Hiatus! 98 Days to Go!

As I do have to go train for the Olympics now, I'll be putting the blog on temporary vacation until I return to college (August 18th, for those keeping score at home). I just don't have the time to update as much as I should be right now, and there's too much news to adequately condense into a post every four days.

I know this is bad timing, as Obama is probably gonna present his running mate in the next couple of days, as might McCain. Be prepared for these images:

Yup, these are my formal, final predictions for Veepstakes 08. For the Democrats, it might be Obama-Kaine: two candidates and two wives who all went to Harvard Law, and both candidates' mothers grew up in El Dorado, Kansas, population 12,000. Kaine doesn't have a ton of experience (and none foreign policy-wise), but he does have a message of change, and a youthful, non-Washington look at this country. For the Republicans, what else could we expect? Two old, out-of-touch, white men. Good luck with that, fellas.

Good luck to all of you - I'll be back before things really heat up again.

Broadcast (Novak) a Joyful Noise Unto the Times, Lord, and Please Capture It On Tape! 104 Days to Go!

All right, no more attempts at balance. Since this campaign began, John McCain has been more wrong, more weak, and more wobbly than any other national figure. He continues to astound me with how badly his campaign has been run, how incorrect his positions are, and how many gaps there are in his knowledge of the issues. He's already running a mean-spirited campaign, playing on all the fears and paranoias that the GOP did the last two times around. I don't think it will work this time. But the media isn't giving the candidates their due (read the two comments by Dan Theodore on that article, but more on this topic later). I watch the evening news, and I don't see the truth, I see a desperate attempt to not make either of them look bad, even when one of them looks bad. I will not be afraid to tell you when Obama looks bad (although frankly, that hasn't been often - his campaign has been pretty impeccable), and I will make every effort to tell you when McCain is bad. I have no problem calling out Obama when he screws up, but I can't pretend anymore that this is a real choice - it's no contest. This is my promise to you - this election is more important to this nation's future than any principle of balance to this blog. I will not let John McCain lie to you. I can now say that he terrifies me more than George Bush ever did. He could do so much damage as President, and I have to do whatever I can to not let that happen. Come here for the truth.



--> Last week, I told you about how John McCain thought that Czechoslovakia still existed (he did this twice, actually). This is something that I could probably write off as a simple slip of the tongue. Unfortunately, McCain's confusion goes deeper, as he showed on Good Morning America on Monday by referring to the "precarious and urgent" situation on the "Iraq-Pakistan border." Now, I don't expect any particular geographic expertise from my readership (except from former challengers for the New York State title), so I'll provide a little visual demonstration:

Notice that there's no real border between the two nations. In fact, there's a rather large, yellow country in between them. This is kind of a serious region of the world that U.S. foreign policy tends to, lets say, affect? McCain should know better. But again, maybe this is just a slip of the tongue...

--> Obama recently contended that it was the Sunni revolt against al-Qaeda that contributed to the improved security situation in Iraq. McCain was asked about this by Katey Couric (more on this annoying person later), and he had this to say:

"I don't know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening," McCain said, referring to the U.S.-backed revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida in Anbar province. "I mean, that's just a matter of history."

Seems like a reasonable point. The only problem is that the Anbar Awakening, a critical point in the development of this war, was first discussed by the US Department of Defense on September 29, 2006 - 4 MONTHS BEFORE GEORGE W. BUSH ANNOUNCED THE SURGE. This is a basic element of the current situation in Iraq, and the fact that McCain could get this wrong is pretty scary. So isn't it odd that CBS News, anchored by Couric, decided to air the question Couric asked, but actually aired a different answer! Here's the full interview. The American people deserve to know when McCain doesn't understand the Iraq War (besides the obvious ignoring the wishes of the Iraqi people). Shame on CBS News, whom the McCain campaign recently accused, along with the rest of the media, of bias against him. It's also possible that CBS violated some of their journalistic standards with this decision.

--> So, as per the title of this entry, Robert Novak has a Bad Day today. In fact, it's been a bad week. On Tuesday, Novak received hints from top McCain officials that he was going to announce his running mate soon. Novak "just put something on the internet," and then later in the day realized it was just a hoax to help draw attention away from Obama's fantastically successful international trip. Novak said that he "felt used."

Today, Novak's week got a whole lot worse. While driving his black Corvette, Novak made a right turn and hit a pedestrian crossing the street on a "Walk" signal. A bicyclist who saw the event described the car as "plowing" into the guy, who was "splayed into the windshield." The cyclist then saw Novak try to drive away, so he frantically got to his car, swerved in front of Novak to prevent him from escaping, and dialed 911. "Bono (the cyclist) said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.”" Great stuff, Novak. I hope you rot in prison, like you were supposed to two years ago.

--> With Obama's heavily-anticipated speech tomorrow in Berlin, John McCain was looking for a way to upstage him - hard to do in a nation that has such shitty landmarks. I mean, how could you have a good looking political event here? or here? or even here? Well, McCain clearly has his finger on the pulse of America, as he chose a photo-op location that truly represents the heart of America: an oil rig off the Gulf Coast. McCain saw this as a way of expressing his support for ending the offshore drilling ban, because apparently appearing with the President who issued the executive ban wasn't clear enough.

Of course, the weather has a liberal bias as well. While Obama was greeted by beautiful weather in Israel, a hurricane hit the Gulf Coast, forcing McCain to cancel his event. McCain unexpectedly went to Ohio tonight, fueling speculation that he may announce his VP tomorrow. Stay tuned for that, as it might be Rob Portman (former Congressman from Ohio, also former Bush Administration Director of the OMB). This would be hilarious, as McCain would not only ignore Newt Gingrich's advice and pick a white guy, but it would be a guy with direct ties to the most unpopular president ever.

--> Apparently convinced of the success of attacking Europe as a way of attacking the Democratic Presidential candidate, the GOP is at it again with their press guide to Obama's diplomatic tour of Europe. Of course, they pick on their favorite target: the French.

No, it's not this bad - it's worse. Click on the link above. Or this link. This is what John McCain believes is the best way for the American people to decide who is fit to lead the United States military. This is childish at best, and sickening at worst.

--> By the way, it's time to bring you another edition of our increasingly regular series:

By the Way, This Guy is Still President

--> Tonight, we feature this guy talking at a fundraiser on July 18th. As our leader, he tried to explain, as best he could, the nuances of our current economic crisis:

"Wall Street got drunk, it got drunk, (it’s one of the reasons I asked you to turn off your tv cameras.) It got drunk and now it’s got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up, and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments."

Here's the video of our recovered-alcoholic President making a very detailed analogy to drinking. Dubya went on to explain, "So the economy got drunk, and it started stumbling around. It went over and puked on a bunch of middle class houses, because they were in the corner and he didn't think anyone would notice. Then the economy tried to hit on Great Britain, but we were like 'Naw, dude, that's not cool!" So the economy backed off, and ended up asleep on the coffee table, while Japan, India and China wrote on its face with Sharpies.... Not that I have any experience with any of this."

That's all for tonight folks. Get some sleep.

Obama's Iraq Plan Panders to Iraqi Citizens, While McCain Again Doesn't Know Something and Gave Up Four Months Before the Election! 107 Days to Go!

UPDATE (7/22 - MORNING): At approximately 35 seconds into last night's Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Jon Stewart made roughly the same joke that I make further down this page. No, this doesn't prove plagarism. All it proves is that Jon Stewart and I use the same source for our humor: our religion.

• Me: By the way, you may have noticed that in the past 48 hours, America has seemed more stagnant and, frankly, less hopeful. This is because Barack Obama has left the building. In fact, he's left the whole continent, currently on a tour of the Middle East and Europe
• Jon: Let me ask you a more serious question: when you woke up this morning, did you feel a little colder, that the country was a little sadder, a little lonelier, a little less hopeful? There's a reason for that. -cut to news clip of "Barack Obama has left the country."

****************************************************************


So much news to get to today. Again, sorry for the weekend break, but my life does come before my blog (usually).



--> In an interview published on Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki expressed explicit support for Senator Obama's plan to withdraw American troops in 16 months.





(from the article)

"Maliki was quick to back away from an outright endorsement of Obama, saying "who they choose as their president is the Americans' business." But he then went on to say: "But it's the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that's where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited.""


Ben Smith has a fantastic article about the phenomenon that this incident demonstrates: foreign leaders have enormous sway over our elections, and they know it. Just as Osama's last-minute threat before the 2004 election may have swayed the outcome to Bush (as a certain Republican nominee suggested at the time), any incident in the world, including a simple quote, can have massive repercussions. Robert Reid also suggests that this endorsement of Obama's plan is a shrewd way for the Iraqi government to gain negotiating leverage with the Bush Administration on how American troops are eventually withdrawn.


Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is probably pretty terrified by this news, since it demonstrates that the will of Iraqis runs counter to what both McCain and Bush has asserted is best for them and best for us. So we should assume that the Republican Bush Administration would do everything it could to minimize the press coverage of this story, right? Well, apparently their strategy to keep the story quiet was to e-mail the story, entitled "Iraqi PM Backs Obama Troop Exit Plan," to every reporter they could think of. According to this report, a White House employee meant to send the Reuters story out for internal distribution, but "pressed the wrong button," and sent it to the media instead.


Also, has anyone noticed that the Bush Administration, on accepting the need for a "general time horizon" on troop withdrawals from Iraq, calling for more troops to secure Afghanistan, and engaging in negotiations with Iran, seems to be taking its foreign policy cues from the presidential candidate they assert isn't ready to be Commander-in-Chief?

EDC's Election "Dos" Cents: This announcement by Maliki is glorious news for the Obama Campaign. It's really irrelevant whether he's doing it to benefit Obama, because it's hard for McCain to spin this by accusing Maliki of pandering to his own citizens. Best case scenario for Obama: not only is McCain forced to accept that troop withdrawals are the answer at this point, but Obama frames the debate as "I was right all along - right that the invasion was a mistake all the way until I was right that it was time to leave." The American people realize that experience counts for nothing - judgment is what matters most, and Obama wins the election on every issue - economics, reforms, and foreign policy alike. Worst case scenario for Obama: the Iraq War basically becomes a non-issue as McCain accepts that troop withdrawals are the way it's going to be (as he promised he would in 2004 if this scenario arose), but continues to assert that the surge is what allowed us to withdraw. Thus he can still fight the judgment argument, but ultimately the election will be decided by the economy - as I've said before, guess who wins that one?

--> John McCain, apparently overwhelmed by this recent run of bad news, has apparently cashed in his chips and given up on winning this election. At a recent town hall event in New Mexico, he welcomed Congressman Steve Pearce (R-NM), who is running for Senate in that state (and will most likely be demolished). McCain said, "Could I mention the presence of my friend, Congressman Steve Pearce, who I believe will be joining me in the United States Senate?" Now, as my most-likely flawed reading of the Constitution seems to tell me, John McCain cannot hold both the White House and his Senate seat at the same time. I think Senator Obama and the entire Democratic Party will join me in graciously offering John McCain his Senate seat back. We won't even put up a fight. In fact, I'm sure Obama plans on doing everything he can to ensure that just one of Pearce and McCain ends up in the Senate next year (and, for the record, Tom Udall will be the next Senator from New Mexico, not Pearce).

--> Following up on an earlier story about McCain failing to give an answer to a serious question about health insurance covering Viagra and birth control, McCain found another question that he couldn't answer yesterday: when asked if he thought that Barack Obama is a socialist, McCain replied, "I don't know." I suppose if I was deciding my vote based solely on un-Bushishness, then McCain's indecisiveness might give him a leg up. Unfortunately for him, that's one of the few things he doesn't have in common with our current leader.

--> By the way, you may have noticed that in the past 48 hours, America has seemed more stagnant and, frankly, less hopeful. This is because Barack Obama has left the building. In fact, he's left the whole continent, currently on a tour of the Middle East and Europe. EDC will bring you live, in-person coverage of the whole tour some time in the next day or two, as Ben tries to sneak aboard Obama's carefully guarded flights in between these countries.

--> Wondering if a human being could really care quite so much about staying in shape, reporters have begun to question if Barack Obama's frequent "gym visits" are merely a front for secret meetings with prospective VPs. As for our ongoing Veepstakes, current buzz seems to focus on Indiana Senator Evan Bayh. Bayh is a smart guy, albeit a bit more conservative than your average Democrat, but he's a former Clinton supporter, willing to be an attack dog, and hails from a potential swing state. He also has a lot in common with Obama, as he was keen to mention to a reporter. Currently, my top guesses for running mate are either Bayh, Clinton (I still think she might have a chance), and Tim Kaine (Governor of Virginia whose term expires in a year anyway). They'd all be good picks. Also, as I mentioned a while ago, expect a pick in a week or two, because it needs to happen before the Olympics.

Don't they look good together? Sam Nunn looks less good, I guess.

That's all for tonight. Sorry to leave you with so many questions. Who will Barack Obama pick as his running mate, and when will he do it? What did John McCain do at Yankee Stadium that had Ben fuming (besides going to Yankee Stadium)? How is Obama doing with the crucial non-citizen, international/overseas vote? What is Tarnish Jutmoll's deep dark secret? These questions might have been answered on Nostrum, but since that's been discontinued, I'll have to consider doing it here, next time on Election Day Countdown.

McCain Is The Deer In the Headlights! Roadkill for President! 111 Days to Go!

John McCain provides us with one of the instant-classic YouTube clips of this election; I plan to use this clip as a joke in as many future entries as possible.

--> Following up on an earlier post referring to Carly Fiorina's questionable comments on the availability of Viagra and birth control on health insurance plans, John McCain was confronted with his perspective on those statements. His viewpoint is demonstrated by this new pro-choice anti-McCain ad. First his eyes go wide, like he sees the car coming at him but he can't bring himself to get out of the road. Then, as Jon Stewart pointed out, his hand starts eating his face. Then he just goes quiet. Finally, our wanna-be Decider manages to stutter out a conviction-filled "I dunno." The ad will run in several swing states, where it will no doubt appeal to voters as a reason to choose McCain if they want their Commander-in-Chief to literally freeze under pressure.

--> Following up on my latest Iraq-related post, the brilliant PolitiFact has given us proof that Barack Obama has indeed NOT FLIP-FLOPPED on Iraq. Read the article, as they go through Obama's comments over the last 16 months, and don't find any contradictions.

--> JibJab, creators of the brilliant Kerry-Bush cartoons four years ago, succeeds in recapturing its former glory with an instant favorite: Time For Some Campaigning! Do watch, and enjoy.

--> Jesse Ventura, as it turns out, is not running for Senate. It's a shame, because now we'll have to live with Al Franken as the crazy celebrity politician from Minnesota.

--> And finally, President Bush, in a blatant attempt to underscore John McCain's impending senility as a policy advantage, told reporters, "I’m 62, I’m having trouble remembering a lot of things." That, by the way, is 9 years younger than McCain, although admittedly a much more alcohol-filled 62 years than McCain's 71. Did we mention McCain is married to a beer baron?

There's a War On; You're Gonna Lose - You Have to Lose! 113 Days to Go!

Thanks to Wilco for providing the inspiration for tonight's title, focusing mainly on the campaign issue that was the primary focus of the past few days: Iraq. Because, in case you forgot, we are actually doing stuff over there.

--> Barack Obama, under attack on the apparent shift in his position on the Iraq War, published an op-ed in the New York Times today, in which he reiterates his call for withdrawing troops from the country over the 16 months after he takes office. His main points/reasons why Obama is right on this issue, and McCain is wrong:

• Obama opposed the war from the beginning, seeing it as an unnecessary strain on our army, which should have been focused on the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan instead of on a country which posed "no imminent threat and had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks." McCain supported the invasion/occupation from the beginning.





• The surge, which Obama opposed initially and still does oppose, has been a mixed bag. Violence levels have gone down, which is fantastic, but the surge hasn't actually achieved its goals: our military is even further strained, more money has been spent, and Iraqi leaders have failed to reach a political accommodation between their warring factions while failing to take control of their constituents. McCain supported the surge from the beginning, and still calls it a complete success.





• Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki has called for a timetable for American withdrawal, and estimates indicate that Iraq's armed forces will be ready to take over security in 2009. Withdrawing may be the only way to put enough pressure on Iraqi leaders to get their asses in gear. At this point, a timely withdrawal is not "surrender," but rather a transition of power to a stable, sovereign Iraqi government.





• Obama remains committed to pulling out troops in 16 months, but is aware that the situation can change due to any number of variables beyond our government's control, and will continue to consult his generals before making any final decisions. By the way, I find it to be INCREDIBLY stupid that the American people expects either candidate to lock themselves in to foreign policy decisions a full calender year before it actually happens. McCain is 100% committed to keeping our troops in Iraq, and the left-wing of the Democratic Party needs to relax and not expect Obama to commmit completely to a course of action that could have potentially harmful consequences. McCain is stupid/irrational enough to fix himself into a position like that, and I've been proud to see throughout this race that Obama has made no such ideological decisions.

And by the way, this is NOT A FLIP FLOP. Obama's rhetoric has changed a bit, as all candidates change their manner of speaking when they reach the general election, but his message on Iraq has not shifted.

--> Meanwhile, a new ABC/Washington Post poll has some surprising results on Americans' views on how McCain and Obama would handle Iraq. Unsurprisingly, 63% of Americans still say the war was a bad idea from the start, and 60% reject the idea that Iraq is critical to our success in the War on Terror. However, because so many more Americans see McCain as a good Commander-in-Chief than Obama (72% to 48%), only 50% of Americans prefer Obama's Iraq policy compared to 49% that prefer McCain's. Like I said a few rants/posts ago, if Iraq is the biggest issue of this election, Obama will lose.

--> Luckily, a key McCain ally gave the Obama camp some great ammunition to use against the Republican nominee when it comes to economic issues. Perhaps the biggest framing dilemma for either candidate is McCain's quest to remain seen by moderates/independents as a "maverick" - distinct from the incredibly unpopular legacy of Dubya. So when Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), considered a top competitor for McCain's Veep, was asked by Wolf Blitzer to explain how John McCain differs from George Bush on the economy, he didn't do the Arizona Senator any favors by "drawing a blank." Here's the exchange:

BLITZER: Are there any significant economic differences between what the Bush administration has put forward over these many years as opposed to now what John McCain supports?
SANFORD: Um, yeah. For instance, take, you know, take, for instance, the issue of -- I'm drawing a blank, and I hate it when I do that, particularly on television. Take, for instance the contrast on NAFTA. I mean, I think that the bigger issue is credibility in where one is coming from, are they consistent where they come from.

It got even worse for Sanford when Blitzer pointed out that Bush and McCain agree on NAFTA, which prompted to the befuddled governor to explain that he was moving on to another point about "consistency."

When one of his key supporters can't make a valid point, it's gonna be very difficult for John McCain to appear as anything other than John W. McCain - the Third Term of George W. Bush.

--> In another weird demonstration of John McCain not being in touch with the 21st Century, during today's talk with the press McCain referred to being concerned about Russia's "reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia." Of course, at EDC we're concerned about this, too, considering that Czechoslovakia hasn't existed for 15 1/2 years. If it has taken Russia this long to notice that one of its neighbors isn't there anymore, then maybe Putin shouldn't be our biggest worry.

That's all for tonight. I would go on, but I would have to ask, "Do you want to know the terrifying truth? Or do you want to see me hit some dingers?" The answer is obvious - go watch Josh Hamilton.

Democrats Becoming Republicans, Republicans Acting Like Democrats, and Still the World Keeps Turning! 114 Days to Go!

Some weird news to get to today as I nurse my aching stomach. Hopefully I won't cause my readers to vomit in surprise with these items.

--> Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), a late-January endorser of John McCain, has told George Stephanopolous that he'd be open to serving as an energy czar for the next administration - specifically, Senator Obama's administration. (By the way, those are the two most difficult last names I've ever typed here, and I nailed them both on my first try - I spend way too much time reading about these people). Expressing his interest in continuing to serve the American people even after he leaves the governor's mansion, Arnold seemed willing to answer a call from Obama about such a Cabinet post, as he shares his liberal, pro-environment perspective. So much for party loyalty...

--> And speaking of party loyalty, former Democrat Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is planning on speaking at the upcoming Republican Convention on behalf of Senator McCain, similar to Democratic Senator Zell Miller's partisan attack on John Kerry at the 2004 GOP Convention. Increasingly upset by Droopy's support of the Republican nominee, Democratic leadership is now planning on kicking him out of the Democratic caucus and removing him from his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee. Democrats, fresh from their surprise victory in 2006, needed to appease the newly-Independent Lieberman to ensure that they kept their 1-seat majority. Now, however, assured of gaining at least a few seats in November, the party can afford to cut Lieberman loose. Good riddance.

--> Barack Obama's campaign appears pretty upset tonight as The New Yorker unveiled its newest illustration depicting the candidate and his wife:

Of course, The New Yorker has been very friendly towards the Obama camp, and this illustration is actually meant as a parody of the smearing and paranoia that Obama has faced throughout his candidacy. However, I'm sure Obama is not particularly fond of the magazine's choice to remind the voters of all those fears.

VeepStakes:

--> Obama, in reassuring a donor that Hillary Clinton remains on the short-list for running mates, actually convinced me that he won't end up picking her. He told the Democratic donor, a staunch Hillary supporter, that Clinton remained one of the strong possibilities, but that the potential presence of ex-Prez Bill in the White House is something that Barack still has to grapple with. I've believed for the past month that if Barack was going to pick Hillary, it wouldn't be as the result of a long, drawn-out vetting process where he sifts through the options and picks her as his best choice. I thought he would pick her because he knew he had to pick her. However, by telling this donor (who is obviously a loudmouth who immediately went to the press) that Hillary was being considered, Obama can get away with not picking her by assuring her supporters that she was considered very strongly. This smells of appeasement to me, and I'm fine with it. I'm sick of all this speculation, and wish we could just get on with it.

--> Despite putting his national service at the forefront of his presidential campaign, Senator McCain as of yet has made no proposal for an expanded national service plan. Obama, meanwhile, as his commencement speech at Wesleyan highlighted, has strongly encouraged a higher level of public service in this country, and has put forward the plans to achieve that. Obama has pledged to increase the Americorps manpower from 75,000 to 250,000 annually, and to double the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. McCain, it should be noted, opposed the Americorps (like most Republicans) when it was created in 1993 by President Clinton, but has since flip-flopped and decided it's a good idea, highlighted by his 2001 bill with Senator Bayh (D-IN) to expand service programs and his 2003 pressuring of President Bush to not cut funding for Americorps.

Although McCain has no proposal for increased public service, he does apparently support the increased service of American flags:

The Liberal Knight Saves the Day and Millions of Americans Attempt to Stop Whining About Losing Their Homes! 116 Days to Go!

Yesterday featured a glorious day of Senate history, one that will hopefully resonate as one of the great tales of political courage and success in American history. Much like U.S. history students are taught the names of Clay and Webster, I maintain that students decades from now will learn to revere the greatest Senator in modern history:




--> The Senate has recently been facing an important vote on a Medicare bill facing strong opposition from the White House. Without going into too much detail, the bill would prevent an 11% pay cut to doctors who treat Medicare patients - a potentially enormous loss of Medicare funding. 44 million seniors and disabled Americans have their health care covered by Medicare, and it's a very important piece of current government health coverage. Last month, the Senate attempted to pass the bill, but came up with only 59 votes - more than enough to pass, but not enough to break the Republican's filibustering, which prevented the bill from coming to a vote at all (See how that filibuster article I wrote was, in fact, quite relevant????). Yesterday, Senate Democrats tried again to pass the vote, but came up with a count of only 59 votes. Thus, with hope fading for Medicare, the Senate doors opened, and onto the floor walked Senator Ted Kennedy, only one month removed from brain surgery that removed a tumor.

Receiving a thunderous ovation from his fellow Democrats, Kennedy declared, "Aye," the decisive 60th vote to break the Republican opposition and allow the safe passage of the Medicare bill. With Republicans stunned by the surprise appearance of this great liberal warrior, 9 of them quickly decided that it would be better to be on the winning side, and cast their votes in favor of the Medicare bill, making the final total 69-30 (and the missing Senator was in fact John McCain, who was too busy campaigning...more on that later). This was a brilliant move by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who was one of the few Dems who even knew Kennedy was coming, and it goes to show that there are still some politicians who do truly care about protecting the welfare of the American public. May Ted Kennedy continue to fight the good fight for many years to come.

--> In less confidence-inspiring news, John McCain's top economic advisor (and possible Treasury Secretary) Phil Gramm appears to have a different take on America's recent economic woes than the millions of Americans whose houses have been foreclosed. Gramm told the Washington Times, "This is a mental recession...We have sort of become a nation of whiners."



Seriously? Besides the fact that this obviously won't play well with the American public, this just plain isn't true. However, here at EDC we're much more concerned with electoral problems than, well, "reality."



Senator Obama, immediately springing on this miscalculation, told a crowd in Fairfax, "America already has one Dr. Phil. When it comes to the economy, we don't need another." Americans don't like being called "bitter" or "clingy," and they certainly won't like being accused of whining. This is the ultimate antidote to Obama's bitterness comment, and McCain knows it. Thus, McCain quickly distanced himself completely from Gramm, who has been his top economic advisor for quite a while.



EDC's Election "Dos" Cents: Here's what Obama's campaign needs to do for the rest of this campaign. He CANNOT win this race on the Iraq/Iran/diplomacy/foreign policy issue. If Americans want to decide their next President based on Commander-in-Chief, McCain will win. This election must be decided by the economy (as it tends to be), and if it is then Democrats are inherently favored, because they favor a "lets try to fix the economy" approach as opposed the Republicans' "let the economy fix itself" approach, which, right or wrong, is not pro-active enough for most Americans. Obama needs to make this election framed around Gramm's comments. It doesn't matter if McCain distances himself from the comments. Gramm was a member of McCain's campaign, and moreover of his party, so Obama can keep reminding voters that "The other side (the Republicans) have spent the last 8 years (not so subtle overture towards linking McCain to Bush) being out of touch with the problems of the average American. From the botched, delayed response to the suffering people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left the city underwater, to President Bush's and Senator McCain's belief that cutting taxes for the rich will help alleviate the inability of middle class Americans to afford gas, to McCain economic advisor Phil Gramm's recent remarks that we are merely a nation of whiners - that this recession is just in our heads. I know better than that, and this Democratic Party knows better than that. We've seen how Americans are losing their homes, losing their jobs, losing their way of life. The American people deserve better than that; they deserve hope for the future and hope for their children's future; they deserve a chance to hold down a steady job and earn a comfortable retirement; and they deserve political leadership that won't wait for our free-market system to fix its own problems. John McCain is promising four more years of the policies that have contributed to this recession, and I believe that the American people know better than to trust that the answers Senator McCain proposes are actually real solutions instead of cheap political pandering (see gas tax holiday). I want to be President of the United States because I want to bring you real solutions, real economic relief, and real change in this government."



If Americans hear more of that message than the "scary scary Iran nuke terrorist 9/11 I'm experienced" GOP message, Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. The key is to frame this election in terms of him being in touch with the problems of real Americans, in part because he's actually worked with average citizens as a community organizer in his home town, rather than being surrounded by Congressmen and lobbyists for the last 30 years.







These are two big stories, and they deserve their own entry. Thus, I'll leave you with this, and hopefully come back to report more on Sunday night. Until then, keep watching the skies...

Jesse Jackson Is Clearly Not the Emperor of Black People! 118 Days to Go!

For all those who don't immediately recognize it, the title is a South Park reference. It's not me being very racist, because I'm not racist (though some Broadway-types would argue that I am a little bit).

--> So EDC can officially count Jesse Jackson as one of its loyal readers, because he obviously happened to catch the main story of my entry last night. For those of you who were too lazy to get that far, I wrote how Obama had been emphasizing a harsh message of personal responsibility to the black community of late (as only a black candidate really could). Well, when Reverend Jackson found out, he was apparently quite mad. While preparing for an interview with FOX News, Jackson made reportedly "crude" comments regarding Senator Obama without realizing that the microphone was already on. EDC is a family-friendly blog, so I don't want to report exactly what was said. Here's a diagram to hint at what Jackson said about Obama:

This guy...

...wants to (insert first name of the guy below)...

...these two...

...off of this guy...

Any questions? Reverend Jackson has fervently apologized for his ill-timed remarks, but what I enjoy most about this story is how the media so desperately wants to report on it, but is trying to avoid mentioning what Jackson actually said at all costs because it's inappropriate. Political candidates should try this tactic sometimes. If you're gonna make a scandalous announcement, just fill it with so many expletives that the media is unable to actually report what you said.

--> Because every minor detail can be skewed to be a critical hint about the VP search, at EDC I've tried to avoid mindless speculation. That being said...OMG OMG OMG Caroline Kennedy is flying on a plane with Barack and Hillary tonight!!! OMG OMG That must mean Hillary is his pick, because why else would the leader of the VP search team fly with the two of them...unless, you know, she happens to need to go to New York for some reason...OMG!

Of course, this story means very little, but I do remain an advocate of a Dream/Unity/I-Guess-We-Have-To Ticket. Not only do I think that Hillary would be an incredibly effective advocate for White House policy behind that VP seal, and not only do I think that Sebelius, Napolitano, and Richardson should save themselves for an all-star slugfest in 2016, but I also believe that having Hillary on the ticket will allow Obama to dominate the message of the campaign. We've long been aware of the media's obsession over the Hillary-Barack saga. It dominated every news cycle during the primaries and caused endless punditry. If they were teamed up, the media would again turn all its cameras towards the Obama campaign, to observe how that dynamic plays out.

Any time Obama wanted a speech or an important policy announcement covered, he would just have to put Hillary on the stage with him, and he'd have live coverage on every network. This election will be decided by America's feelings about Barack Obama - if we're ready to take a risk on this guy and trust him with the Oval Office. If he's able to sell himself as much as possible and get his message out there and out-shine McCain, then he can start preparing his Inauguration speech today.

--> Unfortunately, Obama's supporters aren't helping Hillary's case for unity. After she dropped out, Obama "graciously" called on his backers to write checks to Clinton, and help her retire her $23 million in campaign debt (the highest total ever for a loser). However, it appears that Obama's supporters have done less forgiving and forgetting, and more grudge-holding, raising only a "paltry" $100,000 since she dropped out. Many have argued that she accumulated most of the debt after she lost the mathematical possibility of winning the nomination, so she doesn't deserve their help undo her pettiness.

--> During a campaign stop in Pittsburgh yesterday, John McCain was asked about the United States's $158 million that it has shipped to Iran during the Bush presidency, despite restrictions on U.S. exports. This, of course, is a relatively serious policy question, as our relationship with Iran is very complicated and nuanced, requiring a careful look at all its elements. But John McCain once again proved that he has a well-reasoned plan to handle Iran diplomatically: "Maybe that's a way of killing them," McCain said, before receiving a sharp stab to the back by his wife to prevent him from losing his head up his own ass.

Honestly, it's not the worst suggestion I've ever heard. In fact, maybe that's the purpose of the entire moralist agenda in this country. If we eliminate drugs and porn and alcohol and cigarettes in this country, and move it all instead to Iran, then we can keep all the American jobs in those industries, and cause Iran's society to crumble from the inside. However, I'm not sure that "kill them all" is really the way to go with handling Iran.

--> And finally, some Senate news tonight. After several years removed from the political stage and the wrestling arena, former Governor Jesse Ventura (I) is planning a return to the former (shucks, I was hoping the latter) with a possible independent Senate run in Minnesota. "The Body," as he was known in the WWF before blood clots in his lung forced him to miss a title match against Hulk Hogan (true story), was elected Governor of Minnesota in 1998 as a member of the Reform Party. In that election, Ventura defeated Republican candidate Norm Coleman, who went on win the Senate seat that Ventura is currently vying for, and DFL (Minnesota slang for Democratic) candidate Hubert Humprhy III. With an already tight match between the Odd Couple of New York Jews (Coleman and Al Franken), Ventura could throw the entire Senate race out of whack, as he remains relatively popular in Minnesota. In fact, he achieved the highest approval ratings of any governor in Minnesota history. This is something to keep an eye on, folks.

That's Jesse Ventura, giving hope to body builders everywhere (along with Ahnuld) that they can go on to run for high political office.

Obama Can't Dunk, and Takes Out His Frustration On Children! 119 Days to Go!

Sorry for the extended Independence Day break. I hope it gave you all time for much-needed patriotic introspection, and that you all spent time remembering the proud memories of all our 4th of July American heroes: Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Takeru Kobayashi, etc. Lets get right to the fun news stories we have for you today.

--> Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) announced yesterday that "under no circumstances will I be a candidate for Vice President." Webb was considered by many to be Obama's strongest choice of running mate, combining his "hey look I live in a swing state" credentials with a brilliant military background. Here at EDC, I've been advocating Obama choosing him if he wasn't gonna pick Hillary. Apparently, Webb decided he wasn't going to seek the spot once Obama's team asked him for some background info. One can only imagine the skeletons in this guy's closet that prevented him from seeking the job. Or maybe he just thinks that the Vice Presidency is the equivalent of a toilet.

--> So, with Webb out of contention, EDC will now give you a brief rundown of the remaining VP candidates for Barack. There's Hill-Dawg, Bill Richardson, Wesley "People Don't Listen to What I'm Actually Saying" Clark, Kathleen Sebelius, Janet Napolitano (who happens to be chairing the DNC's Platform Drafting Committee), and Sam Nunn. If it turns out to be someone else, then color me surprised. I think Napolitano is a wildly talented, popular politician, but her identity as a white woman might anger some still-pissy Hillary supporters. Same with Richardson, only without the talented, white woman part. Nunn's questionable views on gays in the military might cause liberals some concern, and Clark has already been a source of controversy this year.

--> Of course, none of this VP talk matters unless something happened to Barack Obama, because in the end it's the President's job to run the country, and the VP's job to watch his/her heart rate. Obama actually had an interesting near-near-near-death experience yesterday, as his plane was forced to land unexpectedly in St. Louis due to a technical problem in controlling the plane's pitch. Of course, the plane was always within the control of the pilots, but if Obama played his cards right this story could be a great story for the media. Just another way for him to emphasize his youth and vitality in this race, of course. I bet McCain couldn't even save his own private jet using only his power of flight. Here's basically what happened:

Just to clarify, Obama's campaign jet carries a space shuttle on top. Not sure why...

Obama quickly sneaks into the men's room, and dons his spandex.

And everyone lives happily ever after. At least until Dick Cheney tries to conquer the west coast.

Anyway... enough of this tangent.

--> Speaking of Vice-Presidents, one of McCain's potential running mates is quite an interesting character. Carly Fiorina, former chief of Hewlett-Packard, is widely considered to be on John McCain's short-list, as her strengths perfectly complement his. She is a woman, and he is not. She knows something about the economy, he does not. She would actually be a very intriguing choice, especially because of how candid she is, as demonstrated at a breakfast yesterday when Fiorina very bluntly talked about contraceptives and Viagra as viable options for modern women.

--> Barack Obama, clearly channelling some deep emotional trauma resulting from some childhood basketball tragedy, told a group of black high schoolers in Georgia, "You are overrated in your own mind. You will not play in the NBA." He also told them that most of them weren't good at rap, either. So much for the politics of hope. Of course, Obama is merely trying to continue his tough-love message of personal responsibility in the African-American community. But he didn't stop there. After the stop in Georgia, Obama continued on his ethnic stereotyping tour, going to a high school in Long Island and telling all the Jews that they would never work in Hollywood or be lawyers.

Actually, I realize now that Obama's inability to dunk actually results from gym rules, not physical limitations:

--> Looking forward to his acceptance speech, scheduled for 40 years to the day after the "I Have a Dream" speech, Barack Obama is planning on giving the speech at Invesco Field (the Denver Broncos' stadium) to a crowd of 75,000 instead of inside the Pepsi Center with the rest of the convention. This has been done before, as JFK gave his convention speech at the LA Colosseum. Of course, Obama has gone out of his way to avoid comparisons to people like Dr. King and JFK.

--> Speaking of obvious parallels to former Presidents, Obama is currently planning an international trip for the end of the month, and is considering a trip to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the site of Reagan's famous "Tear Down This Wall!" speech. Since the Berlin Wall has fallen (and, from what I'm told, that was because the Russians knew that Gigi was coming), there is no word yet as to whether Obama will demand that German Chancellor Angela Merkel tears something down in his honor.

--> Meanwhile, in this entry's ongoing saga of weird segues, Premiere Gorbachev himself, just having finished tearing down the wall by hand on Reagan's orders, attacked the U.S. government and both presidential hopefuls for their silence on military spending. Gorbachev asserted that the United States accounts for 50% of the world's output of arms and military equipment. This is a very serious issue, but one that the realities of campaigning prevent any major candidate from dealing with. Any candidate for the presidency who proposed that the U.S. should minimally cut military spending, let alone drastic reductions, would be painted as naive and not adequately defending this country. For all we hear about Obama's "new politics," even he is still bound by the requirements of running a national campaign. There's just certain things that no one can campaign on.

--> And finally, EDC would like to remind you that, contrary to popular belief, America actually has a President already. This election in November is merely to replace the sitting Commander-in-Chief, who theoretically still wields the full authority of the executive branch. However, it's certainly not to early to consider tributes to Dubya's legacy, and I don't mean the Oliver Stone bio-pic variety. A group in California has submitted a proposal to be voted on by its citizens this November. This initiative would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant in honor of what will be George W. Bush's greatest legacy: cleaning up his mess after he's gone. Thus, San Francisco would feature the George W. Bush Sewage Plant - as far as we know the first time a President has been honored with the dedication of toxic waste treatment.

Hope you all made it through this in one piece. Hopefully there will be more tomorrow.

A White Guy Ruins The Terrorist Fist Jab and McCain Roughs Up Some Guy! 124 Days to Go!

Some fun news today, as I am getting a little more nervous about this race than I was before.





--> Republican Senator Thad Cochran (MS) yesterday spun a yarn that certainly caught my eye. He accompanied John McCain on a diplomatic mission to Nicaragua in 1987 to meet with the newly-elected, leftist, Sandinista President Ortega. According to Cochran, he witnessed McCain get into an argument with one of Ortega's lieutenants: "I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever." No punches were thrown, but Cochran was apparently quite surprised by McCain's temper.









Cochran had told the Boston Globe in January, "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."









Of course, in the months since January, Cochran has realized that McCain has overcome his temper since 1987 (I know, the timeline there doesn't really make sense, but the GOP is gonna go with it). His office released a statement suggesting that the point Cochran was trying to make was that McCain has long since overcome his temper and has matured greatly. McCain himself denied the story completely.















--> John McCain's allies in his presidential race have found loopholes in the campaign finance law (you know, the one written by John McCain...the one that Obama opted out of because it's a stupid, broken system?). It appears that law doesn't set limits on the amount of money that the Governor's Association can raise, so they've been reeling in large donations to help McCain. Gotta love that campaign finance system.











--> On the Senate front, Republican candidate Bob Kelleher has chosen a bizarre strategy to use against Democratic incumbent Senator Max Baucus (MT). Worried that Baucus would start using personal smears to derail Kelleher's campaign, the Republican decided that his only course of action was to beat Baucus to the punch and attack his own personal life. (That was a really weird sentence to type). Imagine that this was a boxing match. Kelleher decided that Baucus was gonna start punching him in the face, so he decided it would hurt less if he punched himself. For visual aid, this is what that would look like:







When he was 23, Kelleher dropped out of a monastery because he "couldn't handle the vow of chastity." He's been married and divorced three times, has seven children, six of whom were with his first wife, whom he walked out on. To justify his actions, Kelleher explained, "I wanted to have fun." This is perfectly understandable. You see, Kelleher knows that some boys take a beautiful girl, and hide her away from the rest of the world. But Kelleher wants to be the one to walk in the sun, because doomed GOP Senate candidates just wanna have fun. In all seriousness, I understand the desire to control a story, but this is a little excessive. Kelleher has no chance in this race, and it'll be another landslide embarrassment for the Republican Party that failed to find even a decent candidate against Baucus.











--> A new USA Today/Gallup Poll demonstrates 1) that these pollsters continue to not ask important questions and 2) that 6 in 10 Americans believe that wearing a flag pin indicates that you are patriotic. Funny, I always thought that wearing a flag pin indicated that you were married, or that you were in the closet, or that you were caving in to crazy people who suggested that you weren't patriotic for NOT wearing a flag pin. Could we please stop worrying about flag pins? Please????

And now, our:

Picture of the Day:

Here, our President demonstrates either that he's really white, or a secret terrorist.

The Saga of NY-13! 125 Days to Go!

So this is a story I've been meaning to report on for a while, but it just keeps getting more interesting. I decided to wait until now so that I could present you with the whole picture.





--> You can look at this tale as a tragedy in the mold of some of Shakespeare's classics. The doomed hero, in this case, would be the Republican Party. The setting is not Denmark, but somewhere quite similar: the 13th Congressional District of New York State, located primarily on Staten Island. The seat is currently held by Republican Congressman Vito Fossella, a man married with three children in the city. He is, in fact, the last surviving Republican representative from New York.




Act I: Late at night on April 30th, Fossella is arrested near Alexandria, VA and charged with drunk driving. Of course, this is not a good start for an elected official, but the real area of concern is the reason Fossella was in the middle of Virginia. When asked where he was going by police, Fossella replies that he was going to visit his family. But, you recall, his family lives in New York. Silly reader, of course he means his secret family - the woman he had an extramarital affair with and the three year-old daughter that resulted from it. A word of advice for all you budding politicians: if you're going to be an elected official, don't have a secret family (or a secret anything, for that matter) because people do actually pay attention to what you're doing (sometimes).




Act II: Of course, Fossella realizes that he cannot run for re-election (especially in such an overwhelmingly Democratic year where he'd probably lose anyway), so he decides to bow out. The Republicans frantically search for a replacement candidate, fully aware that the DCCC has WAY more money to spend than them. Thus, after all their top choices refuse to serve as sacrificial lambs against Democratic challenger Mike McMahon, they settled on wealthy businessman Frank Powers, a former Wall Street executive with the capital to finance his own race, saving the GOP some money for other races. Things seemed to be going decently, and the Republicans had a fighting chance, until more things went wrong.




Act III: Shortly after his dad became the presumptive nominee, Frank Powers Jr. announced that he would be running against his father for the seat, aiming for the Libertarian ticket (or, if not, the Anarchist ticket). His political experience as a carpenter certainly would gain him a lot of votes, but more than anything this would merely be a distraction for the Republican nominee.
Meanwhile, Vito Fossella tried to delay his trial over a typo in a subpoena.




Act IV: On June 22nd, Frank Powers died in his sleep in his home from natural causes. This left the Republicans without a candidate, and the prospect of recruiting another seemed quite dim, as DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen has pledged $2 million to start the race for McMahon. Now, the Republicans are scrambling to find a replacement. Kings County Republican Party Chairman Ed Eaton is urging his colleagues in Staten Island to support retired investmant banker Paul Atanasio. However, Atanasio would need 1,250 signatures to get on the ballot by July 10th, a very difficult task for anyone, let alone someone who doesn't live in Staten Island, where the vast majority of voters are.





The moral of this story is that on November 5th, there will be no Republicans in Congress left to represent the great State of New York. And don't come back!!





News roundup tomorrow (or later tonight - today could be a two-for-one deal).

McCain Muzzles His Own Mother, Wesley Clark Politicizes Facebook, and the Return of the Swift Boaters! 126 Days to Go!

We've seen a lot of big news in the last couple of days that could very well frame the dynamic of this race for the next several months. Let's get to it.


--> Partly in response to General Wesley Clark's comments that questioned McCain's qualifications to be Commander-in-Chief (although if you only listened to the pundits you'd think that Clark suggested that McCain was a bad soldier), the McCain campaign has unveiled their own Truth Squad. Ironically, leading this defense of McCain's war record will be none other than Colonel Bud Day, one of the leading members of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Obviously Day stands for truth, but it is interesting that such a controversial veteran will be helping to defend McCain's Vietnam record after so aggressively blasting Kerry's. For those of you who don't remember, 2004-era John McCain (when some parts of his soul were still intact) condemned the Swift Boat attacks as "dishonorable and dishonest."


--> Meanwhile, General Clark seems to not be sorry about his somewhat controversial remarks. How do we know? Not from an interview, or a TV appearance, or a press release, but from his Facebook status. Yesterday afternoon, it read: "Wes Clark knows that John McCain is largely untested and untried when it comes to national security matters." Of course, national figures have a long history of communicating with the American people through Facebook. I think we all remember FDR's celebrated status, "Franklin Roosevelt has nothing to fear but fear itself," or even the controversial "Dick Nixon is not a crook."


--> The New York Times takes a look at the timing of Vice-President selections, and suggests when it may make sense for the candidates to roll out their picks. McCain may, in fact, have a very nice opportunity to pick his running mate shortly after the Democratic Convention, in order to limit the bounce from this event. With the Olympics running from August 8th to August 24th (capturing all Americans' undivided attention - like two weeks of the Super Bowl), neither of them can announce their picks then because it would get drowned out by Olympics coverage. So, they can either announce at the end of July, or after the Olympics end (the Dem's convention begins the day after that). Obama announcing his pick the first day of the convention might be a mistake, so look for his choice in late July, and McCain's at the end of August.


--> Roberta McCain, potential First Mother of the United States, has remained very quiet during this campaign. When contacted by a reporter, she told him, "They've got me muzzled." Chuckling, she added, "Now don't you print that. . . . I really don't like to be interviewed."

Mrs. McCain has apparently led a fascinating life, including hanging out with Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, but I do wish that we could hear some of her stories.

More tomorrow.