Poll, Poll, Everywhere A Poll, Poll

Roses, man, roses.

The latest Washington Post/ABC News survey put Obama at 53 percent to McCain's 43 percent, while the daily Gallup tracking poll showed Obama holding a similar lead of 51 percent to 41 percent on Monday.

Obama's 54 percent to 38 percent lead in Michigan helps to explain why McCain decided to pull down his ads and pull out the majority of his campaign staff from the Wolverine State--

...the Illinois senator led McCain in Wisconsin 54 percent to 37 percent, and held a 51 percent to 40 percent edge in Minnesota.

In Colorado's open seat Senate race, Democratic Rep. Mark Udall holds a commanding 54 percent to 40 percent lead over former Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer. In Minnesota, Sen. Norm Coleman (R) has slipped into a dead heat with his Democratic opponent Al Franken; Franken stands at 38 percent to 36 percent for Coleman and 18 percent for independent candidate Dean Barkley.

Looks like the upper Midwest has done its usual good job, even if there are Norwegians among those polled. My emphasis. That would be my friend Al Franken.

J.B. Van Hollen's Attempt To Hijack The Campaign 2008

Since the McSame/Palin/Bu$hCo campaign can't complete in the marketplace of ideas, (ever hear of a ReThug with a good idea?} they sink even lower in their personal outhouse hole (small town values). Our own ReThug, J.B. Van Hollen has filed a vote suppression lawsuit against Wisco's Government Accountability Board, except it's Van Hollen who is attempting to suppress the vote by filing this lawsuit. Otherwise, how can McSame win? This has been the ReThugs main political tactic since the stolen 2000 presidential election.

Van Hollen, a Republican who is co-chair of John McCain's presidential campaign in Wisconsin, filed suit against the state's Government Accountability Board Wednesday. That followed days of complaining by the Republican Party of Wisconsin over a decision by the Government Accountability Board against retroactively cross-checking voter registration as far back as January 1, 2006 against Department of Transportation records.

"McCain talks about 'Country First.' Van Hollen practices 'Party First,'" Ross said. "Van Hollen should recuse himself from lawsuits regarding this election. He has a clear conflict of interest."

My Friend Al

Al Franken won the Democratic nomination for Senator in yesterday's election. Good for him. Maybe I will be able to ride his coattails to -- somewhere.

Donate to my friend Al here.

No Sex For You

If you're brown, black, red, yellow, or Democratic. If you are a candidate for the Vice President, it's OK for your 17-year old daughter. I guess it's the Vice part. Oh, & quite the vetting job McLame. So, as usual, it's IOKIYAR. It's not that I am against sex, I'm against hypocrisy. & listen to this, out of the mouth of a candidate for the Vice Presidency:

“Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows that she has our unconditional love and support.”

I mean, Jesus Christ on a potato roll. So much for that pillar of right-wing wingnuttery - personal responsibility. Yeah, yeah, she's going to marry the father, so at least it wasn't a one night stand, although we all know the unfortunate statistics when it comes to a marriage brought on by pregnancy.

According to "Teenage Couples: Caring, Change, and Commitment", by Jeanne Warren Lindsay:

More than 60% of teenage marriages fail within 5 years.

Eleanor H. Ayer's writes in her book, Teen Marriage, that:

"A girl married at 17 is twice as likely to be divorced as a girl 18 or 19. If a girl waits until she is 25 the chances that her marriage will last are 4 times better. Saying No to your partner as a teenager does not mean saying No forever. Why start out with the odds against you?"

Here's a real educated member of Palin's church, Wasilla Bible Church, speaking his entire mind.

Nate Bair, a member of the church, said he is proud to live where Palin grew up. ``Obama is a socialist'' he said.

Speaking of candidate Palin's church, here's the first paragraph of a sermon given on August 17, 2008:

Pastor Larry: The Lord put David Brickner on our calendar almost three years ago, put it in ink, said “David Brickner, August 17th, 2008, Wasilla Bible Church. He’s an international speaker—his schedule ends up being two to three years out. He’s a leader of Jews for Jesus, a ministry that is out on the leading edge in a pressing, demanding area of witnessing and evangelism. Our connection with them probably goes back to the 1970s when I first heard a music group from Jews for Jesus called “The Liberated Wailing Wall” in Seattle, Washington. And they had an impact on my life. They’re one of the reasons I’m a pastor now.

Oh boy, how mavericky is that? Liberating the Wailing Wall? Unfuckingbelieveable. Who the hell vetted this person? On the other hand, she's probably exactly what the ReThugs want in a #2, look at the asshole Dick "Dick" Cheney as an example. My emphasis.

50 State Strategy

Or at least a 14 state strategy. I'm happy about this. It seems to me that a solid Democratic Congress will mitigate against the lousy Bush Dogs that Raum Emmanuel recruited. A good Congress will allow those members, Feingold, Obey, Wexler, Harkin, Sanders, etc., who are true progressives/liberals to be a much more active group & we will get better laws & policies. Being President is probably cool, but if I think back on the Presidents in my lifetime I find it hard to come up with positives accomplishments that are big time (not a reference to the Dick "Dick" Cheney). Probably LBJ's Civil Rights agenda would be the one that I recall off the top of my balding head. The last 40 years have seen a steady decline in our democracy, our civil liberties, our standing as a positive ethical force in the world, much less our treatment of our own citizens. So, while I will not donate to Sen. Obama's election because of his stupid views on FISA, I applaud his campaign for the forward looking approach to the down ticket candidates.

In an unusual move, Obama’s campaign will also devote some resources to states it’s unlikely to win, with the goal of influencing specific local contests in places like Texas and Wyoming.

I Echo Echo Echo Echo This

Via MyDD. Hilary Rosen:

So, I am also so very disappointed at how she has handled this last week. I know she is exhausted and she had pledged to finish the primaries and let every state vote before any final action. But by the time she got on that podium last night, she knew it was over and that she had lost. I am sure I was not alone in privately urging the campaign over the last two weeks to use the moment to take her due, pass the torch and cement her grace. She had an opportunity to soar and unite. She had a chance to surprise her party and the nation after the day-long denials about expecting any concession and send Obama off on the campaign trail of the general election with the best possible platform. I wrote before how she had a chance for her "Al Gore moment." And if she had done so, the whole country ALL would be talking today about how great she is and give her her due.

Instead she left her supporters empty, Obama's angry, and party leaders trashing her. She said she was stepping back to think about her options. She is waiting to figure out how she would "use" her 18 million voters.

But not my vote. I will enthusiastically support Barack Obama's campaign. Because I am not a bargaining chip. I am a Democrat.

My emphasis.

The Right Supports McSame

Well, not so much. Athenae goes where many fear to go, especially if it's a week until wash day. Here's one:

Why, oh WHY...does he always sound:

A) Angry

B) Like an automaton

Simple answer, he's a ReThug. OK, one more:

We are so screwed.

It's Over, For Sure

History, baby. Now it's all McCain/McLiar/McSame & goodbye to bitterness. I'll admit it, I never thought I would see a black man become President of the United States in my lifetime. Given that I've had a shitty couple of weeks (big time truck troubles), I feel a little better right now.

WTF?

Via TPM. What has the assassination of Bobby Kennedy got to do with anything the interviewer is asking? It's time to leave, as quickly as possible.

All We Need To Know About John McSame/McLiar

I hope you are as sick of McSame's reputation as some kind of different ReThug, some sort of maverick, some sort of regular guy, some sort of real person. Take a look at the video below, then tell me why he is able to show his face in public?

Another Democratic Candidate Doing Extremely Well

& she's a woman. I was pleasantly surprised to see this. I've been too involved in this awful, protracted Democratic slice fest to pay much attention to many other races. Wouldn't this be a sweet pickup. Can I say pickup in a post about a female candidate without being accused of being a misogynist & sexist?

Dole - 47%
Hagan - 48%

Another Reason To Not Support Sen. Clinton

This is from a pro-Clinton blog that I will not link to since I think they are fucking out of their minds. Read this & weep. I'm going to make a large assumption & say this is a young person, more the sadness for this once great country. Don't ya just love the "zzzs"?

Whether the RULZ were violated or not makes not a whit of difference. The voters of Florida and Michigan are the innocent victims of this. PLUS, there was nothing in the RULZ that said there needed to be a penalty at all. Yep. The Rules and Bylaws committee could have granted them a waiver or penalized them for the next primary season or cut their delegations by half or even, and this sounds really radical, penalized NH, IA, and SC for moving up their primaries by applying the same harsh zero tolerance policy. They did nothing of the kind. Instead, they have decided to lose the election this fall. I’m not sure you are grasping the enormity of this situation. I think you may still be in the grips of an emotional reposnse to everything Clinton. And you and thousands of Democrats like you who are unable to see how greviously you are deluded will have to be brought to a conscious state by drastic action. We are going nuclear on the party in order to try and save it from itself. We are not going to behave like indulgent parents and give into its demands no matter how bad they are for it. Now, you may not like it and it might cause you stress and sleepless nights but there you are. Come to your senses now or suffer the consequences in November. your(sic) choice.

My emphasis.

Good Grief

Now this is exactly whom I don't want as a candidate, or a President, for that matter. What are these people thinking - yeah, let's portray her as slamming shots, hell, slamming flaming shots, that will win us votes. Jeez Louise, they really do think we are morons. Terry McAuliffe, Clinton campaign chair:

"She loves to sit, throw 'em back. So to me this is nothin' new. We all hear about the story that she and John McCain actually had a shot contest, I think in the Ukraine or somewhere around the world. And she actually beat John McCain in a shot contest. She's a girl from Illinois who likes to throw 'em down with the rest of us."

I must be an elitist or something, because, frankly, I don't like throwing them down. I actually like to sip them down. But I don't like lattes, honest.

From A Pro-Clinton Blog That Brooks No Interference

From the six comments on a post about Rev. Wright - April 28th, 2008 @ 9:43 am

#1: SilverFox Said: ...Check it out....

#2: Janis Said: ...Rev. Wright should make a point of studying 19th century Irish history, or the history of Jews in Medieval Europe....

#3: Stuart O'Neill Said: ...The only possible reason for his continued actions is that he has finally gotten the national platform he has always desired....

#4: Janis Said: ...Stuart, I recall having a conversation with a friend of mine about Welsh history and politics (I’m a serious devotee), and between those conversations and my own study, it’s really been an eye-opener for me as to how similar oppressed peoples are considered and how similarly we react....

#5: Gilbert Martinez Said: ...Stuart, I’m not sure that camp Obama wasn’t involved in Wright’s recent appearances....

#6: Pamela Leavey Said: ...Wright has thrown Obama under the bus....

With Dems like this, who the hell needs ReThuglicans? He asked in amazement.

The Result Of Too Long Presidential Campaigns In America

More & more crap comes out. I suppose some believe it's a good thing, but right now I believe this is much worse than Sen. Obama's truthful words about how the ReThugs have manipulated the working class & the working poor in "small communities". Most of those criticizing Sen. Obama have probably never been poor & the smallest town they have lived in was the newest gated community. They must keep out the bitter riff-raff after all. First, an intelligent (yes, I know, an elitist term) take on Sen. Obama's comments:

After months of hearing that the Obama campaign has no substance, you might think these upscale Rushbelt commentators would welcome Obama's bold, public analysis of how Republicans bamboozle poorer voters. They themselves talk about this sort of thing endlessly in their media control towers; were they serious about what they say, they would be delighted to see the conversation go, so to speak, mainstream and into the streets.

& now this about President Clinton's ties to a Chinese company that is, well, uh, not helpful:

But her [Sen. Clinton; ed.] recent stern comments on China's internal crackdown collide with former President Bill Clinton's fundraising relationship with a Chinese Internet company accused of collaborating with the mainland government's censorship of the Web. Last month, the firm, Alibaba Inc., carried a government-issued "most wanted" posting on its Yahoo China homepage, urging viewers to provide information on Tibetan activists suspected of stirring recent riots.

Now, loyal four readers, which is worse - Sen. Obama actually telling the truth, or President Clinton attempting to keep his hands clean by renaming a speaking fee to a donation to his foundation?

Too Bad

I didn't expect Sen. Clinton to win both OH & TX last night. So, of course, I'm not feeling so well this a.m. What we saw foreshadows what's going to happen this fall if Clinton gets the nomination. She will be on the nasty end of dirty politics, such as Obama was the last two weeks. Her campaign is, frankly, beneath contempt. This is why we may lose in the fall. All those who view feminism as something you do after your ReThug-lite husband has been President for two terms, well, you can have it. Everyday people work everyday with other men & women without feeling put upon. Without feeling they need to prove their feminist bona fides every other hour. Without jealously, hatred, or any lack of compassion. I'll tell you what, I'm glad Sen. Clinton is a senator, a former first lady, a mother, a wife, an intellectual, a tough broad, a weepy eyed candidate, a knife in the back candidate, but I'm tired of the Bu$hCos & the Clintons. Leave me alone.

TX

Via.

The new Rasmussen poll shows Barack Obama taking a four-point lead in the Texas primary. Here are the numbers, compared to the previous poll from Sunday:

Obama 48% (+3)
Clinton 44% (-2)

Too bad somebody didn't label Bill Clinton the first Latino president.

This Is What's Really Wrong With The Clinton Campaign

I don't like lattes, drive a one-ton deisel (full disclosure: my wife drives a Ford Escape hybrid), inheirited $17,000 from my parents through the sale of their home when my mom died, & wear Crocs. I'm also an inactive Teamster. This sort of bullshit from Clinton's crowd really sticks in my craw. They really need to grow the hell up. Via TPM. Plus this guy doesn't know much about poetry.

Clinton surrogate and Machinists union President Tom Buffenbarger: "Give me a break! I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet, not a fighter."

I Didn't Know

Not that it means anything, I don't know a lot of stuff. For example, I'm still not sure how Velcro works, although I understand my regular commenter, noneheroicvet, did ask a paramedic about it once. Anyway, had any of you, my loyal four readers, heard of this? Jeez Louise, even my sister, who's become happily (I hope) radically political in her 50's, sent me that Yes We Can YouTube. I am so, so ambivalent about a Sen. Clinton candidacy that I may require, ultimately, a kick in the ass as I enter the town hall to vote in November.