Tag: John McCain (page 15)

My first reaction to John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin for VP: He just gave the election to Barack Obama.

McCain is 72 years old. The likelihood that his VP pick will be President during his four year term is a serious consideration.

A first term Governor from Alaska with only a year in the job? McCain now has no "ready to lead" argument to use against Obama. It was his best one. He may be ready to lead, but given his age, we have to consider whether his veep pick is.

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Our earlier thread on this is full. Here's a news article with a recap of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain's answers at tonight's faith forum.

U.S. News and World Reports has a new series of articles on the primary target groups of voters for both the Obama and McCain campaigns in the swing states in November.

THE WEST

McCain is confident he'll grab the Western states with Republican tendencies, and instead plans to lay out serious campaign cash in places with big electoral troves like Ohio, Florida, and Michigan. Obama, parsing the electorate map, has sensed opportunity out west, and has a rich supply of private donations to go after those voters. And, with the Mountain West in transition, the long Democratic primary season helped the party register new and more enthusiastic voters.

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Ralph Reed, pal of Jack Abramoff is holding a fundraising event for John McCain.

“John McCain believes in a strong national defense, a smaller, more accountable government, steady economic growth and opportunity, the dignity of life and traditional values,” wrote Reed, whose 2006 campaign for lieutenant governor sank under the weight of evidence detailing his relationship with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff — much of it uncovered by McCain’s Indian Affairs Committee.

Giulianni and Ralph Reed were close too. Anyone remember Reed's treatment of women in his recently published novel? Publisher's Weekly described it this way: [More....]

President Bush and VP Dick Cheney will both speak at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis opening night.

So earlier reports of Cheney being snubbed were either inaccurate or there was a change of heart.

This will be their last hurrah before fading off into oblivion and historical disgrace as the worst, most abusive, intrusive Administration ever.

Good riddance to them. I hope the American people tuning in to watch them realize that by electing John McCain they will be sentencing us all to another four years of the same.

Update: In case, as someone suggested in comments, there are national block parties during the Bush-Cheney speeches where everyone goes outside their house and dances in the street to music, what would your song picks be? Mine are below.

CBS will release a new poll tonight on voters' views of the importance of the vice-presidential candidate. Here are some of the findings:

30% say the choice is important to their vote. Among undecided voters, 47% say the choice will influence their vote.

The poll also shows a lack of confidence in both candidates on the question of which would make the right decisions on the economy:

Just 12 percent said they were very confident that Obama would and 9 percent said the same about McCain. Forty percent said they were somewhat confident that Obama would make the right decisions and 41 percent said that about McCain

As to making the right decisions about Iraq, it seems Obama's trip to the Mideast didn't help. While there's a lot of dissatisfaction with both candidates, McCain seems to be ahead on this issue: [More...]

When I first heard today of the new website Drug Dealer Cindy, I thought it was going to be about Cindy McCain's past struggles with prescription drugs. It's not. It's about her family beer distributing business, Hensley & Company.

The site and the video are the work of Safer Choice, a Colorado organization whose goals I've supported in the past.

This new site makes me a little uneasy. I'd almost rather it was about the sweetheart deal Cindy McCain got for her prescription drug violations that others don't get -- and if her husband is elected President, won't get.

SAFER in the fine print says the site is not an attack on Cindy McCain but on the hypocrisy of our laws that tolerate alcohol abuse while punishing users of marijuana, a less harmful substance.

Sorry, SAFER, I see it as an attack on Cindy McCain and I think it will be viewed as mean-spirited. I'd rather you stick to attacking our unjust laws and the politicians who pass them. That's John McCain, not Cindy.

Raw Story has more.

As I was driving and listening to CNN on Sirius earlier this afternoon, they replayed segments of John McCain and Barack Obama's latest energy speeches.

McCain said members of Congress should interrupt their vacations and recess and return to Washington to pass an energy bill.

"Congress should come back into session, and I'm willing to come off the campaign trail. I call on Senator Obama to call on Congress to... Come off their vacation and address this energy challenge to America and don't leave until we do, Republican and Democrat joining together," the four-term senator said.

Other Republicans are joining the call. Is this just a ploy for the Republicans to reconvene Congress during Obama's scheduled vacation to Hawaii? He leaves Friday. Vacations before a convention can be hazardous to a campaign, remember John Kerry's winsurfing fiasco?

Who will campaign for Obama in his absence? You guessed it -- Hillary Clinton.

John McCain made the rounds at the annual Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally yesterday.

Standing on the main stage at a world famous motorcycle rally in rural South Dakota on Monday, John McCain looked out on a sea of denim-wearing bikers and told them he enjoyed their company much more than that of the 200,000 Germans who turned out to see Barack Obama last month.

“As you may know,” he told the tens of thousands gathered at the 68th annual Sturgis Rally at Buffalo Chip campground, “not long ago, a couple of hundred thousand Berliners made a lot of noise for my opponent. I’ll take the roar of fifty thousand Harleys any day.”

The bikers roared their approval by revving their engines. [More...]

If you had to guess which presidential candidate would be attending the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, would you pick the 47 year old or the 72 year old? If you picked Sen. Obama, you'd be wrong. McCain is making an appearance at Sturgis tomorrow night.

Sen. Obama will be celebrating his birthday in Michigan where he is set to unveil a new energy plan. Tomorrow night he'll be at a fundraiser in Boston.

If you had to guess which presidential candidate was consulting Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on foreign affairs would you pick the one from her party -- a party which has frequently suggested she be added to the ticket as the VP candidate -- or the candidate from the other party? The Aspen Daily News, citing a new Time Magazine article, says it's Obama who has been consulting Condi Rice on foreign affairs.

When Sen. Barack Obama accepts the Democratic Party nomination for President at Invesco Field in Denver, 75,000 will be in attendance. Who are they and what can they do for Obama? He's got it all planned out and it's very clever. If it works, the Republicans may not know what hit them in November.

The campaign recognizes that people who live in battleground states will be more effective at persuading their neighbors than the traditional advertising campaigns, which is why it's important to send the masses who will be in Denver out with instructions and training to bring in votes.

....Enter the 75,000 people who will have to come hours early for Obama's acceptance speech to get through security, most carrying cell phones. As they settle in their seats, campaign aides will be on stage asking them to text message their friends and use call sheets to get people to register. "There will be a lot of idle time. We put idle people to work," Hildebrand said.

Now consider how one gets to be one of the 75,000 in attendance, considering only 5,000 are delegates and the press accounts for another 15,000, leaving 55,000 seats. [More...]

Caption, anyone?

Story here.

Update: From Denver columnist Penny Parker:

EAVESDROPPING at Sen. John McCain's Denver appearance Friday. The press corps joked that given the speculation about McCain's running mate, perhaps he was going to announce the Dalai Lama as his veep during their meeting later in Aspen.

Said one out-of-town television reporter: "Obama can't do it because then it would be Obama-Lama."