If you are wondering to yourself, who is Joe the Plumber and why does John McCain seem obsessed with him, join the club. Both candidates had a good debate performance, the difference is that Obama talked about the economy for the middle class while McCain talked about a guy who wants to buy a business.
have seen John McCain and Barack Obama debate twice before, but the stakes have never been higher for either candidate than they are for tonight’s third debate at Hofstra University. Here are five things to watch for during tonight’s debate on economic and domestic issues.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took a break from preparing for the third presidential debate tomorrow night to explain that he is not involved with the voter registration group ACORN, “We’ve got the best voter registration and turnout and volunteer operation in politics right now and we don’t need ACORN’s help.”
Even though John McCain himself continues to say that Barack Obama is not a terrorist, his presidential campaign continues to press the Obama is a terrorist smear. The latest attack came from McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb who claims that Obama and Ayers are friends, so the Democrat does pal around with terrorists.
The latest Quinnipiac University/ Wall Street Journal/Washington Post swing state poll was released today, and it finds Barack Obama surging ahead of John McCain in the critical swing states of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The big news is that Obama now leads McCain with men in each state, and Sarah Palin has completely fallen apart.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden taped an interview with Terry Moran that will air on ABC’s Nightline tonight. Biden had some interesting things to say about the tactics being used by the McCain campaign, and the state of the economy.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama unveiled his economic rescue plan for the middle class in Toledo, Ohio today, and as Obama himself put it, “It’s a plan that begins with one word that’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S.”
At a campaign stop in Rochester, New Hampshire, today Joe Biden took the gloves off against Sarah Palin, by openly mocking her debate answer on the cause of global warming, and he repeated the campaign’s promise to end the Iraq war.
In an attempt to fire up some volunteers in Virginia, and his slumping presidential campaign, McCain promised, “We’re going to spend a lot of time and after I whip his you-know-what in this debate, we’re going to be going out 24/7.”
John McCain trails Barack Obama by an average of 13.8% in Pennsylvania. Democratic voter registration has jumped by half a million, and they now enjoy a 1.2 million voter edge in the state. Obama is outspending McCain by millions of dollars here, yet the McCain campaign vows to fight on in a state that they have little chance of winning.
Once again, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has issued a statement rejecting the remarks of one of his supporters. This time Pastor Arnold Conrad said during the invocation that he delivered before McCain’s speech in Davenport, Iowa that other gods, including Allah, are praying for an Obama win.
In a statement posted on his reelection website, former civil rights leader and current Democratic congressman John Lewis accused the presidential campaign of John McCain of playing with fire, and using tactics that are taking America down a dangerous path.
A bipartisan Alaska legislative panel has found that Sarah Palin Abuses her authority as governor in firing the state’s public safety commissioner. The report finds that she violated the public trust. We can now close the book on the Sarah Palin gamble. Palin now has no credibility, and has likely destroyed her own ticket.
For the past few days, I have been seeing signs that John McCain wasn’t comfortable with the insinuations that Barack Obama is a Muslim or a terrorist, and this evening at a Minnesota town hall meeting, he defended Obama when one of his supporters called him an Arab terrorist.
The stock market is suffering another triple digit loss today, but during a conference call with reporters, John McCain’s campaign manager Rick “The campaign isn’t about issues,” Davis said that the McCain campaign won’t be talking about the stock market everyday, because the campaign shouldn’t become a, “CNBC news show on the stock market.” Instead they spent their time trying to link Obama to the ACORN investigation.
While speaking in Chillicothe, Ohio, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama drew a sharp contrast with John McCain, by the turning the Republican’s Country First slogan against him by saying that the nation is in crisis, and it is time to put country ahead of politics.
Well, two presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate down, one more presidential debate to go. It has been a busy past week in politics for me here in good ol’ St. Louis, MO. Last Thursday, we were the site of the highly-watched and scrutinized Biden-Palin debate. It was held right down the street from my house at Washington University. There is no need to go over the specifics of the debate now as it has been dissected over and over the past few days.
It is being reported that the presidential campaign of Barack Obama has purchased 30 minutes of primetime airtime to air a special at 8 pm Eastern and Pacific. Obama is also talking to NBC and Fox about buying airtime. The question is, is this a good idea?
While campaigning in Dayton, Ohio today, Barack Obama continued his attack on John McCain’s mortgage plan, by not only picking it apart but also called out McCain for shifting his position on the issue.
A new ad released by the Obama campaign today goes after John McCain’s new mortgage plan.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was on ABC’s World News with Charles Gibson tonight, where he directly addressed the recent attacks by Sarah Palin that accused him of palling around with former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers.
After William Platt II, the head of the Lehigh County GOP used Barack Obama’s middle name twice while talking about him before John McCain and Sarah Palin took the stage today in Bethlehem, PA, the McCain campaign put out a statement denouncing the tactic as a distraction from the real questions in the race.
The presidential campaign of John McCain continues to press the implication that Batack Obama is terrorist due to his association with a former member of the Weather Underground, Bill Ayers. Today, the McCain campaign put out a statement from John M. Murtagh whose home was firebombed by the radical group when he was nine years old, “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family.”
While speaking at a rally at the Indiana State Fairgrounds today, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said that better days are ahead, and he criticized John McCain’s health care plan as radical and dangerous.
The latest CBS News and CNN post debate polls revealed that voters feel Barack Obama won the town hall debate with John McCain. In the CBS poll, 39% thought that Obama won the debate, and 35% thought that the debate was a draw. Only 27% thought that McCain won. The CNN poll gave Obama an even bigger victory by a margin of 54%-30%.
The second presidential debate in Nashville, TN played out much like the first debate. Republican John McCain focused on character and leadership, while Obama talked about issues and policy. In an election year where Americans want change and a new direction, McCain missed an opportunity to America exactly what he would do if elected president, while Obama took another step towards the White House.
As Barack Obama and John McCain get ready to square off in the second of three presidential debates, here are five things that you should keep an eye on as the evening unfolds. Town hall debates more than any other format rewards or punishes candidates based on personality and answers. The candidates better be ready to answer questions tonight.
The presidential campaign of Barack Obama engaged in a little bit of gamesmanship and expectation setting this morning ahead of tonight’s second presidential debate. Obama advisor said that they expect that McCain will launch his nastiest attacks yet, and lie about Obama’s record.
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll of Ohio released tonight, revealed that Barack Obama has taken a six point lead over John McCain in the state, 51%-45%. As with other swing states, concerns about the economy are propelling Obama to the advantage.
As the Dow dropped another 369 points today, the reaction of John McCain was to continue to attack Obama’s character. It is laughable that McCain accused Obama of not talking about his record, and trying to distract the voters, when the McCain strategy is to ignore the economic crisis, and his own record.
Sarah Palin continued her smear campaign against Barack Obama today by campaigning on the Ayers-Obama relationship while in Florida, and she told conservative columnist Bill Kristol that she plans on bringing up Rev. Wright. Every day that the McCain campaign wastes on smears is another day that they come closer to defeat.
While speaking to reporters in Long Beach, CA, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin denied an AP analysis of her recent remarks suggesting that Barack Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers is akin to Obama palling around with terrorists were racially tinged.
At a rally in Asheville, NC today, Barack Obama will hammer John McCain for trying to turn the page on the economic crisis by distracting voters with Swiftboat style attacks against him.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune released a new Minnesota poll this morning, and it contains more bad news for John McCain, as Barack Obama now leads the Republican 55%-37% in a blue state that McCain had targeted to flip.
In their most desperate attempt to scare voters away from Barack Obama yet, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said of Obama, “This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.”
As we head into the final month of the presidential campaign, Barack Obama is launching a major attack on John McCain’s healthcare plan that includes speeches, four new TV ads, four new mailers, and radio ads in battleground states. Obama calls McCain’s plan radical and says millions could end up uninsured.
Once some House members who are up for reelection were given political cover, by a bill which contained minor improvements, they got in line and voted for the bailout/rescue bill by a margin of 263-171. Over 90 Republicans voted for the bill. The big question is what changed their minds?
While speaking in Abington, PA today, Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama talked about jobs, the criticism from McCain/Palin that the Obama economic plan would kill jobs. Obama said that the McCain camp know something about killing jobs, because their policies kill jobs every day.
Two polls, one of uncommitted voters done by CBS, and one of debate watchers done by CNN say that Joe Biden won the debate against Sarah Palin. However it seems that the debate neither helped nor hurt either campaign.
The first and only vice presidential debate was filled with talk of policy by Joe Biden, and talking points from Sarah Palin. If there was any doubt left that this woman doesn’t belong on a national ticket in any capacity, that doubt was answered tonight. Palin may have scored style points, but Biden is the person Americans should trust in the White House.
Michigan was once a state that look like a possible McCain win, but the bad economy along with not selecting Mitt Romney as his running has forced the McCain campaign to shut down their advertising and ground operations there, and pin their hopes on states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, or Minnesota.
Rarely in the modern era has a vice presidential debate been the subject of so much attention and hype. So while you are watching the debate tonight, here are 5 things to keep you eye on while Sarah Palin and Joe Biden are mixing it up.
A new series of Time/CNN state polls confirms the growing trend towards Barack Obama. Obama now leads John McCain 51%-47% in Florida, 54-43% in Minnesota, 51%-47% in Nevada, 53%-44% in Virginia, and the two candidates are statistically tied in Missouri where Obama has a small 49%-48% lead.
Quinnipiac University’s polling institute released the results of their latest poll this morning (Wednesday). But this is no ordinary, generalized, national poll. Quinnipiac specifically polled the three biggest, most critical swing states: Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Here is what the poll results showed:
Florida: Obama up 49% to 43% pre-debate and 51% to 43% post-debate
Ohio: Obama up 49% to 42% pre-debate and 50% to 42% post-debate
Sarah Palin was back on the CBS Evening News with Kate Couric tonight, and she ducked, dodged, and gave half answers to questions about abortion, global warming, the environment and even what newspapers and magazines she reads to stay up on current events.
Here is the exchange between Palin and Couric over what newspapers and magazines she reads:
Palin: I’ve read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.
During her interview with the CBS Evening News that will air tonight Sarah Palin defended her joke about listening Joe Biden speak since she was in the second grade age by saying that her stump speech joke had nothing to do with age or John McCain. She tried to sell herself as the new fresh face, but she is more like new Coke than new politics.
Here is the video:
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that voters blame the Republican Party for killing the $700 billion bailout bill by a 2 to 1 margin. Ninety Five percent of those surveyed labeled the financial problems either a crisis, or a serious problem, and 88% are worried that the failure of the bailout bill will worsen the nation’s economic problems.
In their joint interview with the CBS Evening News, John McCain and Sarah Palin described an issue question about Pakistan as gotcha journalism, which now goes to show that Palin and McCain now consider the issues gotcha questions.
Here is the video:
The war of words over who is to blame for the House’s failure to pass the $700 billion bailout bill continues between Barack Obama and John McCain. After McCain tried to lay the blame on Obama, an Obama spokesman accused McCain of being hyper partisan and playing politics with the crisis.
https://www.politicususa.com/en/McCain-Blames-Obama-For-Bailout-Failure
In a bit of farfetched delusional spinning, the McCain campaign is blaming Barack Obama for the House’s failure to pass the $700 billion bailout package. “This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country,” said McCain advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
All eyes were on the House of Representatives today, as the leadership in both parties tried to rally enough votes to pass the $700 billion bailout of the banking sector, but in the end, the bill failed by a vote of 228-205 against, thus possibily dooming both Wall St. and the presidential campaign of John McCain.
Today, Barack Obama accused John McCain of having a Katrina like response to the financial crisis. Later, while trying to deny this allegation the McCain campaign actually reinforced the idea by explaining that one of McCain’s advisors asked, “You are running for president. Can’t you do something?” That is John McCain’s idea of leadership.
At a campaign rally in Detroit today, an emboldened Barack Obama kept up his attack against John McCain and the economy. Obama went for the heart of McCain’s campaign by saying that McCain talks a lot about him, but says nothing about the middle class.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was on Face The Nation today where he said that John McCain deserves no credit for the bipartisan agreement on a federal bailout bill for the financial markets.
In a new ad the presidential campaign of Barack Obama jumped all over the idea that John McCain did not mention the middle class once while talking about the economy last night. This ad is a solid indication that the Obama people believe that they had a good night at the debate.
Here is the ad:
We can talk about who had the best lines or zingers all night, but a major subtheme of this debate was the question of Barack Obama’s readiness to be president. Obama held his own in foreign policy. McCain was a little subpar, but Obama won tonight by looking like a president.
Now that John McCain has finally decided to show up for the debate in Oxford, Mississippi tonight, here are five things that you should keep your eye on while enjoying the debate. Look out for the economy, the sound bite, and temperament among other things.
The point of John McCain’s coming back to Washington was for him to show leadership during a crisis, but McCain’s return has revealed him to be unable to lead. Even more damning, the Republican presidential candidate has not even taken a position on the issue of a federal bailout for Wall Street.
https://www.politicususa.com/en/McCain-Bailout-GambleWith the announcement by Sen. Chris Dodd that congressional negotiators have reached a fundamental agreement on the federal bailout for the financial sector, it is clear that Republican presidential candidate John McCain took a big gamble on the crisis and lost.
In response to being invited to the White House for a bipartisan meeting on Thursday with President Bush, the presidential campaign of Barack Obama put out a statement promising to do whatever is necessary in order to come up with a final solution to the crisis.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama turned the tables on John McCain’s call to delay the debate on Friday by saying that people need to hear from their leaders right now, and called for Friday’s debate to go on as scheduled.
https://www.politicususa.com/en/McCain-Postpone-Debate
In a statement, John McCain has suspended his presidential campaign in order to come back to Washington and work on the federal bailout bill. McCain called for a postponement of Friday’s debate and called on Obama to do the same.
The events of the past couple of weeks have helped Obama to take a narrow lead in the latest polls and we can suspect that in upcoming polls that his lead will grow larger. Americans are a bit freaked out by what they see on the nightly news or what they are reading in the daily paper.
Today, VP candidate Joe Biden accused McCain of changing his position on the Bermuda tax loophole for $50,000 in campaign contributions. On the floor of the US Senate, McCain spoke out against the Bermuda tax loophole, but he also went to Bermuda and promised to protect the $4-7 billion a year tax loophole.
The latest Quinnipiac University swing state poll confirms that the Sarah Palin bounce is long gone as Obama is leading McCain beyond the margin of error in Colorado (49%-45%), Michigan (48%-44%), and Wisconsin (49%-42%). His lead in Minnesota (47%-45%) is within the margin of error.
A new poll by The Washington Post/ABC News shows Barack Obama taking a slight lead in the battleground state of Virginia over John McCain 49%-46%. The Democrat’s lead has been powered both voters’ economic concerns, and their belief that Obama is better suited to handle the economy.
Barack Obama spoke in Green Bay, WI this afternoon. He suggested that the collapse on Wall Street is part of a larger government problem and serves as evidence that things must change. Obama also hit his opponent John McCain and his phony change message hard.
The hits just keep coming for Barack Obama against John McCain. Today, the Obama camp released an ad that uses McCain’s advocacy for the deregulation of the health insurance industry against him.
Here is the ad:
In a stinging editorial in today’s Anchorage Daily News, the newspaper claimed that Gov. Sarah Palin is hiding behind the hired guns of John McCain to avoid accountability and cooperation with the Troopergate investigation.
Today in Charlotte, NC Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama expanded his attack on John McCain and the economy to include McCain’s support for deregulating the health insurance industry. He said that McCain wants to continue on the same disastrous path that created the economic crisis.
THE DIVERSION FACTOR AKA SARAH PALIN
Questions surround Sarah Palin – But the foremost question is Why Did John McCain pick HER?? I think the answer is obvious. The country is being distracted by all the controversy surrounding her, and taking their focus off of the Republican Party’s record and the role John McCain has played in creating it. It is a disastrous record and the country should know that John McCain has no real disagreement with George Bush, and will continue his unpopular polices for four more years.
A new AP/Yahoo News poll is creating a buzz, by delving into the racial attitudes of white voters and suggesting that race could cost Obama six points on Election Day, but the poll also shows that John McCain has an age problem. Overall, Obama leads McCain 40%-35%.
At a rally in Coral Gables FL, this afternoon Barack Obama accused John McCain of being panicked over the economy and being willing to say or do anything to win the election. Obama is starting to look like a candidate that is poised to take over this race.
Today both Barack Obama and John McCain reacted to the announced federal plan to bail out the capital markets. Barack Obama announced a plan to help the middle class, while John McCain attacked Barack Obama.
While campaigning in New Mexico this afternoon, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama continued to pummel John McCain on the economy, and as a new twist, mocked McCain’s new found love for regulation.
Noted and respected Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska offered some interesting tidbits on Sarah Palin recently.
I noticed that the Associated Press story about Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden’s comments about taxes and the wealthy on Good Morning America today, left out an important part of the quote. The part where Biden stressed that yes, the wealthy will pay more taxes, but their taxes will be less than they were under Ronald Reagan.
In a deeply misguided attempt to reassure people about the economy, President Bush showed his concern over the economy by delivering a 3 minute statement that was focused on the financial markets, and not the economic pains of ordinary people. As usual, Bush took no questions from the press, while the McCain campaign has said nothing about the economy this morning.
It seems that the savior of the Republican Party, Sarah Palin was stupid enough to actually still be using her personal Yahoo email account, and she got herself hacked. This led to shock and outrage by the McCain campaign over the invasion of the potential vice president’s privacy.
Sarah Palin ran to rescue of John McCain and his comments about the economy during part one of her interview with Sean Hannity which will air tonight. She said that Democrats are unfairly attacking McCain for saying that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
It is that time again to take a look at how the presidential race is shaping up in the Show Me State. As we all know, this is a very close, important and historical election. Missouri is a key state in this election, as it is the epitome of a swing state.
A Republican plan to block voters who have had their homes foreclosed on in Macomb County, Michigan from voting in November has been legally challenged by the Obama campaign, who are seeking an injunction to block county Republicans from using foreclosure lists to prevent people from voting in the presidential election.
Today in response to a question about what McCain’s work on the Senate Commerce Committee did to help him understand the financial markets economic advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin claimed that John McCain helped create the Blackberry, which seems to be quite an accomplishment for a man who can’t use the Internet.
Barack Obama continued his relentless assault directed at John McCain’s remarks about the economy tonight in Peublo, Colorado.
This past weekend, Cindy McCain decided to jump aboard the “Whiny Little Bitch” train by crying to a group of supporters at a fundraising event that “the big, bad media” is picking on her husband and his campaign.
As we hit another low in the financial crisis that has struck the United States, John McCain put his ignorance of the economy on full display, by once again saying that the economy is fundamentally strong. This prompted his rival for the presidency Barack Obama to ask McCain, what economy are you talking about?
Here is the video of McCain in Florida expressing his belief that the fundamentals of economy are strong:
While campaigning in Michigan today Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden retaliated against the idea that John McCain equals change and a better economy by comparing McCain and Bush specifically on the issues of the economy, healthcare, taxes, and energy.
Obama supporter Sen. Claire McCaskill was on ABC’s This Week program this morning, and she basically called John McCain old and said that his age is a fact that must be dealt with.
In what is likely going to become a monthly event, the Obama campaign announced today that they have shattered their own fundraising record of $55 million by raising $66 million in August. There is little doubt that the combination of the Democratic Convention and the selection of Sarah Palin have energized Democrats.
https://www.politicususa.com/en/Obama-healthcare-taxes-mccainDemocratic presidential candidate Barack Obama hammered John McCain on the issue of taxes today, while speaking in Dover, NH. Obama specifically pointed out that McCain’s healthcare plan would tax workers’ health insurance benefits.
On Thursday, Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, who had basically been sequestered by her own campaign for fear of exposure, finally crawled out from beneath the home ice and gave her very first interview with a member of the press.
In her first solo network television interview Sarah Palin appeared clueless when asked about the Bush Doctrine by ABC’s Charlie Gibson. When Palin was asked about the Bush Doctrine, she appeared not to know what it was.
Here is the video:
Today Barack Obama, John McCain, and George W. Bush all spoke on the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and none of them mentioned Osama Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader who is still at large. Why have our political leaders forgotten Bin Laden?
Former Republican senator and current Obama supporter Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island said that John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, not only revived the lackluster McCain campaign, but also energized the left.
While the selection of Sarah Palin has helped John McCain expand his lead in Florida, and narrow the gap in Pennsylvania, Obama has actually increased his lead in Ohio according to a new Quinnipiac University swing state poll. Overall, Obama still leads in two of the three swing states.
The event may have been largely ignored by the mainstream media, but Ron Paul hosted a press conference today that featured all of the major third party candidates, with the exception of Bob Barr, who is still trying to get Paul’s endorsement. The point of today’s event was to promote third party unity and call on Americans to reject the closed two party system.
Welcome to a new column here at Polticususa.com. For the next couple of months, until the election in November, I will be posting a news report at least once a week detailing how the election is playing out in the state of Missouri, a key swing state.
Today in Virginia, Obama called out the McCain campaign for trying to make up a controversy to keep the media distracted from the issues. Most of the articles today have used quotes from these remarks, but here is the full text of what he had to say.
Pig Gate a.k.a. the attempt to gin up a gender controversy by the McCain campaign has lead to the Obama camp to put out a statement calling the McCain campaign cynical and increasingly dishonorable.
Today, John McCain called Hillary Clinton a pig.
Essentially.
For all intents and purposes.
According to his own words…
