60% Jerome?

Begich-Stevens may just be the most interesting and fascinating race this November.  It'd be damn shame if someone under federal indictment is able to reclaim a Senate seat.  It's completely disgraceful that Stevens has decided to pursue re-election despite his legal troubles.

The last four polls didn't look good but I'll take Rasmussen's numbers over the folks at Quinnipiac, Insider, Strategic Vision, and PPP.

Rove still has Obama leading in his September 3rd map 260-193; his next map will probably show a tie as Pa. and NM move to toss-up while FL and MT move out of toss-u.

Obama sucks; should have been Hillary.  Man, you could have saved yourself a lot of keystrokes.  Carpal tunnel, you know.  Why risk it?  

Did Jerome just get played by Jonah Goldberg with the whole McCain lifting his arms bit?

Balloon Juice is down right now, but John Cole eviscerated that talking point yesterday.  It's still a riff of "Noun, verb, POW."

I agree there has been a sea change in the last few weeks, with people back to seeking their comfort zone with McCain.  I said at the beginning he is a very appealing candidate, very unthreatening to most Americans, and not requiring a stretch to acceept.

My only take on what needs to change in Obama's message it it just needs to be personalized, anectdotal in tone.  Stories work.  McCain's does, which is why he is doing well.  Obama takes more of a risk with his, but it is a risk I think he must take.  In trying to avoid shoving people's faces in the obvious (my God he's Black and had a weird background) he is missing the chance to connect with them.  Risk-taking is part of the deal here, and if you don't you surely lose and lose gracelessly.

Also, the stories need to be about us as well as him, but stories, stories, stories.  

One of the reason Palin is a positive force on M's ticket is not so much her right wing views, as a country we have proven by now we do NOT vote necessarily on the ideas that might do us some good, but because she interests people, her life is very exposed, it's a fun story with a lot of cute details.  For better or worse that seems to be how most of us connect.

jerome, the sports metaphor is exactly right.  You take a lead into the second intermission, of course the other team is going to adjust its game coming out.  And if you keep the pressure on, keep all the action in their zone, you win.  But it is so tempting to fall back and try to defend the lead, and that is how you lose.  Every hockey mom knows this.

Accusing McCain of lying is a lousy argument: as a POW, he had to lie to his jailers so many times that now he can't tell the truth.

You know why this attack is so stupid? The guy can't lift up his arms, to type on a keyboard, due to his POW injuries. Oh yea, that'll work...

Yea, if the last decade has taught us anything you must be able to lift your arms above your head to type!  

Those laptops and other devices you see are just for decoration!

Obama sucks; should have been Hillary.  Man, you could have saved yourself a lot of keystrokes.  Carpal tunnel, you know.  Why risk it?  

All that needs to be said.  

Obama could go with the line that Republicans run great campaigns about personality but don't deliver on policy.

If Americans elect John McCain, they will be disappointed again because the campaign is a side show.

McCain's idea of reform is for earmarks only.  And some earmarks are for infrastructure projects we need, the biggest problem with them is there is no priority involved, no master plan, no plan at all. but it pales next to government fraud and mismanagement with hacks in charge of agencies.  And some are even horny hacks, by the latest scandal.  Reform that matters is cleaning things up and putting professional experts in charge of all our dysfunctional and amazingly corrupt agencies.  

the only Dem to win 2 terms in the WH since FDR.  He knows how 2 campaign.

Paraphrased from John Harris at Politico:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/090 8/13394.html

1. Don't make this about you.

Its about the voters, always.  Make the campaign about their lives, not yours.

2. Define yourself through policies, yours and theirs.  

Get rid of the lofty rhetoric, its not working anymore.  Talk specifics about your policies using as few words as possible, defining them in a way that affects voters lives.  Take your health care reform plan and boil it down to about 2 or 3 sentences, same with economic reform, etc.  Then repeat them over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

3. Have more fun.

Don't let the GOP get under your skin, like Gore and Kerry did.  Humor also helps him connect with the audience.

4. Make the election about something big.

Do the vision thing, Obama.  Allow voters to visualize what the country will be like when you're in charge.

Jerome Armstrong: The most powerful concern troll on the internet.

not only did the Obama campaign not expect this sudden turn of events but I was astonished at the slowness with which they responded and adjusted. It seemed like a certain lethargy and complacency had set in the campaign...one would even say that had bought into their aura of inevitability and the belief that Republicans will not put up a fight to protect their last stronghold in government. WRONG. Republicans are fighting tooth and nail for every inch. It is very evident here in NC where Kay Hagan is running neck to neck with Liddy Dole and there is good chance that there might just be a Republican governor. What David Plouffe might say my fears will only be assuaged if they can again start taking charge of the narrative, which making taking the fight to the Republicans whether it be on the media, on the ground, through ads, by surrogates. They have to control the election message again. As for free advice from Dukakis, he is the best example of what happens to someone who does not go on the offensive but heads a reactionary and defensive campaign. That Plouffe even released the memo shows how much pressure was being generated from the Washington Democrats. It now remains to see how many pairs of gloves more has Obama to take off before he goes on a meaningful cohesive and coordinated attack (which means no more email ads...that was lame)

Since 1988, I've seen Dukakis in person twice and on TV maybe a half-dozen times.  Anytime he's been asked about political campaign strategy, his answer is some variation on "Well, if I knew how to win a presidential campaign, I wouldn't be doing this right now."

Strange that he finally broke his self-imposed silence on that.

I think the key is a dermination of why Obama is underperforming the generic Democratic vote plus leaners.  McCain can get to 47%, maybe 48%.

I'm inclined to think that it goes back to the strategy of the primary.  Which overemphasized Iraq as a domestic issue (as opposed to an international problem), was/is vague on the post-Cold War international realities & residues generally, and undercommitted him on Constitutional, justice, and social issues.  The choice is whether to harden up and give up a good amount of that moderation- or give in to more moderation and gin up "contrasts" that may or may not matter.

I think Democrats are now paying the price for the Obama campaign penny wise and pound foolishly abrogating most of the difficult Hillary Clinton positionings.  The result of the primary meant a third Presidential term engaged principally with the remains and fallout of the 2001 Bush agenda.  I guess that's what Obama supporting centrists wanted, and now we're stuck with the consequences.  Obama and McCain are not running to get beyond these terms- the argument has become one of management, with the slight possibility of somewhat more social democratic healthcare.  Republicans have won the framing debate.

Not sure if Working America is technically a 527, but they are putting a huge amount of money and time into helping Obama getting elected. I think the Obama campaign's neighbor to neighbor program will be much more helpful then ACT's canvassing program.

With that said, I agree that many are overrating what Obama's ground game will be able to accomplish. If they keep getting killed in the media war, it will be difficult for his staffers and volunteers to overcome the media frame they have come to believe.

Every day should have a new hit -- TV spot, press release, speech, talking heads, whatever -- on the same point: calling bullshit on McCain and Palin as agents of reform.  So far the best job I have seen on this has been by the The View, much better than the Obama campaign.  When McCain says he is going to reform Washington, what does he mean?

Not taxes -- he likes the current tax regime, wants to make it permanent.  Obama would move the tax breaks down the income chain.

Not health care -- he likes the current health care system, wants to make it permanent; leave it in the hands of the HMOs and let people fend for themselves.  Obama would utterly reform the system.

Not Energy -- he likes the current cozy laissez-faire relationship between Washington and big energy, wants to make it permanent, just like the two former oilmen in the white house and the pipeline queen on his ticket. Obama would make it less comfortable for them through tax policy and increased competition in alternative energies.

Not Foreign affairs -- he likes the current posture of the US, bellicose and unilateral, wants to make it permanent.  Obama would put the focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan and work to repair our alliances in the world.

Not social issues -- he likes the culture war being waged by the current white house (no longer agents of intolerance!) and wants to make it permanent by naming supreme court justices who would overturn Roe v Wade.  Obama is not trying to win the culture war, he is trying to find a middle ground on the most contentious issues -- impossible as that may prove to be.

We could do one of these every damn day.  Maybe with the song "Getting to know you" playing behind it..

Because in the end, what will McCain and Palin reform?  How will they buck their party with their mavericky reformitude?  Earmarks??  Is that what it actually boils down to?  States will no longer compete for shares of the federal budget that their citizens are supporting through federal income tax? Good luck with that.  People like their pork, when you identify what tehir pork is.  And even if the public cared about this issue, which they don't, Sarah Palin cannot say it with a straight face.    

a) 527s are engaged in the battle as per the ads they are creating such as by Planned Parent hood

b) Field Organization as of Aug 10th

"bama Leads Better Than 3:1 in Field Offices

As Sean has been writing in recent days, it has become increasingly apparent that the McCain campaign has no intention of matching the Obama campaign's formidable presence on the ground. This becomes especially clear upon reviewing the status of field operations in each state.

The table below represents my best estimate of the number of field offices that each campaign presently has open in each state, or plans to open in the immediate future. I say "estimate" because there is no hard-and-fast source for this information. Each campaign has listing of its field offices on the respective state-by-state pages within its website (Obama example) (McCain example), however, in certain cases, the offices appear to be relics of the primary campaign that have since shut down. In states where the number of offices appeared to be dubious, or the listing did not appear to have been updated recently, I spot-checked the numbers by randomly calling a couple of offices in each state. It appears that all or almost all of the McCain campaign's offices in California are inactive. But this was a larger problem for Obama, where offices in a large number of states that were important in the primaries, like Kentucky or any number of Super Tuesday states, have long since been shut down.

My best estimate of the current state of the ground game follows. States are ordered by their current rankings in the Tipping Point metric:

[graph deleted]

Overall, I count 336 offices for Obama and 101 for McCain.

What's more, the overwhelming majority of McCain offices aren't really branded as McCain offices. Rather, they are so-called 'Victory Offices' that are operated by the local Republican party in that state and which serve all Republican candidates in that state. Some fairly substantial degree of coordination between the national campaign and the state party apparatuses is inevitable in any Presidential campaign. But in Obama's case, it is Chicago that is driving the bus (to the extent that we'll probably begin to hear some complaints from local party officials), whereas the McCain campaign is effectively competing for resources and attention with other Republican candidates.

The state-by-state distributions are also interesting. McCain, who has spent almost nothing on advertising in Florida, is instead very heavily invested on the ground there with 35 offices, perhaps reflecting the fact that Florida has one of the nation's best and most effective state Republican party operations. The other states where McCain has multiple offices open are: Michigan (11), Ohio (9), Minnesota (7), Missouri (7), Wisconsin (6), Virginia (6), Iowa (6) and New Hampshire (3). By contrast, the McCain campaign has just one office open in key states like Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and (somewhat shockingly) Pennsylvania, and no offices open in some second-tier swing states like Indiana and Montana."

I definitely want to know how this is working out, and to obtain a progress, but when you say you see no signs it makes me question you.

Those critiques are so old news.  All the concern trolling about the Palin over-bashing got thrown out the window with two events - 1) The disastrous Palin interview with Charles Gibson; 2) McCain's takedown on the View, in front of millions of suburban security moms watching at home.

  I'm sure you'd be saying just the opposite if Obama didn't have organizers in all the swing states.  Obama can do no right by you.

This statement:

You know why this attack is so stupid? The guy can't lift up his arms, to type on a keyboard, due to his POW injuries. Oh yea, that'll work...

Is not true. Here's your proof.

More here.

Now that you're off your Palin fixation, we might actually be close in agreement.

As I posted earlier, I think the turnaround the last two weeks is the combination of a 1)VP pick that rallied a sagging base, and more importantly 2)while the Dems had a terrific convention, they apparently ignored any attempt to manage how the media would relate that message. And so as independents or low-information (and only occasionally voting) people tuned in or caught a recap on local news, the story that was relayed to them was one more centered on civil rights, instead of a coherent vision of the future. What came across was a targeted outreach message-usually reserved for a professional women's luncheon or an MLK Day march-instead of a message for the broad-based population.

Again, that coherent vision was certainly there in the convention itself...its just that nobody seemed to be checking whether the media was actually reporting that. As anyone in business knows, you can have the best product, and still lose market share...

What came across from the GOP convention (which was more of a funeral than a convention) was that 1) McCain has been in Washington a very long time, which communicates experience, and 2)McCain is indy enough to cause animosity with the Republicans.

All this translates into a frame of Unknown Change (first black president) vs. a little change (30 years in DC, + maverick). That's a whole different ball game.

I would also remind everyone that for those of us in blue states (despite my handle, I live in Seattle), our areas never bought in to the conservatism of the last 30 years, and especially not the Bush version. So for us, the "decision" in November actually happened years ago, and expect that at some point, the red states will get the memo.

But again, as anyone in business knows, there is a lag time between your messaging, and any resulting change in perceptions...

...and of course if you don't get the message out full throttle in the first place, then that change in perceptions can be postponed indefinitely. For those of us in the blue states, we are used to progressive radio(and politicians who are progressive to some degree, civil institutions, local culture, etc). But there are still large parts of the country-including some of the most populated areas-that still don't have progressive talk radio...or any large-scale progressive messaging outlet. People therefore aren't forced to confront their own views, no alternative options are presented, and there is little diversity of local opinion.

If the Dems do lose this one-which it is far, far too premature to predict-then the takeaway may be that we will not have progressives back in power until we have reached parity with conservative talk radio...and for a number of years after that has been accomplished.

I like Ed Rendell, but he's not thinking clearly on this one. Back in 1980, many believed Ronald Reagan would collapse once he faced President Carter in debate; after all, Carter was much more intelligent, sharper, knew all the facts and figures. But he still got destroyed. Debates are an opportunity, but it's not wise to bet the ranch on them; hope is not a strategy for winning.

Much of what Reagan said during the debates was factually incorrect. And personally, I never saw what was so clever about the words, "there you go again", but people loved it. And that's the point: it's all about being liked. Right now, the voters are in love with Sarah Palin: the women want to be her, the men want to mate with her. Biden has become irrelevant.

And if we can get back to the #1 spot: unless Obama can shift the debate back to the economy, this election is McCain's to lose. That's the price we'll pay for two weeks of carping over creationism, getting books taken out of libraries, and getting state troopers fired: today, for the first time, Rasmussen has McCain ahead in the Electoral College, 200-193.

This all reminds me of the SNL skit in 1988 when John Luvitiz (who was playing dukakis) said "I cant believe i am losing to this guy".  I mean seriously we are down in the polls running against an awful candidate after 8 years of crap, Bush with an approval rating in the mid-20's, and the ecomony in the dumps.

WTF is going on.

david

Wah, wah, wah, Obama's gonna loose.

wah, wah, wah, wah, Hillary should have been his VP pick, wah, wah, wah.

Same shit, different day.

Does the DD in MyDD stand for "Debbie Downer?"  Jerome seems to thinks so.  

Every other writer here is able to criticize Obama in a intelligent and contructive way. Jerome needs to take lessons from them.

Well fuck it all I guess we should just pack it in.  

The Google is littered with comments from McCain and McCain staff saying he's trying to get up to speed on the Internet and nothing about physical limitations.

He's also quite capable of using a cell phone and messes around with his staff's blackberries, with nary a physical complaint.

Quit reading Drudge.

You know why this attack is so stupid? The guy can't lift up his arms, to type on a keyboard, due to his POW injuries. Oh yea, that'll work...

I wanna know who the hell is hanging all of the computer keyboards from the ceiling.  Really!  I'm sick of hearing this, "Oh McCain can't type on a keyboard because he's a POW" bull malarkey.  Puh-lease...

I realize McCain can't lift his arms up all the way (although, he clearly CAN lift them some if you you've seen him waving a campaign events), but who the hell raises their arms all the way up to type?  Not me...  a simple bend of the elbow works just fine.  I'm sorry, but being a POW is not an excuse for EVERYTHING.

To Draw Blood

Advertisement

"He claims to be the original maverick" (picture of him with GWB and as part of the Keating 5

But John McCain has lost his integrity.

False anger about lipstick on pigs, distortions about his policies, and outright lies.  This is the McCain campaign.

John McCain has abandoned his honor, and prefers to win the election, even if it means that he loses his dignity.

John McCain - the people of America need answers on the econmy, on health care, on climate change -but all you give them is lies and deceit.

How disrespectful of you.

I'm Barack Obama, and I'm Joe Biden, and we approve this message.

Hey Jerome, if Obama put on a pantsuit and a blonde wig, would that help him out?

Is ANYONE impressed by the fact that the Repubs had to blow the mud slinging campaign open so EARLY and that shows like the View are debunking them?  I mean, really, that cannot be good.

I also like Bill Clinton's advice, it mirrors my own thoughts.  Obama should come out with a ad like this:

Opening| Barak Obama head shot looking serious: "I am Barak Obama and I approve this message."

Cut back to full shot of Barak, who proceedes to walk off the filming stage while talking and goes over to a resting area.  "I know these campaigns can get tiring for both you and I. You have all the pressures of a daily life and you have to listen to politicians tell you how bad things will be if someone else is elected.  I am here to tell you that there ius far more good in America than bad and that together we can leave all the pessimism behind to create a better future will all the good things we already have at hand."

Barak can take a drink of water, have a seat at a small table (like a dining room table) whatever.

Pan in on Barak, maybe chest up shot.  "What can we do together?  We can..."

And then do a policy piece, something he wants to do if elected President, but in terms of how it will help the voter.  Bring in others to help support his point, or show he is working with ALL Americans.

For example, do something with Hillary about health care.  Have her some in and talk with him to the American public about it, together.  Use things like voice overs from obvious different backgrounds.

Use the begining over and over and over...add in new policy pieces to the last 20 seconds or so.  Use them to connect to the public so that they specifically KNOW what he plans to do and why HE GETS your pain.

Win the HEARTS and minds of America.

American's are wary of strangers.  Think of new neighbors...always a thought of if they are a threat to your family or not until you get to know them.  Especially one that is not of your ethnic background.  Barak, let us get to know you beyond the political "event".  Be a good neighbor.  It is not fair that you are being judged by some because of the color of your skin, or your youth, or your name, but give people a GOOD reason to begin to believe that the stereotypes are wrong, and that we can trust you in "the neighborhood".

This campaign needs to be about a Nation of neighborhoods and the campaign needs to be run that way.  You connect at that level and thre is nothing that America will not do for you, even elect you President.

I miss Hillary! It should've been Hillary! See? I told you! I told you! You should have listened to me and Alegre!

Are all of those upthread who are full of doom and gloom just voicing their "concern" on the internet or are they also making phone calls, going door to door and helping the campaign?

I'm in rural southern CO and we are out there day after day registering people to vote.  Things look pretty good on the ground.  There is lots of enthusiasm, especially among the Hispanic population.  Little old ladies are registering to vote by mail who have never voted before in their lives.  In a town the size of Wasilla, a dozen people come to my house twice a week to pick up canvassing lists and drop off the completed ones.

We had a booth at our annual Settlers Day parade today.  We had a steady stream of people coming to our booth asking for lapel stickers, window signs, bumper stickers, anything Obama.  Many are new voters or people who never got involved before.

Obama will be in Pueblo on Monday which is over an hour away.  We're getting a caravan together from all the little towns in the tri-county area to drive there.  Lots of excitement about seeing Obama.

So why all the whining on the internet?  Things look pretty good in the real world.

P.S.  One comment about the Ron Paul supporters.  Given a choice between McCain and Obama, they vote Obama.  They come as a group to our Democratic events.

>You know why this attack is so stupid? The guy can't lift up his arms, to type on a keyboard, due to his POW injuries. Oh yea, that'll work...<

It may be stupid (think it is) but that isn't why.  I have a crippled hand. I type with one finger.  Before computers I couldn't type because I made too many errors. computers have allowed me to email & do a lot of professional writing, because now I can fix the typos.  It leaves me disinclined to write long internet diaries, but I've been successfully using computers since 1984.

Also see the picture here

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=11294

Responses to JA's comments on the boxed quotes, in order of significance (as I see them) from a dead-even NV:

1. Absolutely I agree about Democratic mentality. In local races where I am (Nevada) its not that I see local candidates "running out the clock," but there has been a general assumption that the way to win this year is to simply mobilize anti-republican voters. That has meant, I think, not finding issues or themes that demonstrate a clear difference or point out how we would govern differently but instead finding rather petty personal issues on which to attack republicans and then presuming that everyone in their right mind among the Ds and Is is going to turn out and vote D.

We need more than outrage to win and even moreso to govern.

2. Absolutely agree that the perception among voters that I hear on the phones and doorsteps has shifted from a more or less inevitable Democratic sweep, greater than 06, to a situation more like the fall of 04 when there was a desire for change but serious doubts about the Democrats.

Frankly I've thought for over a year that we'd won all the votes we were going to win on the war/ foreign policy and that the republicans would inevitably revert to taxes and the economy and we needed to have a clear alternative to simply "I'll cut taxes too."

Our economic message ought to have been effective government -- republicans promise tax cuts but give away public money to their friends and leave the rest of us with lousy schools, lousy roads, disfunctional police, and limited job opportunities. Too late, I fear, to change that and we're going to have to do the best we can carrying the "tax increase" baggage into the election which will mitigate the effect a terrible economy should have on the incumbent party.

3. Without a doubt I agree that there seems to be little to no effort to coordinate message by the Obama campaign with local surrogates and local blogs. At least where I live but it seems like thats the case everywhere. Where I am, in Nevada, its as if there are two entirely separate campaigns being run -- tight coordination of message among Dem state assembly and senate candidates (not a great message I think, see above re: taxes, but at least coordianted). Obama's message is simply not present in the local media, other than quotes from the campaign spokeswoman and LTEs by volunteers. They've got to accept they cannot do it alone and must work with local electeds, local opinion makers, civic leaders who may not have supported them early but who are ready, willing and able to help push their message. If we have any idea what that message is on any given day or week.

4. The organizing thing is for real. Where I am the field effort is much larger, started much earlier and much smarter about using resources than Kerry or Gore were, and the republicans are simply in disarray. Every GOP candidate is running their own field op because the state party/ coordinated is non-existent. And the Obama campaign is not, at least in my state, relying on what they did in the primary or on the state party (and here the party's efforts are good, but not very good); effectively they started from scratch and are focusing not on areas where they hope to pick up undecideds but, quite rightly, on areas where Dems have not organized very well in the past and we leave too many D and D-leaning voters at home.

That field strategy may be particular to Nevada but its the right one. Esp with early voting starting in 4 weeks and absentee ballots going out now, making early contact with Democrats who are less likely to vote is absolutely going to be worth between 2% and 6% on election day over 2004 and 2006 performance in this state.

On the other hand, the lack of message coordination in a state with a high proportion of conservative-identified  Ds or and of low-information independents could cost us the state.

There are a massive number of groups out there working to see Obama elected... and there is a huge ground game, in many states throughout the country, paid for directly by the campaign. People who aren't seeing evidence of this are either choosing not to or are just missing it.

The guy has absolutely no understanding of even the most basic campaign concepts.  

Fundamentally, this Presidential race is till very much in Obama's favor.  If it weren't, McCain would not be acting so desperately with the obvious falsehoods, distortions and insidious campaign tactics.  McCain is taking a huge chance with these tactics and we are already beginning to see the narrative turn against him.  Right now, McCain is at his peak - convention bounce plus positive fruits of attacks.  The negative ramifications of the attacks are just beginning to cycle and I think we are only going to see McCain tumble from here.

I can say on good authority that the McCain camp knows this.  They know their ceiling is much lower than Obama's ceiling and they also know that they are at the end of their line on the current form of hyper-negative attacks.  They know Obama is going to rebound to a level they can't reach and they have got to figure out a new way to bring Obama him back down.  I think they may have used all their powder already.  i don't think they can do it.

This is the real dynamic of the race right now - not feeling among the electorate that Obama and his supporters went too far on Plain.  For Christ's sake, the latest Newsweek internals show Palin's favorable plummeting and it looks like they could go a lot further down.  That alone would seem to dispose of Jerome's wishful theory.

As I've said before, I think Jerome needs to take a break and process through his angst over the Clinton loss.  Right now, he is doing nothing but undermining Democrats who actually are running.  

Jerome,

You fixate on several points and then either don't prove that they are true, or you don't prove they will work.

First of all, you think opinion on Sarah Palin has ossified? That voters out there that don't know if they are going to vote for Obama or McCain think every single criticism of Palin is a "personal attack"? You must've stolen that line from Republican HQ cause I have not seen any polling to back it up.

Blogger outreach is a good idea. Depending on supportive bloggers to parrot your message is a bad idea. At least for Democrats. Half of them are going to laugh at you, and the other half are going to feel like whores for doing it. Give a point to the rightwing for message control and fake outrage fainting sessions, because they are always going to own those areas in this country for the forseeable future. Concede that point and move on.

All you have to do is keep hitting McCain for lying. McCain LIAR. McCain LIAR. You don't seem to think people will care. Um...seemed to hurt Al Gore. That big LIAR. McCain LIAR. Palin LIAR. The LIAR ticket. All they do is LIE. Rinse, repeat, and remind the people that the great pork reformer's campaign is run by corporate lobbyists.

Is usually worth exactly what you pay.  

I read this over and over, but where's the proof for this assumption?

Last month everyone said that if the race was about Obama, he loses.  Well, it isn't about Obama since McCain grabbed the nation's attention with his Palin pick.  With a couple weeks in the spotlight, he's getting called out as a liar by just about every important news organization in the country.

McCain's center stage now.  Isn't that a good thing?

Jerome is forcing us to discuss things that we may just dismiss, but which have the potential to become realities if complacency sets in and the campaign is not refocused on Obama narratives the American people can relate to. I'll say this again. Most Americans have never gone to any type of event to listen to a man who happens to be multiracial - that's Black in most American's minds - discuss things that matter in their lives.  They hear about awful crimes committed by Black men. They avoid places where people unlike them congregate, if they can They don't want potential violence, sex, drugs and poverty in their communities - and that is the stereotype of the young Black community. It doesn't matter that these things occur in White communities, perpetrated by White people.

Did it matter that Hillary Clinton had more money than the people in a lot of her audiences? No. It mattered that they got to feel that someone was listening directly to them and understood what they were saying. People want to be heard. They want to be a part of something and own it. It almost doesn't matter what Obama says, either. He has great policy ideas and he and Biden will really make this country great again. What he needs is another video about him like the one that was played before his speech to the DNC.

Instead we have NewsMax claiming Obama mocks McCain's computer illiteracy. I just track that service to monitor patient use of supplements and unapproved medications. And that's their lede. It's obviously a coordinated message. Does anyone in the Obama camp know how to speak "American Idol"? People like to make choices and discern, just don't make it too complicated or they will default to that comfortable old coach. This country will not survive John McCain and more Republican policies.

There are plenty of internet users who are disabled - people with the same disability as McCain, or worse, people without their hands or their arms.

McCain's disability isn't why he doesn't use the internet.  McCain doesn't use the internet because he's never cared to learn, never had to learn, because by the time the internet became popular, he had a servant to do that for him.

He's no different from Bush, who has an aide put download songs onto his ipod.  He's pampered.

So let's see if I get this straight. Anyone who says anything positive is clearly wrong, while anyone who points out negative aspects is perfectly right!

You write: Let's not pretend that this is a situation that they expected themselves to be, especially given where they were a mere couple of months ago.

Where were they a couple months ago? I don't remember those polls that had Obama ahead by double digits. I think the Obama team always figured this to be a close election. Some of his more ardent supporters may have thought this was going to be a cakewalk, but nobody who has an understanding of presidential politics believed that that scenario would happen.

By the way, why don't you ask Joe Trippi next time you see him how President Dean and President Edwards are doing, okay?

Thanks, Jerome. In case I had a passing thought that you didn't want McCain to win as much as Sean Hannity does, you removed any doubt. "The guy can't lift his arms.." Are you even a little ashamed of using that line?

...and see how Team McCain will react to upcoming criticisms...

So, why does McCain openly admit he knows nothing about the economy?

HE WAS A POW!

How could McCain possibly have picked a right-wing, unqualified extremist as his running mate, especially when, in candor, he admitted a few months ago that he realized how important it was for him to pick someone ready to step in should the unthinkable happen?

HE WAS A POW!

So, the latest lie is that McCain can't use a computer because he's a disabled, yet, as we all read, his staff had to separate him from his cellphone because he was on it so much and getting advice from myriad people all day long. How will they explain this?

HE WAS A POW!

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing but respect for the fact that John McCain spent years in a Vietnamese prison. He showed unfathomable courage and bravery and should be saluted for his service by any and all of us. This service, however, doesn't exempt him from criticism, and it doesn't make him qualified to be president.

I've been an Obama supporter since the beginning of the primaries, and yes, I'll admit to having problems with Sen. Clinton. But let me blunt: I would crawl through broken shards of glass to vote for Hillary over McCain/Palin had she turned out to be the nominee.

This one's real important, and it's time we all do everything we can to make sure that Obama/Biden wins Nov. 4.

to combat mccain's new change+reform (what bullshit!) mantra, obama need only add competence to the change formula.  i think that could really hit it out of the park...

democrats at all levels need to attack, attack, attack...relentlessly. Now is not the time to run out of gas, it is time to fire up all the boilers and attack.