October 30, 2008
Via USAT , CNN plans to outdo its primary-season technological adventures with floating pie charts by interviewing hologram versions of talking heads on election night. You read that right. HOLOGRAMS.
It's election night, and CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer is in New York talking to an Obama campaign strategist in Chicago.
Truly outrageous.
-- Evie Stone
6:52 PM ET
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10-30-2008
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A mere long weekend is all that stands between us and Election Day. After nearly 21 months of hardcore politicking, a respite awaits us. As you savor that thought, sample the best of NPR's political coverage from the last 72 hours. Here's what's queued up: Mara Liasson examines the DNA of a pair of stump speeches; David Folkenflik discusses the "Obama-mercial"; and Peter Overby reports on the relatively minor role of independent groups in this election cycle.
Take a listen...
-- Sean Bowditch
6:14 PM ET
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10-30-2008
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In an interview with CNN, McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb goes through awkward contortions to imply Jeremiah Wright without actually uttering his name.
Goldfarb's performance here also seems to remove any lingering question marks about whether this week's revival of a 6 month old LA Times story about Obama's friendship with a Palestinian scholar was intended to send a last-minute message to Jewish voters. Jews make up about 5% of the electorate in the crucial swing state of Florida, where polls show the race too close to call . Both McCain and Obama campaigned in Florida yesterday.
-- Evie Stone
h/t Ben Smith
6:12 PM ET
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10-30-2008
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I'm a little late today, but perhaps you're playing on your Blackberry while you wait on the first round of spinach dip. If so, please enjoy today's conversation starters:
Make 'em laugh: oooh baby, he doesn't love your ways. the cost of celebrity. jockeying for influence. an ad lawsuit.
-- Thomas Pierce
5:50 PM ET
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10-30-2008
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ESPN announces it will air satellite interviews with both Barack Obama and John McCain during the halftime show of next week's Monday Night Football. The featured game is Redskins vs. Steelers, at FedEx field here in Washington. The election-eve broadcast gives both candidates the opportunity for a last-minute pitch to a large audience; espn.com says MNF has averaged more than 12 million weekly viewers this season.
But even if you aren't a football fan, you might want to pay attention to this game. It seems the Redskins have a history as a bellwether of sorts:
The Redskins, in fact, are an accurate barometer for presidential elections. According to Steve Hirdt of the Elias Sports Bureau, who coined the term "Redskins Rule" in 2000, the following bromide has held true for the past 17 presidential elections: If the Redskins win their last home game prior to Election Day, the party that won the popular vote in the previous election wins the White House; if the Redskins lose, the party that lost the popular vote in the previous election wins.
Julie Rovner 's Redskins are currently 6-2, and are seeded second in the NFC East. David Greene 's Steelers are 5-2 and lead the AFC North.
-- Evie Stone
3:44 PM ET
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10-30-2008
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I voted yesterday. But it took a little bit of effort. I live in Alabama which is one of about 20 states that doesn't allow early voting. My southern neighbors have turned out in droves: at last count, 1.8 million people have voted in North Carolina . One-quarter of Georgia 's voters have already cast ballots. Florida 's Governor, Charlie Crist, extended early voting hours because so many people have jammed polling places.
Alabama residents aren't so lucky. You can vote absentee if you'll be out of town on Election Day or qualify for a few narrow exemptions. In an era when we try to encourage people to vote, some question why we don't do more to help them do their democratic duty. Four years ago, 22% of voters cast early ballots. This election, the experts predict that number may be as high as 35%. And it seems anything that can be done to lessen lines or problems on election day would be a good thing.
Still, when I voted yesterday at the county courthouse in downtown Birmingham, there were about 100 people in line. White, black, Latino. Old, middle-aged and first-time voters. Even in a state like Alabama, where John McCain enjoys a comfortable 20-point lead in the polls, people seemed excited to cast ballots in this election -- even if they had to jump over some voting hurdles.
-- Russell Lewis
3:31 PM ET
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10-30-2008
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Marc Ambinder reports that Tucker Bounds's brush-off of Obama's 30 minute broadcast last night, ("As anyone who has bought anything from an infomercial knows, the sales-job is always better than the product") has raised some hackles at the Electronic Retailers Association.
The ERA's Acting President and CEO Rick Petry has issued a press release rejoinder to Bounds defending the industry. He pointedly ads that, in fact, direct marketers' standards for truth in advertising are much higher than those in the political world:
To use a political agenda to indict an entire genre of advertising by portraying it in such a negative light is patently unfair. It would be like charging an entire industry and everyone associated with it, say politics for example, as being scurrilous. We at ERA will be the first to tell you that there are some who use this method of advertising inappropriately, which is why we have an independent self-regulation program, ERSP (http://www.narcpartners.org/ersp/index.aspx), administered by the National Advertising Review Council in partnership with the Council of Better Business Bureau. With this watchdog mechanism in place, claims have to be proven; a standard that politicians are not required to live up to. The fact is infomercials have been used by not only start-ups with unique products, but successful brands such as Kodak and Mercedes Benz, even the U.S. Navy.
Not to mention the NordicTrack .
(Also, we can't help but link this . Wow, that's terrific bass!)
-- Evie Stone
2:11 PM ET
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10-30-2008
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Barack Obama's election night rally next week seems to have illuminated an essential, unavoidable American truth: when tickets are in demand, tickets will be scalped.
On Tuesday afternoon, the campaign sent an email to Illinois supporters, directing them to a website where they could register on a first-come-first-served basis for tickets to Obama's rally in Chicago's Grant Park. The Obama camp has said the event will accommodate 65,000 "spectators," though it's unknown how many of those slots were offered to the general public.
Within hours, all available tickets were gone. Seekers were soon being relegated en masse to a waiting list . Those who signed up in time got an email letting them know that they and a guest would be admitted to the election night. In an attempt to prevent ticket swapping, the email stressed that the ticket holder would have present ID to verify they were, in fact, the person who got the ticket.
But the email said nothing about the identity of the guest, which is where things soon got interesting. Soon the slots were up for auction on Craigslist . The first ad went up at 6:19pm on Tuesday, -- an innocent posting from a woman named Melissa in California, who offered a straightforward plea:
I have supported Obama since 2004 and have been volunteering and calling for the campaign all year... I was very excited about attending the election night rally and even bought my plane tickets and prepaid for my hotel room in Chicago. Then today, as soon as I saw how to sign up for tickets, I tried to, only to find that I'm relegated to the waiting list with probably very little hope of getting a ticket.
It wasn't long until the classified website was playing host to small but lively scalping scene -- an awkward dance of the haves and have-nots. As the listings multiplied, the have-nots grew increasingly desperate, and the haves increasingly merciless.
Continue reading "Obama Election Night Rally Tickets: Price Negotiable" »
1:25 PM ET
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10-30-2008
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Nielsen's preliminary ratings show that Barack Obama's 30-minute special last night garnered 21.7% of TV viewing eyeballs -- 26.4 million viewers -- across the three broadcast networks that carried it. (In comparison, about 17 million viewers, or 9% of 18-49 year olds, watched Cloris Leachman get booted off Dancing With The Stars on Tuesday.) The highest Obama viewership came in Baltimore, where 31.3% of viewers watched the infomercial.
Our David Folkenflik -- a onetime denizen of Tuscany-Canterbury -- notes that Baltimoreans also topped the list in debate-watching this year.
Who knew Charm City was such a hotbed of political TV viewing? Theories about what's behind the Baltimore numbers welcomed in the comments.
-- Evie Stone
12:43 PM ET
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10-30-2008
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The Raleigh News & Observer reports on a Chapel Hill man who has taken elaborate measures to prevent any more of his McCain yard signs from disappearing.
On Monday, he ran wires from his house and hooked the signs into a power source for an electric pet fence. Then he mounted a surveillance camera in a nearby tree and wired it to a digital recorder.
The boy's parents complained to the local authorities, but the sheriff tells the N&O he does not plan to file charges.
h/t Russell Lewis
11:13 AM ET
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10-30-2008
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Good morning! 5 days to go, the markets are psyched about yesterday's Fed rate cut, and congratulations to the Phils .
Barack Obama's much-touted 30-minute informercial aired last night on three broadcast networks and several cable channels. It had very smooth production values, provided a blizzard of information about the candidate's plans for his potential administration, and allowed Obama to get personal with voters now accustomed to seeing him address huge crowds. But what did undecided voters think? We have absolutely no idea, and no one else seems to want to speculate about that either. But was that even the point? Or was the idea to keep fanning enthusiasm among those who signed on with Obama months ago and whose patience for the endless campaign is in danger of waning? A few reviews of the giant buy as TV entertainment here , here , and here .
The McCain campaign sniffed at the television spectacular, with the candidate saying it was "paid for with broken promises" and spokesman Tucker Bounds writing to reporters, "as anyone who has bought anything from an infomercial knows, the sales-job is always better than the product. Buyer beware." (Apparently Tucker Bounds does not cotton to the idea of set it and forget it .)
Continue reading "Thursday Morning: Obama's Big Show; McCain Tries To Change The Subject; And An Early Voting Blitz " »
10:15 AM ET
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10-30-2008
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October 22, 2008
Can a U.S. senator continue to be a member of the upper chamber of Congress if he or she has been convicted of a felony?
The question arises because a federal jury is weighing a verdict in the trial of Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens. The Senate's longest-serving Republican is being tried on seven felony charges of lying about alleged gifts on financial disclosure forms. Stevens is also trying to get re-elected to an eighth term Nov. 4.
The answer, it seems, is a definite "maybe". US Senate Associate Historian Donald Ritchie says there have been only eleven U.S. senators in more than two centuries who've been indicted while serving. Of those, not one was expelled by fellow senators. An expulsion requires the backing of at least a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Most either resigned to avoid expulsion or were acquitted of the charges against them before the Senate took action.
According to Ritchie, the Senate can essentially do anything it wants to about indicted or convicted members. "The US Constitution gives the Senate tremendous latitude to judge the qualifications of its members," says Ritchie, "and historically the Senate's been very reluctant to expel such members."
Instead, the Senate has generally preferred to wait for the appeals process to play out for a member convicted of a felony. A member such as Stevens, even if he is convicted and then re-elected, would likely be "seated without prejudice" -- that is, allowed to be sworn in once again, but subject to further action by the Senate if an appeal is rejected. If that were to happen, the matter would likely be dealt with by either the Rules or Ethics committee before being taken up by the full Senate.
-- David Welna
6:22 PM ET
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10-22-2008
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A Hawaiian man in an earthworm costume goes on the air with a campaign ad of sorts. "Doug Wormington " declared himself the Earth Party nominee for President last week. According to CMAG, this spot is airing on Honolulu's ABC affiliate, KITV.
A little bit of bio from Wormington's campaign website :
With no money for food, he was forced to eat the garbage and food scraps that fell into the dumpster. It was during this darkest point in his life that Wormington was struck with an epiphany: that he, a lowly worm, had the power to turn waste into nutrient-rich vermacast.
A truly presidential skill. The site says that Wormington's memoir, "Worm Wisdom," will be published soon.
-- Evie Stone
5:19 PM ET
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10-22-2008
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Sneaking out of the office at 5pm today? Keep your friends entertained as you wait on those appetizers:
Make 'em laugh: pink handcuffs. voting day anxiety. Palin's contingency plan. the Pennsylvania head fake.
-- Thomas Pierce
4:50 PM ET
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10-22-2008
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Are those donkeys?
Max Whittaker, Getty Images
Joshua Green follow up on this morning's Politico story about Sarah Palin's $150k wardrobe budget from the RNC. Based on the financial disclosure forms, it appears that the initial outfit outlay came from famed Republican operative and robocall expert Jeff Larson . The Atlantic has the documentation here .masterminding anti-McCain calls in South Carolina in 2000, and more recently for leasing his basement to MN Senator Norm Coleman for below-market rent...which Coleman didn't always pay on time.)
We suspect that Larson was more wallet than personal shopper for Palin's purchases. But based on the scarf in the photo above (taken yesterday at a rally in Reno, NV), we wonder if the stylist who did pick the new clothes has a sneaky sense of humor or just doesn't know anything about political mascots?
-- Evie Stone
h/t Jezebel
UPDATE : Are the clothes considered taxable income for Palin?
4:13 PM ET
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10-22-2008
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US Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) awoke this morning to discover his garage had been unexpectedly re-decorated, according to the Star-Tribune . Overnight, someone had spray-painted "U R A CRIMINAL RESIGN OR ELSE! PSALM 2" on the wooden siding. The word "SCUM" was painted on another exterior wall.
Coleman wasn't alone. Fellow US Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) was also targeted, as were US Representatives Keith Ellison (D), John Kline (R), Michele Bachmann (R), and Jim Ramstad (R). Ellison received a slight variation on the message: "TRAITOR. RESIGN NOW. PSALM 2." Same for Ramstad: "U R A SELLOUT!!! PSALM 2".
No one has claimed responsibility. Local authorities are looking into it.
I'll save you the Google search... The text of Psalm 2 is after the jump.
-- Sean Bowditch
Continue reading "This Paint Job Was Not Approved" »
3:40 PM ET
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10-22-2008
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Via FAIL Blog
-- Evie Stone
1:46 PM ET
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10-22-2008
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Four women claim to be Joe the Plumber in this new McCain ad hitting Obama on his recent "spread the wealth" comments to Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher.
The McCain camp has continued to flog the Joe storyline and its attendant suggestion that Obama is trying to promote Socialism.
FWIW, Obama's tax plan .
Encyclopedia Britannica article on Socialism .
Decide for yourself, Comrade.
-- Evie Stone
12:15 PM ET
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10-22-2008
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It's hard to believe, but November 4 is now less than two weeks away. That night, NPR HQ will be sheer chaos -- wonderful, wonkish chaos -- as we reach the culmination of yet another four-year election cycle. It's the perfect excuse for a blogger meetup.
On election night, NPR will convert its conference facility into a filing center for broadcasters from around the world, and we're hoping to include around two dozen bloggers in the mix. We'd like to get bloggers from across the political spectrum to join us for the entire night (read: 6pm to as late as 4am). We'll provide them with a workspace, wifi access, live news feeds and plenty of food and caffeine to keep them up all night. We'll even give tours of the election studio throughout the evening.
Space is extremely limited, so we're only able to accommodate bloggers in the DC area or who are able to get to DC on their own dime. If you're interested in applying for the event, please fill out the election night blogger meetup form no later that 5pm ET this Friday, October 22, and we'll get back to you before the end of next week.
-- Andy Carvin
12:07 PM ET
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10-22-2008
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Good morning, all. It's Wednesday, it's gorgeously sunny, the maple trees in Washington are aflame with fall color, and we only have 13 days of this madness left!
The NYT reports this morning that the McCain camp sees the road to victory traversing Pennsylvania . A raft of statewide polls give Obama a double-digit lead in PA, but the McCain campaign says their internal numbers are more favorable and they're putting on the hard sell. After this spring's 6-week run-up to the state's contested Democratic primary, Dems have a strong registration edge over the GOP in Pennsylvania, but questions persist about the degree to which race will play a role in the election outcome. (Though some anecdotal evidence describes households that use the n-word and profess support for Obama in the same breath.) Democratic Governor Ed Rendell tells CNN he's still "a little nervous" and has requested that Obama do more campaigning in PA before election day. But the LA Times remains skeptical of McCain's chances in the state, writing that "by any number of measures, McCain's [Pennsylvania] prospects are dimming." McCain was there yesterday, telling the citizens of Western Pennsylvania (rather stumblingly ) that the region is the "most patriotic, most God loving, most patriotic part of America." Hey, what about "real Virginia " and all those "pro-America " small towns in other states?
Continue reading "Wednesday Morning: McCain's Pennsylvania Push; Phone Wars; and "Campaign Accesories" By Barneys " »
10:30 AM ET
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10-22-2008
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You might think Barack Obama has already won the money race, after he raised $153 million just last month. But as Matthew Mosk and Sarah Cohen spotlight in today's Washington Post (following Lynn Sweet's report on the group last week ), the DNC has thoughtfully set up another channel for big donors to make more big donations. And as Mosk and Cohen point out, big donations can create big connections to an incoming administration.
The new vehicle is the Committee for Change . It joins the Obama Victory Fund and the Democratic White House Victory Fund as pots where big donors can keep on giving. The idea is that you can legally give $2,300 to the Obama campaign, plus tens of thousands more to each of the three funds. Those dollars don't go directly to Obama For America; rather, the Democratic National Committee deploys the money to support the campaign committee.
-- Peter Overby
9:07 AM ET
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10-22-2008
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October 21, 2008
This week we've got a deep-fried version of the Political Rewind highlighting NPR's political coverage from southern states. Linda Wertheimer reports from North Carolina where Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole fights to stay alive in a tough bid for re-election; Audie Cornish brings us another rough battle from Louisiana where Democrat Mary Landrieu struggles to hold her senate seat; and finally we travel with David Green to the "Mountain State", West Virginia where democratic voters struggle with issues of race and campaign rumors.
Pour yourself a glass of sweet iced tea and listen here:
here and take it with you.
--Kyle Gassiott
11:54 PM ET
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10-21-2008
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It's time to leave work. Impress your friends as you gather for that happiest of hours...
Make 'em laugh: make-up artistry. a dead bear. anti-Americanism on the trail. proud grandmothers.
-- Thomas Pierce
6:26 PM ET
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10-21-2008
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The Ohio Secretary of State website was temporarily taken off line yesterday after a security incident. The State Highway Patrol has now launched an investigation after a breach was detected late Monday. According to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, the action was taken "to protect state records and data" and "the vote of every eligible Ohio voter from any kind of fraud".
It's been a rocky week for Brunner. Her office has also received several threatening phone calls as well as a suspicious package containing a white powder. A call to Brunner's office produced little additional detail. They would not elaborate on the security breach or the nature of the threatening calls. The website is now back up and running.
The Secretary of State's office and the state Republican Party have faced off in recent weeks over a handful of voting issues. The core of the argument centers on some 200,000 newly registered Ohio voters whose registration information doesn't jive with state or federal databases. The state GOP is pushing for an investigation into possible fraud. The two sides have been in and out of several courtrooms lately, capped last Thursday by an appeal to the US Supreme Court. The high court, acting unanimously, sided with Brunner by tossing out the lower court ruling.
-- Sean Bowditch
5:51 PM ET
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10-21-2008
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The story goes something like this:
At a McCain rally on Saturday in North Carolina, Republican Rep. Robin Hayes warms up McCain supporters (before McCain has arrived) by telling them that, "liberals hate Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God."
A spokesman for the congressman denies -- twice -- that Hayes ever made the comment.
An audio recording of the comment surfaces, courtesy of The Crypt .
Hayes then acknowledges the remarks in a statement to The Charlotte Observer: "There is no doubt that it came out completely the wrong way."
David Greene was at the rally and has provided this recording of the comment (which occurs at 1:57):
David was there to do a story on the anatomy of a McCain rally -- from start to finish. Tomorrow morning, he'll give an Obama rally the same treatment.
-- Thomas Pierce
3:22 PM ET
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10-21-2008
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It's official: what began on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois will end on November 4th in Chicago's Grant Park. Will it be a celebration or a concession? Nobody knows. (Many claim to know.)
The announcement came with some bad news for the media. The best positions at the site for reporters, cameras, and crew will cost an arm and a leg (and the other arm and the other leg). Lynn Sweet writes that if a reporter wants access to the press filing center, it might cost $935. And as she puts it, "This is an outrageous pay to play plan that caters to national elite outlets with deep pockets."
No word yet on the McCain event site (or press filing center price tag), though word is he'll be in Phoenix.
-- Thomas Pierce
2:22 PM ET
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10-21-2008
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The Crypt has a post about the unfortunate political situation of one Tim Mahoney... that is, Pennsylvania State Rep. Tim Mahoney:
The lawmaker took the unusual step of issuing a press release recently clarifying that he did not, in fact, cheat on his wife, after the story broke that Florida Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney paid off a former aide who was his ex-lover.
While both are Democrats and both are in their early fifties, the state lawmaker's Uniontown, Pa. district is roughly 910 miles from Palm Beach, Fla., according to Google Maps.
Any local politicians out there named Vito Fossella, Mark Foley, or Larry Craig?
-- Thomas Pierce
(h/t) Evie Stone
11:53 AM ET
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10-21-2008
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Obama raised $150 million last month but has not disclosed the names of small donors -- those who donated less than $200. Legally speaking, he doesn't have to offer the names. But it doesn't exactly make him look like the paragon of transparency.
McCain and the GOP are aiming to highlight his reluctance to release this information with a new online search tool of all who've made small donations to McCain's campaign since he became the presumptive Republican nominee.
-- Thomas Pierce
9:35 AM ET
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10-21-2008
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Good morning y'all,
Two weeks from today, America picks its next president. And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, oh no, only 14 more days of election news... only 14 more days of stump speeches, poll-data, kerfluffles, game-changers, and a never-ending barrage of questionably accurate/appropriate campaign advertisements. However sad the prospect that all of this must come to an end, we march on:
McCain had a rough weekend -- what with Obama's insanely large fundraising numbers and the Colin Powell endorsement -- but yesterday the Republican nominee may have found an antidote to some of that. Oddly enough (or perhaps not so oddly), it came from Joe Biden. Seizing on Biden's comments that an Obama presidency would encounter an international crisis within its first six months, McCain addressed a crowd in Belton, Missouri saying, "We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars." He added:
What is more troubling is that Sen. Biden told their campaign donors that when that crisis hits, they would have to stand with them, because it wouldn't be apparent Sen. Obama would have the right response... Forget apparent. Sen. Obama won't have the right response, and we know that because we've seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign.
Questioning Obama's experience and judgment could be effective, but whether or not McCain will be taking this message to swing states like Colorado is unclear. CNN's John King reported last night that the campaign may be looking at a revised electoral strategy that emphasizes Pennsylvania -- and doesn't rely on states like Iowa, New Mexico, and Colorado (all won by Bush in 2004). Team McCain had previously banked on a win in Colorado, but that could be changing:
"Gone," was the word one top McCain insider used to describe those three states.
This source said while the polls in Colorado remain close, he and most others in the operation were of the opinion that the Obama campaign and its allies have a far superior ground/turnout operation and "most of us have a hard time counting on Colorado."
Campaign manager Rick Davis is among the dissenters, believing the state remains within reach, several sources in and close to the McCain campaign say.
However, the McCain camp kicked back this morning, saying they still have their sights set on Colorado. Jonathan Martin reports :
Two senior aides didn't deny that Colorado appeared challenging, but pointed to the two key indicators of any campaign's intent, time and money, to make the case that they were still holding out hope there.
"We didn't send Gov. Palin there for no reason," said one, a reference to the vice presidential nominee's three rallies across the state today.
Speaking of Palin, she's now taking questions -- maybe even more than Obama, Biden, and McCain.
Continue reading "Tuesday Morning: 14 Days To Go; Things May Be Rocky for McCain in Colorado; and Kids (Narrowly) Elect Obama" »
8:27 AM ET
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10-21-2008
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October 17, 2008
The battle over ACORN -- the Obama-friendly grassroots group that's registered 1.3 million voters -- hasn't let up since Wednesday night. That was when McCain said the group may be "destroying the fabric of democracy."
Today the Obama campaign called for an investigation by special prosecutor Nora Dannehy. She's already looking into the 2007 dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys, some of whom were ousted after they declined to prosecute voter fraud cases.
Obama lawyer Bob Bauer said the Justice Department, McCain campaign and Republican National Committee have formed "an unholy alliance of law enforcement and the ugliest form of partisan politics," to wage "a war on voters." He's asking for an investigation , and in the process links McCain with one of the Bush administration's bigger scandals.
More about this and other ACORN news is at the Secret Money Project blog. C'mon over.
-- Peter Overby
5:51 PM ET
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10-17-2008
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MSNBC reports that news organizations that want to obtain Sarah Palin's state emails will have to pony up a cool $15 million for the information.
Here's the math:
How did the cost reach $15 million? Let's look at a typical request. When the Associated Press asked for all state e-mails sent to the governor's husband, Todd Palin, her office said it would take up to six hours of a programmer's time to assemble the e-mail of just a single state employee, then another two hours for "security" checks, and finally five hours to search the e-mail for whatever word or topic the requestor is seeking. At $73.87 an hour, that's $960.31 for a single e-mail account. And there are 16,000 full-time state employees. The cost quoted to the AP: $15,364,960.
The state says the documents have to be distributed in paper (rather than digital) form because they aren't equipped to redact sensitive information electronically.
MSNBC adds that even with the hefty price tag, the documents won't be available for individual legal review until mid-November -- and there's no saying how long that process could take.
-- Evie Stone
5:25 PM ET
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10-17-2008
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From John McCain's prepared remarks in Miami today:
We had a good debate this week. You may have noticed -- there was a lot of talk about Senator Obama's tax increases and Joe the Plumber. Last weekend, Senator Obama showed up in Joe's driveway to ask for his vote, and Joe asked Senator Obama a tough question. I'm glad he did; I think Senator Obama could use a few more tough questions.
Ok, what? Joe "the plumber" Wurzelbacher had already gotten some national attention (from Drudge, Fox News, the New York Post and conservative groups) after his tax confrontation with Obama last weekend. But McCain was the one who raised Joe at Wednesday's debate and went on to mention him more than 20 times over the course of the evening (without getting the go-ahead from Joe to do that, by the way). Yesterday McCain told a Pennsylvania audience, "The real winner last night was Joe the plumber. Joe's the man." And then his campaign released a web ad touting Joe. The McCain camp's Joe push was so strong that Sarah Palin told fundraiser attendees in North Carolina that she had "begged" not to have to talk about him , but eventually gave in.
Clearly, though, the McCain campaign failed to vet Joe Wurzelbacher before they made him this week's centerpiece. So they didn't know about his tax lien, his lack of a plumbing license, or the spelling error in his voter registration that's hauntingly similar to what the Ohio GOP is describing as voter fraud. Or, most saliently, the fact that he would actually be eligible for a tax cut under Obama's plan. But those revelations aren't "attacks" on Joe as much as they are "facts about him." (Facts I'm sure Joe wishes the entire internet-reading universe did not now know...but facts nonetheless.)
I guess McCain could blame the media and our incessant curiosity about people he injects into the campaign . Although, McCain isn't new to the public eye. He should know how this stuff works by now. You mention someone two dozen times in a single, hugely-watched public appearance? We'll look into that person's background. Love it or hate it, it's what we do. (And at this point in the campaign, we're so hungry for a fresh face we might just eat someone's nose.)
No doubt, this situation pretty much stinks for Joe, who was in no position to handle the media onslaught he's received. But McCain's blaming the Obama camp for the microscope Joe's been under these past 48 hours seems more than a little far-fetched.
-- Evie Stone
4:28 PM ET
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10-17-2008
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CQ Politics reports that purchases by an "institutional investor" on InTrade drove up the site's odds that John McCain would be elected.
An internal investigation by the popular online market Intrade has revealed that a single investor's purchases prompted "unusual" price swings that significantly boosted the prediction that Sen. John McCain will become president.
The investor doesn't appear to have violated any of InTrade's rules. But because of the investor's actions, McCain "stock" was trading higher on InTrade than on similar predictive market sites. InTrade is often more accurate than polling or punditry at predicting electoral results.
InTrade's CEO told CQ he has spoken with members of the firm that holds that institutional investment account. He declined to discuss whether the investor has political ties.
-- Evie Stone
3:32 PM ET
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10-17-2008
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The Los Angeles Times has announced it will endorse Barack Obama in an editorial that will appear in Sunday's paper. The endorsement, which calls Obama "educated and eloquent, sober and exciting, steady and mature" is already available on the paper's website.
This is the LAT's first presidential endorsement since the paper supported Richard Nixon's re-election in 1972. In fact, Obama is the first Democrat ever to receive the LA Times nod for president. (The paper endorsed Obama and McCain in California's February 5th primary.)
The LAT joins the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and The Toledo Blade -- among others -- in endorsing Obama. McCain's nods include the New York Post, the Boston Herald, and the Manchester Union Leader. Overall, according to Editor & Publisher's tally , Obama has about a 3:1 newspaper endorsement advantage over McCain..
-- Evie Stone
UPDATE : The Chicago Tribune throws its green eyeshade into the ring with its own Obama endorsement -- it's the Trib's first Democratic nod as well. (In Wednesday's debate, Obama described the Tribune as a "Republican-leaning newspaper" in his discussion of the Annenberg Challenge and Bill Ayers; the Trib's president sat on the now-famed Annenberg board with Obama, Ayers, and others.)
2:53 PM ET
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10-17-2008
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The Supreme Court has issued a decision backing Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in her dispute with the state GOP over voter registrations. The Court's ruling overturns a Tuesday decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that would have required the Secretary of State's office to provide local officials with a list of recently registered voters whose registration information doesn't match their drivers' license numbers or Social Security cards. That list apparently includes about 200,000 of the 666,000 Ohioans who have registered this year.
The Ohio GOP says they are trying to prevent fraud in a state that could be crucial on November 4th. The Democrats say most of the discrepancies are due to clerical errors, and the Republicans' case is merely an effort to disenfranchise Democratic-leaning voters. It's worth noting that the GOP has not provided any specific evidence of voter fraud, and proven cases of fraud are historically very rare -- despite being the subject of spirited debate every election season.
The Court's decision today was not based on the merit's of the Ohio GOP complaint. Rather, it says the party was not eligible to file the suit in the first place.
-- Evie Stone
1:56 PM ET
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10-17-2008
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A new survey of 14 battleground states from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner on behalf of the Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund says unmarried women are the key to Barack Obama's current advantage over John McCain:
In national surveys, Obama now leads McCain by up to 10 points and has built support among Independents, older voters and other swing voters. But his margin among unmarried women--the largest demographic base group at 26 percent of the voting age population--anchors his margin. In fact, Obama leads 58 - 31 percent among unmarried women in the battleground, a lead that has been large and stable from the beginning of this campaign. Married women divide evenly (46 percent Obama, 47 percent McCain). This is interesting data...but I fear the actual information in the poll will be drowned out by TV news heads vying for the cutesiest moniker for this newly-fascinating sub-demo...my money's on "Sex And The City voters". Barf. I hereby cast my lot for "
Mary Richards voters". Who's with me?
Also...poor -- though presumably (hopefully!) unintentional choice of words for a subhed on wooing the MRVs: "Engaging Unmarried Women." (Seriously, you guys. You'd think a women's advocacy group would know better...)
-- Evie Stone
1:17 PM ET
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10-17-2008
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Good morning, happy people.
The map's the meme today, with all the papers aflutter over which states are turning which colors and rampant speculation about which parts of America the road to victory traverses. Sticking with that hackneyed metaphor, the general consensus is that Obama's road is wider and could traverse a variety of routes, whereas McCain is left with a narrow bike path that entails hanging onto everything Bush painted red in 2004. NYT's Adam Nagourney and Jim Rutenberg :
Mr. Obama's advisers said they would use the remaining 19 days of the campaign to focus mainly on capturing states that President Bush won in 2004; he is going to Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia, over the next three days and spending two days in Florida next week.
By contrast, Mr. McCain is spending the next three days campaigning in states that Mr. Bush won in 2004 and that earlier this year Republicans had considered relatively safe: he will visit Florida on Friday, followed by North Carolina, Virginia and Ohio. Republicans said their hopes of capturing any state the Democrats won in 2004 appeared to be dwindling, though they said they held out hope for Pennsylvania, where Mr. McCain campaigned on Thursday but where he has recently slipped far behind Mr. Obama in some polls.
Continue reading "Friday Morning: Everybody Map!; Candidates Practice For The Catskills; And Palin To Appear On SNL" »
11:30 AM ET
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10-17-2008
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October 16, 2008
Joe the plumber, the megastar of last night's presidential debate, is certainly getting A LOT of attention today. His image is plastered across cable news. The blogs can't get enough of the Ohio native. NPR even assembled the "Joes Of Our Lives" .
But with instant fame comes instant scrutiny. The AP is reporting that neither Joe nor the company he works for are licensed. And he owes $1,200 in back income taxes.
That hasn't stopped the candidates from including Joe in their stump speeches. At a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, McCain gave Joe big props:
The real winner last night was Joe the plumber. Joe's the man. He won and small businesses won across America because the American people are not going to let Senator Obama raise their taxes in a tough economy.
With that, the crowd broke into a chant: "Joe! Joe! Joe!"
Speaking at a rally in New Hampshire, Obama quipped:
[McCain] is trying to suggest a plumber is the guy he's fighting for. How many plumbers you know making a quarter million dollars a year?
I think it's safe to assume Joe Six Pack is out of a job...
-- Sean Bowditch
4:31 PM ET
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10-16-2008
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John McCain is going to great lengths to avoid standing up David Letterman (again).
After a campaign rally outside Philadelphia this morning, McCain was supposed to fly to Newark aboard his chartered 737 in time to tape the Letterman show. But traffic delays at the Newark airport made that impossible, so McCain is instead making the Philadelphia-New York trip aboard a hastily scrambled, six-seat helicopter.
This means leaving the traveling press corps behind in Philly. But better that than keep Dave waiting. The late night host has been ribbing McCain without mercy since being stood up three weeks ago when McCain abruptly "suspended" his campaign to deal with the financial crisis.
-- Scott Horsley
3:45 PM ET
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10-16-2008
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Maybe now last night's brouhaha over negative ads can perhaps be settled.
Obama and McCain traded shots on negativity in the debate. Here's Obama: "One hundred percent, John, of your ads, 100 percent of them have been negative." And here's McCain: "So the fact is that Senator Obama is spending unprecedented -- unprecedented in the history of American politics, going back to the beginning -- amounts of money in negative attack ads on me."
Neither is precisely right. But according to the Wisconsin Advertising Project, which crunched the data behind the charges from both candidates, they're both half-right.
Bear with me here.
The project, which operates out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, puts ads into three categories: positive, negative and contrast -- that is, a mix of one candidate's virtues and the other candidate's evil ways.
So, it's true that 100 percent of McCain's ads had "significant negative content" during the week of Sept. 28-Oct. 4. Obama apparently got that from a press release put out by the project last week. He blew it last night by making it a blanket statement covering the whole campaign. (During the week in question, by the way, some of McCain's ads included some positive statements. And Obama's ads were 34 percent negative.)
More data-slicing after the jump...
Continue reading "The Final Word On Negative Ads... For Now" »
2:28 PM ET
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10-16-2008
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The battle over Ohio's newly registered voters is intensifying. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, is now appealing yesterday's ruling by the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal was filed directly with Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens who oversees the 6th Circuit Court. As NPR's Libby Lewis reported this morning, the language in the appeal is dramatic. An excerpt: "Ohio Secretary of state Jennifer Brunner urgently asks this court to restore order to Ohio's election."
Yesterday's 9-6 decision required the Secretary of State's office to provide each of Ohio's 88 election boards access to a database that contains names of new voters whose registration information doesn't jive with state or federal databases. The ruling is considered a victory for the Ohio Republican Party. As I noted in yesterday's post , it's unclear how -- and when -- the counties will proceed.
-- Sean Bowditch
UPDATE : The SCOTUSblog weighs in: "Justice Stevens may act without asking state GOP officials to respond, or wait until there is a response. He also has the option of sharing a decision with his Court colleagues, or acting alone."
1:32 PM ET
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10-16-2008
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This is long, but I think it is as comprehensive as it gets on Obama's relationship with Ayers. More after the jump.
-- David Schaper
Continue reading "Bill Ayers, Explained" »
11:54 AM ET
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10-16-2008
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Good morning, folks.
With the last presidential debate now firmly in the can, we have officially entered the home stretch. Can't you almost taste Election Day?
Here's a hint at how last night's debate unfolded, via the morning headlines: "John McCain Aggressively Criticizes Obama". "McCain Seen As Aggressor". "McCain Attacks". "A Feisty McCain".
McCain certainly arrived in Hempstead, NY, ready to rumble. He laced up his gloves early and went on the offensive. By most accounts, that was his primary goal for the night. He needed to swing away, forcing Obama into a more defensive posture on a range of hot-button issues: Bill Ayers, ACORN, tax policy, energy issues, public financing, the negative ad war, the overall tone and tenor of the campaign, to name a few. By that measure, McCain did what he needed to do. He was pointed, insistent, focused, even energetic. He had a number of impressive parries and memorable comebacks, including this morning's most quoted zinger:
Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago. I'm going to give a new direction to this economy in this country.
Continue reading "Thursday Morning: Fightin' McCain; Stocks Can't Find the "Up" Button; and Political Baseball" »
11:03 AM ET
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10-16-2008
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John McCain turned to Barack Obama in mid-debate last night and announced, "Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago." And early this morning, the McCain-Palin campaign launched a new TV spot that puts more daylight between McCain and the president he formerly (and repeatedly in Democratic ads) embraced.
"Fight" opens with McCain saying, "The last eight years haven't worked very well, have they? I'll make the next four better." And yes, the candidate looks a lot better in the ad than he does in the freeze frame below.
McCain speaks to the camera for the entire 60-second, single-shot ad -- even the "I'm John McCain" disclaimer at the end.
But whatever he says about the past eight years and the need to fix things, the name of George Bush doesn't pass his lips.
-- Peter Overby
10:21 AM ET
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10-16-2008
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Now-infamous Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher skyrocketed to fame during last night's debate, garnering more than two dozen mentions from the candidates (by about the 10th invocation of Joe and his pipe-snaking, tax-hike fearing ways there were titters in the press filing center). John McCain had by far the worse case of mentionitis...though he mistakenly referred to America's Plumber as Joe WertzelBERGER.
To the montage! (via Politico )
By 11:00 there were three TV trucks in front of Wurzelbacher's house and he was doing a live interview in Katie Couric's cbs.com webcast ...during which he may have diminished some of his newfound cachet by saying Obama tap-dances around questions "almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr."
-- Evie Stone
1:52 AM ET
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10-16-2008
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The world's most famous plumber now has a page in Facebook . Exactly twenty minutes after tonight's debate ended Joe's page debuted and the number of friends has been rising ever since. Of course Joe already is a national celebrity, he was on CBS tonight and our own Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving dubbed him "the new figure on the American political landscape."
We at Vox Politics are slightly confused though. It appears that Joe has many Facebook pages, 42 to be exact. These include Joe Da Plumber, Average Plumber Joe, and Joe Takchi Plumber...definitely more than the average Joe.
The last count on the page was 387 fans so far, but we want to know what it will be tomorrow. Care to make a guess at the number...and become a friend of Joe's?
-- Kyle Gassiott
12:06 AM ET
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10-16-2008
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October 15, 2008
NPR's analysts shared their instant take on tonight's debate in our live special. Below you'll find a general consensus that neither candidate knocked it out of the park, but that tonight was the best debate of the campaign.
NPR's Linda Wertheimer : "There was quite a bit of bickering... quite a bit of tit-for-tat... even though most American's say they don't like that. ... There was such a lot of tension between these two candidates that it was bothering me. ... The star of the debate -- The Plumber."
NPR's Mara Liasson : "I thought it was a pretty great debate. ... The gloves did come off tonight. McCain brought up Ayers and ACORN." McCain's attacks "didn't draw any blood. Obama was able to deflect all of them." More Liasson: "I think that format of sitting so close together made that tension more palpable. ... They really were talking to each other. My feeling is that it didn't change anything. ... Another win for Obama."
National Review 's Matt Continetti : "Neither candidate wanted to be there. Obama seemed distracted. ... At this point I think he is more focused on what he will do if he is actually elected. ... McCain was there and he was throwing everything, not just the kitchen sink but the refrigerator and detergent. ... I was wondering why he didn't do this earlier in the campaign.
The Washington Post 's EJ Dionne : "Voters don't like McCain's attack campaign, but in order to get Obama down he's got to attack him. ... I think McCain scored a lot of points with the people who are for him. I'm not sure that he scored any points with any of the ideological moderates."
NPR's Ron Elving : "Joe the Plumber is the new figure in the American political landscape. I think he is more successful than the average American. ... The table setting was a little more tension inducing. ... McCain had to bring it tonight, Obama seemed a little put out about that. The debate at times came across as "a bit petty. This was the most watchable and riveting debate we've had thus far."
-- Michael Olson
11:30 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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In the Illinois legislature, voting present is not that unusual. It can often be a procedural move and often is done as part of a broader strategy by one party or the other, or by a block of legislators on a particular issue. On the abortion vote that Sen. McCain mentions, Obama was one of several Senators who agreed to vote present at the request of Planned Parenthood and other groups supportive of abortion rights. Pam Sutherland, president and CEO of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council, says Obama voted "present" at least seven times to provide cover to other abortion-rights supporters on such bills as the "Born Alive Infant Protection Act." Certain late term abortions were already banned, as Obama correctly stated.
-- David Schaper
10:28 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Here's Joe the plumber...
His name is Joe Wurzelbacher, and he confronted Obama on Sunday, when the candidate was going door-to-door in Toledo. Click here for the full exchange .
-- Sean Bowditch & Laurel Wamsley
UPDATE : Hey folks. Just merged Laurel's original post with mine. Sorry for the confusion.
Continue reading "In Case You're Wondering..." »
10:20 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain invoked "The Gang of 14" in tonight's debate. His "Gang" involvement is one of the most prominent examples of the senator bucking his party leadership, and it's one of the reasons McCain had a hard time attracting conservatives to his campaign during the primary. His mention of the gang might be the clearest sign that he is angling for support from independents as the campaign enters its final days. Here NPR's Mara Liasson compares McCain and Obama's bipartisan efforts.
-- Michael Olson
10:18 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain says the average cost of a health plan is $5,800 and he'd give people a $5,000 tax credit to buy that plan. But the $5,000 credit is for families, and the average cost of a family insurance plan, according to the latest Kaiser/Health Research and Educational Trust survey, is $12,680.
-- Julie Rovner
10:14 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Yes, the diagnosis of autism is on the rise. However, as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts it: "It is unclear how much of this increase is due to changes in how we identify and classify ASDs in people, and how much is due to a true increase in prevalence."
The candidates talked about autism in the context of Gov. Palin's child. The prevalence of autism isn't a campaign issue -- they both agreed it was on the rise. The only parrying here was that Obama said an across-the-board federal spending freeze would prevent researchers from spending more money to understand autism. Of course that assumes that the National Institutes of Health would not be allowed to reallocate any of its funds -- not necessarily so.
-- Richard Harris
NOTE : Governor Palin's youngest child has Down Syndrome. In tonight's debate, the topic of autism came up in the context of discussing children with special needs.
10:11 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain's aggressive tone helped positioned him to say something he's probably been dying to say throughout the general election campaign:
Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run 4 years ago.
The McCain campaign immediately circulated a YouTube video of the moment to reporters.
-- Michael Olson
10:10 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Obama says he'll save the average family $2,500 in premiums on health care through his cost-cutting measures. Every analyst who's looked at that other than the ones who wrote the plan say that's awfully optimistic.
McCain says he'll give every American family a $5,000 tax credit to help buy health insurance. That's true. Individuals, however, would only get $2,500. McCain also says he wants to put medical records "online," like the VA does. He means computerize them, not literally put them online for anyone to see. Obama wants to do that, too. In fact, the cost-cutting proposals of the McCain and Obama plans overlap considerably.
-- Julie Rovner
10:05 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Obama overstated the rate of impunity for Colombia trade unionist killings. He said there have been NO prosecutions, when in fact there were only ten convictions for such killings during the presidency of Alvaro Uribe, while there were more than 400 murders of Colombian unionists during that period.
-- David Welna
9:58 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Oil is a global commodity, so even if we stop purchasing it from the Middle East and Venezuela, those countries will still have a large influence on the prices we pay at the pump. If Saudi Arabia cut production, oil prices will rise everywhere, regardless of whether we are buying oil from the Saudis.
As for Sen. McCain's comment about nuclear power, 96 percent of transportation fuel is in the form of oil. Nuclear power plants generate electricity. Unless there is a rapid and wholesale shift to electric cars, a more abundant supply of electricity will have little impact on fuel for transportation. That can happen in the long run, but that kind of transition would take decades, not years.
Both candidates also spoke in favor of "Clean Coal." In fact, clean coal is a fuzzy buzzword. Coal, when burned, produces large amounts of carbon dioxide, which a major cause of global warming. "Clean Coal," as commonly defined, doesn't actually reduce this most important emission. "Clean Coal" plants are at best potentially ready to capture their carbon dioxide, if anyone can ever figure out an economical way to safely store that carbon dioxide rather than letting it to into the air.
For energy facts and figures, click here .
-- Richard Harris
9:57 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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John McCain said that VP hopeful Joe Biden had a plan to divide Iraq into three countries. That is not what Biden proposed. Here is an oped Biden wrote in the Washington Post about how his plan was to decentralize power in Iraq. He said it was not a partition plan. Click here for more.
-- Michele Keleman
9:53 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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The facts Sen. Obama cited about Bill Ayers are true. The Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) was a $50 million dollar effort to reform Chicago's beleaguered public schools, funded by Walter Annenberg, a close friend of Presidents Nixon and Reagan, who was Nixon's ambassador to Britain. Bill Ayers, a respected professor of education at the University of Illinois -- Chicago, was one of three school reform advocates who crafted the Chicago grant proposal, in an effort to tap into Annenberg's $500 million nationwide school reform effort.
Obama served chaired the board of the CAC from 1995 to 1999. Ayers was one of dozens of informal advisors to the CAC board from the Chicago school reform community. He served alongside conservative members of Chicago's civic and business community, who were firmly behind this school reform effort, as was then IL Gov. Jim Edgar, a Republican, and GOP members of the state legislature. Tired of Chicago school officials and union leaders coming to the state capitol with their hands out for more money, the Republicans in fact were demanding radical reforms in Chicago Public Schools, like what was taking place under the Annenberg Challenge.
Furthermore, no Republicans in Chicago and Illinois raised any concerns about Ayers, his background, nor his involvement in the city's schools. In fact, even today, none of the outrage over Obama's ties to Ayers is coming from Republicans in Chicago or Illinois.
As for the allegation that Obama "launched his political career in Ayers' living room," Ayers did host in fall of 1995 a 'getting-to-know-you" coffee at his house, as Obama was preparing to run for the Illinois Senate. The event was organized by to introduce Obama to supporters of the incumbent state Sen. Alice Palmer, who had announced she would run for congress (she later changed her mind and Obama beat her in the primary). It was one of several such coffees held that day and week. It was not the launch of his campaign; it was not a fundraiser.
-- David Schaper
9:52 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain finally starts unloading his campaign's negative messages: Ayers, ACORN. And Scheiffer cuts him off.
As for ACORN, Obama presents what you might call the narrowest possible view of his connections. The links are less than clear, given ACORN's complex organization. But for more details, go here .
-- Peter Overby
9:43 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Here is John Lewis's clarification on October 11 of his George Wallace comparison:
"A careful review of my earlier statement would reveal that I did not compare Sen. John McCain or Gov. Sarah Palin to George Wallace. It was not my intention or desire to do so. My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior. I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation."
And here are the original comments he made, earlier on October 11:
"As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing today reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.
"During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who only desired to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed one Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.
"As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."
9:40 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain says he doesn't oppose federal funding for stem cell research. And it's true, he doesn't. But his aides have been VERY cagey about saying whether, as President, he would lift President Bush's current restrictions on funding for EMBRYONIC stem cell research, which McCain has voted for in the past. Here's an email sent to the journal Nature just yesterday from McCain's top domestic policy advisor, Douglas Holtz-Eakin:
John McCain has a clear voting record on supporting federal funding for stem cell research. As president, he will strongly support funding for promising research programs, including amniotic fluid and adult stem cell research..... Where federal funds are used for stem cell research, Senator McCain believes clear lines should be drawn that reflect a refusal to sacrifice moral values and ethical principles for the sake of scientific progress, and that any such research should be subject to strict federal guidelines.
For more info, click here .
-- Julie Rovner
9:36 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Sen. McCain says Sen. Obama has requested a billion dollars in congressional earmarks, including $3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in his hometown. In last week's debate, Sen. McCain alleged Obama had supported a billion dollars in earmarks. For FY 2009, Obama has not requested any earmarks. For this fiscal year, Sen. Obama has requested 112 earmarks totaling more than $330 million in taxpayer funds. This does include $3 Million to go toward a new projection system at the Adler Planetarium., a request made by a bipartisan coalition of Illinois members of Congress. As we reported last week, this isn't the kind of overhead projector you'd find in a school classroom. It is the system that projects the night sky on the Planetarium's domed ceiling in its sky theater. The current system is nearly 40 years old and breaking down, and can't currently show Jupiter. It is the most popular attraction at the Adler Planetarium, the first Planetarium in the US, and according to Planetarium officials, it is an effective science teaching tool.
-- David Schaper
9:33 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain understates Obama's spending. He's not just spending more on negative ads, he's spending more on everything. That's because he opted out of public financing -- as McCain noted, but also as McCain did in the primaries. As noble as public financing might be, candidates will go without it when they can because it comes with spending limits.
-- Peter Overby
9:32 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Barack Obama commended John McCain for standing up to the Bush administration on torture. McCain did insist that the armed forces follow the Army Field Manual guidelines on interrogation, and that did become law. But McCain gave in to the administration's insistence that U.S. officials not in the armed forces not be constrained by the Army Field Manual. This is widely regarded among human rights advocates as a capitulation, since even military officers can "sheep dip" by temporarily stepping out of their roles as members of the military to use interrogation techniques not permitted by the Army Field Manual.
-- David Welna
9:29 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Obama says those subsidies are about $15 billion per year. I think it's closer to $12 billion. But he's correct that it's basically just pure profit to the companies and Democrats have been complaining about it since the Medicare Modernization Act (which boosted payments to entice more insurers to participate in Medicare) was passed in 2003.
-- Julie Rovner
UPDATE :
We project that 2008 MA (Medicare Advantage) payments will be 113 percent of FFS (fee-for-service, or traditional Medicare) spending. That means that in
2008 the Medicare program is paying about $10 billion more for the 21 percent of beneficiaries enrolled in MA plans than if they remained in FFS Medicare.
Click here for more information.
9:22 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain says we have to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much. He's talking about the bill for foreign oil imports. Problem is, our top oil suppliers are actually countries considered friendly with the U.S. -- Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico.
-- David Welna
9:21 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain is talking about Obama wanting to raise taxes on "Joe the plumber". Obama says he'd offer a tax cut to 95 percent of Americans. He would only actually raise taxes on the top 5 percent by income.
There's a simple way to understand the tax policies. Obama's tax plan would be better for the bottom 80 percent of Americans by income. McCain's would favor the top 20 percent of Americans by income.
Obama believes in more of a wealth redistribution model. McCain supports more of a trickle down model: tax breaks to the wealthiest will boost the economy and help everybody.
-- Chris Arnold
9:19 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain just brought up the story of Joe the plumber -- a man who shouted questions to Obama while he was canvassing in Holland, Ohio on Sunday. Since most of us weren't there to witness the encounter, we thought we'd post an ABC transcription that was distributed by the Obama campaign after it happened... after the jump.
-- Thomas Pierce
Continue reading "Joe the Plumber, Revisited" »
9:17 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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McCain blames Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for starting the housing crisis that led to the economic crisis. The criticism is that they pushed too hard to let people of modest means buy homes. Yet McCain also says we should allow families to remain in homes and realize the American dream. Which way is it: let them stay in their homes, or these entities triggered the crisis by letting them buy those homes?
-- David Welna
9:12 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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The third and final presidential debate is under way. Stay tuned right here for live fact-checking.
9:08 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Obama 273, McCain 163
Barack Obama holds his lead in the NPR's Electoral Outlook. Political editor Ken Rudin isn't as generous to the Illinois Senator as Karl Rove , who has Obama at 313 electoral votes. Rudin is keeping Obama at 273 for now. John McCain has lost ground since our last map update , sliding from 174 to 163 after Rudin moved Missouri from Leaning McCain to Tossup.
-- Michael Olson
8:35 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Three weeks until Election Day and we've got you covered with this week's best political coverage from NPR. On the docket: Don Gonyea introduces us to a union man on a mission to bridge a racial divide. Mara Liasson explores the Bradley Effect and what it might mean for the Obama campaign. And Greg Allen previews the "The Great Schlep" by speaking with Jewish grandmothers in Florida.
You can listen here (just not too loud!):
here .
--Kyle Gassiott
8:22 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Ohio is proving to be a battleground state in more ways than one. The Ohio Republican Party and the Secretary of State's office continue to feud over thousands of newly registered voters -- 600,000 since January, according to the AP . In the most recent development, the Ohio GOP is requesting from the state's 88 county election boards the registration records of thousands of voters who registered and cast ballots in the state during a seven-day window earlier this month.
This move comes on the heels of yesterday's court ruling. The full 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals said Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner must provide each election board access to a database listing those new voters whose registration information does not jive with other state or federal databases. That number is estimated to be around 200,000 . This decision reverses the finding of a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court issued last week. Brunner must comply with the order by Friday.
Complicated, I know. But the central question remains: what now? There's no easy answer. It's unclear what county election officials will do with the information once they get it and, perhaps more to the point, what Brunner will advise them to do. And the clock is ticking. Loudly.
h/t NPR's Pam Fessler
-- Sean Bowditch
7:44 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Here are two tidbits I thought I would toss out there...
Politico's Jonathan Martin blogs that the RNC's independent arm is pulling its ads in Maine and a few in Wisconsin and reassigning the resources to Colorado and Missouri. In fact, Martin points out that this marks the first time McCain will have a presence on the airwaves in Missouri. This is simply more evidence that McCain is fighting for his political life: he's been forced into a defensive posture in several traditionally red states, while pulling up stakes in blue states he was hoping to wrestle away from Obama.
Meanwhile, over at 538.com, Nate Silver is poring over a slew of new data . Survey2000 just finished up a series of surveys in five battleground states where some form of early voting took place (NM, OH, GA, IA, and NC). Bottomline: Obama is leading by an average of 23 points. That's a big number. However, Silver rightly warns against taking these numbers too seriously. They're estimates after all. But, if only remotely accurate, this bucks a long-standing trend; historically, early voting favors Republicans. In early polling in 2000 and 2004, Bush led 62.2 percent and 60.4 percent, respectively. Silver also notes that early voters tend to be older and predominantly male, two factors that would seem to leave Obama at a disadvantage.
-- Sean Bowditch
7:21 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Remember when gas was four bucks a gallon and gas prices were the top issue for voters? That was so five minutes ago. Now a new poll shows that yes, it's the economy, stupid. But guess what's leaped back into second place? Health care.
The survey of 1,500 likely voters was conducted between Oct. 5-9 by Lake Research Partners and Voter/Consumer Research (a Democratic and Republican firm, respectively) on behalf of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease. It found a whopping 64 percent of those responding said the economy would be their top issue as they went to the polls next month. But in second place, at 21 percent, was health care. Education, terrorism/national security, and Social Security/retirement tied for third at 16 percent each. The situation in Iraq trailed at 13 percent, and oh yes, gas prices were named by 11 percent, just ahead of the national debt and moral values, named by 7 percent each.
When asked what concerned them most on a personal level, health care actually ranked first among respondents, ahead of the rising costs of gas and food, jobs, and retirement savings. And in a finding likely to make John McCain even more unhappy than he already is, 64 percent of respondents said they favor providing "quality, affordable health care for all Americans, even if it means a major role for the federal government."
-- Julie Rovner
5:50 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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The Scranton Times-Tribune says the US Secret Service is investigating a threatening remark made yesterday at a Sarah Palin rally in Scranton, PA. When Republican congressional candidate Chris Hackett mentioned Obama by name during his introduction of Palin, someone in the crowd yelled "Kill him!". Employees from the Times-Tribune were interviewed by the Secret Service after the story posted on the newspaper's website.
h/t TPM
-- Sean Bowditch
UPDATE : Just got off the phone with Darrin Blackford, a Secret Service spokesperson. He says they have not launched a formal investigation at this point. Rather, they are "following up in an abundance of caution." The follow-up comes in response to a Times-Tribune reporter who says he heard the comment while covering the event. But according to Blackford, the Secret Service has yet to corroborate the account. They are now in the process of contacting personnel who were at the event as well as canvassing local authorities. He added that such matters are taken "very seriously".
2:36 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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We're down to the final presidential debate tonight -- and that means another NPR adventure in Twitterville.
As we've done for the previous debates, we'd like your help fact-checking the debates. If you hear the candidates say anything questionable and you have a URL for a primary source that disproves it, post it on Twitter and include the phrase #factcheck , including the pound sign at the start of the word. We'll monitor what you post and pass along any useful nuggets to our crack team of reporters fact-checking the debate. They'll blog the results here at Vox Politics and on our nprpolitics account on Twitter. If you don't use Twitter, feel free to post your fact-checks to this blog post instead.
Meanwhile, you can also take part in our "dial-test" experiment on Twitter tonight. We're interested in seeing how Twitter users react to the candidates' responses throughout the debate and graphing out those reactions. Here's how to participate:
Step 1: Follow @plodt on Twitter. The folks at plodt.com will be graphing the results, so you'll need to follow their Twitter account if you want your tweets to be included.
Step 2: Each time you want to rate a candidate's statement, format your tweet like these examples:
#dialtest *McCain 7.5* Good answer on protecting senior's pensions
or
#dialtest *Obama 7.0* Like what he said re: social security
By including #dialtest in your tweets, everyone will be able to follow along using this Twitter search page . And for those of you who are more visual, the tweets will be plotted on a graph in real time during the debate.This is all just a nutty little experiment on our part, so please take the results with a grain of salt. We're just interested in seeing how Twitter can be used to visualize public responses as the debate takes place.
See you on Twitter tonight!
-- Andy Carvin , aka acarvin on Twitter
2:30 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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NPR's Don Gonyea , traveling with the Obama campaign, just sent along word that the '70s band DEVO will be whipping up support for Obama this weekend in Akron, Ohio. The band formed in Akron in 1973; and it turns out this will be their first gig there since 1977.
Truth be told, we're just looking for an excuse to post an old-school video of odd-ball musicians who wear dome hats and rock out...
-- Sean Bowditch
1:24 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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The RNC is holding not 1, not 2, not 3 but... wait for it... 4 different conference calls today on the ACORN voter fraud allegations. NPR's Pam Fessler says they've been holding at least one conference call a day on the issue. But with four different calls focusing on four different states (North Carolina, Minnesota, Florida, and Missouri), our media-meter registers that as a "lather."
As Loyola Law School's Rick Hasen said in Pam's story last night , the Republicans might use the issue as an "insurance policy" if election results in certain states are very close. If today's press conferences are any indication, RNC lawyers might already be looking at flights to the "Show-Me", "Sunshine", "Tar-Heel", and "North Star" states, respectively.
As NPR's Peter Overby reminded us this morning, the latest attacks on ACORN are nothing new. Conflicts over the group forced Countrywide Financial to help cash-strapped homeowners out of subprime loans and fought to stop the use of state funds to build a sports arena in Philadelphia. They even got an assist at a 2006 rally from their current critic John McCain, who joined the group to push an immigration reform bill.
-- Kyle Gassiott
1:07 PM ET
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10-15-2008
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Good morning. Wednesday certainly arrived quickly. Evie is headed to Hempstead, NY today to help out with NPR's debate coverage. So I'm taking over the tiller. Be nice.
21 days and ticking...
The Morning Roundup would appear downright naked if we failed to mention the state of the economy. After an eye-popping resurgence on Monday (900-point jump), the Dow followed up with a somewhat lackluster performance yesterday. Stocks fell 76 points, further proof that skittish investors still rule the roost. The volatility in the markets continues to play out in the political arena. An LA Times/Bloomberg poll released late yesterday shows that Obama remains the beneficiary of the economic debacle. Almost half of all voters trust Obama to make sound economic decisions; in contrast, a little over a third trust McCain to do the same. 60 percent support Obama's economic plan, but only about 40 percent back McCain's plan. But the news hardly gets better for McCain: more voters -- 43 to 25 -- believe he has closer ties than Obama to the financial institutions at the center of the Wall Street implosion.
Continue reading "Wednesday Morning: The Image Game; Debate Swan Song; Ad Barrage" »
10:57 AM ET
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10-15-2008
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October 10, 2008
Barring any imminent October surprises, Vox Politics is taking Columbus Day off for a deep breath before the final madness.
We'll be back Tuesday -- have a delightful holiday weekend, merry readers!
-- Evie Stone
6:59 PM ET
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10-10-2008
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As of today one week remains before Oliver Stone's self-described "Shakespearean" biopic of the current Commander-in-Chief W .,
According to Stone, the movie is a serious re-telling of the events of Bush's life, spanning from the early years of drunken fights with his father in Texas until the days leading up to the Iraq war. In other words, think more Biography Channel and less extended SNL skit, as he told the London Times last week.
"It's a comedy only in the sense of tragic comedy," he winces. "You laugh in your mind, because Bush is a goof-ball, because he's awkward, but at the same time he has a stubborn-ness, a John Wayne ethos, an anger, an impatience, that make him fascinating. You may hate Wayne's politics, but you may well enjoy his company on screen."
Even though Stone swears no actual malice went into the making of the movie, you can imagine that Republicans might be less than thrilled about the October release of a film that that harshly depicts their party's leadership over the last eight years. In fact, Stone pushed the release date of the movie up so that it would be in theaters for the last weeks of the election. And in an interview with Entertainment Weekly back in May his producers said they hoped to run TV spots for the film opposite McCain ads in the Fall. Targeting McCain ads specifically appears to be a partisan move against the party of Stone's former Yale classmate .
Still you can't help but wonder if it's easier for Obama to land the "four more years" blow against McCain with voters who just spent two hours in the dark with George Bush.
If you haven't seen the trailer take a look and weigh in on Stone's sometimes inspired casting choices:
--Kyle Gassiott
6:27 PM ET
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10-10-2008
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The McCain camp and the RNC have held several (at least six between them) reporter conference calls this week to draw attention to instances of fraud in voter registrations collected by the group ACORN. ACORN is a community organizing group that advocates for affordable housing and leads voter registration drives, primarily in lower-income and minority (i.e. Democratic-leaning) neighborhoods. They hire contractors to register voters for them, which sometimes results in fake registrations getting turned in -- for example, recently the entire Dallas Cowboys roster supposedly registered to vote in Las Vegas through ACORN -- leading state authorities to raid the organization's office there.
Obviously Tony Romo won't be showing up at a Vegas precinct on election day, so the fraudulent registrations shouldn't effect the outcome of an election. But the bad paperwork does gum up the works at an already-busy time for election officials, especially since ACORN is required by law to file all the forms they receive -- even if they are patently fraudulent (ACORN officials say they make every effort to flag fake forms before they go to the Secretaries of State). The organization says it has registered 1.3 million new voters this year. The vast majority of those registrations are legit, but the group's registration drives are currently being investigated in at least eight states.
The McCain camp and RNC's calls, press releases, and other recent publicity efforts aim to link the Obama campaign to ACORN's troubles. Obama does have ties to ACORN -- he represented the group in a 1995 suit advocating state compliance with a voting access law, and they endorsed him during this year's Democratic primary. Obama's campaign also paid an ACORN subsidiary $800,000 to help with canvassing this spring, and initially misreported the expenditure to the FEC . But the Obama campaign wasn't involved with the registration efforts that are now under scrutiny (and indeed, ACORN itself hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing). But the GOP and the McCain camp are doing their best to tar the organization and the candidate with the same brush. Today, in addition to a conference call, the McCain camp released a web video linking Obama to ACORN and blaming the group for advocating the subprime loans that led to the housing crisis.
The Obama camp, for its part, says Obama supports voter registration efforts, but it has downplayed the candidate's ties to ACORN . In a statement today, spokesman Tommy Vietor called the McCain campaign's allegations "completely transparent and false" and said they represent "another dishonorable, shameful attempt to divert voters."
-- Evie Stone
5:07 PM ET
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10-10-2008
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Self-described "hockey mom" Sarah Palin will drop the puck at the Phildephia Flyers' home opener against the Rangers Saturday night. Flyers officials say the appearance isn't political (What could possibly be political about a major party VP candidate making a public appearance three weeks before the election? You guys are so cynical.) She'll be appearing with the winner of a local online contest to find the "ultimate hockey mom." Also-rans in that competition will, we are not kidding, receive a free lipstick -- presumably so their friends and family can continue to distinguish them from pitbulls.
Pennsylvania is an electoral vote-rich swing state that's currently leaning Democratic, and the appearance could garner Palin (and McCain) some positive publicity. But, as Politico's Ken Vogel points out , Philadelphia sports fans are not renowned for their excellent manners:
In addition to rough welcomes for Santa Claus and pop star Beyonce, Philadelphia fans, arguably the most unforgiving in American professional sports, cheered as an opposing team's star player lay motionless on the turf after sustaining what turned out to be a career-ending neck injury, threw batteries at a player who refused to sign with the Phillies baseball team and last month jeered their own mascot for dropping a foul ball.
So how will the city that booed the Easter Bunny receive the (arguably more controversial) VP nominee? Tune in to Comcast SportsNet Saturday night to find out...
-- Evie Stone
4:31 PM ET
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10-10-2008
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Not helping the confusion about Obama's "bloodlines "...via AP :
TROY, N.Y. - Osama, Obama? What's the difference? Not much, in an upstate New York county where hundreds of voters were sent absentee ballots in which they could vote for "Barack Osama."
Hundreds of absentee ballots sent to voters in Rensselaer County identified the two presidential candidates as "Barack Osama" and "John McCain."
Commissioners for the Rensselaer County Board of Elections say they "regret the error," but do not acknowledge in a statement what the error was.
The botched ballots were first reported by the Times-Union of Albany.
-- Evie Stone
h/t Margot Adler
3:56 PM ET
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10-10-2008
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Ok, so this isn't directly related to the campaign...but ABC reports that the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program may have been more widespread than has been previously indicated. According to whistleblower Adrienne Kinne, when she was working as an intercept officer, "US military officers, American journalists and American aid workers were routinely intercepted and 'collected on' as they called their offices or homes in the United States." Kinne said the eavesdropping included hundreds of personal calls that had nothing to do with terrorism.
Another intercept officer, David Murfee Faulk, spoke to ABC as well. He corroborated Kinne's story, saying the officers passed around the audio files like so many Perez Hilton links.
Faulk says he and others in his section of the NSA facility at Fort Gordon routinely shared salacious or tantalizing phone calls that had been intercepted, alerting office mates to certain time codes of "cuts" that were available on each operator's computer.
The whistleblowers told ABC that the wiretapping program does gather useful information that has prevented potential attacks. But Kinne also said monitoring calls home from the likes of the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders workers makes "the haystack bigger" so that actionable information becomes harder to pinpoint.
Both Kinne and Faulk first spoke about the matter with journalist James Bamford for The Shadow Factory , his upcoming book on the NSA.
-- Evie Stone
1:35 PM ET
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10-10-2008
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Obama 273, McCain 174
NPR-NewsHour Interactive Election Map
Shifts in North Carolina, New Hampshire and Indiana have increased Barack Obama's predicted lead in electoral votes over John McCain. NPR's Ken Rudin doesn't see a clear winner in North Carolina at this time. He previously had the state Leaning GOP, but is now calling it a Tossup. WUNC and WHQR have reports on Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin's recent trips to the state. NPR's Peter Overby reports that Obama and the DNC have spent about $5.2 million in North Carolina, while McCain has spent just more than $790,000. Our map currently shows Obama with a slight (+1.8) edge on McCain based on the RCP Poll Average.
In New Hampshire Obama's RCP Poll Average over McCain is in the double digits (+10.4). Rudin has changed the state from Tossup to Leans Democratic.
Indiana, a state where Bush crushed Kerry 59-39%, is surprisingly competitive for Obama. The RCP Poll Average still shows McCain up (+3.8), but the Obama camp has a lot of boots on the ground and ads on-air. Overby reports that Obama and the DNC have spent almost $4.1 million in Indiana, while McCain and the RNC have spent just under $247,000. By itself, the McCain camp has spent $458.
-- Michael Olson
12:27 PM ET
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10-10-2008
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Happy Friday.
With less than three weeks to go, the campaign is really starting to sizzle. Barack Obama spent yesterday hammering McCain's mortgage bailout proposal in speeches and an ad. He used what the LA Times describes as his "sharpest language yet" -- calling McCain's plan (and its shifting details ) an example of "erratic and unpredictable leadership ." Those keywords have been stalwarts of Obama campaign rhetoric recently, in an effort to subtly impugn McCain's temperament and age.
Meanwhile, the McCain campaign spent the day focusing heavily on Obama's association with former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, couching the men's relationship (they served together on two boards in Chicago) as evidence of Obama's bad judgment. Sarah Palin has been discussing Ayers since her references this weekend to Obama "palling around with terrorists." Yesterday McCain picked up the Ayers gauntlet, telling a crowd in Waukesha that Obama's downplaying his relationship with Ayers raises the question of "whether Senator Obama is telling the truth to the American people or not." And the campaign released a web video on Obama's relationship with Ayers, coincident with an RNC ad that ties Obama to unsavory Chicagoans including Ayers.
This morning the McCain camp emailed reporters another ad invoking Ayers. The new spot says Obama initially "worked with terrorist Bill Ayers" out of "blind ambition" and then "lied" about it and goes on to accuse him of "bad judgment". The ad then pivots to blame "congressional liberals" for the subprime crisis, and links that "bad judgment" to Obama's with Ayers. (Ayers' bombing activities occurred more than 20 years before the men met, and before Ayers received a PhD and became a professor. He later wrote a memoir about his time with the Weather Underground, and told the NYT in an ill-timed interview published September 11, 2001 that he thought they hadn't done enough to protest the Vietnam war.)
But the crowds at McCain's events are demanding a more explicit assault on Obama's character and judgment, and are making their angry voices heard. The Washington Post , The New York Times , Politico , and The Wall Street Journal (among others) all write this morning about increasing vitriol among McCain rally-goers.
Continue reading "Friday Morning: Character Crossfire; The Crowd Wants More; And Palin's Rise To Prominence " »
11:00 AM ET
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10-10-2008
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October 8, 2008
Sarah Palin questioned the McCain campaign decision to pull out of Michigan with an email saying, 'Oh come on, do we have to? ' and Palin isn't the only one questioning the campaign's choice to leave Michigan behind. Now Kent County Republican Chair Sam Moore is taking the gloves off (mostly because it is difficult to type with them on). Moore is amassing an army of pro-Palin Michiganders that he hopes will entice Palin to visit the state. He says he hasn't had contact with the McCain campaign, but he's confident that if he can collect 100,000 signatures of Michigan voters Palin will come. He tells Vox Politics, "We are doing whatever it takes to deliver the state" for the GOP ticket. And Moore adds that McCain's decision to pull out of the state has actually helped increase activity in the state Party office in Grand Rapids: "It's been busier here in the last week than it was in the past several weeks."
Not to be outdone, the Michigan Democratic Party has created its own petition , calling for Tina Fey to visit the state.
h/t Rick Pluta
-- Michael Olson
7:40 PM ET
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10- 8-2008
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In Wednesday night's debate, John McCain hammered Barack Obama for pork barrel spending, including his $3 million congressional earmark request "for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Illinois." McCain then added, "My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?"
The folks at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago want to clarify what it is that's being portrayed as wasteful spending. This is not, after all, the typical overhead projector that you might find at the front of a classroom or in an office conference room.
The money would be used to overhaul the projection system in the Adler Planetarium's Sky Theater; it projects an image of the night sky, the stars and planets, on the theater's dome ceiling. Planetarium President Paul Knappenberger says it is the quintessential planetarium experience:
An overhead projector is what classroom teachers use to put a page from a book up onto a screen in a classroom. They might cost $300, if that. You could probably find one on ebay for $10. What we've requested was a planetarium projection system. The current one we have in the theater was installed in 1970. It's wearing out. It's on it's last legs. We're starting to lose shows.
Projector vs Projector
Left: iStockphoto. Right: courtesy of the Adler Planetarium
-- David Schaper
7:01 PM ET
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10- 8-2008
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In this week's It's All Politics podcast, NPR's Ken Rudin and Ron Elving look at the outcomes from the McCain-Obama town hall debate (that one!) and check the forecast for an October Surprise. They also discuss the polls in unexpected battleground states (North Carolina, New Hampshire...Missouri?) and check in on tightening Senate races, including the third-party candidate in Minnesota who could help elect Al Franken:
download it here .
--Laurel Wamsley
6:16 PM ET
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10- 8-2008
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This morning the McCain campaign released a rather surprising study claiming that the senator's health plan would actually cover more than half of the nation's 47 million uninsured -- and two million more than the plan put forward by Senator Obama .
The study, by a team of economists at the Minnesota-based HSI Network LLC , is a distinct outlier. Several other studies have found that McCain's tax credit plan would cover only a relatively small percentage of the uninsured, while Obama's plan, although much more expensive, would cover far more.
The McCain press release from McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin trumpets the new study as "an independent assessment similar to one done on the Obama health reform plan." But how independent is it?
The lead author is Roger Feldman, a professor of health economics at the University of Minnesota. A quick Google search finds that Feldman is a longtime advocate of the type of "consumer-driven" health policies that McCain has been pushing. And Feldman's frequent writing partner is none other than Stephen Parente, his fellow Golden Gopher economics prof.
Who's Parente, you ask? We'll let Holtz-Eakin answer that question -- here's what he told Politico.com last April : "Holtz-Eakin said the health-policy experts who helped write McCain's plan include Stephen T. Parente, a health economist at the University of Minnesota..."
And by the way, Parente's CV lists him as a principal (i.e. part owner) of the consulting firm that wrote the report.
-- Julie Rovner
1:45 PM ET
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10- 8-2008
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Don Gonyea and I just stopped by Obama's tiny campaign office in Defiance, Ohio, a small town in a part of the state that Obama is working hard to keep in play. The office has a nondescript storefront. Behind one window is a life-size cardboard cut-out of Obama as well as a half-dozen political signs for various down-ticket races. Taped to another window is an ad announcing a local scarecrow contest.-- Sean Bowditch
1:10 PM ET
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10- 8-2008
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At least it might have been until September 16th.
This morning David C. Kernell a twenty-year old University of Tennessee student was indicted by a federal grand jury for accessing VP Candidate Sarah Palin's email account.
Kernell--whose father Mike Kernell is a democrat in the Tennessee House of Representatives--successfully reset the password to Govenor Palin's Yahoo email account. No high level hacking skills were required in this instance as Kernell answered security questions about the candidate's birthdate, ZIP code, and used the phrase 'Wasilla High' (where she met her spouse) to gain entry.
Once inside the account, Kernell reset the password to 'popcorn' took screenshots of some e-mail messages and other public information and posted them and the password on his personal website. Kernell voluntarily turned himself into federal authorities for arrest and faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Palin has already come under fire for using a non-governmental email account to conduct state business while on the road during the campaign. Some lawyers in Alaska believe that Palin's e-mails about public business should be treated like any other record even if they're in a private account.
Having been hacked once, we're pretty certain that Governor Palin's password is much more secure these days. We're also willing to bet it contains none of the following words or phrases: future-pres2016, all-of-them, dog-gone-it, hockey-mom, lipstick, pitbull115, 4mr_beauty_queen, gunslinger, gosh_darn, or gov_moosehunter01.
--Kyle Gassiott
1:01 PM ET
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10- 8-2008
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The Montana Republican Party has dropped a controversial effort to challenge thousands of state voters, after Democrats and some challenged voters filed suit on Monday. The challenges were filed against almost six thousand voters last week after the GOP said it had compared registrations in seven counties against a national change-of-address-form database. Republican officials said it appeared that the individuals had moved and should have their registrations questioned to insure against fraud. But most of the challenged voters lived in Democratic-leaning areas, such as Missoula, leading the Democratic Party to cry foul. The Republicans said those areas were just where they found the most problems, and they also planned to check the rest of the state for more challenges.
But last night, Jacob Eaton, the executive director of the Montana GOP, sent a letter to county election officials saying they would drop the challenges . Eaton cited the perception that the action was meant to intimidate voters, though he maintained that the challenges were filed in good faith.
It didn't help, though, that some of those challenged had perfectly good reasons for filing a change of address form, including one Army reservist on his way to Iraq who said he was having his mail forwarded to his parents' house while he was deployed.
-- Pam Fessler
12:25 PM ET
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10- 8-2008
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Good morning.
Before we proceed to the task of rehashing last night's debate festivities...we awakened today to news of a coordinated interest rate cut in (via the New York Times ) "the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank as well as those in Canada, Sweden and Switzerland." The Fed cut its funds rate half a percentage point to 1.5%, and the discount rate by the same amount, bringing it to 1.75%. More from the NYT:
The coordinated action comes as governments around the world have been trying to ease the financial turmoil that has led to bank collapses, and billions of dollars in bailouts, as well as market turmoil that has sent the Dow Jones industrial average down 1,400 points in the last five days. Yet credit markets, which businesses depend on to finance day-to-day operations have remained frozen. On Tuesday, the Fed announced a program to begin buying commercial paper.
Hell's bells. (Commercial paper explainer , for those who are wondering.)
But back to last night's debate. The general consensus among the punditocracy seems to be that neither candidate scored a clear victory or massively screwed up (Drudge headline : BORING). Indeed, in the absence of any memorable zingers, the most-discussed line this morning appears to be McCain at one point referring to Obama as "that one". (Though McCain spox Nicole Wallace told CBS this morning -- via Playbook -- that the umbrage only serves to prove that Obama-Biden is "the fussiest campaign in American history.") Analyst consensus: the tie goes to the guy with the momentum, and McCain lost last night simply for failing to shake things up. Politico's Roger Simon distills the CW :
[I]f you had to say somebody lost Tuesday night, it was McCain. Because he had to win and he did not. He is the one who has to change the current trajectory of the campaign, and he did not do that.
Continue reading "Wednesday Morning: Coordinated Rate Cuts; Static Status Quo After Second Debate; And Palin Talks To Reporters!" »
11:08 AM ET
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10- 8-2008
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We laughed, we cried, we...wished the rules permitted follow-up questions. For those of you who want to re-live the magic of tonight's debate, here's a transcript , courtesy of CNN.
-- Evie Stone
12:17 AM ET
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10- 8-2008
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October 7, 2008
As McCain said, Obama is number two in overall campaign money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Center for Responsive Politics puts Obama's receipts from Freddie and Fannie employees at $122,850. Christopher Dodd (D-CT, chair of the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee), got $133,900 from Freddie and Fannie employees and PACs, making him number one. Both totals are since 1998, although obviously Obama hasn't been in the Senate that long and raised his money much more swiftly.
The McCain campaign has made much of the fact that Obama asked former Fannie CEO Jim Johnson -- one of Washington's Democratic heavyweights -- to lead his VP search committee. Johnston bowed out after questions arose about his personal finances. The GOP has also tried to promote the idea of a close tie between Obama and Franklin Raines, who succeeded Johnson at Fannie and left under a cloud. It's a stretch, based on one line in a Washington Post story that Raines denies and even the reporter suggests has been overblown.
McCain's way down the money list -- $21,300 since 1989.
But McCain's campaign manager and longtime consultant, Rick Davis, is a cofounder of Davis Manafort, a lobbying firm. Freddie and Fannie hired Davis Manafort several years ago at $30,000 a month to run the Homeowners Alliance, essentially a front group to promote Fannie and Freddie's interests in DC. The alliance closed down in 2006, and Freddie hired DM directly at $15,000 a month.
Davis Manafort did not register to lobby for Freddie, and Freddie didn't carry the contract on its lobbying budget. Two sources told me that it was a no-work contract to establish a good connection with McCain, as he made the transition from simply a powerful senator to presidential candidate.
McCain's campaign points out that Davis stopped taking a salary or ownership distribution from Davis Manafort when he joined the campaign.
But he still has an equity stake in the firm.
-- Peter Overby
11:46 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Sen. Obama has spoken since the Democratic Convention of ending our dependence on Middle East oil in 10 years. That would be tough.
If we simply bought oil from countries outside the Persian Gulf, we would not escape the influence of the Middle East. That's because oil is a global commodity, so the global price is determined by all the major producers, regardless of who buys from whom.
The US imports more than half of its oil. Of that, 20 percent comes from the Middle East. So the Gulf provides about 10 percent of the oil we use. If we reduced consumption by 10 percent, we would still need to import plenty of oil. And, again, the Middle East has a big say in the global price of oil. Production levels in the Persian Gulf would still affect the amount we pay at the pump.
Drilling offshore of the United States wouldn't yield significant amounts of oil for about 10 years, and even then we could not expect to pump as much from those sources as is currently produced in the Persian Gulf. We could possibly increase global oil production by a few percent, so that would not have a large effect on the price of oil.
As we have recently seen, our oil consumption can go down -- as long as the price goes up enough. Sustained high oil prices could help us limit the amount of oil we consume, but it would not make consumers happy in the process.
Researchers are working on alternatives to oil, such as biofuels made from plant material. However, that requires building a whole new industry. And it will take decades, not years, to ramp up production. It's reasonable to assume we can produce about 30 percent of our fuel needs by 2030 with these alternative fuels -- but the industry is not a sure bet.
-- Richard Harris
11:37 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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NPR's David Greene reports that Barack Obama has dropped by a "post-dessert reception" at Al and Tipper Gore's Nashville home. The party is a $2500 per person (minimum) fundraiser for the Obama Victory Fund (a joint fundraising committee for the DNC and the Obama campaign). The campaign says the guests did not know Obama would be making an appearance when they shelled out the dough -- though there were apparently rumors to that affect swirling among Tennessee Dems.
For the curious among you, here's the invitation .
-- Evie Stone
11:29 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain repeated his claim that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times. Factcheck calls that a misleading statistic :
It's true that most of the votes the GOP counts would either have increased taxes for some, or set budget targets calling for such increases. But by repeating their inflated 94-vote figure, the McCain campaign and the GOP falsely imply that Obama has pushed indiscriminately to raise taxes for nearly everybody. A closer look reveals that he's voted consistently to restore higher tax rates on upper-income taxpayers but not on middle- or low-income workers. That's consistent with what he's said he'd do as president, which is to raise taxes only on those making more than $250,000 a year.
-- Evie Stone
h/t msblog
11:16 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Here's the instant take from NPR's live debate coverage on how the candidates fared.
Weekly Standard 's Matt Continetti : "I was struck by a few moments in this debate, where McCain, in trying to make a case for himself made a case for Obama." McCain mentioned "his hero Ronald Reagan" multiple times. "But at the end of the debate Obama made the Reagan case" by asking, "Are you better off?"
More Continetti, on speaking softly and carrying a big stick: "The problem is" that McCain's "initial response to the financial crisis was erratic. One moment he was saying 'the fundamentals are strong,' the next he is saying it is a mess. ... It was Obama who had the steady response in the financial crisis."
Washington Post 's EJ Dionne : I don't think that McCain shook the race up. ... There was a lot of speculation that in order to shake the race up McCain was going to get real personal." As VP nominee Sarah Palin has done on the trail recently. "You can't blame the Weather Underground for blowing up this economy. ... It is quite obvious that you can't turn a page on the finance crisis in this campaign."
NPR's Mara Liasson : "There wasn't any one moment that leapt out. ... Neither made big mistakes." McCain did "a pretty good job" of showing that he understood the economy.
More Liasson, on evasive answers by Obama and McCain: "There were a lot of moments where they launched into recycled chunks of stump speeches."
-- Michael Olson
11:10 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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The post-debate statements from the two campaigns are (unsurprisingly) both triumphant.
Barack Obama won a resounding victory in John McCain's favorite debate format because he made the case for change that will rebuild the middle class. The American people asked tough questions tonight, and only Barack Obama was is in touch with their struggles and offered clear and passionate answers about creating jobs, reducing health care costs, cutting taxes for 95% of working families, and responsibly ending the war in Iraq. John McCain was all over the map on the issues, and he is so angry about the state of his campaign that he referred to Barack Obama as 'that one' -- last time he couldn't look at Senator Obama, this time he couldn't say his name. The McCain campaign said, 'if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose,' and John McCain definitely lost tonight.
Tonight, John McCain won the debate. He was the only man who demonstrated he had the independence and strength to take on everything that's broken in Washington and on Wall Street. John McCain had a clear plan for improving the lives of Americans -- keeping them in their homes through his American Homeownership Resurgence Plan. From Barack Obama, we heard half-truths and contradictions between what he says and what he has done. He said he supported offshore drilling but has opposed it for months. He talked about tax cuts but he voted for higher taxes 94 times and promises increased taxes on small businesses. He talked about reducing the size of government but has proposed hundreds of billions of dollars in new government spending. Tonight, Barack Obama had an opportunity to level with the American people, but instead all we heard was more of the same.
-- Evie Stone
10:54 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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The Obama campaign's statement about the Planetarium money:
The non-profit Adler Planetarium is one of the leading astrological institutions in the Midwest that offers programs for students, scientists, and the public. Senator Obama is firmly committed to enhancing our nation's science education programming, and he joined a bipartisan coalition of Illinois Member of Congress including Senator Durbin and Congressmen Kirk, Jackson Jr., Davis, and Emanuel in requesting funding to enhance and restore the Planetarium. In a voluntary act of disclosure, Senator Obama disclosed all of the earmarks he requested in the U.S. Senate, he passed a law with Senator Coburn that creates a one-stop online database where taxpayers can see how their money is being spent, and he has since stopped requesting earmarks and cosponsored legislation that places a moratorium on earmark requests until proper oversight can be achieved.
The legitimacy of the request aside, we are pretty sure they should have said ASTRONOMICAL -- not ASTROLOGICAL. (For what it's worth, Obama is a Leo and McCain is a Virgo.) Somewhere, my Matter In The Universe professor's head is exploding...
-- Evie Stone
h/t Ron Elving
10:43 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Our intrepid librarian Barbara Van Woerkom notes a misquote from John McCain:
It's not "walk" softly or "talk" softly, like McCain said, but "Speak softly and carry a big stick", quoted by Theodore Roosevelt in a speech, April 2, 1903, Chicago. From the Columbia World of Quotations , via Bartleby.com
-- Evie Stone
10:42 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Health care has taken a higher profile in the campaign in recent days and the candidates took the opportunity to get in their slams at each other's plans in person.
Obama pointed out -- correctly -- that McCain's plan would tax employer-provided health benefits for the first time in addition to providing the tax credits McCain is so fond of talking about. But in saying "what one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away," Obama suggested that most people would come out even at best. In fact, most people who currently have employer-provided insurance would be better off -- at least at first -- because the tax credits; $2,500 for an individual and $5,000 for families, would in most cases be larger than the tax bills for current benefits. (McCain was guilty of suggesting several times that everyone would get a $5,000 credit; that's not the case). Tax analysts have pointed out, however, that because the tax credit would increase more slowly than health insurance premiums, over time its buying power would decline, and more people would end up with a tax liability on their employer-provided coverage, assuming their employers still provide coverage. At least two independent studies have found that 20 million people would no longer have employer-provided coverage after 10 years if Sen. McCain's plan were to become law.
McCain, for his part, accused Obama of injecting more government into the health care system. "He's...said government will do this and government will do that and then government will -- and he'll impose mandates. If you're a small business person, and you don't insure your employees, Senator Obama will fine you, will fine you. That's remarkable," said McCain. It's also not quite true. The smallest employers -- those with fewer than 10 workers -- would be totally exempt. Other small businesses would get significant tax credits to make that insurance more affordable.
-- Julie Rovner
10:40 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain was apparently referring to the 2005 energy bill, which he did vote against and Obama did vote for. It was in fact loaded with tax breaks and incentives for oil and gas companies, which is why Sen. McCain opposed it. The bill passed.
That said, the oil companies later said that they didn't end up benefiting from the tax cuts that were built into the energy bill for them. And the Congressional Research Service found that in the end, the oil companies ended up paying more taxes.
The bill also contained tax breaks for ethanol -- which is a fuel that Sen. Obama favored on behalf of the corn growers in Illinois. And it contained other money for alternative energy sources. However, the ethanol subsidy ended up encouraging farmers to grow corn for fuel instead of for food. And that played some role in the huge run-up in food prices -- exactly how much is debatable.
It also continued subsidies for nuclear power, wind and other alternatives, but did not effectively address global warming with measures such as a fuel-efficiency standard.
-- Richard Harris
10:35 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Obama is correct in saying that Al Qaeda is the strongest it has been since 2001, at least if you believe US intelligence estimates .
-- Michele Kelemen
10:33 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Obama said, "We're spending $10 billion dollars a month in Iraq, at a time when the Iraqis have a $79 billion dollar surplus -- $79 billion dollars."
Factcheck.org says it isn't so :
Biden said that Iraq had an "$80 billion surplus." The country was once projected to have as much as a $79 billion surplus, but no more. The Iraqis have $29 billion in the bank, and could have $47 billion to $59 billion by the end of the year, as we noted when Obama used the incorrect figure. A $21 billion supplemental spending bill, passed by the Iraqi legislature in August, knocked down the old projection.
-- Michael Olson
10:32 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain said the US has to advocate for Ukraine and Georgia's membership in NATO. This is an issue that has divided European allies.
-- Michele Kelemen
10:30 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Obama did in fact put out a statement about Russia in April. It's after the jump.
-- Michele Kelemen
Continue reading "Obama's Russia Record" »
10:26 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain criticized Obama for wanting to set a date for withdrawal from Iraq, but that is what the Iraqi government and the Bush administration are essentially doing right now.
On Darfur, Obama said we should be providing logistical support to the UN/AU force. The Bush administration has done that. As for setting up a no-fly zone, it may not be as easy as Obama suggests and some aid groups are worried about the prospect.
-- Michele Kelemen
10:19 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Steve Ellis of Taxpayers For Common Sense emails some background on that earmark request for the Chicago Planetarium.
In tonight's debate, Sen. McCain cited a $3M earmark Sen. Obama sought for a projector at a planetarium.
Here is the verbatim description from Sen. Obama's request:
"Adler Planetarium, to support replacement of its projector and related equipment, $3,000,000.
One of its most popular attractions and teaching tools at the Adler Planetarium is the Sky Theater. The projection equipment in this theater is 40 years old, and is no longer supported with parts or service by the manufacturer. It has begun to fail, leaving the theater dark and groups of school students and other interested museum-goers without this very valuable and exciting learning experience."
-- Evie Stone
h/t Overby
UPDATE : Twitter user tmcenroe points us to a page on Obama's Senate website detailing all the Senator's FY08 earmark requests. Re: the planetarium projector, tmcenroe writes "it's not exactly the Kodak your dad had..."
10:11 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain said that Obama would increase taxes on 50 percent of small business revenue. I think this may be true for revenue as a whole but it doesn't mean that 50 percent of small business owners would pay more. It also depends on what you consider small businesses. The Small Business Administration defines a small business as a company with fewer than 500 employees but I don't know where McCain gets his figures.
-- Jim Zarroli
10:03 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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"That one" -- McCain while pointing at Obama identifying who voted against the Bush-Cheney energy bill.
Unlike during the first debate McCain has been willing to look at Obama tonight. But he has studiously avoided saying anything that could be construed as flattery of his opponent.
-- Michael Olson
9:58 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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We're an hour into the debate, and this may be the longest interval all day with no mention of Bill Ayers or the Keating 5. Which, despite this civilized discussion, would be an hour in which the McCain campaign is off-message.
-- Peter Overby
9:57 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain says when people know there will be more oil prices will go down. Brazil discovered what are believed to be the world's third biggest reserves of oil undersea in April. Oil prices only climbed in the wake of that discovery.
-- David Welna
UPDATE : With regard to the eventual price effect when that oil does hit the market, our Richard Harris adds:
Offshore oil drilling would take many years to develop and would ultimately add less than 2 percent to the global oil supply. So it's a stretch to assert, as Sen. McCain did, that drilling will drive down the price of oil.
9:53 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain just said he'll give $5,000 to every American as a refundable tax credit on health insurance. In fact, it's $2,500 per person, or $5,000 per household.
-- David Welna
9:51 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain said Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill's sitting down to strike a deal on Social Security is a model for what to do now. Problem is, those two gents agreed to raise taxes to cover the Social Security gap...and McCain says on his campaign website he WON'T raise taxes to fix Social Security.
-- David Welna
9:48 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain puts earmarks at the top of his hit-list for cutting the budget. In fact, earmarks are a small percentage of what's called the discretionary budget -- as opposed to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which dwarf discretionary spending. Earmark totals have gone down dramatically the past two years, although they're bobbing back up now.
-- Peter Overby
9:46 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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@paulboccaccio Tweeted that Obama has been the second-highest recipient of donors from Fannie & Freddie employees.
Our Peter Overby confirms:
The Center for Responsive Politics puts Obama's receipts from Freddie and Fannie employees at $122,850. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chair of the Senate Banking Committee, got $133,900 from Freddie and Fannie employees and PACs, making him number one. Both totals are since 1998, although obviously Obama hasn't been in the Senate that long.
-- Evie Stone
9:44 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Obama talked about AIG executives on a junket which was apparently true, but they were from the clean side of the company, the insurance side, not financial products division. That's an important distinction.
McCain says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lit the fire of the mortgage crisis. Most people would say that they played a part but there was much more to it than that. Securitization of mortgages played a big role because it meant mortgage servicers had no real incentive to impose strict credit standards on borrowers. And there were key players as well, like overly aggressive mortgage brokers.
-- Jim Zarroli
9:40 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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During tonight's debate McCain announced a new "Homeownership Resurgence Plan" aimed at helping families stay in their homes. His campaign quickly followed up on McCain's mention of the plan with an informational release. The gist:
The McCain Resurgence Plan would purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers, and replace them with manageable, fixed-rate mortgages that will keep families in their homes. By purchasing the existing, failing mortgages the McCain resurgence plan will eliminate uncertainty over defaults, support the value of mortgage-backed derivatives and alleviate risks that are freezing financial markets.
You can read the full press release after the jump.
-- Evie Stone
Continue reading "McCain Unveils 'Homeownership Resurgence Plan'" »
9:30 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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McCain starts out his litany of reform with "working across the aisle with Sen. Feingold for campaign finance reform." That's absolutely true -- but it's not something he says to Republican audiences, since the GOP leadership fought the McCain-Feingold bill with everything they had.
-- Peter Overby
9:25 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Brokaw asked McCain about his potential choices for Treasury Secretary after Henry Paulson steps down.
McCain started out with joke-let that fell flat: "not you, Tom." Then he floated -- as he did last week -- investor Warren Buffet (with a nod to the fact that he's an Obama supporter) and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. (Our Peter Overby points out that McCain's former economic adviser Phil "Nation of Whiners " Gramm did not make that short list, cutting off a potential Obama talking point.)
Obama responded by agreeing that Buffet would be a good choice -- then was quick to reiterate that the billionaire investor is actually his supporter . The rest of Obama's answer dodged the Treasury Secretary question and stuck to his policy differences with McCain. For the record, here's roundup of Obama's Treasury prospects, courtesy of Bloomberg .
Obama has made it clear he would rely on former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin for advice in his choice. Rubin, according to people who have spoken with him, would have a short list of recommendations that includes New York Federal Reserve Bank President Tim Geithner, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Roger Altman, a Wall Street investment banker and former deputy Treasury secretary.
-- Evie Stone
9:09 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Here we go! Tonight's debate is a town hall format moderated by NBC's Tom Brokaw. It's in a "theater in the round" style setting with the audience chairs encircling a bright red rug. As always, no cheering or outbursts will be permitted in the hall during the debate -- though, as Brokaw pointed out, those of you watching at home are free to scream and throw things as you see fit.
Stick with us throughout for fact checks and other observations.
-- Evie Stone
9:01 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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NPR's Peter Overby has done some new shoe leather reporting on the Clarion Fund, the 501(c)(3) charity that distributed a DVD on radical islam across 14 battleground states the weekend after the 9/11 anniversary. The DVD caused some buzz because voters received it as an insert in their newspapers...and because no one was sure who was behind it. The video was also shown at a free screening in Dearborn, MI, a city with a large Arab-American population.
Now Peter writes:
Critics of the video suspect that it's being deployed as a partisan campaign tool, to play on the false rumors that Democrat Barack Obama is sympathetic to radical Islam. Clarion declined to say if it targeted particular demographic groups in mailing the DVD...And we still don't know how closely Clarion is tied to Aish HaTorah, an international Jewish educational organization with offices in New York. Clarion's incorporation papers share the same address; the PR firm says that's no longer the case.
For more details, check out Vox Politics' sister blog at the Secret Money Project.
-- Nancy Cook
7:59 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Most market reports this week have us biting our nails, hiding out under the covers, and practicing very deep breathing. But at least one group of individuals--namely the Obama campaign--has reason to sing after reading a stock report. The Iowa Electronic Markets is reporting Obama's shares are trading at 77 cents in the Winner Take All market. That's up 10 cents since the first presidential debate and 20 cents in the last month.
At this point you're probably saying: What are the Iowa Electronic Markets? Well according to their website :
The Iowa Electronic Markets are operated by faculty at the University of Iowa Henry B. Tippie College of Business as part of our research and teaching mission. These markets are small-scale, real-money futures markets where contract payoffs depend on economic and political events such as elections.
And yes, you are trading with REAL money here. Accounts can be opened for $5 to $500 dollars to which the market can increase or--as we all well know--take away.
So, can McCain turn this particular market around after tonight's debate? Well, this morning the IEM reported the Republican candidate trading at 47.4 cents and his Democratic rival at 54.3 on the Vote Share market.
Take heart, be brave and jump into this market, anything is still possible in the 28 days between now and November 4th.
--Kyle Gassiott
5:09 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Format is front and center as the candidates get set for tonight's town hall meeting at Belmont University in Nashville. It's typical for the campaigns to spend the day of the debate lowering the expectations for their own candidate and upping the ante for their opponent. The pressure is particularly keen on McCain, as by now the whole country seems to know the analogy: McCain is to Town Hall as Obama is to Big Rally.
With that in mind, the Obama campaign has brought this tradition into the video age with a montage of pundits (and McCain himself) pledging McCain's intimate-setting prowess:
--Laurel Wamsley
3:54 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Barack Obama is flying from Asheville to Nashville today. He spent the last few days in North Carolina, surprising attendees at the state's annual Vance-Aycock dinner the night before a big rally at Asheville High.
NPR's Audie Cornish reports that Obama strategist David Axelrod talked to reporters on the campaign plane today, and he said the following:
"Tonight...Sen McCain, this is his preferred format. He wanted to do all these debates in a town hall format and we understand that. He's [McCain] also signaled to his supporters that he will be aggressive in this debate and that he is going to take the gloves off. I hope in the course of that he has time to speak to the state of the economy which is in deep trouble right now ...we are going to talk about that; we are going to talk about the issues that are important to the American people. But we are prepared for a very aggressive debate."
On how the tone of the election has changed:
It's safe to say that neither Obama nor McCain would be headed to Tennessee if not for the debate tonight. The latest polls in the Volunteer State have McCain up by more than 15 points.
--Laurel Wamsley
3:35 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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It's just about lame-duck time (though some would argue we're there already), and the moviemakers have had eight years to work on their retrospectives.
There's been a lot of talk and billboards about Oliver Stone's W. Crawford official seal .
You can watch the film in full on Hulu, where it debuted today as the first festival film to have a major online premiere .
--Laurel Wamsley
12:58 PM ET
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10- 7-2008
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The presidential candidates are prepping for another debate tonight - and once again, we'd like your help fact-checking their claims.
As we did during the Palin-Biden debate , we're challenging you to help us prove which claims are accurate and which ones aren't. If you hear something that sounds fishy, do some digging and find a primary source that sheds some light on the claim. Once you've found a source, send us the URL. The best way to get the information to us is to post it on Twitter and include the phrase #factcheck , including the pound sign at the start of the word. We'll monitor what you post on Twitter, and anyone else can follow along , too. We'll also be tweeting throughout the night at twitter.com/nprpolitics . We may even come up with some research assignments for you on-the-fly. And if you're not a member of Twitter, no worries - you can always post your research to this discussion thread instead.
We'll sort through your posts and pass them off to our reporters to investigate further. Be sure to check back to Vox Politics throughout the night to see the results - you may just see yourself getting a hat-tip from us.
-- Andy Carvin , aka acarvin on Twitter
11:15 AM ET
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10- 7-2008
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Good debate morning, merry readers.
As the markets keep dropping, the stakes keep rising for our candidates -- and the campaigns get increasingly personal. The Obama campaign responded to a Sarah Palin hit on Bill Ayers with a 13-minute documentary video about McCain's involvement in the Keating Five, and is now cheerfully circulating news stories about McCain's connections with a group that had ties to the Contras back in the 1980s. And both campaigns are out with new negative ads this morning. McCain's spot calls Obama "hypocritical" when he accuses McCain of running misleading ads. Obama's ad says McCain is "running out of time" and needs to distract Americans from the country's problems by smearing Obama.
But is this really where voters want the campaign to go as the Dow sinks and world markets teeter? The NYT's Adam Nagourney posits that a continued descent into character assassination could make the candidates appear petty at a time of genuine fear for many Americans. He suggests McCain has more to lose, since he's already struggling for traction on economic issues.
Yet in shifting toward a more negative and personal message, the two campaigns risked seeming detached from the economic anxieties of voters at a time when the financial system is teetering. The risk could be especially great for Mr. McCain, who has ceded political ground to Mr. Obama during the financial crisis and has taken the more combative stance in recent days. A lacerating speech he gave Monday -- "Who is the real Barack Obama?" Mr. McCain asked -- was shown on cable television juxtaposed with images of another horrible day on Wall Street.
Continue reading "Tuesday Morning: Debate-Eve Character Hits; Politico Takes On Race; And Hsu Back In The News " »
10:30 AM ET
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10- 7-2008
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APRN reports : Jurors in the trial of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens heard audio recordings of conversations between Stevens and former Veco CEO Bill Allen. Allen was put on the stand by government prosecutors to build a case against Stevens for allegedly accepting more than $250,000 in gifts. One of the recorded calls, made in October 2006, Stevens told Allen:
The worst that can happen to us is we run up a bunch of legal fees, and might lose and we might have to pay a fine, might have to serve some time in jail. I hope to Christ it never gets to that. ... I don't think we have done anything wrong.
Stevens is up for re-election next month. Alaska Governor and VP nominee Sarah Palin has thus far declined to make an endorsement in the race. NPR's Ken Rudin currently predicts that Democrat Mark Begich will win the seat that Stevens has held since 1968.
-- Michael Olson
7:23 AM ET
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10- 7-2008
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October 3, 2008
The McCain campaign has released Sarah and Todd Palin's tax returns from 2006 and 2007. Love those Friday afternoon document drops!
Our Peter Overby is still poring over them, but you can take a look here .
From the release:
Taxes Paid:
For 2007, the Palins paid $24,738 (LINE 63) in total taxes on gross income of $166,080 (LINE 37), which is a 14.9% tax rate.
Charitable Contributions:
2006
In 2006, Sarah and Todd Palin donated $4,250 to charity in cash/check donations and $630 in non-cash/check donations, for a total of $4,880. This is 3.3% of their adjusted gross income.
2007
In 2007, Sarah and Todd Palin donated $2,500 to charity in cash/check donations and $825 in non-cash/check donations, for a total of $3,325. This is 1.5% of their adjusted gross income.
-- Evie Stone
5:15 PM ET
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10- 3-2008
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Will Obama sit down with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? That is one question I hope not to hear in the next debate, as it has been "fact checked" too many times already.
Five former Secretaries of State have spoken in favor of engaging Iran without preconditions and even the Bush administration has sent a top diplomat to a multi-lateral meeting with Iran's nuclear negotiator. So why focus on precisely who meets with whom, particularly when it comes to Iran, a country with many different centers of power? It would be far better to hear the candidates talk about how they intend to try to keep sensitive nuclear technology out of Iranian hands. Republican Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin said last night that Iran "cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, period." But what does that mean in terms of policy?
The debate over Iraq and Afghanistan tends to get bogged down in semantics about "the surge" and whether or not it can be replicated in Afghanistan. Left unexplained: precisely what it will take to succeed in Afghanistan, and how the next administration intends to get European allies to do more to help.
And on Darfur, Barack Obama's running mate Joe Biden said, "I don't have the stomach for genocide when it comes to Darfur." Those were powerful words. Both camps have talked about the need for more support for United Nations/African Union troops and a no-fly zone over Darfur. But there are many questions about how a no-fly zone could be enforced and whether it would help or hurt aid workers on the ground. And there is another issue looming: how will the next President deal with a possible indictment by the International Criminal Court of Sudan's President Omar al Bashir. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told the Aspen Institute today that "the ICC should not be stopped from putting out indictments, otherwise it is really blackmail." But some on the UN Security Council are planning to try to stop the ICC from bringing charges against Bashir, arguing such a move would complicate peace efforts for Darfur. What should the US do to promote both justice and peace?
I'll be hoping for more details from McCain and Obama when they meet Tuesday in Nashville.
-- Michele Kelemen
4:10 PM ET
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10- 3-2008
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Before Sarah Palin shakes up Washington, she seems inclined to shake up the McCain camp. The Alaska Gov. tells Fox News that she disagrees with the decision to remove staff and resources out of Michigan.
When she learned of the plans for Michigan Palin said she "fired off a quick e-mail and said, 'Oh come on, do we have to?'
Palin isn't the only Gov. questioning the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan. The state's Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm also called for McCain to stick around Michigan -- albeit in a sarcastic plea to Michigan Radio :
"A candidate who is so out of touch on the economy as John McCain, who thinks the fundamentals of our economy are strong, however he wants to spin that, he could benefit from being here, and listening to Michigan."
Democrats ignored Michigan in the primary after the state bucked party rules and scheduled a primary before February 5th. At the time there were fears that Michigan voters would bear a grudge into the fall, but recent polls suggest that's not happening. Maybe the McCain camp is taking a lesson from the Democrats and hoping they'll pique some interest if they play hard to get?
-- Michael Olson
3:54 PM ET
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10- 3-2008
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Montana Republicans are challenging the eligibility of thousands of voters in the state, only weeks before the November election. The state GOP says it compared the names of voters in seven counties against a national change of address database, and found that six thousand of them had filed forms with the U.S. Postal Service indicating that they'd moved somewhere else. Bridger Pierce, communications director for the state party, says Republicans are just trying to protect against voter fraud, and if the challenged voters can show they're still registered in the right place, they'll have no problem on Election Day.
But The Missoulian, a local newspaper, notes that most of the challenged voters are in Democratic strongholds . Pierce says that's because that's where most of the problems are, but voting rights advocates say it's an effort by Republicans to suppress the vote and cause confusion on Election Day. Teresa James, an attorney with the national group Project Vote called the challenges "baseless" and said they're "just the latest in a long series of voter caging operations designed to intimidate voters and winnow voting lists to the challengers' liking."
Meanwhile, county election officials are busy trying to notify the challenged voters so they have a chance to straighten things out by Election Day. This could be the beginning of similar challenges around the country.
-- Pam Fessler
3:43 PM ET
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10- 3-2008
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While feverishly reading through today's post-VP debate coverage and analyzing each candidate's message, don't forget the most crucial statement is often made without saying a word. Even though both Palin and Biden may have wrapped themselves well in political rhetoric, according to New York stylist Robert Verdi their attire left a little something to be desired.
In the spirit of true bi-partisanship, both candidates received fashion smack-downs. Palin's "crazy prom hair" and "carnival style make-up" made Verdi wonder if Alaska's fashionable still live in the '90s. But her earrings--which could have been made from "hanging chads from Florida"--did earn her some fashion cred.
We wonder if she isn't already a "fashion maverick" for opting not to wear the obligatory Hillary Clinton-Style pants suit ?
Meanwhile, Verdi writes, her opponent Senator Biden looked "tired", "botoxed", and should work on trying to hide his hair plugs. If you haven't already please do read this recent investigation into congressional hair .
Even moderator Gwen Ifill's choice of turquoise jacket was compared to a "mattress cover"...ouch! (NOTE: Vox Politics thought the jacket was classy.)
However across across the pond, the designers of the Yves Saint Laurent's show in Paris this week think Palin's (and Obama's) style is tres magnifique .
Political pundits have certainly had a field-day with candidate's debate appearances ever since the first televised presidential debate in 1960 , when on-screen Richard Nixon (without the benefit of make-up) looked pale and sickly next to a tan and confident John F. Kennedy. In the post-debate polls radio listeners gave the edge in the debate to Nixon, while TV watchers claimed Kennedy as the victor.
So here's the question: do you get more from the debates by watching them or listening to them ?
-- Kyle Gassiott
2:54 PM ET
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10- 3-2008
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The House has passed the $700 billion financial rescue package that the Senate approved Wednesday. A similar bill failed in the House Monday 205-228, but a few sweeteners added before the Senate vote made the new version more palatable to some lawmakers. The House approved the measure 263 to 171.
The breakdown:
Democrats 172-63
Monday's numbers:
Democrats 141-94
NPR Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving points out that the Republicans' inability to convince a majority of their caucus to support the bill -- even after Monday's precipitous market drop in the wake of the House rejection -- signifies a serious power vacuum in the Republican leadership.
Not one of House Minority Leader John Boehner, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, President George W. Bush, and nominee John McCain -- all of whom vocally supported this bill -- were able to get the GOP House members to fall in line. When it comes to drumming up votes, Tom DeLay these guys ain't. (GOP senators, on the other hand, dutifully voted for the bill at about the same rate as Senate Democrats, which is a credit to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Whip John Kyl.)
-- Evie Stone
UPDATE : Politico lists the vote-switchers
1:30 PM ET
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10- 3-2008
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In today's WP, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer says Barack Obama is likely to win the election. He compares Obama's political strategy to that of conservative hero Ronald Reagan in 1980 and says John McCain has thrown one too many Hail Marys .
You can't blame McCain. In an election in which all the fundamentals are working for the opposition, he feels he has to keep throwing long in order to keep hope alive. Nonetheless, his frenetic improvisation has perversely (for him) framed the rookie challenger favorably as calm, steady and cool.
Maybe Krauthammer was stung by McCain's recent comments to the Des Moines Register ed board about Georgetown cocktail party-goers ? (Though, as the WP was quick to point out, that whole notion of schmoozy DC is really pretty dated .
-- Evie Stone
1:19 PM ET
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10- 3-2008
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Gooooood morning.
Well, the long-awaited Vice Presidential debate took place last night, and while it probably didn't change any minds, it may have (and you can take a shot of espresso -- or, the hell with it, bourbon -- for every time you read or hear this today) "stopped the bleeding" in the McCain campaign. Sarah Palin didn't directly answer the questions as asked by moderator Gwen Ifill (as she warned early in the debate that she wouldn't) but she certainly won a Michael Phelps-eque rack of gold medals for folksiness, you betcha! Joe Biden, in contrast, came across as remarkably sober and reserved, with responses so fact-laden they almost touched the earth.
But -- and this is the crucial thing -- last night was not a referendum on Biden, who merely needed to avoid making a major gaffe (he succeeded). It was a referendum on Palin. And as long as the Republican ticket is dominating the discourse, every time Palin exceeds expectations (no matter how low the bar) it provides a measure of sorely-needed good news for them. Here's the New York Times lede , courtesy of Mr. Adam Nagourney:
Gov. Sarah Palin made it through the vice-presidential debate on Thursday without doing any obvious damage to the Republican presidential ticket. By surviving her encounter with Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. and quelling some of the talk about her basic qualifications for high office, she may even have done Senator John McCain a bit of good, freeing him to focus on the other troubles shadowing his campaign.
NYT Television critic Alessandra Stanley wrote up the candidates' performances as performances -- which, for the large percentage of the viewing audience that does not religiously follow politics, is exactly what they were.
Continue reading "Friday Morning: VP Debate Hangover; House Bailout Vote Take 2; and Happy Anniversary You Crazy Kids!" »
10:30 AM ET
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10- 3-2008
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The audio of the debate isn't music. But, here is a bit of visual poetry based on the candidates' utterances during the debate via Wordle . Click on either box below to see Palin or Biden's words to scale -- based on how often they repeated a given word.
A visual representation of the the words Gov. Sarah Palin used in the 10/2/08 VP debate.
A visual representation of the the words Sen. Joe Biden used in the 10/2/08 VP debate.
-- Michael Olson
12:55 AM ET
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10- 3-2008
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Palin:
Biden:
--Laurel Wamsley
12:48 AM ET
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10- 3-2008
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October 2, 2008
Palin said she wished she'd been able to veto some of that legislative spending, making it sound as if the legislature forced her to increase spending. I just talked to a couple of legislators who say HER budgets came to the legislature already significantly higher than previous budgets. Here are the budget numbers for her first two years ...2008 is her first budget year. For comparison, here are the past several years' budgets .
Also, she says she wants the state to divest its oil fund money from Darfur-involved countries. Yes... but her administration initially opposed it -- "mocked it," in the words of the bill's sponsor -- and came around to supporting it only late in the legislative session, when it was already de facto dead.
-- Martin Kaste
11:20 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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For those of you who just can't get enough, here's the whole Megillah in print.
Thanks, CNN!
-- Evie Stone
11:04 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Biden did misspeak at point when he talked about kicking Hezbollah out of Lebanon...he probably meant Syria.
Palin talked about making Middle East peace talks a priority, though McCain barely mentioned the peace process when he addressed AIPAC earlier this year, giving a speech that focused much more on Iran.
Palin also repeated a line that we often hear from candidates, but has never happened -- the idea of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.
-- Michele Kelemen
UPDATE : The Biden quote is as follows
When we kicked -- along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said move NATO forces in there, fill the vacuum, because if you don't know -- if you don't, Hezbollah will control it. Now what's happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel.
In his first reference, Biden should have said "when...we kicked Syria out of Lebanon" -- not Hezbollah. The rest of the statement is accurate; after Syria left Lebanon, Hezbollah stepped in to fill the power vacuum. Biden misspoke.
-- Evie Stone
11:03 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Sarah Palin did a tremendous amount of good tonight for herself; whether she did much good for the ticket is unclear. Joe Biden is experienced and he showed that tonight.
Palin came in with the lowest expectations and the most to prove. Tonight she gave an alternative image to the one people saw stumble with Katie Couric. She was extremely articulate and a great communicator. Her performance definitely brought about a sigh of relief for Republicans. They felt low coming into this debate, but they were very impressed by how she did tonight. Nonetheless, the debate may not have been a game-changer.
Democrats think that nothing changed tonight. Obama was in the lead coming into this debate, and they don't expect this debate to change that much.
--Mara Liasson
10:59 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Addressing some of our fact-check backlog -- wolkingsworld Tweeted early in the debate wondering about Biden's statement that Obama sounded the alarm two years ago about subprime mortgages.
Our fantastic reference librarian Mary Glendinning found this from The IRE Journal March 2006 - April 2006 (a publication of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc.):
...The reaction to our five-part series was swift. Citing the Tribune's report, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama called on the Senate Banking Committee to hold hearings on "the growing predatory practice of mortgage fraud."...
A Chicago Tribune article about Obama's call for a hearing is reproduced on Obama's website .
-- Evie Stone
10:54 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Shockingly, both campaigns are claiming victory in their post-debate statements.
Obama-Biden campaign manager David Plouffe:
Joe Biden won a clear victory tonight because he made a passionate case for change from the disastrous economic and foreign policies of the last eight years, and Sarah Palin defended them. While Governor Palin blindly supports John McCain's plan for more of the same policies that have devastated Main Street and let Wall Street run wild, Joe Biden spoke clearly and strongly about Barack Obama's plan for a tax cut for the middle class, health care that is affordable, and an end to the war in Iraq. Tonight, the American people saw why Barack Obama chose Joe Biden, a statesman from Scranton who clearly has the experience and knowledge to be a great Vice President.
Tonight, Governor Palin proved beyond any doubt that she is ready to lead as Vice President of the United States. She won this debate, putting Joe Biden on defense on energy, foreign policy, taxes and the definition of change. Governor Palin laid bare Barack Obama's record of voting to raise taxes, opposing the surge in Iraq, and proposing to meet unconditionally with the leaders of state sponsors of terror. The differences between the Obama-Biden ticket and the McCain-Palin ticket could not have been clearer. The American people saw stark contrasts in style and worldview. They saw Joe Biden, a Washington insider and a 36-year Senator, and Governor Palin, a Washington outsider and a maverick reformer. Governor Palin was direct, forceful and a breath of fresh air.
-- Evie Stone
10:49 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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BIDEN:
Look, we have spent more money -- we spend more money in three weeks on combat in Iraq than we've spent on the entirety of the last seven years that we have been in Afghanistan building that country. Let me say it again. Three weeks in Iraq; seven years -- seven years, or six and a half years, in Afghanistan.
Senator Biden appears to be contrasting the spending on combat operations in Iraq with the spending on reconstruction and other diplomatic activities ("building that country"). Over seven years (not including FY 09), according to the Congressional Research Service, the United States has spent $11.8 billion on foreign aid and diplomatic operations in Afghanistan. The Pentagon in FY 08 has spent $145 billion in Iraq. This works out to about $8.4 billion per three week period.
-- Tom Gjelten
10:35 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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She says she cut taxes. Sort of. AK has no state income or sales tax to cut. She raised production taxes on oil producers. She suspended -- for one year -- Alaska's 8-cent-gal tax on gas.
I think that counts as a temporary tax cut.
-- Martin Kaste
10:33 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Both candidates talked about enforcing a no-fly zone in Darfur, though, as I understand it, the US military has not viewed this as a realistic option in a vast area of Western Sudan. Biden also threw out a death toll of thousands or tens of thousands, though there are no good numbers on that. Palin also talked about divesting from companies invested in Sudan. The US has sanctions on Sudan, so most of the divestment movement is from companies in China and Europe that do business with Sudan.
--Michele Kelemen
10:24 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Palin said Obama's tax plan would raise taxes on millions of small business owners. McCain has actually put the figure at 23 million. This is false, according to factcheck.org .
23 million is an old census number for ALL businesses -- most of which employ at least hundreds of people. In addition, most people who run small businesses do not file as individuals but as companies.
In fact, Obama's plan would raise taxes on couples making more than $250,000.
-- Frank Langfitt
10:21 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Sarah Studer, left, Sylvie Ofstie and Patrick Kenney react to comments as they fill out cards for 'Palin Bingo' at a debate watch party at a tavern in Seattle.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
NPR's own Linton Weeks wrote about possible debate-watching drinking games last week in honor of the first presidential face-off.
-- Nancy Cook
10:20 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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brent_maxwell Tweets:
Bosniak is right. Bosnian refers to a citizen of Bosnia & Herzegovina; Bosniak refers to a person of Bosnian ethnicity.
The CIA World Factbook says:
Ethnic groups:
Definition Field Listing
Bosniak 48%, Serb 37.1%, Croat 14.3%, other 0.6% (2000)
note: Bosniak has replaced Muslim as an ethnic term in part to avoid confusion with the religious term Muslim - an adherent of Islam
The Washington Post uses the term, but always defines it like this: Bosniaks, or Bosnian Muslims.
The Congress of North American Bosniaks uses that term as well.
-- Mary Glendinning
(title h/t Andy Carvin )
10:18 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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She got a delay in the deadline for her financial disclosure form with the FEC ... so we'll know for sure Monday.
As to whether she was middle-class during the Governor's race in 2006, this is what the Anchorage Daily News reports:
WASILLA - Sarah Palin and her husband have pieced together a uniquely Alaskan income that reached comfortably into six figures even before she became governor, capitalizing on valuable fishing rights, a series of land deals and a patchwork of other ventures to build an above-average lifestyle.
Add up the couple's 2007 income and the estimated value of their property and investments and they appear to be worth at least $1.2 million. That would make the Palins, like Democratic vice presidential rival Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, well-off but not nearly as wealthy as multimillionaire couples John and Cindy McCain and, to a lesser extent, Barack and Michelle Obama.
-- Martin Kaste
h/t OroroDC , me_crooks-smaller_normal , Sargent , toldorknown
10:12 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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General David McKiernan, the US commander in Afghanistan this week said "Afghanistan is not Iraq. .. What I don't think is needed -- the word I don't use in Afghanistan is the word surge."
On the other hand, speaking today, McKiernan said more troops should be rushed to Afghanistan "as quickly as possible." So while he doesn't believe in using the word surge because it resonates of Iraq, he does believe in rushing more troops to Afghanistan -- a surge by another name.
-- Tom Gjelten
10:08 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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On May 25, 2006 the House voted , 225-201, to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), marking the 12th time it had done so since 1995.
So, people supporting the ban would have voted against the bill.
Here are a handful from both sides of the country.
yes no not voting
-- Mary Glendinning
10:05 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Biden was misleading but not totally wrong on the tax ramifications of McCain's health care plan.
He taxes as income every one of you out there, every one of you listening who has a health care plan through your employer. That's how he raises $3.6 trillion on your -- taxing your health care benefit, to give you $5,000 plan, which, his website points out, will go straight to the insurance company. And then you're going to have to replace a $12,000 -- that's the average cost of the plan you get through your employer; it costs $12,000 -- you're going to have to pay -- replace $12,000 plan, because 20 million of you are going to be dropped.
McCain's plan WOULD tax the value of health benefits -- but for most people, the tax credit would offset that tax increase. The 20 million is the number of people who would be dropped by their employers according to a critique of the plan published in the policy journal Health Affairs.
-- Julie Rovner
10:01 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Obama did, early in the campaign, say he would sit down at a presidential level with leaders of Iran and other "rogue states," without preconditions. But he did not mention Ahmadinejad by name and.
Further, as Biden pointed out tonight, Ahmadinejad is not necessarily the most powerful person in Iran.
Biden was also right in saying that US allies, particularly in Europe, have been urging the US to open a dialogue with Iran.
-- Michele Kelemen
9:59 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Biden is hitting his sweet spot now that Ifill is taking it into foreign policy.
Was the deep inhale response to Palin's "We both love Israel" acceptable? Probably so long as he doesn't repeat and reuse a la Gore.
-- Michael Olson
9:57 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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The 300 billion figure refers to McCain's plan to reduce corporate income tax rates. McCain likes to say that US has world's second highest corporate tax rate.
Obama says that's true, until you count loopholes, which lower the EFFECTIVE tax rate.
McCain always says Obama's plan to raise taxes on the 250K-plus crowd would affect small businesses that file taxes as individuals. True, although factcheck says there are far fewer genuine businesses (with employees) that file as individuals.
The best source on the distribution of tax burden is the Tax Policy Center . Bottom line: 80 percent of country gets a bigger tax break under Obama's plan. The top 20 percent get a bigger break from McCain (and especially top 5, 1 , 0.1 percent).
The other argument Obama's camp makes is: if tax cuts are so good for job creation, why has job growth during the Bush presidency been 1/4 what it was under Clinton.
-- Scott Horsley
9:53 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Senator Biden says Iraq is running an $80 billion surplus. That's a bit of an exaggeration. The figure comes from the Government Accountability Office, which has reported that Iraq could have a nearly $80 billion budget surplus over four years based on projected oil revenues. But this is a four year figure. For 2008, the GAO estimates a budget surplus of between $38.2 billion to $50.3 billion
-- Tom Gjelten
9:51 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Here's what Biden said at the top of the debate:
Matter of fact, John recently wrote an article in a major magazine saying that he wants to do for the health care industry, deregulate it and let the free market move, like he did for the banking industry.
This has been chided by factcheck.org (and by me on our air ) as misleading. The comment in the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries about banking referred to interstate use of ATMS (or at least so McCain's aides say).
More broadly, however, Biden is correct that McCain wants to significantly deregulate health care by allowing people to purchase individual health insurance policies across state lines -- thus depriving state insurance regulators of their ability to protect their own state residents. That bill -- originally introduced by Arizona Rep. John Shadegg, has been vehemently opposed by many state insurance commissioners, attorneys general, and consumer advocates.
-- Julie Rovner
9:40 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Palin talks about "breaking up a monopoly" of the big oil companies in AK. Not clear what she means by "monopoly," but she has pushed to get new companies (besides the big three already in AK) involved in the construction of a proposed new gas pipeline. That pipeline has not yet been built, and it's not clear it can get built without the expertise of the big three.
In broader terms, this is her record of "opposing" the oil companies:
Palin's predecessor, Governor Frank Murkowski, had negotiated a change to the state's production tax on oil. It was negotiated with the big three oil companies, then presented to the state legislature. (It wasn't a simple increase or decrease -- it was a change in how the tax was calculated, and the final result would depend on market prices, etc.) The legislature passed it (after contentious debate).
Later that year (fall 2006), the FBI raided several Republican legislators' offices, the first sign of what would become the VECO oil company bribery scandal. Palin was elected a couple months later. She re-opened the issue of the oil production tax, and it was raised slightly (though I think -- think -- they stuck with the same basic method of calculating it).
Really, the FBI did the heavy lifting, politically.
-- Martin Kaste
9:37 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Sarah Palin reiterated the familiar McCain campaign line about Barack Obama raising taxes on the middle-class.
As Biden correctly responded, Obama did vote for a non-binding budget resolution that provided guidelines that assumed the Bush tax cuts will sunset in 2011. That's not the same as voting for a tax increase. And Obama's current tax plan does call for tax cuts for everyone making less than $250,000 a year.
Factcheck.org has repeatedly taken McCain to task on this one. Here's their explanation :
The measure Obama supported contained a provision -- which is not part of his current tax proposals -- that would have increased the rate paid by those who have taxable income high enough to fall into the 25 percent tax bracket. The 25 percent rate would have increased to 28 percent, as it was before the Bush tax cuts. The effect would have been to increase taxes for a single taxpayer with as little as $32,550 in taxable income in 2008, after all deductions and exclusions from total annual earnings.
-- Evie Stone
9:27 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Sarah Palin said McCain's health care tax credit is budget neutral. That is NOT true. There is currently no budget estimate of the cost of McCain's plan, much to the consternation of McCain's top domestic policy advisor, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former head of the (estimating agency) Congressional Budget Office.
-- Julie Rovner
UPDATE : The Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center estimates the McCain plan would cost $141 billion in 2013.
9:22 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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For the first 15 minutes of the debate we are seeing a much different version of Gov. Sarah Palin than the one we have grown to know through Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson and Sean Hannity. This appears to be a Palin that is confident and able to hold her own.
No gaffes by Sen. Joe Biden either -- a bit tongue tied, but also on point.
-- Michael Olson
9:22 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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First smackdown from moderator Gwen Ifill. In response to her first question to the candidates, about they would each do as Vice President, both Biden and Palin provided lengthy discourses about the state of the US economy, complete with criticisms of the opposing presidential candidates' economic policies.
Before moving on, Ifill sternly pointed out that neither of them had answered the question. It's an early indication that she won't let these candidates get away with much tonight.
-- Evie Stone
9:09 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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The VP debate is officially under way, with the candidates meeting for a quick handshake onstage before they took to their podiums lecterns (h/t Michael Cullen ). In the first weird moment of the night, the mic picked up Sarah Palin saying to her opponent, "Nice to meet you. Can I call you Joe?"
Stick with Vox Politics throughout for fact-checks and other observations.
-- Evie Stone
8:59 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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With Pennsylvania arguably up for grabs, all eyes are on voters in places like Uniontown, a city in the southwestern corner of the state. Fayette County has voted dependably Democratic for decades. Hillary Clinton received nearly 80% of the county's votes in the primary, but at the time, she hinted that counties like this could be vulnerable if she didn't get the nomination.
And so we visited the area this week to find out if people truly are second-guessing their traditional party affiliations. We also ate a lot of raw corn. David Greene has a story on All Things Considered this afternoon about the people (and the corn) we encountered . Here's some more of what we saw:
Uniontown's city center has been revitalized in recent years, old and new interspersed: internet cafe, restaurants, gift shops, dive bars, churches, and a CVS.
David Gilkey/NPR
The coal boom in Uniontown, Pennsylvania ended in the 1950s, but as little as five years ago, the church spires and domes of downtown were still dark with soot. The coal mined here was heated in coke ovens and sent to Pittsburgh as fuel for the steel mills. At the peak of the coal boom, Uniontown was home to quite a few millionaires, but the mines are now depleted.
Continue reading "Welcome To Uniontown, Pennsylvania" »
7:36 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Moderator Gwen Ifill will attempt to elevate discourse and her injured ankle tonight during the Vice-Presidential candidate debate at Washington University in St. Louis.
Paul J. Richards AFP/Getty Images
-- Michael Olson
5:59 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Reuters is now reporting that the judge presiding over the corruption case involving US Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) has rejected a bid for a mistrial. This morning, defense lawyers had persuaded the judge to suspend proceedings for the day and consider tossing out the charges. They accused the prosecution of sabotaging Stevens' case by withholding key evidence. And for the second time this week, the government's legal team has drawn the ire of the judge, leading to a number of heated exchanges. Stevens is accused of failing to disclose $250,000 in gifts he received from the oil company VECO.
-- Sean Bowditch
5:58 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Yesterday's post about the latest polls and predictions on the NPR-NewsHour Election Map raises an extraordinary possibility.
NPR's Ken Rudin calls 5 states Toss-Ups: Florida, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Virginia.
If all five of those states go for John McCain, and the rest of the map goes as currently predicted, both candidates will end up with 269 electoral votes apiece.
What happens then?
Nate Silver over at polling mecca FiveThirtyEight answers this question exhaustively--and thank goodness, because it's complicated.
Continue reading "What Happens if McCain and Obama Tie?" »
5:54 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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This campaign season, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has revised, recanted and then revived his longtime support for comprehensive immigration reform. Now, critics say he's cynically putting out one message in English, and another in an intensifying Spanish ad campaign.
"It's disturbing to me, as a Hispanic, to have someone who feels he can blatantly deceive and think people won't pay attention," says Andres Ramirez, vice president for Hispanic programs at NDN, a pro-Democrat research group.
For several weeks, McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama have had a tit-for-tat air war en espanol over last year's Senate bill to overhaul immigration. Each campaign has been accused of making misleading statements in the ads, but McCain's clear, implied message to Latinos is that he -- and only he -- supports a large-scale legalization.
Here's McCain's latest salvo:
Last weekend, though, McCain issued a contradictory message -- in English. It came after Obama campaigned in North Carolina, a state where a fast-growing Hispanic population has made immigration a red-hot issue. Obama repeated his support for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers, and for allowing undocumented students to have in-state tuition at public colleges.
Barack Obama gave this interview on NPR member-station WUNC.
The McCain campaign was quick to respond. In a statement, it said Senator McCain does not support "amnesty" or in-state tuition. (Again, this was in contrast to the Senator's actual record. In past years he -- like Obama -- has co-sponsored the DREAM act, which would allow immigrant students without legal status to pay in-state tuition.)
Critics say McCain has also been sending different messages depending on which part of the country he's in, speaking more moderately about immigration in the Hispanic-heavy southwest, while taking a harder line in the southeast, where opposition to illegal immigration runs strong. Obama, by contrast, has consistently supported a comprehensive approach, even if he hasn't pushed the topic much on the campaign trail.
Polls show Latinos overwhelmingly support Obama, a significant shift since 40% of the Hispanic electorate voted for President Bush in 2004. Analysts believe the large Hispanic vote in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida could be decisive in those swing states.
--Jennifer Ludden
4:37 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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We video-watchers live in an ambivalent age--the SNL spoofs of vice-presidential debates of yore are nowhere to be found on YouTube, and not everything is up and running on Hulu yet.
So for fond memories from previous veep debates, we'll have to settle for the crazy originals. Here's a moment from the 1992 vice-presidential debate between Al Gore, Dan Quayle, and James Stockdale , who was Ross Perot's running mate (and who, like John McCain, spent years in a Vietnam prison camp).
If Biden and Palin want to strive for true veep chaos, they're going to have to compete with this:
For more from that '92 debate, click here to watch the opening statements. At 7:15 is the most famous moment--Stockdale's eternal existential questions: "Who am I? Why am I here?"
The Observer has a great roundup of of veep debate moments here .
--Laurel Wamsley
4:00 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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The AP reports that John McCain has given up on winning in Michigan and will be spending these last few weeks before Election Day elsewhere.
Republican officials with knowledge of the strategy said the GOP candidate is shifting resources to other states. Democrat John Kerry won here in 2004, but McCain had tried to make it a target to switch parties this year amid economic problems in the state.
The news came as Barack Obama campaigned in the state Wednesday.
The Arizona senator canceled a trip to the state next week, he won't run ads on TV after this week and is dispatching staffers to states that show him in stronger position.
Reports also note that while the RNC has just gone on TV in Michigan, there's no indication that the ad buy will continue.
Shifting staffers is a constant for the campaigns. After McCain named Palin as his running mate, some of Obama's Alaska staff was moved elsewhere, including Nevada. The Obama campaign still has four offices open in Alaska, despite McCain's 22-point lead there.
--Laurel Wamsley
3:42 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Jobs jobs jobs....that is the mantra for the Obama camp today. They are campaigning in Michigan where the unemployment is almost double the national average. Plus he's taking advantage of the new federal jobs report due for release today that is expected to show a continuation of the last 8 months of decline.
In Grand Rapids, Obama hammered away at McCain for once upon a time saying that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong." But he wasn't getting too cocky. At one point Obama started to say, "If I'm president," and some people in the crowd started to shout "When! When!"
His reply? "I'm superstitious, folks."
Kerry won the state in 2004 but Grand Rapids is Republican territory. And McCain has been targeting the state.
Continue reading "In Michigan, Obama Focuses on Jobs" »
12:10 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Sorry for the posting delay, folks -- NPR had some technical problems this morning.
Good morning! There's a seasonal chill in the air here in our nation's capital. And over in St. Louis they're looking at sunny skies and highs in the middle 60s on the day of the Vice Presidential debate .
But first, some legislative business. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the updated version of the economic rescue package last night with a bipartisan 74-25 vote that included Obama, McCain, and Biden among the ayes (Sen. Ted Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, did not vote). By the time it reached the Senate floor, Secretary Paulson's 3-page proposal weighed in at an impressive 451 pages -- including tax break extensions, increased FDIC insurance, and a tweak to the AMT that did not appear in the 110 page version that the House rejected Monday. The leadership hope that the add-ons (especially the tax breaks) will make the bill more palatable to House Republicans when the bill returns there, probably on Friday, though there are also some concerns that the tax cuts will alienate a few Democrats. The New York Times explains the rhetorical opportunity the add-ons present to lawmakers who are headed back to their districts to campaign:
Instead of siding with a $700 billion bailout, lawmakers could now say they voted for increased protection for deposits at the neighborhood bank, income tax relief for middle-class taxpayers and aid for schools in rural areas where the federal government owns much of the land.
But back to the VP debate.
Continue reading "Thursday Morning: Rescue Bill Passes The Senate; VP Candidates Talk Supreme Court; And A History Of Surprises" »
12:00 PM ET
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10- 2-2008
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Tonight we're going to do a little experiment; we'd like your help in fact-checking this evening's vice presidential debate.
As you watch the debate, we invite you to be on the lookout for any questionable claims made by Sen. Biden or Gov. Palin. For example, if one of them says something that runs counter to something you've heard them say in the past, you can help us out by tracking down a primary source for the original quote, like a transcript or video. Same thing if one of them cites a statistic: you can track down the original source and help us verify if it's accurate.
Once you've found the source, you can then get it to us by posting it to Twitter with the tag #factcheck included in your tweet. (If you're not a Twitter user, you can also post it in the comment thread below.) Our team will then use your suggestions as we investigate the candidates' claims.
Please be sure to check out the blog throughout the evening to see what transpires. We'll also be covering the debate on our Twitter account, @nprpolitics . We look forward to working with you tonight!
-- Andy Carvin (aka @acarvin on Twitter)
11:41 AM ET
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10- 2-2008
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So, what does it take to get reluctant house members to vote for a bailout? So-called "sweeteners," tax breaks the Senate added to the bill to make it irresistible.
The LA Times reports those tax breaks aren't just popular, they're calculated to woo specific House members into changing their votes from no to yes:
[T]he bill now includes a provision to boost insurance coverage of mental illness, a priority of Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), who voted against the bailout bill Monday. It also includes a tax benefit for bicycle commuting sought by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), also a no vote on Monday. And there's an extension of the renewable energy tax credit, a priority of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who wants to make Arizona the "Silicon Valley of solar energy."
These tax breaks come with a big price tag of $100 billion, though, attached to the already enormous $700 billion for the bailout. And those tax breaks will make the bill less attractive to at least a few House members, who believe that any tax cuts need to be deficit neutral. One in that camp is Rep. Lloyd Doggett (R-Texas):
"The Senate measure has changed my position from 'No' to 'Heck no,' " he said. "With the Senate amendment, the bailout has gone from bad to worse, $105 billion more in public debt worse."
--Laurel Wamsley
11:37 AM ET
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10- 2-2008
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The presidential spotlight shifts to the running mates tonight, amid signs that Sarah Palin's star is fading.
The latest national poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds a majority of Americans, 51%, now believe Palin is not qualified to be President. That's up from 39% shortly after the GOP convention.
Although Palin provided a huge jolt of energy to the Republican ticket when she was first chosen, doubts about her readiness have mounted in recent weeks, especially after a stumbling interview with CBS's Katie Couric, and a withering parody on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."
The Alaska Governor still enjoys strong support among social conservatives. "She's got guts. She's got experience. She's really an impressive woman," said Selena Heyer, a stay-at-home mother of four with another child on the way. Heyer brought her son Ambrose to a McCain-Palin rally in Columbus, OH this week.
John McCain is courting female voters today, with a "Women's Town Hall Meeting" in Denver.
--Scott Horsley
11:27 AM ET
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10- 2-2008
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October 1, 2008
It's time for another edition of the Political Rewind, a podcast that selects the best of NPR's political stories from the last few days. This installment is packed with gems: Ina Jaffe looks ahead to tomorrow's debate... and nods to VP debates of the past; Jeff Brady reports on the political ads that are now saturating the Colorado airwaves; and Robert Smith takes us to Ohio, where early voting came with a few surprises.
Open your ears:
here .
-- Sean Bowditch
6:42 PM ET
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10- 1-2008
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Bill Clinton took to the stump for Obama in Florida today, in his first trip on behalf of the Democratic nominee. After being both criticized and mocked in recent days for his tepid enthusiasm for Obama, Clinton finally seems to get the lead out here -- though AP reports that Clinton still reserved his highest praise for VP nominee Joe Biden. Here's an excerpt from the event:
-- Evie Stone
h/t Jonathan Martin
5:08 PM ET
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10- 1-2008
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NPR's Ken Rudin has once more gazed into his crystal ball. This time he came up with some good news for Barack Obama. The big shift in the NPR-NewsHour Election Map towards Obama is based on Rudin moving Florida from Leaning McCain to Tossup. He also took Pennsylvania out of Tossup and branded it Leaning Obama -- for the time being.
As of today the NPR-NewsHour Election Map lists McCain with 200 EVs and Obama with 269. Those numbers include states that are Strong and Leaning.
Strong Obama:
Strong McCain:
Leaning Obama:
Leaning McCain:
Tossup:
-- Michael Olson
5:07 PM ET
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10- 1-2008
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As we are fond of reminding you, national poll top-lines are not that useful in determining what will happen on election day. Polls in battleground states, on the other hand, can be very instructive. Which is why today's Quinnipiac numbers are getting so much attention.
The polls were taken in the crucial (and electoral vote-rich) battlegrounds of Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania, and Quinnipiac divided the data into pre- and post-debate sections. In all three states, Barack Obama gained ground over John McCain after Friday's debate at Ole Miss -- a meeting that many pundits considered a draw . Here are the numbers:
FLORIDA :
OHIO :
PENNSYLVANIA :
For the sake of comparison, here are the 2004 stats:
FL: Bush 52%, Kerry 47%
Continue reading "Polls A-Go-Go" »
2:17 PM ET
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10- 1-2008
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The Des Moines Register editorial board has posted several video clips from their interview with John McCain yesterday.
McCain seems to get irritable a times, especially when challenged on the veracity of his campaign ads (in the video titled "Straight Talk"). One board member refers to a McCain spot that says Obama advocated sex-ed for kindergartners and another that says Obama was insulting Sarah Palin when he used the expression "lipstick on a pig ." She asks how McCain can restore public trust in Washington when his own ads aren't completely honest. McCain's response:
I've always had 100% absolute truth. And that's been my life of putting my country first. And I'll match that record against anyone's, and I'm proud of it. And an assertion that I've ever done otherwise I take strong exception to...I respect your opinion, but it's not the facts that changes my positions and my honorable service to this country. So I respect your opinion. I strongly disagree with your assertion.
McCain also strenuously defends his running-mate Sarah Palin (in the "Gov Sarah Palin's Experience" video), comparing her experience level to that of former governors Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton when they were elected to the presidency. Asked about the anti-Palin stirrings among some conservatives, McCain responds with a sarcastic "Really?" and says he hasn't detected that sentiment in the polls or among the base.
-- Evie Stone
11:59 AM ET
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10- 1-2008
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Bridging a new frontier in flack-reporter relations, the White House, wringing its hands about the bailout rescue plan vote in the Senate tonight, took issue with a reporter's Facebook status language yesterday. AFP correspondent Olivier Knox writes up his online exchange with WH deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel.
[A]t 10 am today, after doing research for a piece on the embattled economic rescue package, I posted: "Olivier just counted, and President Bush has pushed the bailout in 12 of the past 13 days."
No, Scott doesn't call me "Mr Knox" in real life. And his point was very light-hearted, something that can be easily missed in electronic communication. And he was right that the president had not used the world bailout. And it was his first time interacting with a reporter this way on Facebook, which means we may have made a little Washington media history.
At 10:30 am, tongue firmly planted in cheek, I updated my status to: "Olivier (UPDATES; CHANGES LANGUAGE) Just counted, and President Bush has pushed the economic rescue package in 12 of the past 13 days."
The all-caps message is something like what AFP puts in its invisible "trash line" that can be read by clients when we make changes to stories.
You'll note I didn't say "corrects language." And the B-word is still in my copy on the wire.
I'm sure Scott isn't giving up either. In fact, I'll be on the lookout for a blog comment signed "WHSPOXGUY."
-- Evie Stone
(h/t Shenanigans )
11:10 AM ET
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10- 1-2008
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Good morning!
The bailout -- rescue! -- plan continues to dominate the news. The package failed in the House on Monday, but Congress has not given up: the Senate will vote tonight (after Rosh Hashanah ends at sunset) on a revised version of the plan. Among the added goodies in the updated bill: extensions of some business tax breaks including renewable energy incentives; a fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax to prevent it from kicking in for some middle-class Americans; and increased deposit insurance by the FDIC. Democrats are hoping the additions will help the bill gain enough Republican support to get through the Senate and then win over the additional dozen net votes needed for the bill to pass the House, though the changes may drive away some Democrats. Senator-candidates McCain, Obama, and Biden will all return to Washington tonight to vote in favor of the bill, which will require 60 votes to pass.
The Vice-Presidential debate is tomorrow, and the Obama-Biden campaign is ramping up the expectations-lowering for Biden by eagerly circulating a bevy of news stories about Sarah Palin's surprising debate success during her gubernatorial campaign. Politico's summary:
Palin proved herself to be a comfortable and confident debater, not exactly deeply versed in the issues but unusually adept at dodging controversy and quick to take advantage of opponents' missteps. Not one to throw an unnecessary punch, Palin took a patient approach, waiting for her rivals to expose their weak points - and then striking fast.
Continue reading "Wednesday Morning: Cameral Shift for the Bailout Bill; Palin's Debate Chops; and the Obama Campaign's Tough Radio Ads" »
10:44 AM ET
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10- 1-2008
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Listen to the best political stories of the last few days in one podcast, including the latest from the battleground states and analysis from NPR.
