Everything You Need to Know

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 85

If you're scratching your head at the McCain campaign's recent emphasis on Iowa, a state looking increasingly out of reach for the GOP, it turns out you're not alone. To wit, this quote from today's New York Times:

"[Senator McCain's] decision to campaign on Sunday in Iowa, a day after Ms. Palin campaigned there, was questioned even by Republicans who noted polls that showed Mr. Obama pulling away there. But it reflected how few options the campaign really has, as poll after poll suggests that Mr. Obama is solidifying his position."

I encourage you to read the rest of the Times article. It all adds up to desperate times for a desperate John McCain, who, as Michael Dobbs might put it, is reduced to clutching at straws, his campaign closing in front of him like a fist.

By the way, I voted Saturday. It felt good.

Declare Yourself

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 109

This is what I want to say to you:

GOP Pundits Call "Political B.S." on McCain and Palin

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 138

Tell us something we don't already know:



The audio is a little garbled, so here's a transcript:

Mike Murphy, former McCain advisor: "You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor work. Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. And these guys, this is all like how you want to (inaudible) this race. You know, just run it up. And it's not gonna work."

Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter: "It's over."

Murphy: "Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good."

NBC's Chuck Todd: "Don't you think the Palin pick was insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too (inaudible)."

Noonan: "I saw Kay this morning."

Murphy: "They're all bummed out."

Todd: "I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?"

Noonan: "The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political [B.S.] about narratives and (inaudible) the picture."

Murphy: "I totally agree."

Noonan: "Every time the Republicans do that because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at and they blow it."

Murphy: "You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical."

Todd: "And as you called it, gimmicky."

Sarah Palin is the New Dan Quayle

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 144

Reports in the media this morning are that John McCain has selected a Right-wing no-name politician to be his running mate: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Two words: push over. Joe Biden will destroy Palin in a debate.

McCain's choice is clearly a dog-whistle move to try to cement his right flank, and does nothing to address McCain's main liability of being in the pocket of oil companies and other corporate interests and out of touch with every day Americans. Further, the selection of someone who has served less than two years in national office to be second in line for the oval office somewhat undercuts, to put it mildly, McCain's arguments about Barack Obama's readiness to lead the country.

So yes, I am happy this morning.

Hillary Clinton at the Convention: What's at Stake

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 147

When Hillary Clinton takes the podium this evening to address the Democratic National Convention, she faces not only the assembled delegates, not only an army of media and the scrutiny of the nation and a good part of the world. Tonight, Hillary Clinton faces a choice.

The fact of the matter is that Hillary Clinton, even in defeat, is a formidable presence in the convention hall, in the U.S. Senate, and in the the Democratic party. But even more significant, in the aftermath of her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton has acquired something she never truly possessed before: her own constituency. The stories and speeches from the campaign trail of women of every age, region, background, and yes, race, investing Hillary with the mantle of their aspirations for the future political, social and economic condition of women made for good copy, yes, but was far more than just hype. It was, in a way we have never had opportunity to witness before, hope: hope for millions, as audacious any dream on offer this cycle.

And therein lays Hillary's choice tonight. Having rallied a constituency to her side, what does she do with it: lead, follow, or even step away entirely?

To lead tonight, Hillary Clinton will need to make clear, as only she can, that the Democratic Party is absolutely, without qualification or caveat, Barack Obama's to command. Hillary Clinton would need to tell her supporters, in so many words, that to support her is to support Obama, and there is no place in her train for those who claim otherwise.

To follow, Hillary would need to do merely the reverse: say that, of course, she supports Barack Obama, because he won and party duty requires her to publicly campaign for him, and then spend the bulk of her address paying tribute to the efforts of those who sought a different outcome.

Finally, Hillary Clinton could make an entirely different choice: to focus not on the campaign just past, but on the future waiting to be won or lost in the outcome of this election. That would entail, of necessity, unqualified support for Barack Obama, but something more, and something greater still: a bona fide vision of what America can become as a result of this historic campaign. In short, she would need to make the speech she planned to make to the convention had she prevailed in the primaries, shorn of "vote for me" and infused, instead, with the promise of what can be if Democrats win up and down the ballot this fall.

Admittedly, such a speech would be a tall order for any politician, and for Hillary Clinton perhaps more than most. But if she were to deliver such an address, she would awaken tomorrow to find herself to be the leader she has always aspired to become.

Joe Says Hi

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 148

From the inbox, attached to a note with the subject "Hello" and the sender line "Joe Biden":

Recycling

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 149

This is why mankind invented the Sharpie:

Yes.

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 150

Obama/Biden 2008.

I've been hoping I'd be able to type those words ever since it became clear that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee for president. Other words come to mind, as well:

...experience...leadership...political courage...character and integrity, and the strength of ideas...Joe Biden possesses all of these attributes, and then some. Crucially, Joe Biden also has the ability not just to articulate his proposals, but to take the fight to the Republicans and win. Need convincing? Go ask Rudy's campaign how they feel about Biden's renowned "a noun, a verb and 9/11" barb.

The 2008 presidential contest comes at a time of testing for our country, when our values, our character and our leadership are being challenged around the globe. This is a time not for big names, but for big ideas; not for poll-tested slogans, but for time-proven leadership; not for image, but for vision. Above all, this is a time for American renewal, to restore justice and humanity to the use of our power abroad, reason and civility to the conduct of our politics at home, and, most of all, peace and hope to a world that cannot achieve it without a rebirth of American leadership. This is a time for American greatness. This is the time for Joe Biden.

I was quite pleased with those words when I first published them. And I don't half mind the look of them today.

Get to Work

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 166

Hmmmm. Probably not the rallying cry you thought it would be, Senator:




However, if you want to talk about your lack of a plan to address rising unemployment, we would be all ears.

Another "Momentary" Gaffe by McCain

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 182

Barack Obama continues his overseas trip today, while John McCain continues the unending gaffe-fest that is his campaign for president. This paragraph from a story in the NY Times sums things up nicely:

[T]he images of the two presidential candidates offered a sharp contrast. In an interview on “Good Morning America” on ABC, Mr. McCain talked about securing the “Iraq-Pakistan border,” a momentary misstatement of geography. (American forces are pursuing terrorists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border; Iraq does not border Pakistan.) His aides staged an event where he was seen riding in a golf cart in Maine with the first President George Bush, while Mr. Obama flew over Iraq in a helicopter with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American military commander.

I find it striking that the Times goes so far out of its way to soften the impact of McCain's blunder on the “Iraq-Pakistan border” by referring to it as "a momentary misstatement of geography." The only reason this, or any of the other instances in the long list of McCain's errors in understanding the world he seeks to lead, could be considered "momentary" is that once again some one who knows better (an astoundingly long list which, in this case, would include any seventh grade student with a geography textbook) pointed out to McCain that Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border. McCain's vague and uncertain grasp of the facts of foreign policy - not the nuances, but the straightforward, schoolbook facts - is ongoing, and anything but momentary.

Not that any of this should be allowed to interrupt McCain's golf game, of course. Now watch this drive.