Tag: John McCain (page 11)

Yesterday John McCain opposed federal intervention to keep AIG alive. Today he supports it. Sen. Obama had a great line today when commenting on McCain's changed position:

"But it sounds like he got a little carried away, because yesterday, John McCain actually said that if he's president, he'll take on the - quote - 'old boys network' in Washington. I am not making this up. This is someone who's been in Congress for 26 years - who put seven of the most powerful Washington lobbyists in charge of his campaign - and now he tells us that he's the one who will take on the old boy network.

"The old boy network? In the McCain campaign, that's called a staff meeting," Obama said.

Good one.

CNN just aired the McCain Palin Michigan town forum live here. (Link no longer working since it's over.) I caught the last ten minutes or so.

Question by young woman on health care. McCain answered that Government run health care is not in the best interest of Americans.

He favors a $5k refundable tax credit for people to get the health plan they, not their employer, chooses. He favors Community health centers, outcome- based treatment, instead of paying for evey conceivable test, we cover people for a year. Stresses wellness and fitness, citing an increase in child obesity. He will reward you when you succeed.

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A new CNN/Time Magazine poll came out today.

• In Indiana and North Carolina, McCain/Palin leads Obama/Biden, 51% to 45%, and 48% to 47%, respectively.

• Obama leads McCain in the states of Ohio and Wisconsin, 49% to 47% and 50% to 47%, respectively.

• The new poll finds the candidates in a dead heat in Florida, each with 48%.

Bottom line: Factoring in the margins of error, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio remain in a virtual tie between John McCain and Barack Obama. As to the electoral map, CNN says: [More...]

Former federal prosecutor Edward O'Callaghan, now working for the John McCain campaign, is actively involved in fighting the subpoenas issued in TrooperGate, the investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused the power of her office.

O'Callaghan resigned as co-chief of the terrorism and national security unit of the U.S. attorney's office in New York in July to work for McCain. Newsweek reports:

He told NEWSWEEK that he and another McCain campaign lawyer (whom he declined to identify) are serving as legal "consultants" to Thomas Van Flein, the Anchorage lawyer who at state expense is representing Palin and her office in the inquiry. "We are advising Thomas Van Flein on this matter to the extent that it impacts on the national campaign," he said. "I'm helping out on legal strategy."

And, it appears a conflict of interest may have arisen. Palin's lawyer is no longer representing the Office of the Governor -- as of last week, he is only representing Palin and her husband. [More...]

Both Sen. Barack Obama and John McCain are opposing the bailout of AIG. Joe Biden on Good Morning America placed the blame squarely on Bush's failed policies which John McCain wants to continue:

No, I don't think they should be bailed out by the federal government. I'll tell you what we should do. We should try to correct the problems that caused this. And what's caused this? The profligate tax cuts to the very, very wealthy that John wants to continue.

Even David Gergen on CNN tonight said John McCain's campaign ads are false. He says the media is beginning to pushback against Palin and McCain and it may spread to the public.

CNN also had a long review of McCain's ads with reporter Randi Kaye and Factcheck.org. The upshot:

• Sex education ad: false Obama was trying to get kids to learn about recognizing improper touching.

• The Bridge to Nowhere: Palin never told Congress "no thanks", Congress had already killed it.

• Earmarks: McCain lied on The View today and said Palin didn't ask for earmarks while Governor. This year alone she asked for 197 million. She vetoed some earmarks but also asked for others.

• Palin claims Alaska produces 20% of the energy produced in US. It's 3.5%. It matters because they are using this in a claim that Palin is some kind of energy expert.

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The Denver Post has more on Gov. Sarah Palin's campaign event in Colorado today: She repeated her lie about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere and was heckled by a woman in the back who sporadically yelled "You're Not Qualified."

The audience response to the heckler: It turned to her and shouted "U.S.A., U.S.A."

Colorado Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a long-time Obama supporter, has this terrific response to Palin:

"If Governor Palin wants to represent 'change' in Washington," U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, said in a statement, "she could try something like telling the truth about her record of support for the bridge to nowhere or for other pork-barrel earmarks, her outdated and extreme positions on women's issues, her heaping of millions of dollars in debt upon the small town of Wasilla, Alaska, or her abuse of power investigation.

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Digby remembers.

John McCain has a long history with bank failures and financial scandals. He created his whole reform persona around the idea that he'd come too close to the flame and gotten burned. But he hasn't changed his philosophy or his policies one bit. He believes in the same scam his close advisor Phil "you're all a bunch of whiners" Gramm believes. He pretended for years that the problem was solely in the campaign finance system, burnishing his image with signature legislation that has proven to be completely useless. Meanwhile, he backs deregulation like it comes down from Mt Sinai.

The latest Iowa poll shows Sen. Barack Obama up by 12 points over McCain.

Key findings:

• Independents prefer Obama to McCain, 49 percent to 36 percent.
• Voters under 35 prefer Obama by two to one.
• Obama leads among women, 53 percent to 39 percent for McCain.
• Republicans are more satisfied with McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, than Democrats are with Joe Biden, Obama’s vice presidential pick.
• President Bush’s approval rating with Iowans is at an abysmal 25 percent, with 71 percent disapproving.
• Senator Chuck Grassley remains popular with Iowans, at 69 percent approval.

I take this as a sign Obama is resonating with rural voters. Hopefully, we'll see similar results in Ohio and other battleground states with high rural populations.

Colorado Senator Ken Salazar this week laid out Obama's appeal to rural voters:

Obama has supported farm bills aimed at revitalizing rural America, Salazar said, while McCain has opposed all of them the last 15 years.

Obama has championed renewable energy, including biofuels that can be a way for America to help grow its way to energy independence, and McCain has not, Salazar said. The Bush administration has largely ignored rural America, home to 50 million people, the last eight years, Salazar said. What he calls "the forgotten America" includes 44 of Colorado's 65 counties. Those areas have lost jobs, health care facilities and schools, Salazar said.

What is McCain's message to rural voters? More politics of distortion. Today, at Gov. Palin's campaign rally, McCain's Colorado press spokesman Tom Kise falsely told local CBS news (video here) that Obama is against people owning guns.

I just returned from Tampa/Clearwater/St Petersburg. What a welcome surprise this morning to pick up the St. Petersburg Times and see the editorial, Campaign of Lies Disgraces McCain . It details the blatant falsehoods in his ads about Barack Obama and sex education and Obama and the lipstick on the pig statement, and concludes:

[McCain] has been a serious public servant willing to say unpopular truths when he thought it best for the country, but he's more than willing in this election to put his name on campaign lies. The leader who says he would rather lose an election than lose a war now risks losing his reputation in an attempt to win the White House.

When even Karl Rove says McCain's ads went too far in the truth department, you know it's going to backfire.

Update: Sarah Palin's next interview will be with Sean Hannity.

Update: Markos:

We're going to win this thing the way campaigns are won -- by playing hardball. Politics is a blood sport. Republicans understand this and never flinch from flinging the sh!t. We won't win until we learn to fight back in kind. And I'm more than happy to get down in the mud with our friends on the Right so Obama doesn't have to.

Same here, although I think Obama should do it too.

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Sen. Barack Obama runs against John McCain, and only John McCain, at his peril -- and ours.

Family Research Council Action waded ever deeper into the world of electoral politics on Friday with the announcement by Mr. Perkins of the formation of a new political action committee.

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