David Corn

If history is any predictor:

Just before the primary someone - a surrogate - from the HRC camp - will accidentally remind all the voters that Barack is black.

It seems to come up right before every close contest and PA is too tight for the HRC camp not to use the race issue.

"talk tougher about each other than they do about the front men for George W. Bush's war."

Obviously, both don't want to offend any votes from the middle so . . . .

In other news, Clinton gets a superdelegate! Or, rather, regains one she lost before. When California Rep. Tom Lantos died, it reduced Clinton's delegate count by one. His replacement, Jackie Speier, won a special election yesterday with 78 percent of the vote. More importantly, she is a Clinton supporter. That brings the number of superdelegates Clinton has netted since the week of March 4 to … five? Six? Obama has netted at least 28 in the same period, closing Clinton's superdelegate lead to 24, according to DemConWatch. If (when) that lead vanishes entirely, Clinton will have some explaining to do if she wants to sway new superdelegates.

Tonight, Elton John performs at a fundraising event at Radio City Music Hall. Here's his chance to crowd-test the inevitable Clinton version of Candle in the Wind.

(Slate)

...and that means 1 week until the countdown to Shrillary's next crying jag....

It is getting old, a liar calling a liar a liar vice versa.

I say give them each a firing pistol and have them pace it off~~ end of problem.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once again, she was trying to depict Obama as a phony, indirectly citing remarks from ex-Obama adviser Samantha Power

Mr Corn, isn't this exactly what you did whit your article on McCians 100 year war comment? Even the NYT said that was a bogus argument made up by the left!

Get out the hip waders folks~

From the LA Times:

Ticket Special Report: Obama and Rezko, the early years

The trial of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, one-time patron to Sen. Barack Obama and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has turned lurid.

Under cross-examination by Rezko attorney Joseph Duffy, star prosecution witness Stuart Levine, a Chicago-area lawyer, is admitting to conspiracy, extortion, bribery, fraud and other bad acts while he “served” at the Illinois public school teachers pension fund board.

At Duffy's urging, Levine is detailing 30 years of drug usage including sordid day-long binges with other men at a Chicago inn called the Purple Hotel. Rezko's attorney Duffy is wondering whether all that cocaine, crystal meth and other drug use has perhaps fogged Levine's memory.

That aside, much of the trial's focus is on money -- much of it given in the form of campaign money in the careers of Obama and Blagojevich.

It’s an unfolding, seemingly local political story that’s fascinating in its revealing details about the subterranean world of business, financial and family connections in Illinois and Chicago politics that helped take a virtually unknown black Chicago attorney, nurtured him politically and financially and turned him into....

the polished candidate who today thrills crowds of thousands across the country with his eloquence.

Obama currently leads in delegates for the Democratic nomination for president.

This tale is long by Ticket standards. We'll do this rarely. But for those interested in delving into details it provides important background about the early political connections of a little-known newcomer to the national political scene.

This story concerns two men, neither of whom face any legal charges today. They are two of Illinois’ top Democratic politicians -- Gov. Blagojevich, who's been mentioned often in court, and Sen. Obama, who's received only passing mentions. They're entwined in the Rezko saga, particularly through the bounteous campaign money he raised for them both.

Get used to that name. Rezko's currently in a long-running Chicago trial on federal extortion and bribery charges. Few campaign donors were more responsible than Rezko for the rise of Blagojevich (Blah-goy-ah-vitch) and Obama. Both politicians came to rely on him for political and personal advice -- and lots of campaign money.

Their intimate relationship is coming into focus through Rezko, a Syrian-born businessman who made his money in real estate and restaurant franchises and now sits daily in the federal courtroom of U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve. The trial's daily events are covered in this Tribune Rezko court blog.

So far, Blagojevich, reelected in 2006, is more deeply enmeshed in the scandal than Obama, who's not been implicated in any wrongdoing.

But all three operated in the murky world of Illinois Democratic politics, where money, family relationships and long business associations provide the invisible glue of the local political world.

Witnesses in Rezko’s trial have testified that Rezko recommended friends and associates for government jobs and posts on Illinois state boards when Blagojevich took office in 2003, and some of those friends were generous donors to Blagojevich.

An early trial exhibit from prosecutors was a spreadsheet. Prepared by an FBI agent , the spreadsheet identifies Rezko-related donors who supplied $1.43 million between 2001 and 2004 to Blagojevich, who was first elected governor in 2002.

Using Federal Election Commission and Illinois state records, The Times' Dan Morain compared donors on the FBI spreadsheet to Obama’s contributors. Guess what.

Sen. Obama received $222,000 during the same 2001-2004 period from Rezko-related Blagojevich donors.

And Obama received at least another $32,000 from them for this presidential run -- although Rezko, indicted in 2006, has not been involved in Obama’s current campaign.

Those Obama-Blagojevich donors include Rezko himself, along with his family members, employees and associates of his various business enterprises. There’s also the head of a major Chicago investment firm that received Illinois public teachers' pension money to invest.

Republicans Try to Falsely Spin McCain's "100 Years" Comment Away Entirely
April 09, 2008 3:06 PM

On the Senate floor today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, "one of the things that we will be debating this fall, Mr. President, is whether our troops need to be in Iraq for another 50 or 100 years. I think that will be a pivotal part of the debate that takes place for the presidential election.”

Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, took issue.

“Mr. President, of course no one has said that," McConnell said. "And my dear friend, the Majority Leader, knows that. That's a swipe at Senator McCain, who was talking about troop deployments overseas, not the continued engagement in warfare. And the mainstream media, which has not been particularly friendly to the war, has hammered those who have accused Senator McCain of saying we were going to have a 100-year war in Iraq. That is a deliberate misrepresentation of what he has said."

Actually, Harry Reid's description was completely accurate: McCain said it would be fine with him if US troops were in Iraq indefinitely. Watch HERE.

What he did NOT say is that the troops would be there engaged in a war indefinitely. It would be fine for them to be there as long as they weren't being hurt or killed.

Republicans are trying to use the media condemnation of the unfair distortion of these remarks (see HERE for when we hammered Sen. Barack Obama for such distortions) to turn it into a blanket condemnation of any time anyone quotes McCain on the matter.

The condemnations, Mr. McConnell, were for distortions -- not for accurate quotes.

*****

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf7HYoh9YMM

People whose opinions I respect like BHO's energy/climate plan.

Part 2:

Jay Stewart, of the nonprofit government watchdog Better Government Assn. in Chicago, called the overlapping list of donors a “who’s who of the inner circle” of Democratic politics in the Land of Lincoln.

“Did they come from the same general political environment?” Stewart said of Blagojevich and Obama. “Yes. They’re Chicago pols. They both knew Tony Rezko. Tony Rezko raised money.”

In his presidential race, Obama increasingly has relied on small donations delivered via the Internet from more than a million individuals. But when he started in Illinois politics, Stewart noted, “if you wanted money, you needed to ask the big boys.”

Rezko was a big boy. He was, for instance, a link between Obama and Santa Monica developer Jay Wilton of Wilton Partners. On July 16, 2003, Wilton gave $5,000 to Obama’s first U.S. Senate run. A few days later, Wilton gave $50,000 to Blagojevich, Illinois state records show.
Unlike the federal system, Illinois state campaign finance law permits donors to give as much as they want to state candidates. So, in Illinois they do.

In early 2004, Wilton and Rezko spent $78,000 on a Los Angeles-area fundraising tour for Blagojevich, Illinois campaign records show. Three Southern California companies donated a combined $150,000 to the Illinois governor during the trip.

Shortly before the initial $50,000 donation, Blagojevich announced that Wilton would begin work on an $83 million state contract to refurbish rest stops on Illinois tollways, called “oases.”

Some of the restaurant concessions granted the right to operate at those rest stops “trace back” to Blagojevich’s patrons including Rezko, the Chicago Tribune disclosed in 2005. Wilton, who did not return repeated calls, is not implicated in the Rezko case.

Another overlapping donor is John Rogers, head of Ariel Capital, a major Chicago-based investment firm. Rogers gave $12,500 to Blagojevich in 2004, the FBI spreadsheet shows. Rogers has also given Obama $25,000, state and FEC records reveal.

Aides to Obama and Rogers said the pair has a friendship that is separate from Rezko. Ariel vice president Matt Yale said Rogers’ inclusion on the FBI spreadsheet was a surprise, adding, “To the best of our knowledge, we have not made any contributions to Governor Blagojevich or any political candidate on behalf of Tony Rezko.” Ariel is not implicated in the criminal case.

As an Illinois state senator, Obama appeared before Illinois pension funds in 2000 and 2001 to urge that they provide more business to black-owned investment houses including, as it happens, Ariel.

Describing his efforts to the Urban League last year, Obama said African-American-owned firms were not getting any business from state pensions. Obama singled out Rogers’ Ariel Capital, calling it a well-respected investment house, but one that received no business.

“We didn't have to implement a formal program,” Obama told the Urban League, taking no credit. “I simply said, ‘Listen to what these folks have to say,’ and in about six months they got about a half billion dollars worth of business simply on their own excellence.”

In 2002, the year after Obama made the pitch, the Illinois Teacher Retirement System reported an 18% increase in assets managed by minority-owned firms. Ariel’s share grew to $442 million by 2005.

In 2006, after the federal investigation became public, the teacher pension board severed its relationship with Ariel, concluding that Ariel’s investment returns were insufficient.

As he was for Blagojevich in his initial run for governor in 2002, Rezko in 2003 and 2004 was part of Obama’s finance committee, responsible for raising campaign money.

Obama started out as a long shot. The main candidate was Blair Hull, a wealthy businessman who was financing his own campaign. But less than three weeks before the primary, a court unsealed multimillionaire Hull's divorce file, which alleged spousal abuse. The divorce case so damaged Hull that he finished third in the race. The four-year anniversary of that primary passed on Palm Sunday.

The eventual winner of that primary: Barack Obama.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Candidate Watch
McCain's '100-year war'

Heading to Iraq, March 17, 2008
Washington Post

"You know, John McCain wants to continue a war in Iraq perhaps as long as 100 years."

--Sen. Barack Obama, Lancaster, PA, Town Hall meeting, March 31, 2008.

The charge that John McCain wants to wage a "100-year war" in Iraq has become a recurring theme of the Obama campaign. The candidate has made the claim several times on the campaign trail, as has Susan Rice, one of his top foreign policy advisers. McCain has never talked about wanting a 100-year war in Iraq. But he has talked about a prolonged U.S. military presence in Iraq, similar to the stationing of U.S. troops in Germany after World War II or in Korea after the Korean war.

The Facts

Take a look at what McCain actually said in Derry, N.H., back in January. Cutting off a questioner who talked about the Bush administration's willingness to keep troops in Iraq for 50 years, McCain said "Make it a hundred." He then mentioned that U.S. troops had been in Germany for 60 years and in Korea for 50 years, and added, "That's fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed."

Democrats seized on McCain's remarks. At one time or another, both Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton have said that the presumptive Republican nominee is willing to fight a 100-year war in Iraq. When challenged about this claim on Monday, Obama referred journalists to the YouTube version of the Derry Townhall meeting. But the YouTube clip does not back up his case.

Whether the war in Iraq is actually winnable is a separate question. But there is a difference between fighting a war and occupying a country. World War II lasted for nearly six years (3 1/2 years in the case of the U.S.), but there is still a significant U.S. troop presence in Germany.

Actually, McCain has not been entirely consistent on his thoughts about a long-term U.S. military occupation of Iraq. Interviewed on the Charlie Rose show last November, he rejected the Korea/Germany analogy.

ROSE: Do you think that this -- Korea, South Korea is an analogy of where Iraq might be, not in terms of their economic success but in terms of an American presence over the next, say, 20, 25 years, that we will have a significant amount of troops there?
MCCAIN: I don't think so.
ROSE: Even if there are no casualties?
MCCAIN: No. But I can see an American presence for a while. But eventually I think because of the nature of the society in Iraq and the religious aspects of it that America eventually withdraws.

McCain aide Mark Salter disputes my use of the term "occupation" to describe the U.S. military presence in Korea and Germany and, by extension, what the senator has in mind for Iraq. I think he has a point. An occupation carries a connotation of rule by the occupying power, and lack of full sovereignty on the part of the occupied. The formal U.S. military occupation of Germany ended in 1949, even though U.S. troops remained in the country. (Of course, there are gradations of "occupation." The U.S. continued to exercise great influence in West Germany, even after 1949.) Meanwhile Tom O'Hare, a social studies teacher at Stone Ridge school in Bethesda, called me to point out that World War II lasted three years nine months in the case of the U.S. (December 1941 to August 1945) rather than 3 1/2 years as I wrote. I stand corrected.

The Pinocchio Test

A more honest line of attack for the Democrats against McCain would be his support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, whether or not he has a clear strategy for winning the war, and the feasibility of a long-term occupation of a Muslim country by the United States. Instead of attacking him on these grounds, they have twisted his words, by claiming that he "wants" to fight a 100-year war.

Mr Corn,

Samatha Power wasn't who Clinton was referring to, even though she was saying about the same thing, so I'm gunna help you out on this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obama Adviser Suggests Up to 80,000 Troops Remain in Iraq By 2010

by FOXNews.com
Friday, April 4, 2008

Barack Obama, shown here speaking at a volunteer event in Philadelphia Wednesday, seems to be at odds with an adviser who reportedly recommends keeping up to 80,000 troops in Iraq by the end of 2010.

As Barack Obama continues to criticize John McCain for saying he’s willing to keep a 100-year troop presence in Iraq, another Obama adviser has suggested U.S. forces could stay in Iraq longer than the Democratic candidate initially thought.

Adviser Colin Kahl wrote in a policy paper for the Center for a New American Security that the United States should transition to an “over-watch” force of between 60,000 and 80,000 troops by the end of 2010, according to an article Friday in the New York Sun.

That appears to be at odds with Obama’s public position of removing all combat brigades from the country within 16 months of taking office.

Kahl told the Sun his plan would still keep the U.S. “out of the lead” and mainly in a “support role.” He said the plan had nothing to do with the campaign.

The Obama campaign said in a statement: “The writing of Mr. Kahl, one of hundreds of outside advisers to the campaign, is not representative of Barack Obama’s consistent policy position on the Iraq war.”

But Kahl’s plan seems to jibe with other advisers’ statements that Obama’s withdrawal timetables are more a goal than a firm policy commitment.

Foreign policy adviser Susan Rice, for instance, told reporters in February that Obama’s plan to end the war in 2009 is not absolute, and that he reserves the right to revisit troop levels in Iraq upon taking the oath of office.

Former foreign policy adviser Samantha Power told the BBC that Obama’s 16-month plan is a “best-scenario” and that the reality is he will try to withdraw troops “as quickly and responsibly as possible.”

Power was the adviser who resigned in early March after calling Hillary Clinton a “monster” in an interview with a Scottish newspaper, but Clinton also tried to paint Obama an inconsistent for Power’s statements on Iraq.

Obama later affirmed that he would bring the war “to an end in 2009.”

Both Clinton and Obama have talked about keeping some U.S. presence in Iraq after withdrawing the bulk of American troops, but it’s unclear how broad that presence would be. Obama’s Web site states that “some troops” would stay in Iraq to protect U.S. embassies and diplomats and carry out targeted strikes on Al Qaeda if the organization tries to keep a base in Iraq after U.S. withdrawal.

Obama talked about keeping a “strike force” in the region Monday. That drew questions from McCain who asked, “Where are they based? What do they do? Now I’m intrigued. He has said he will pull out all troops before. How do you reconcile those two?”

McCain's wants to stay in Iraq until no more Americans are getting killed, no matter how long it takes and how many Americans get killed achieving that goal—that is, the goal of not getting any more Americans killed. And once that goal is achieved, we'll stay.

He'll see your fifty years and raise you fifty. But the cards are blank.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/hendrikhertzberg/2008/01/a-hundred-years.html

“In every campaign, the strategy is important and the day-to-day management is important. And in Obama’s case, it’s hard not to argue that they have run a great campaign,” said Steve Elmendorf, deputy campaign manager for Kerry’s 2004 bid and a Clinton supporter. “It’s been one of the best-run presidential campaigns in the last 20 years. I think they are focused and disciplined and on message. … The test of a good campaign is having a plan and keeping an operation on track to execute a plan.”

Put simply, Obama has shown he can offer a compelling vision, execute a complicated strategy to convey it and, all the while, keep the ledger in the black. That’s not a bad first step to becoming a strong leader.

(cbs)

The Real McCain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioy90nF2anI&feature=related

John McCain and his 100 Years War

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUE-QmH-n4Q&feature=related

*****

The GOPhers can spin and spun but McShame can't hide from the video camera, eh? Realtime instant replay will cook his goose.

McCain: Americans Fine With Troops In Iraq For 10,000 Years

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJWoGulgbec&feature=related

Gallup Daily: Obama Leads Clinton by 10 Points

PRINCETON, NJ -- For the third consecutive day, Barack Obama holds a significant advantage over Hillary Clinton in national Democratic preferences for the Democratic presidential nomination, now 51% to 41%.

"Now it's back to the usual fun and games."
--David Corn

This is politics, man. The fun and games never end.

Check out this cartoon about HRC's campaign, Ready To Lead On Day One: http://tinyurl.com/4k795j

I guess this is what the brothers mean by "tore up from the floor up."

Behind on the funnies. The little green light on my cable modem keeps going off. Gotta move quick and furious.

Wednesday Night Funnies:

"I'm telling ya, Hillary is getting knocked around pretty good here lately. Every time she says something, people are jumping all over her. She compared herself to Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone's 'Rocky.' She said, 'I'm just like Rocky.' ... I'm thinking, if Hillary is Rocky, then John McCain is the old cut man in the corner."
--David Letterman

"Hillary Clinton was in Philadelphia today, where she told the crowd she is like the movie character Rocky. ... Now, if I remember the movie correctly, doesn't Rocky get the crap beat out of him and then he loses to the black guy?"
--Jay Leno

"While campaigning in Pennsylvania yesterday, Barack Obama told an eight-year-old boy if he wants to be president, he should work hard in school, get good grades and find a job that helps people. To which President Bush said, 'That's an April Fool's joke, right?'"
--Jay Leno

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke ... speaking before Congress warned we may be headed towards a recession. Thank you, Captain Obvious. Let me guess, the real estate market not looking too good either."
--Jay Leno

"And Bush's secretary of housing announced he's stepping down. Well, sure, now that no one has a house anymore, he's got nothing to do."
--Jay Leno

"Yesterday on the campaign trail, John McCain gave a speech at the high school he attended in Virginia. McCain told the senior class, 'What a coincidence! You graduated in '08 and I graduated in '08.'"
--Conan O'Brien

"He's looking for a vice presidential running mate. ... He needs a guy who is conservative, understands the economy and knows how to operate a defibrillator."
--David Letterman

"Did you see Barack Obama bowling in Pennsylvania the other day? Ooh, that was bad. He bowled a 37 out of a 300. See, that's good. That is good, because I want a president that's bad at bowling. I mean, shouldn't he have more important things to do? Look, I don't know President Bush, but I'm willing to guess he's a GREAT bowler."
--Jay Leno

"Two Ohio companies who staged events for Hillary Clinton say that they've been trying to get paid. For weeks they have been trying to get the Clinton campaign to pay their bill, but the Clintons won't answer their e-mails or return their phone calls. Ironically, they even tried calling Hillary at 3 a.m. and nobody answered."
--Jay Leno

"On a lighter note, Hillary Clinton announced that her favorite music group is the Rolling Stones. She said they were the first concert she ever went to. John McCain said the first concert he ever attended was two guys pounding on a log with sticks to celebrate a successful woolly mammoth hunt."
--Jay Leno

"You know who I like is that John McCain. You folks like John McCain?. ... He looks like the guy at the hardware store who makes the keys. He looks like the guy who can't stop talking about how well his tomatoes are doing. He looks like the guy who goes into town for turpentine. He looks like the guy who always has wiry hair growing out of new places. He looks like the guy who points out the spots they missed at the car wash."
--David Letterman

"Do you like John McCain? I like John McCain. He looks like the kind of guy who can't remember if he took his pill. He looks like the guy who goes to bed after Andy Rooney. He looks like the guy who has his exhaust pipe tied to his rear bumper. I like John McCain. He reminds me of a guy who spends a lot of time in the yard with a hose"
--David Letterman

"This is what he [McCain] said in his speech yesterday -- I'm not kidding about this. He said things are good in Iraq because when you fly over it, you can see soccer games. What you can't see from that level is that they're being played with a human head."
--Bill Maher

"You folks been following the presidential race? You know Hillary now is behind in states, behind in delegates, behind in the popular vote and also in the polls, and today, she said to Obama, 'Are you ready to throw in the towel?'"
--David Letterman

The Dead Man Walking party has been reduced to the Dead Man knocked on its ass party. With elections barely 7 months away, they are now officially on life-support, with a DNR order put out by the libertarians on the right.

"Dems Poised To Defy History With Big Gains In House"
Source: http://tinyurl.com/624wtn

"Democrats have only 17-27 House seats at any real risk. By contrast, the GOP is going to have to defend between 25-33 seats. Just as we did yesterday, we examined the ratings compiled by non-partisan sources, such as Larry Sabato, Charlie Cook and CQ."

"Viewed as a whole, the outlook is pretty amazing. While history has taught us that a party that wins a "wave" election (as the Dems did in 2006) is poised for some losses two years later, we judge that Dems are in a position to expand their majority by anywhere from five to 20 seats."

"First of all, the year is turning out to be a generally poor environment for Republicans as a whole, even if the presidential race might end up close. Recent polling shows the president's approval rating is only 32% — and even though Congress' rating is lower as an institution, Democrats still have a lead on the generic Congressional ballot of over ten points."

"Thanks mostly to the fact that far more Republicans than Dems are retiring from the House, only eight Democratic House seats have opened up, compared to 26 GOP seats. That's more than 10% of the GOP's total party conference. "

"The Democrats are also in better shape organizationally and financially. The most recent filings give the DCCC a cash-on-hand figure of $38 million, compared to a paltry $5.1 million for the NRCC. As such, the Democrats will be much better-positioned to fight across the various districts, and also to entice potential candidates with the promise of support — and the opposite holds true for the GOP."

==+==
NO tags. This stinks.

Dems Exceptionally Well Positioned To Expand Majority In Senate
Source: http://tinyurl.com/5ojnur

"The GOP is defending nine — count 'em, nine — Senate seats in this fall's elections. The Democrats are defending all of ... one."

"That's the conclusion we reached after a close look at the map of Senate races this year — and it shows just how well-positioned the Dems are to expand their majority."

"The presidential race has sucked up so much media oxygen that it's easy to forget that there's another bitter and high-stakes electoral showdown looming this fall: The Congressional races... according to our analysis of all the ratings compiled by non-partisan sources like National Journal, Larry Sabato, Charlie Cook and CQ "

"First off, the GOP has largely struck out in terms of recruiting candidates to run for Dem-held seats, obviously a must if they want to get back into the majority. Only weak candidates are running in usually-contested states like Iowa and South Dakota, while first-term Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor (D) is running unopposed entirely."

"Compounding the problem for the GOP, Republican Senators are retiring in Virginia, New Mexico and Colorado, leaving them as ripe pickup opportunities for strong Democratic candidates. (Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska is also retiring, but the GOP managed to get a good candidate there, former Gov. Mike Johanns.)"

"Meanwhile, the Dems have managed to recruit a bunch of good candidates in states like New Hampshire, Virginia, New Mexico, and even the long-time GOP bastion of Alaska."

"Another boon to Dems: They are enjoying a big financial advantage, too — through February, the DSCC had $32.8 million on hand, compared to only $15.3 million on hand for the Republicans."

"To top it all off, in addition to the manifold advantages the Dems enjoy in money, candidate recruitment and incumbent strength, the Dems are also poised to gain from the national political environment, which could barely be worse for Republicans right now. Recent polling shows the president's approval rating is only 32%, the GOP self-identification number is 14 points lower than Dem self-identification, and the favorable/unfavorable rating of the Republican party right now is 34%-49%, far lower than the 45%-35% for the Dems."

"Bottom line: Even if the Democrats win only a few of their targeted races, which is a pessimistic prediction, a 55-45 Senate majority is not unrealistic. If they nearly run the table, then Dems can conceivably get almost 60 seats."

==+==

Why do Americans hate congress? Most of them realize that Roadblock Republicans are keeping them from what they want with their endless filibusters: better healthcare, a better economy, and an end to a very unpopular war.

Why is party identification at such a low in the DMW party? Nobody wants to be affiliated with a bunch of losers, crooks and thugs like the Reds in Congress. People are running screaming away from the DMW party much the way Republicans are "retiring" (read "cutting and running") from Congress. Dead. Man. Crawling?

Another reason Americans can't stand the chickenhawks in the DMW party:

Via McClatchy and the Charlotte (NC) Observer:
Pentagon tells lawmaker not to air Green Zone video again

"WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon told a North Carolina lawmaker Tuesday that he couldn’t re-air a video he'd shot in Baghdad after accusations surfaced that he breached operational security in detailing enemy rocket attacks."

"Those accusations were ones we made on VetVoice early Monday morning after we reviewed the video on Sunday:"

" In an effort to bolster his own national security credentials in the midst of "Sniper-gate," Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) gave away intelligence information last week that could have aided Shi’ite militias and/or other terrorist organizations in targeting the Green Zone. Only two days after McHenry promoted a video of himself in the Green Zone describing in detail the effectiveness of the rocket attacks on Easter Sunday, the area was hit with a barrage that killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded 17 others. It was the deadliest attack on the Green Zone so far this year."

Source: http://tinyurl.com/6zldgm

Wednesday, April 09
Obama leads HRC by 10 points in Gallup and 5 points in RCP average.

Yaaaaawn.

Gen, Election Gallup Tracking Obama 46 McCain 44

Hmmm.

Gen. Election: rASSmussen Tracking Obama 46 McCain 45

Dear me, Tomcantu. What will Obama do without his groove? When and how will he get his groove back? Whether it's Wright or Rezko. The DMW party can't stop his movement. If the Dems steamroll the DMWs in Congress, it will be because of Obama's extensive coattails. Gramps? I hear he calls his wife naughty names. After dumping his first wife when she became incapacitated due to an accident, you'd think he'd be happy with Ms. Cindy Lou Homewrecker. Gramps has No class.

All the fuss about McCain's 100 Year War. If McCain just decided to grow a spine and take a single position on something we could have a debate about what he REALLY thinks.

First there's the 100 Years in Iraq remarks:

Q: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years — (cut off by McCain)
McCAIN: Make it a hundred.
Q: Is that … (cut off)
McCAIN: We’ve been in South Korea … we’ve been in Japan for 60 years. We’ve been in South Korea 50 years or so. That would be fine with me. As long as Americans …
Q: [tries to say something]
McCAIN: As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. That’s fine with me, I hope that would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Queada is training and equipping and recruiting and motivating people every single day.

==+==
Then there's his words just a few months ago:

ROSE: Do you think that this — Korea, South Korea is an analogy of where Iraq might be, not in terms of their economic success but in terms of an American presence over the next, say, 20, 25 years, that we will have a significant amount of troops there?
MCCAIN: I don’t think so.
ROSE: Even if there are no casualties?
MCCAIN: No. But I can see an American presence for a while. But eventually I think because of the nature of the society in Iraq and the religious aspects of it that America eventually withdraws.

==+==
So he was against the occupation of Iraq before he was for it. Or he was for the 100 Years War after he was against turning it into the Islamic version of South Korea.

This is why Gramps can't get any traction or momentum on Obama even though he has no distractions other than his idiotic misstatements about the Shia and Sunni alignments in Iraq.

The same kind of spineless bullcrap comes from the McCain camp on privatizing Social Security. He's against it. Then, he's for it, then who knows what he's thinking. The dementia is really starting to kick in for Gramps. He can't even tell which issues he's in favor of and which he's against.

These McCain people can't even spell his name right. Typical Dingbats. Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/6c7a9k

Pelosi will stop fast-track clock

President Bush fired the initial salvo in a trade fight over Colombia by announcing his intent on Monday to send the agreement to Capitol Hill without the blessing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). On Wednesday, Pelosi fired back.

The speaker announced that House Democrats will take the unprecedented step Thursday of voting to strip a critical time requirement from chamber rules governing the "fast track" consideration of trade agreements, suspending the Colombia fight indefinitely and imperiling future trade agreements between the U.S. and other countries.

Pelosi said the House would vote Thursday to waive the fast track requirement that the House vote on the trade agreement within 45 days. That deadline is part of a total timeline of 90 legislative days for Congress to approve or defeat trade agreements governed by fast track rules.

"We're taking the timeline out of the equation," the speaker told reporters Wednesday after her caucus signed off on the move during a closed-door meeting in the Capitol.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0408/Pelosi_will_stop_fasttrack_clock.html

*****

A little spine looks good on Nancy. I hope for more.

Check out this one at about .20 sec in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4HNlWo0Ju0

Too effin funny!

Rumor has it:

New techs running the blog - no HTML tags.

That SUCKS!

I wonder why they make these changes and never bother to even tell us anything?

Customer - NO SERVICE on the blogs.

Watch the hits drop off.

Why no tags? WHO KNOWS?

I guess turning the tags option on in typekey is too much trouble?

Maybe CQ doesn't want the Cornblog to become popular, eh?

The USA needs to limit campaigning to 2 periods each 6 weeks long. A primary season and a general election season would be more than adequate. I am not trying to save money. I am trying to avoid being truly disgusted for long periods of time.

If the Dems manage to lose this election, I will sell off everything I own and move to somewhere like Baghdad where I'll feel safer.

The country is pretty tough, it has (so far) survived two Busheney terms.

Frankly - I am a bit impressed in some small way.

We are looking at a generation of new voters that were 10 when Bush was (s)elected. They are also a whole generation of better informerd (maybe more informed) - if they show up they could take over.

I think the dynamics are too interesting to not stay and watch.

The GOP might just steal another election. Will we let them?

Pando' nial

Yaaaaawn.

Gen, Election Gallup Tracking Obama 46 McCain 44

Hmmm.

Gen. Election: rASSmussen Tracking Obama 46 McCain 45
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why is your boy Obama in a virtual tie with McCain when he should be crushing him? Lets see, McCain is for the war (45%) Obama is against the war (46%) Seems McBush is still pretty popular and were not even in a general election yet where McBush will crush your boy on his very limited record.

How many pork barrel spending projects has Obama passed up on? Answer- 0, how many special interest groups has he taken money from? Answer- as many as possible. Dosen't sound like change to anyone not drinking the Obama kool aid.

Geesh you guys are such dunder heads!

Why do Americans hate congress? Most of them realize that Roadblock Republicans are keeping them from what they want with their endless filibusters: better healthcare, a better economy, and an end to a very unpopular war.

by dunder head

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is so frigging ridiculous, your polygamous leader -Harry Ried can't even put together a basic budget. Oh and the Dems did the same filibustering when the Repubs were in power only the Repubs had a higher approval rating.

The Dems could stop the war right now, they have no back bone, spineless cowards which brings us to the lowest apporoval rating the the history of the Dem party.

Only one other person with a lower approval rating than the DimwitDems and that be Pando'nial.

Pando'nial,

The Obama momentum isn't helpingyour boy any more with white folks, women and catholics it seems. Obama is stuck with Black and young folk and you can't even count on the young folk to vote, unless you bribe them with Dave Mathews tickets~~~

Poll: Clinton Leads in Pennsylvania

Thursday, April 10, 2008 12:30 AM

-- THE RACE: The presidential race for Democrats in Pennsylvania

___

THE NUMBERS

Hillary Rodham Clinton, 49 percent

Barack Obama, 41 percent

___

OF INTEREST:

Less than two weeks before Pennsylvania's April 22 primary, Clinton maintains a strong lead among women, whites, Catholics, older and lower-income people. Obama is ahead with blacks and the young, but leads only slightly among college graduates, with whom he usually does well. The two perform evenly with voters concerned about good jobs. Those who think racial discrimination is the major impediment to blacks getting ahead prefer Obama, while those who say blacks themselves are to blame lean toward Clinton.

Obama's Foreign Policy Resume

Armed With Self Described Qualifications As College Trip To Pakistan And Childhood Of Living Overseas, Obama Declares Himself Foreign Policy Leader

This Week, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) Claimed Foreign Policy Is The Area He Is "Most Confident" That He Knows More And Understands The World Better Than Sen. John McCain (R-AZ):

Obama: "[F]oreign policy is the area where I am probably most confident that I know more and understand the world better than Senator Clinton or Senator McCain." (Mayhill Fowler, "Obama: No Need For Foreign Policy Help From V.P.," The Huffington Post, www.huffingtonpost.com, 4/7/08)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, that must have been some trip to Pakistan!

Talking Cure: Obama’s flawed thinking.

National Review ^ | 10 April 08 | Michael Ledeen

Senator Barack Obama wants to talk to our Middle Eastern enemies, notably Iran. He can’t imagine a happy resolution of the war without such talks. And he seems to think this desire is something new, maybe even revolutionary.

He apparently does not know that it is not at all new, and certainly not revolutionary. It is instead the fully tested “policy” of the United States for the past thirty years, ever since the seizure of power by the mullahs in 1979. We have had high-level and low-level talks, public and private talks, talks conducted by diplomats, by spooks, and by a colorful array of intermediaries ranging from former Spanish President Felipe Gonzales to nephews of Rafsanjani, Iranian-American businessmen, former NSC and CIA members, and others with more dubious qualifications.

All failed. As Ken Pollack recounts in his book, The Persian Puzzle, every carrot was offered and every stick was brandished. We tried everything. The Iranians were not interested. It reminds me of that great scene from Goldfinger, with James Bond spread-eagled on a sheet of gold, and a laser beam slicing through it, headed for his private parts.

“Do you expect me talk, Goldfinger?” he asks.

“No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.”

That’s Iran. The mullahs want us to die.

These talks were approved by every president from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush, Democrats and Republicans, lefties and righties, in varying circumstances. Why would Senator Obama, or any of the other advocates of talking to the mullahs, think that they could get a different result? Some smart person defined a madman as someone who keeps doing the same thing, hoping that the next time he’ll get a different result.

Slowly but surely, even those who desperately want to avoid the knotty problem of Iran (nobody asked General Petraeus or Ambassador Crocker what they thought we should do about it) are coming to see that the issue is inescapable. That is because the mullahs declared war on us in 1979 and have been killing us ever since, as they are now in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Congressman Wexler asked General Petraeus to explain what we’re fighting for in Iraq, the General made three points:

It has to do with the possible spread of sectarian conflict in Iraq, a conflict that had engulfed that country and had it on the brink of civil war.

It has to do with regional stability of a region that is of critical importance to the global economy.

And it has to do with certainly the influence of Iran, another obviously very important element in that region.

Talking has failed for 30 years, but the hubris of leaders overwhelms common sense. Every president from Carter to W. has come to believe that a grand bargain is in the offing, if only we tried hard enough. Thus, the humiliating apologies from Clinton and Albright; thus, the dogged participation in negotiations by W. alongside our feckless European allies; thus, the call for talks from former officials like Henry Kissinger, Jim Baker, Madeleine Albright and Brent Scowcroft, and now from Senator Obama.

In just one way, Senator Obama’s proposal is indeed revolutionary. Previous presidents took a while before they embraced the talking cure. Obama would be the first one to call for it even before he’s taken office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dunder heads!

McCain gets ousted from board for lack of straight talk

Sen. John McCain, a long-time board member of Project Vote Smart, was kicked off yesterday for failing to provide information about where he stands on key issues.

Project Vote Smart, which aims to try to get past the sound bites to find out where candidates stand on issues, administers the Political Courage Test to pin folks down on exactly where they stand.

http://video1.washingtontimes.com/dinan/2008/04/mccain_gets_ousted_from_board_1.html

*****

Grandpa can't remember his position unless he has a Lindsay/Lieberman minder.

Makes sense to me.

Grandpa can't remember his position unless he has a Lindsay/Lieberman minder.

Makes sense to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When, and if, it comes time to look for a running mate, Barack Obama will be looking for "somebody who knows about a bunch of stuff that I'm not an expert on".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looks to me like Obama would like to have a Lindsay/Lieberman who knows a bunch of stuff~~~

Hey Capt,

Don't make fun of Grandpas cuz you could be Obamas grandpa~

Obama could be a grandpa if he didn't encourage his grandkids to be aborted~ cuz babies are such a burden.

Did you know that you can make a contribution to planned parenthood and designate your abortion fund to be a black baby? Wait until Robert Bird hears about that one.

Polls: Clinton's lead down to 4 points in Pennsylvania

(CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton's lead over Sen. Barack Obama in the crucial primary state of Pennsylvania has dwindled to 4 points, a CNN average of recent polls calculated Thursday shows.

The New York senator now holds a 4 point advantage over her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, 46 to 42 percent. Twelve percent of likely Democratic voters there remain unsure.

Recent CNN "poll of polls" suggest the race in Pennsylvania is tightening before the state's April 22 primary. A poll of polls calculated two days ago showed Clinton with a 6 point lead in Pennsylvania, and a poll of polls last Friday showed her on top by 11 points.

“Obama is outspending Clinton by better than two to one on television ads in Pennsylvania,” said Alan Silverleib, CNN’s senior political researcher. “Combine that with Clinton’s recent misstatement over her 1996 trip to Bosnia and the escalating chorus of voices calling on her to withdraw from the race, and you get a much tighter contest.”

Thursday's poll of polls included recent surveys from Time Magazine, American Research Group, and Quinnipiac University.

*****

More pollstrology but if true HRC is hurtin' in PA.

McCain Erases Obama Lead

Apr 10 01:39 PM US/Eastern
By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer

McCain Tosses Jovial Jabs at Obama and Whoopi on ‘The View’

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican Sen. John McCain has erased Sen. Barack Obama's 10-point advantage in a head-to-head matchup, leaving him essentially tied with both Democratic candidates in an Associated Press-Ipsos national poll released Thursday.
The survey showed the extended Democratic primary campaign creating divisions among supporters of Obama and rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and suggests a tight race for the presidency in November no matter which Democrat becomes the nominee.

McCain is benefiting from a bounce since he clinched the GOP nomination a month ago. The four-term Arizona senator has moved up in matchups with each of the Democratic candidates, particularly Obama.

An AP-Ipsos poll taken in late February had Obama leading McCain 51-41 percent. The current survey, conducted April 7-9, had them at 45 percent each. McCain leads Obama among men, whites, Southerners, married women and independents.

Clinton led McCain, 48-43 percent, in February. The latest survey showed the New York senator with 48 percent support to McCain's 45 percent. Factoring in the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, Clinton and McCain are statistically tied.

Jon Stewart Awards Obama "Dick Move of the Week"

AP poll: Bush public approval at new low

WASHINGTON - Public approval of President Bush has dipped to a new low in the Associated Press-Ipsos poll, driven by dissatisfaction with his handling of the economy.

A survey released Thursday showed 28 percent approve of the overall job Bush is doing. That was statistically tied with his previous low in the poll of 30 percent last month and in February.

*****

Always breaking new lows.

Whoops! Seems Obama had his own sunni/shia grandpa moment:

Al Qaeda is not in Iraq? I thought Obama had this foreign policy thing in the bag, baby.

First the guy gets Iraq and Iran confused in Senate hearings and now Obama stumbles and nearly shows his cards -- he doesn't believe Al Qaeda is in Iraq.

Remember: Obama, who wants to preemptively cave to China and surrender to our terrorist enemies in the Middle East, wants you think he has better foreign policy experience than either Clinton or McCain

Democratic Congress approval rating at 11% all time low~

Always breaking new lows.

House Stops Fast Track Rule for Colombia Free Trade Agreement

The House has just passed a rule to suspend the requirement that the Colombia Free Trade Agreement be considered within 90 legislative days by a vote of 224-195-1 — giving Congress the prerogative in scheduling a vote. This change is necessitated by the President’s partisan actions. Instead of working with Congress on the economic concerns of the American people, on Tuesday, the President took the unprecedented step of sending up the Colombia Trade deal without following established protocols of Congressional consultation. His actions were political and counter-productive. This rule would remove the fast-track timeline for the Colombia free-trade agreement — simply returning to Congress the rightful constitutional role in scheduling consideration of measures. The Fast Track law (PL 107-210) expressly recognizes “the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedures of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as any other rule of that House” and that is what the House is doing.

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1278

*****

I almost always forget how a little spine compliments a politician. Good for the house members that are willing to stand up to the slug.

See No Evil: Obama’s Foreign Policy by Ben Shapiro

On Tuesday morning, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that Iran was busily installing 6,000 new centrifuges for development of nuclear material. Further, Ahmadinejad stated, Iran would begin testing a new type of centrifuge that works five times faster than ordinary centrifuges.

On Tuesday afternoon, Democrat presidential front-runner Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., declared that the U.S. should engage in a "diplomatic surge" in Iraq. In particular, he said, America should embrace talks with Iran. "I do not believe we are going to be able to stabilize the situation without that," Obama told Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. "I continue to believe that the original decision to go into Iraq was a massive strategic blunder, that the two problems you pointed out – al Qaeda in Iraq and increased Iranian influence in the region – are a direct result of that original decision."

Never mind the unbelievable arrogance of a foreign policy boob like Barack Obama, lecturing the two most knowledgeable on-the-ground figures in Iraq on the best military strategy for Iraq.

Barack Obama's scariest characteristic isn't his ego, though its sheer size threatens to shift the globe out of orbit.

Obama's scariest characteristic is his puerile belief that everything can be solved by talking with dictators.

He seems to believe there's nothing to be lost by sitting across the table from murderers, thugs, Holocaust deniers and genocidal maniacs. "I will meet not just with our friends but with our enemies, not just with those we agree with but those we don't," he blustered in February.

Obama, more than any politician of the past 50 years, should understand the power of words and gestures – his entire campaign is based on them. Yet, he doesn't seem to understand the simple truth that America's enemies see negotiation as a sign of weakness.

http://www.slate.com/id/2112318/fr/nl/