - Obama was told that he and the other 44 passengers on board might have to assume the brace position upon landing, bending forward with their heads between their knees.

Ooo. Kinky.

This was not Obama's regular campaign plane, which is being overhauled. It was a loaner, having previously been used by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY.

Convenient, eh?

"I can't believe I'm losing to this guy!"

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post asked today about Obama's recent shift to the middle on Iraq:

"...(is) Obama's move to the middle is simply a political gambit aimed at appealing to the crucial independent and moderate voters or whether it is the sign of a nuanced candidate seeking to avoid taking rigid positions on difficult and changeable issues?"

My answer?

This is less a matter of political expediency than it is about an illustration of readiness for the office of President.

Someone who is ready for the Presidency would make known from the beginning that he would consider the advice of his military advisors before making any decisions on pulling out.

The problem here isn't the current obvious political expediency, it is Obama's willingness to play politics with the lives of our soldiers. His original and continued promise(that can't be understated) to pull out within 16 months flies in the face of any statement that exhibits willingness to listen to military leadership.

His shift now is a necessary one if he becomes President, but it is not one he should have needed to make in the first place.

Do you really want to elect the last kid in class that figured out the math problem?

America. Cherish it.

Muppets do.

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Best thing I heard all weekend...

"A taxpayer voting for Obama is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders."

Hi boss. Remember me?

With news that the RNC(read: McCain's campaign) is releasing its first negative tv ads in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, we can now certifiably say we know where McCain thinks this race will be won. While Obama has his 50-state strategy, McCain is doing the targeting he needs to with his finite resources.

As my tendencies seem to be as of late, of great curiousity to me is who McCain will select as his Vice President. More important than the individual's home state is their ability to click with the states McCain has targeted. Does the VP candidate have the right mindset, character and substance to enthuse the Midwest?

So who fits the bill? Palin? Sure. Jindal? Doubt it. Crist? Ha. Romney? HAHAHAHAH!!! Well, how about we consider someone who knows and lives midwestern values....John Kasich.

He was Budget Chair when they balanced the budget for the first time in something like 35 years, for goodness sakes. He's pro-life. He's quite clearly acceptable to conservatives of just about all kinds, but with the demeanor, working class background, and even the ethnic name that will help with moderates, independents, Reagan Democrats. Here's a guy who can help both in Ohio, which he represented, and in Pennsylvania, where he grew up the son of -- I believe -- a mailman. He has terrific people skills and speaking skills. He helps in Ohio more than Portman does -- he's better known, and represented Ohio longer -- and he is SO much more blue-collar, so much less boringly "white bread," than Portman that the difference is stark. He is better known nationally, too due to his regular hosting of a show on Fox News Channel and due to two reasonably well-selling books.

Now, the problem voters may have with accepting Kasich is that he hasn't been 'in the game', as it were, since 2000. But, his is the kind of personality that can quickly win people over. John is the guy who was there when Republicans were actually proud of their majority, as opposed to how we all felt when we lost that majority two years ago.

Kasich also has to consider his options. Does he even WANT the VP nomination? Clearly, he wants to be President someday. But he first wants to start by helping Ohio out of the mess Taft left it in. That's why he's been briskly running all over the state for the past year speaking at Lincoln Day dinner after Lincoln Day dinner. I saw him speak at the Franklin County dinner last year, and my old friends/Ohio political hacks were ready to jump out onto the campaign trail right away for him.

So does accepting the slot get him closer to the Presidency? Obviously, if McCain wins that puts Kasich in the drivers seat in 2016. But what if McCain loses? Does that damage his run for Governor and how will it affect the almost assured primary battle with Rob Portman? Clearly there are lots of variables to consider, but one thing is for sure, John Kasich must be considered for the nomination.

Finally, I must come clean...I'm a former staffer for Mr. Kasich. I've tried to analyze this VP possibility without my John Kasich colored sunglasses, but hey, I'm only human.

Two things are for sure, Mr. McCain has several great options to choose from, and the Republican bench is deep, ready and waiting.

"I'll take 8 gallons of unleaded, some jerky and that dirty, dirty whore in the corner."

It seems the energy crisis is affecting all facets of American industry. Yes, even the oldest profession:

A Kentucky woman is facing prostitution charges for allegedly trading sex for gasoline. Angela Eversole, 34, was nabbed last weekend during a police stakeout at a Days Inn, where she allegedly trysted with customer Kenneth Nowak. According to court records, Nowak admitted paying for Eversole's services, in part, with a $100 Speedway gas card. Eversole was hit with a prostitution rap and also charged with doing business without an occupational license. Nowak was charged with promoting prostitution. Eversole and Nowak are pictured below in mug shots snapped following their June 27 arrests. A local prosecutor noted that it was sad to see someone selling their body for gas, in this case about 25 gallons worth.

Depressing, isn't it? What happened to the good ole days when we could pickup a quick handy for a couple Snickers and a Giant Eagle coupon?

I, for one, bow down to our new robotic overlords...

RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!

Soft and squishy chemical robots will one day squeeze through tight spots then expand to 10 times larger, offering an advantage over rigid robots. Once a mission is complete, a chembot would biodegrade.

Clearly, we're all gonna die.

It's all about timing...

Yesterday, Adam Nagourney of the New York Times discussed the timing each campaign will consider to announce their respective Vice Presidential selections. He states:

"...the calendar also presents an opportunity for Mr. McCain. The Democratic convention ends on Thursday Aug. 28, and the Republican convention begins the following Monday. What better way for Mr. McCain to squash whatever lift Mr. Obama receives from his convention than to announce his choice for running mate just as Democrats are folding their tent in Denver? It would knock Mr. Obama to the back of the stage and give Mr. McCain a nice little lift going into his own convention. And yes, Republicans say that is something that is under very serious consideration in the McCain camp."

Nagourney's guess seems to make the most sense for McCain: Stop the bounce and gain the benefit of selecting someone that can counter Obama's selection.

But what other option does McCain really have? Due to the Summer Olympics, the only alternative would be to make the selection in early August/late July. In terms of days before the Convention, a selection at this time would be much earlier than any of the previous selections from either Party over the past 20 years.

Would that be so bad?

Well, let's consider the negatives...the most glaring would be that McCain could not select someone to counter Obama's pick, and in turn, would give that advantage to Obama. The other negative is missing the opportunity to negate the Obama post-convention bounce, as described by Nagourney. But, is that really the case? Is coverage of the beginning of the National GOP Convention really that much less than that of the VP selection if both are at the same time? It would seem that the coverage of both would lessen the impact of each. In other words, coverage of the beginning of the GOP convention should have enough of an impact on Obama's post-convention bounce in order to enable McCain to make their selection earlier.

So what are the benefits of selecting the GOP Vice Presidential candidate before the Summer Olympics? Well, provided the timing is right, it could be the last major political story before coverage of the Olympics commences and the public tunes out due to an obsession with women's gymnastics or their own personal vacations to wherever people go before school starts.

Now if we assume that McCain will make a solid selection :cough: SARAH PALIN! :cough: then McCain will go into this downtime on a likely poll upswing. Public opinion is unlikely to sway in any major way over the course of the Olympics and McCain can enjoy higher than usual poll numbers for 16 days. Upon the completion of the American ass-kicking of the world(yay Women's gymnastics!), we have the bounce for Obama with his convention which is quickly muted by the GOP convention.

Another positive is that Pali....er....the VP selection could then be used for fundraising events/rallies/as a major TV surrogate much earlier than Obama, or anyone, likely expected. Also, the usual negative vetting that comes days after the selection could be muted by the lack of coverage due to the Olympics.

The question then seems, do these positives outweigh the fact that Obama will be able to base his selection off of McCain's choice? Clearly, it seems to be a benefit for Obama, but the media also will likely heighten the pressure of making the correct choice. If he doesn't, or if he seems to be pandering to fit McCain's choice, then Obama could get ripped apart throughout the fourth estate.

Quite a conundrum, eh?