The Old Eighteen

Texas Lyceum poll: Obama, Noriega within striking distance

A newly released poll by Texas Lyceum [PDF] offers some encouraging news for both Barack Obama and Rick Noriega as they face an uphill battle to win their respective races.  The poll of likely voters shows John McCain leading Barack Obama by only 5 points, 43%-38%, with 17% of Texas voters saying they are undecided about who will get their vote.  Ralph Nader and Bob Barr were included in the poll, but only got 1% each - and Nader will probably not be on the ballot in Texas.  With McCain polling well under 50% and a large number of undecideds, Obama has a lot of room for growth and a legitimate chance at actually winning Texas, if the results of this poll are to be taken seriously.

The same poll shows Rick Noriega faring even better, showing John Cornyn with a lead of only 2 points, 38%-36%, and 24% of respondents identifying themselves as undecided.  Noriega has a problem with name recognition and a significant cash disadvantage, but his fundraising appears to be picking up steam lately and he's bound to get a boost from the Obama campaign investing resources in Texas for the general election.  John Cornyn polling at only 38% is a significant sign of weakness for an incumbent, so there's a lot of good news to be taken from this poll for Rick Noriega.

But can this poll be trusted?  The party splits for the poll are 44% Democratic to 32% Republican, indicating that Democrats were oversampled, unless there's been some huge, dramatic shift in party affiliation since the last election.  And 32% of the respondents were Hispanic, indicating that they might also have been oversampled - Hispanics are about 35% of the state population, but have historically tended to lag significantly behind whites and blacks in voter participation.  The poll results are encouraging, but should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Man the lifeboats!

You know your presidential campaign is in trouble when members of your own party are going out of their way to associate themselves with your opponent, as seen in this recent campaign ad for Republican Senator Gordon Smith:

For the record, of course, Obama's campaign is making it clear that he supports the Democratic candidate, Jeff Merkley, in this race.  But this ad is a perfect illustration of how political fortunes have changed in this country.  In the past, you might have seen ads for Democrats trying to tie themselves to a popular Republican incumbent, such as Ronald Reagan, or Dubya back when his approval rating was in the 60's and above.  But I don't recall ever seeing an ad like this where a Republican is trying to associate himself with a Republican presidential candidate who hasn't even been elected yet, much less a Democrat, elected or otherwise.  Strange days indeed...

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(via AMERICAblog)

McCain Girls: The Expanded Pants Remix

Like a bad case of the clap that just won't go away, the McCain Girls are back, with a new music video.  And dear readers, those of you who remember the McCain Girls know that I'm using the word "music" in its loosest sense here:

Now I have to admit, "McCainiac" wasn't on my list of songs that I expected the sirens of suckitude to cover.  And by "cover," I mean "butcher beyond recognition."  But this increases the likelihood that we'll hear those songs in the future.  God help us all.

The wit and wisdom of John McSame

At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*nt.
To his wife, 1992

Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.
At a GOP fund-raiser, Washington D.C., June 1998

Only an asshole would put together a budget like this. I wouldn't call you an asshole unless you really were an asshole.
To Senator Pete Domenici, 1999

I hate the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live.
February 17, 2000

Well, then why was there a banner that said "Mission Accomplished" on the aircraft carrier? Look, the -- I have said a long time that reconstrution of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, but the conflict -- the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished, and it's very appropriate.
Interview with Neil Cavuto, June 11, 2003

I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.
Wall Street Journal interview, November 26, 2005

I've never agreed with Roe v. Wade so it wouldn't bother me any.
On the possibility of Roe. V. Wade being overturned, 2006

They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so ... but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.
On Hamas, during an interview with James Rubin, 2006

The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.
December 18, 2007

I was in a conference in Germany over the weekend and President Putin of Germany gave one of the old Cold War style speeches...
On Russian President Vladimi Putin, January 19, 2008

It's a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars. I'm sorry to tell you, there's going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars.
January 27, 2008

As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it -- along the lines that President Bush proposed.
February 2008

I have a clear record, both publicly and privately, of saying Alito and Roberts are what we want on the Supreme Court.
February 2, 2008

It's common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq. That's well known. We continue to be concerned about the Iranians taking Al-Qaeda into Iran and training them and sending them back.... I am sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not Al-Qaeda, not Al-Qaeda, I am sorry.
During an official visit in Amman, Jordon, making a statement and then being corrected by Senator Joe Lieberman; March 18, 2008

We need to go back to have a conversation about what to do: rebuild it, tear it down, you know, whatever it is.
On the Ninth Ward in post-Katrina New Orleans, April 21, 2008

We have drawn down to pre-surge levels.
May 29, 2008, despite the fact that troops are still not at pre-surge levels

No, but that's not too important. What's important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That's all fine.
In an interview with Matt Lauer, when asked if he has an estimate of when troops will come home from Iraq; June 11, 2008

"Women for John McCain"

I'm not sure what's funnier, this web site (which is a hilarious work of satire) or the fact that the McCain campaign is actually, I kid you not, running ads on the site.  If you like Betty Bowers or Whitehouse.org, then check this site out.

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(via First Door on the Left)

Why we fight

Posted below are two more videos that caught my eye recently.  The first video is from the Rick Noriega campaign.  I'm not sure if it's meant as a campaign ad, and it looks like it's only being aired on YouTube at this point.  In the video, Noriega and a few of his fellow veterans call on John Cornyn to stop filming stupid promos of himself playing dress-up and pretending to be a cowboy, and to support the New GI Bill.  After you've watched the video, you can click here to sign a petition telling Senator Box Turtle to take his head out of his shell and change his vote:

The other video is an ad from Moveon.org directed at John McCain, that's getting airplay on MSNBC (or at least, that's where I saw it - I assume it's also beng aired on the other cable news channels, at the least).  This is a pretty simple but effective ad that sneaks up on you - it's a powerful illustration of what the stakes are in this election and why we're fighting to defeat McCain.  You can click here to make a contribution so this ad gets as much airplay as possible:

Separated at birth?

One of the individuals pictured above is a foul, hideous monster with no soul, and the other one is the Cryptkeeper.  Can you guess which is which?  Hint: the Cryptkeeper is not the one who got caught stealing Percocet and Vicodin from her own charity.

Laura Bush may have her flaws, but she at least has the decency not to participate in the right-wing attempts at sliming Michelle Obama.  Don't fuck with Michelle, Cindy.

McCain forced to cancel fundraiser at Clayton Williams' house (yes, that Clayton Williams)

Is it just me, or has John McCain exhibited some really poor judgment in the people that he chooses to associate with for political purposes?  First there was John Hagee, then Rod Parsley, then Doug Goodyear, then Phil Gramm.  Now, McCain has been forced to cancel a scheduled fundraiser that was to be held at the home of Clayton Williams, the Texas oilman most famous for the nauseating statement that he made as a candidate during the 1990 gubernatorial campaign comparing rape to the weather: "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it."

The campaign tried to claim ignorance of Williams' rape remarks, but this was a prominent national news story at the time that it took place, and I remember it even being the butt of jokes by Johnny Carson and David Letterman.  Yes, it happened a long time ago, but a minimal amount of vetting on the part of the McCain campaign would have caught this - and it probably did.  My guess is that McCain's people thought that Williams' remarks had taken place so long ago that noone would remember them and they wouldn't come up, which would be strikingly naive in a political landscape that includes thousands of partisan bloggers on both sides trying desperately to find something to nail the other side's candidate with.  And despite the fact that the McCain campaign is now calling Williams' remarks about rape "obviously incredibly offensive," they obviously haven't been "incredibly offended" enough to return the $300,000 in bundled campaign contributions that they got from Williams.

All of John McCain's widely touted experience didn't imbue him with the wisdom to vote against the war in Iraq, and it apparently hasn't influenced him enough to avoid association with Clayton Williams and the others listed above.  That's because experience, while it has its positive aspects, is a poor substitute for good judgment.

Grandpa John, why do you hate the troops?

This is video from Keith Olbermann's special comment on last night's Countdown in which he annihilates McCain for saying that the timing of when American troops come home from Iraq is "not that important" to him:

Here's a link to the video and a transcript on the MSNBC web site if the embedded video above isn't working.

Seen at the McCain web site

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(via Canuckoo at Daily Kos)