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[Hitokage]

That's the John "Sellout" McCain I've come to know and love over the past several years.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/opinion/30wed1.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

That isn't the only piece on him in the NYTimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/u...partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=login

SPARKS, Nev. — In recent days Senator John McCain has charged that Senator Barack Obama “would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign,” tarred him as “Dr. No” on energy policy and run advertisements calling him responsible for high gas prices.

The old happy warrior side of Mr. McCain has been eclipsed a bit lately by a much more aggressive, and more negative, Mr. McCain who hammers Mr. Obama repeatedly on policy differences, experience and trustworthiness.

By doing so, Mr. McCain is clearly trying to sow doubts about his younger opponent, and bring him down a peg or two. But some Republicans worry that by going negative so early, and initiating so many of the attacks himself rather than leaving them to others, Mr. McCain risks coming across as angry or partisan in a way that could turn off some independents who have been attracted by his calls for respectful campaigning.

The drumbeat of attacks could also undermine his argument that he will champion a new brand of politics.

“The McCain campaign, I think, is being pulled in two directions,” said Todd Harris, a Republican strategist who worked for Mr. McCain in 2000. “On the one hand, this race is largely a referendum on Obama, and whether or not he’s going to pass the leadership threshold in the eyes of voters. So being aggressive against Obama on questions of leadership and trust and risk are important, but at the same time I think they need to be very careful because McCain is not at his best when he is being overly partisan and negative.”

The McCain campaign said that Mr. Obama had been taking shots at Mr. McCain for some time, and that Mr. McCain was simply trying to draw the contrast between the two candidates.

Mark Salter, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain, noted that the two candidates addressed the same Hispanic groups three times this summer, and that at the first two appearances Mr. McCain declined to criticize Mr. Obama, only to be criticized. (“He suggested in his speeches here and there that I turned my back on comprehensive reform out of political necessity,” Mr. McCain complained.) The third time, he said, before La Raza, Mr. McCain decided to “correct the record.”

“There are no cheap shots,” Mr. Salter said. “There are honest differences between them. They want to take the country in different directions, and we’ll talk about it.”

Mr. McCain drew contrast after contrast with Mr. Obama at a town-hall-style meeting in a high school gym here on Tuesday, though he took a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger tone.

“Senator Obama is an impressive speaker,” he said. “And the beauty of his words has attracted many people, especially among the young, to his campaign. I applaud his talent and his success. All Americans, all Americans should be proud of his accomplishment. I know I am.

“My concern with Senator Obama is on big issues, and small issues, what he says and what he does are often two different things. And that he doesn’t seem to understand that the policies he offers would make our problems harder, not easier to solve.”

Mr. McCain went on to criticize Mr. Obama for seeking pork-barrel spending (“nearly a million dollars for every working day he’s been in office”), accused him of wanting to raise taxes, painted him as an obstructionist on energy policy, rapped him for abandoning his pledge to take public financing, and criticized his Iraq policy.

Some of his lines of attack have been accused of being misleading. Mr. McCain, for instance, said Mr. Obama had voted in the Senate “for tax hikes that would have impacted those making $32,000 a year.” FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan Web site, said the vote was on a budget resolution to raise taxes on people making $41,500 a year; the $32,000 figure, it said, was the amount of taxable income those people had.

An advertisement criticized Mr. Obama for the high price of gas. “Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?” an announcer intoned, as chants of “Obama, Obama” were heard.

Dan Schnur, who worked on Mr. McCain’s 2000 campaign and is the director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, said the McCain campaign seemed to be drawing on lessons from watching the Democratic primary fight between Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“It wasn’t until the last weeks of the primary that Clinton and her campaign really took the gloves off on Obama, and as it happens it was too little, too late,” he said. “Obama is at his best when he talks from the mountaintop, and Clinton showed that the best hope for an opponent is to pull him back down to earth. McCain’s campaign quickly decided not to wait as long as she did.”

But some Republicans say privately that Mr. McCain, by trying to make the election a referendum on Mr. Obama, risks ceding control of some of the narrative by constantly reacting.

Mike Murphy, a Republican media consultant who worked on Mr. McCain’s 2000 campaign, said that while the campaign needed to balance positive messages about Mr. McCain with negative ones about Mr. Obama, he thought it should ultimately be more about what Mr. McCain would do than Mr. Obama.

“I think the campaign does have to be careful about its tone,” Mr. Murphy said. “A pure attack tone could be perilous.”

 

[StoOgE]

That isn't the only piece on him in the NYTimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/u...partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=login

This is perfect. The NYtimes does it, everyone elses editorial board will follow. Which means the talking heads will use this for the next several weeks to call out Obama.

 

[reilo]

This is perfect. The NYtimes does it, everyone elses editorial board will follow. Which means the talking heads will use this for the next several weeks to call out Obama.

Last weeks buzzword was "presumptuous."

Will this week's be "angry" and "partisan?" Against McCain? Yeah right.

 

[StoOgE]

Last weeks buzzword was "presumptuous."

Will this week's be "angry" and "partisan?" Against McCain? Yeah right.

reread mine, this will somehow be swung as a positive for McCain.

 

[reilo]

reread mine, this will somehow be swung as a positive for McCain.

Did you just stealth edit that bitch?!

 

[StoOgE]

Did you just stealth edit that bitch?!

Nope.

I dont think. Its late. I dont know.

 

[librasox]

He didn't edit the original statement.

Still, I don't see how it can be spun as a positive unless some right-wing nutjob can convince people that "OMG those damn libruls" in the media are in cahoots against McCain. If the NYT had any shred of journalistic integrity left, maybe the posted article would actually have some weight as encompassing the entire liberal voice, but the NYT doesn't, so the article doesn't.

I don't know, I'm ranting. Off to sleep, my internet pals.

 

[adamsappel]

Wow, that kid was a plant.:lol

You know, you're really terrible about providing context with your posts. We're not all watching the same program at the same time as you.

 

[Hootie]

You know, you're really terrible about providing context with your posts. We're not all watching the same program at the same time as you.

MSNBC.

 

[adamsappel]

MSNBC.

Yeah, that's just as helpful.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

FANTASTIC Times article on OBAMA's time as Law Professor

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/us/politics/30law.html?pagewanted=1&hp

Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Apart

By JODI KANTOR
Published: July 30, 2008

EXCERPTS:

CHICAGO — The young law professor stood apart in too many ways to count. At a school where economic analysis was all the rage, he taught rights, race and gender. Other faculty members dreamed of tenured positions; he turned them down. While most colleagues published by the pound, he never completed a single work of legal scholarship. (p. 1)

...

Before he outraised every other presidential primary candidate in American history, Mr. Obama marched students through the thickets of campaign finance law. Before he helped redraw his own State Senate district, making it whiter and wealthier, he taught districting as a racially fraught study in how power is secured. And before he posed what may be the ultimate test of racial equality — whether Americans will elect a black president — he led students through African-Americans’ long fight for equal status. (p. 1)

<snip>

For all the weighty material, Mr. Obama had a disarming touch. He did not belittle students; instead he drew them out, restating and polishing halting answers, students recall. In one class on race, he imitated the way clueless white people talked. “Why are your friends at the housing projects shooting each other?” he asked in a mock-innocent voice.

A favorite theme, said Salil Mehra, now a law professor at Temple University, were the values and cultural touchstones that Americans share. Mr. Obama’s case in point: his wife, Michelle, a black woman, loved “The Brady Bunch” so much that she could identify every episode by its opening shots.

As his reputation for frank, exciting discussion spread, enrollment in his classes swelled. Most scores on his teaching evaluations were positive to superlative. Some students started referring to themselves as his groupies. (Mr. Obama, in turn, could play the star. In what even some fans saw as self-absorption, Mr. Obama’s hypothetical cases occasionally featured himself. “Take Barack Obama, there’s a good-looking guy,” he would introduce a twisty legal case.) (p. 2)

The article also links to PDFs of his final exams from his seminar from 1996 through 2003. And a course syllabus from 1994.

Below, a page grab of the aforementioned syllabus:

 

[GhaleonEB]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95NSWsNah60

They really should run this stuff on TV.

 

[Farmboy]

Nice read: Why is the Democratic candidate always a flip-flopper?

 

[iapetus]

Dear lord. Obama ringtones? And mobile phone wallpaper. Who would use that stuff?

 

[StoOgE]

Nope, McCain being an overreaching jerk in the NYtimes gets glossed over on Morning Joe.

Obama being presumptuous piece in the Washington Post? Well, they call him President Obama in the whole article. Coverage all morning.

So looks like we are still stuck with Obama = too presumptive.

They need to announce a veep soon to distract the MSM.

 

[maximum360]

Nope, McCain being an overreaching jerk in the NYtimes gets glossed over on Morning Joe.

Obama being presumptuous piece in the Washington Post? Well, they call him President Obama in the whole article. Coverage all morning.

So looks like we are still stuck with Obama = too presumptive.

They need to announce a veep soon to distract the MSM.

Obama's team has done well with timing events to control the narrative. While I do agree that Obama has to be careful about how his words, there is only so much he can do. The media and the GOP has tried relentlessly to put him in a box. Two weeks ago Obama was too inexperienced and he not capable of being commander in chief due to his lacking in foreign policy credentials. Last week, Obama was "acting too presidential". This week, Obama is exuding hubris and playing the role of commander in chief without having to make the "pesky policy decisions". Every week the media pushes a new theme that they hope will stick.

When Obama gets on the trail and starts talking "populist" to America, they'll throw another caricature out there.

What's amazing though (or not really not so amazing when you think about it) is that McCain can make any claims about himself and at best may get a passing comment.

I just wonder how many code words for "Black" we'll see before now and the election.

 

[ralexand]

When is Obama going back on the stump? He needs to talk to the people.

 

[syllogism]

Today

 

[scorcho]

since the economy is so woven into this election cycle (and is an area where Democrats have typically fared better), it's worth noting that the Fed Reserve apparently agrees that all the shit hasn't hit the fan yet. this is on top of the IMF's report a few days ago saying the US housing crisis had no end in sight.

when are the first debates starting again? i'm eagerly awaiting the contrast between Obama's economics platform and McCain's psychonomics.

 

[The Lamonster]

When is Obama going back on the stump? He needs to talk to the people.

He's doing town halls in rural areas of my state today...

 

[GhaleonEB]

A long front-page article on McCain's bullshit attack about Obama not visiting the troops because he can't bring cameras with him.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said again yesterday that the Republican's version of events is correct, and that Obama canceled the visit because he was not allowed to take reporters and cameras into the hospital.

"It is safe to say that, according to press reports, Barack Obama avoided, skipped, canceled the visit because of those reasons," he said. "We're not making a leap here."

Asked repeatedly for the "reports," Bounds provided three examples, none of which alleged that Obama had wanted to take members of the media to the hospital.

The McCain campaign has produced a television commercial that says that while in Germany, Obama "made time to go to the gym but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras." The commercial shows Obama shooting a basketball -- an event that happened earlier in the trip on a stopover in Kuwait, where the Democrat spoke to troops in a gym before grabbing a ball and taking a single shot. The military released the video footage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902286.html?hpid=topnews

I really hope Obama pounds on him for this garbage.

 

[The Librarian]

Dear lord. Obama ringtones? And mobile phone wallpaper. Who would use that stuff?

Obama would.

 

[BotoxAgent]

...while McCain is still figuring out how to use a rotary phone :lol

 

[The Lamonster]

...while McCain is still figuring out how to use a rotary phone :lol

http://www.instantrimshot.com/

 

[Door2Dawn]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/29/obamas_symbolic_importance.html

By Jonathan Weisman
Perhaps he's beginning to believe the hype.

In his closed door meeting with House Democrats this evening, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama delivered a real zinger. According to a witness, he was waxing lyrical about last week's trip to Europe, when he concluded, "this is the moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the world is waiting for."

The 200,000 souls who thronged to his speech in Berlin came not just for him, he told the enthralled audience of congressional representatives.

"I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions," he said.

Now,lets see what he REALLY said...

"His entire point of that riff was that the campaign IS NOT about him. The Post left out the important first half of the sentence, which was something along the lines of: 'It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have just become a symbol ... ."

From talking points memo:http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/account_of_presumptious_obama.php

Way to go Washington Post..

 

[pxleyes]

Dear lord. Obama ringtones? And mobile phone wallpaper. Who would use that stuff?

I actually converted the "night" wallpaper on the Obama site into a cell phone wallpaper, looks really nice and you can barely tell it is pro-Obama.

 

[maynerd]

Looks like the pro-obama media is at it again.

 

[maximum360]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/29/obamas_symbolic_importance.html

Now,lets see what he REALLY said...


From talking points memo:http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/account_of_presumptious_obama.php

Way to go Washington Post..

The Washington Post has officially created an attack Ad for the GOP by taking his quote out of context. Good job WP. Now, I expect to see pundits and others completely dismiss the context today to rile people up for rating sake and then either clarify or completely act like they never did anything to fan the flames.

 

[StoOgE]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/29/obamas_symbolic_importance.html

Now,lets see what he REALLY said...


From talking points memo:http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/account_of_presumptious_obama.php

Way to go Washington Post..

Journalism: dead or dying?

 

[mckmas8808]

A long front-page article on McCain's bullshit attack about Obama not visiting the troops because he can't bring cameras with him.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902286.html?hpid=topnews

I really hope Obama pounds on him for this garbage.

Looks like some in the media are starting to push back on McCain's bullshittery.

 

[GhaleonEB]

The Washington Post has officially created an attack Ad for the GOP by taking his quote out of context. Good job WP. Now, I expect to see pundits and others completely dismiss the context today to rile people up for rating sake and then either clarify or completely act like they never did anything to fan the flames.

First Read had me doing an epic double-take this morning.

The Washington Post has him telling House Democrats yesterday: “I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.” But Politico is reporting that that wasn’t the entire quote. Per a Democratic source, “[The Post] left out the important first half of the sentence, which was along the lines of: ‘It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It’s about America. I have just become a symbol…” Regardless of the context now, this narrative has been ready to explode at some point and even a misreported quote was enough to spark this arrogance watch.

Did you follow that? "Regardless of the context".

They're basically admitting that the narrative has been written, and the media run with it - regardless of whether it's true or not.

 

[scorcho]

it's a missive on their blog. who cares?

 

[GhaleonEB]

it's a missive on their blog. who cares?

They ran it in the paper as well.

THE GOP IS VERY EXCITED ABOUT a quote that The Washington Post runs on both a blog and in the paper, in which Obama supposedly tells House Democrats......

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/Spinning_symbolism.html?showall

 

[scorcho]

They ran it in the paper as well.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/Spinning_symbolism.html?showall

ah, Milbank - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902068.html

 

[mckmas8808]

The Washington Post has officially created an attack Ad for the GOP by taking his quote out of context. Good job WP. Now, I expect to see pundits and others completely dismiss the context today to rile people up for rating sake and then either clarify or completely act like they never did anything to fan the flames.

They were talking about this all morning on Morning Joe.

So basically Dana Milbanks took a quote where Obama is going out of his way to say that its not about him and took half the damn away to make it seem like it is all about him.

Nice job libural media. Way to be in the pocket of your beloved god of a man.

 

[bob_arctor]

They're basically admitting that the narrative has been written, and the media run with it - regardless of whether it's true or not.

There was also audio of Obama liking his chances to win the election. They played it last night on that Abrams show on MSNBC.

The Uppity Negro is alive and well in 2008.

 

[maximum360]

First Read had me doing an epic double-take this morning.


Did you follow that? "Regardless of the context".

They're basically admitting that the narrative has been written, and the media run with it - regardless of whether it's true or not.

The media only cares about context when talking about John McCain. They go out of their way to explain what McCain's intent and purpose was.

 

[scorcho]

not sure if it's 'uppity negro' syndrome, or just collective over-reaction from reporters who think they've been weak in the knees for Obama for months.

edit: new McCain ad! look at Obama, the latest pseudo-celeb slut with loose morals!

gee. i wonder if they chose blond white women on purpose...

 

[bob_arctor]

not sure if it's 'uppity negro' syndrome, or just collective over-reaction from reporters who think they've been weak in the knees for Obama for months.

edit: new McCain ad! look at Obama, the latest pseudo-celeb slut with loose morals!

gee. i wonder if they chose blond white women on purpose...

Uppity! Brazen! Must...take...down...many...pegs...

 

[adamsappel]

The Washington Post has officially created an attack Ad for the GOP by taking his quote out of context. Good job WP. Now, I expect to see pundits and others completely dismiss the context today to rile people up for rating sake and then either clarify or completely act like they never did anything to fan the flames.

The Post is my local paper and I read it every day. With the exception of sympathetic coverage of black issues, which is understandable given the city's makeup, it is not a "librul" paper. The editorial page columnists are mostly conservative. They're still justifying their support for the Iraq war. The editorial cartoonist is pretty liberal, but I suspect he gets more than a few cartoons axed, as he seems to take a lot of vacations.

It's not a very well-written paper, either. The sportswriters are pretty good, Steven Hunter is a great movie critic, and there's a guy who seemingly only writes about planes crashes who makes me wish for more aviation disasters, but I'm rarely impressed with the quality of the writing.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Seems like too much of a he said-he said issue than anything one can inject race (and uppity-ness) into

 

[mckmas8808]

ah, Milbank - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902068.html

Reading that article, why is it wrong and presumptuous for Obama to do the following....

1. Meet with The current treasury secretary
2. Meet with The chairman of the Federal Reserve
3. Have the house democrats behind him yeterday as he talked the economy
4. Have the Committee chairman arrive early.
5. Have capital police clear the halls
6. giving advice to world leaders

And Milbanks even says that the media is a partner of Obama. The story is dumb as fuck, considering just weeks ago the media was wondering if Obama could be seen as presidential before the overseas trip.

Now it looks like the media is pissed because he looks and acts too presidential.

 

[bob_arctor]

Seems like too much of a he said-he said issue than anything one can inject race (and uppity-ness) into

My feeling is that the McCain camp is essentially in full-blown "FEAR OF THE OTHER" mode.

 

[maximum360]

The Post is my local paper and I read it every day. With the exception of sympathetic coverage of black issues, which is understandable given the city's makeup, it is not a "librul" paper. The editorial page columnists are mostly conservative. They're still justifying their support for the Iraq war. The editorial cartoonist is pretty liberal, but I suspect he gets more than a few cartoons axed, as he seems to take a lot of vacations.

It's not a very well-written paper, either. The sportswriters are pretty good, Steven Hunter is a great movie critic, and there's a guy who seemingly only writes about planes crashes who makes me wish for more aviation disasters, but I'm rarely impressed with the quality of the writing.

The Post is my local paper too (DC resident). Too bad the only real competition is The Washington Times.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

**Heads Up: Obama Live Right Now**

http://edition.cnn.com/video/live/live.html?stream=stream2

OBAMA IN MISSOURI

Sen. Barack Obama attends an economic security town-hall style event in Springfield, MO.

 

[PhoenixDark]

My feeling is that the McCain camp is essentially in full-blown "FEAR OF THE OTHER" mode.

No doubt. They're firing up evangelicals and older whites with the constant harping on this young, world leading magical politician with a tongue of gold. That NY Times article is pretty spot on. McCain tried going the high road, saw it didn't work, and has switched to the tired but true fearmongering that almost always wins.

 

[Mumei]

Seems like too much of a he said-he said issue than anything one can inject race (and uppity-ness) into

On the surface, yes, it is "he said-he said." I have a nasty feeling that the intent is to engage in a bit of dog-whistle politics, trying to portray Obama as the stereotypical "Uppity Negro." I happen to think that that is the point of the "presumptuous" accusations.

Or maybe I'm just paranoid and the narrative that has been playing out over the last week or so is completely aboveboard.

 

[Evlar]

On the surface, yes, it is "he said-he said." I have a nasty feeling that the intent is to engage in a bit of dog-whistle politics, trying to portray Obama as the stereotypical "Uppity Negro." I happen to think that that is the point of the "presumptuous" accusations.

Or maybe I'm just paranoid and the narrative that has been playing out over the last week or so is completely aboveboard.

I think you're right to be concerned. "Presumptuous" is loaded with meaning.

 

[mckmas8808]

not sure if it's 'uppity negro' syndrome, or just collective over-reaction from reporters who think they've been weak in the knees for Obama for months.

edit: new McCain ad! look at Obama, the latest pseudo-celeb slut with loose morals!

gee. i wonder if they chose blond white women on purpose...

Why do they constantly have commericals where people are yelling Obama's name?

And why do they think showing Paris and Brittney Spears will add to this ad?