The great minds at Atlas Shrugs suggest that Barack Hussein Obama is hiding his birth records because he's actually the son of Malcolm X! Still five days left, wingnuts! This one could be a winner for ya!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Hey, Friends for WITHOUT PARTY!
http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/
I know, I know, there's other blogs too. I just get the feeling that the PUMAs are like Velvet Underground fans - only a handful of fans, but every one of those fans formed their own band. It's a limited phenomenon that looks bigger than it is, in other words.
Hey, at least I'm admitting that there ARE such people.
Pro-Obama Racists
Is THIS change you can believe in?
In an informal Esquire survey, three out of four white supremacists prefer Obama, while McCain is the clear favorite among black nationalists. (Sure, our methodology suffered from an extraordinarily low sample size -- limited to four white supremacists and one black nationalist -- but just because it wouldn’t fly with Gallup doesn’t mean there ain't a kernel of truth in there.)Ron Edwards is clearly for McCain, and it's amazing that the journalist was able to get a quote by that time, because his head had probably exploded.
It's worthwhile reading, if you can stand to take a tour through the twisty tortured minds of proud racists. But it says a lot less about racism than it does about George Bush, and his historic quest to alienate every segment of the American spectrum. Man, McCain picked a bad, bad year to run as a Republican.
(h/t to Ben Smith at Politico)
If Only We Could Apply This To That Vegetable Jerky Machine
The Politics-Is-Good-For-Television meme I brought up a couple of weeks ago takes it to the extreme:
On average, Obama's 30-minute primetime infomercial managed to outperform usual broadcast network programming in the time period.
The Obama special was seen by 26.3 million viewers across broadcasters CBS, NBC and Fox, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings.
I don't know what to make of that. As the article points out, it's such an extraordinarily weird half-hour of programming that there's little to compare it to. Ross Perot did a similar stunt in the nineties but I guess he just wasn't Change We Could Believe In then.
Can one realistically compare "Knight Rider" to a political ad? That would normally seem unfair -- to the politician. Obama improved NBC's rating by 43% and CBS by 10% compared with last week. And keep in mind Obama was competing against himself.
The lowest-rated of the three presidential debates received a 52.4 million viewers -- but that was carried by more networks and was, after all, a debate.
The Ross Perot specials in 1992 averaged 11.6 million viewers, but those were 15 separate specials that ran on different nights.
NBC was the most-viewed and highest-rated network for its presentation of Obama's ad, pulling 9.8 million viewers and a 3.0 rating. CBS had 8.6 million (2.3) and Fox had 7.9 million (2.8).
As for ABC's underdog "Pushing Daisies," airing on the only major broadcaster not to carry the ad, the counterprogramming still came in fourth place in the adults 18-49 demo. "Daisies" (6.8 million, 2.2) was up by 16% from last week, which isn't as big of a boost as the network had likely hoped for.
I might as well admit it here - I'm an Obama supporter. But a half-hour infomercial getting big ratings - it's probably a sign of the Apocalypse. I'm busting out the Nostradamus on this one. I'll get back to you.
(h/t to myself: Cross posted from Box Office Weekly)
All Right, All Right, The Polls ARE Narrowing
Five Thirty Eight is putting the poll average at 52.0 for Obama and 46.6 for McCain. Now the lead is only 5.4 points! Check out the electoral numbers too.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Final Silent Debate
Moderated by Le Show host Harry Shearer. Kind of makes you long all the more for next Wednesday.
Dammit, Now It's My Turn ***Updated***
West Hollywood Resident Refuses to Take Down Sarah Palin Effigy
The mannequin is dressed in brunet wig, glasses and a red business suit. Another mannequin dressed as John McCain emerges from a flaming chimney.
Chad Michael Morisette, who lives in the house, told CBS 2 News that drivers and bus passengers have been stopping to snap pictures of the macabre scene.
Morisette says the effigy would be out of bounds at any other time of year, but it's within the spirit of Halloween.
It's creepy rather than funny, it doesn't help, the dude should listen to the community and take the damn thing down, and fast. On the plus side, one of his neighbors has put up an effigy of HIM, which is a message I can support.
***Update*** Dude took Palin down, though he left McCain in the chimney. (Hat tip to WAMK. It's make nice with WAMK day here at KIRY)
Kudos to WAMK
For this, and most importantly for his brief and eloquent condemnation of it. Perhaps he's trying to out-moral me for my post earlier, but competition like that we could all use. And it's not like it's the first time either. (For the sake of clarification that last sentence is badly positioned; the context suggests that it means something other than I intended. Which is this: it's not the first time that WAMK has called out Republicans when the situation warrants it.)
Absence of Malice
Out there on the nets there is another one of those stories, the kind that I've been throwing around a lot lately to prove it's those Republicans who are the hate-filled ones. It involves a brief scary near riot at a McCain rally in Florida. I'm not going to link to it.
It occurs to me that this highlighting this kind of stuff is hypocritical on my part. McCain supporters are, by and large, sensible people who disagree with me about who should run the country. A small portion of them are nuts, just like a small portion of Obama supporters. And nearly all Ron Paul supporters. But there's a difference between a handful of people shouting "n*****r!" at a rally and ALL of them doing it. ALL of them are as appalled as I am.
And here I am, whining that WAMK should lay off the "character-assasination-by-association" attacks.
So I'm willing to knock if off on these kinds of stories if I'm not pushed back into it. And even if I am, I'll fight the urge as long as possible, the way I kept off Sarah Palin's family until people begged me to comment. I'm not going to try to get anyone to join me on this either, because y'all do what you have to do. This is just so I can read my own stuff without cringing.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Closest I Come to Talking Politics At Work
I have this hanging up in my office.
No matter what side of the spectrum you inhabit, you'll find something to like here.
Obama Supporters Implicated In Savage Mace Attack!
Could this be it, the proof that Obama supporters are vicious thugs that will be mean to the gentle Republicans once they're in charge?
From the Galax Gazette (West Virginia, since you ask; pop 6655. Gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains!)
Two people were arrested Monday afternoon after an altercation led to five Republican campaign workers being sprayed with Mace at their headquarters in Galax.I'm less inclined to believe stories like this since last week (I'm lookin' at you Ashley Todd! And oh, you'd love that wouldn't you?) but hey, maybe it's possible. It makes perfect sense that that the party that's apparently winning would produce people so angry and unhinged that they would load up on mace and use it as an assault weapon.
Galax Police Chief Rick Clark said officers were dispatched shortly before 1 p.m. to the Galax Republican headquarters on East Grayson Street when a caller reported someone had sprayed office workers with Mace.
Responding officers arrested Daniel Cason Meinecke, 29, and Cara Annis Hindman, 26, both of Galax.
Meinecke was charged with one count of misdemeanor assault, Hindman was charged with five counts of misdemeanor assault.
Galax Republican Chairman Mike Stevens said he was one of the volunteers sprayed. He said a man and woman came into the office and asked for campaign yard signs for the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After being told the Obama-Biden campaign office was up the street, Stevens said, the man said he was aware of that, but that he thought Democratic signs were being stolen and “stashed” at the Republican office.
Stevens told him that nobody there had stolen signs, not were they “stashing” any in the building...
...Once outside, Stevens said, the woman sprayed Mace on him and another volunteer before turning back to the office and spraying inside the building.
...While Stevens was unsure if the couple came into the building planning to start an altercation, he said it seemed evident they were... Stevens said he felt the man just came to the headquarters to agitate office volunteers and that he had no reason to enter the building.
“I can’t say they came there for that purpose. But it seemed that it was to come in and agitate. When he started cussing, that’s when I felt it was time for them to go out of the way and go on down the road.”
With the election of a new president coming in the next week, Stevens said the tension between Republican and Democrats has been elevated.
“We are more divided,” as a result, he said.
Even Drudge is leaving the metaphorical siren in the metaphorical drawer for this story. Speaking of Drudge, how is Oprah doing producing that Obamamercial tomorrow night? I haven't heard anything about the details or her involvement in it. Sorry, tangent. While I'm out here, I hear that ABC, the ultra-far-left ABC, turned down the huge payoff and won't be running it. Why do they hate money? Oh yeah, ultra-far-left. Then why...? Ouch, my head.
So here are my reasons to doubt the story. The paper has what appears to be a pretty conservative readership (few pro-Obama comments, more are like this sample: Just some of Obama's BROWN SHIRTS. Look for many more to come if he gets elected. El Duce would be proud. --zenbuckaroo 10/28/2008) so it's in their interest to slant the story towards the audience. Or make it up. It might have been useful for them to interview the "assailants" and perhaps they will as soon as they're available.
There's the possibility that the Pro-Obama mace-wielders are Republicans desperate enough to get arrested for the good of the country. It's also possible that they are Democrats, angry at having their signs stolen, threatened in the office and protecting themselves with mace. Again, I await followups. It just seems likely that more details will make the Republicans look worse.
I have to confess though, the idea of talky, arugula-and-granola eatin' elitist thugs presents a fun image.
"Tightening" - It Means Not Tightening
Michael Shearer at Swampland rounds up the opinions of some poll-watchers who believe that the race isn't tightening, it's merely no longer accelerating toward an even bigger landslide.
Gallup also charts lots of horizontals, with maybe a slight uptick for Obama.
The RCP Electoral Map is basically flat as well, with a comfortable cushion for Obama.
A Glimpse All The Way Into Next Week
What should emerge from this wreckage is a major conservative party that acknowledges the idiocy of acquiescing to dumb mobs, a liberal party that realizes its future lies with inspiring centrists like Obama and not fringe-identity politics, and a lot of tiny angry splinter groups filled with nuts dedicated to one extremist cause or another.- Ken Layne, Republican vs. Republican: The End of the Party
Monday, October 27, 2008
Our Biased Press
Yesterday I took a moment to compliment Fox News' Chris Wallace for treating people across the political spectrum in the same tough way. That's good journalism. THIS, not so much.
I'd be interested to see how Eyewitness News does in the ratings with this woman. Probably better than I would like.
More Non-Racism IX: Under-the-Counter Propaganda
Flyer being left in mailboxes in Wisconson, preporting to be from the Obama campaign. I doubt most people would buy it. Those who would, good luck with the walking and gum chewing.
Remember, maverick fans: Change means...BLACK!
More Non-Racism VIII
ATF breaks up a plan to assasinate Obama and kill 102 other African Americans. But again, Obama is the only one injecting race into the campaign.
Good on ya, ATF!
There's More Than One Effect
We shouldn't discount the "Bradley Effect" and its role in the upcoming election. It's indeed possible that the polls are artificially inflated by people claiming they'll vote for Obama when polled, but not being able to bring themselves to throw down with a black man once they're in the voting booth. I'm willing to bet this will factor into the final count.
However, it's useful to also consider the Republican side of the equation. Per Five Thirty Eight, the Elephant Effect.
So, it wasn't just black Republicans who were undeperforming their polls; it was white Republicans too (likewise with Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania): not a 'Bradley Effect' so much as an 'Elephant Effect'.Nate Silver is playing a little too much "inside baseball" for my taste here, but the takeaway is that plenty of "Nobama" people hate McCain as much, or almost as much, as the Democrat here. They will say they want a pro-choice guy who suspended his campaign to ensure the bailout went through, to pollsters; but on election day they may leave the box unchecked, or write in Mitt "Mittens" Romney instead. So most likely these two "effects" will cancel each other out.
The reason to mistrust polls is this: they're polls, goddammit!
A Time Saving Halloween Idea
Sunday, October 26, 2008
More Hydrogen!
This election cycle is seeing an extraordinary thing: the failure of the last-minute negative smear campaign. It's always a risky move (Gray Davis tried it just before he went down here in California and it just made him look meaner) but as a rule, it's served Republican presidential candidates for the last ten years or so. If there wasn't a last minute smear campaign in 2000 questioning Gore's honesty, we'd probably have a president Gore right now. If he hadn't worked out, and they hadn't questioned John Kerry's fitness in combat, we'd have president Kerry.
So however you feel about it morally, you have to admit it's been an effective tool. But this year it's backfiring big. Michele Bachmann was ahead in the polls until she implied that Democrats were anti-American - suddenly she's three points behind and the RNC has pulled her funding. McCain brings up Bill Ayers at the final debate and the squiggly insta-poll lines among undecideds drop like a stone.
The situation is similar to being a Zeppelin captain where suddenly, without warning, the laws of physics change and hydrogen is heavier than air. At first you don't believe it - why would you? - and you immediately tell the crew to pump more hydrogen into the balloon. It's only when you see the Earth rushing towards you that you start to consider the unthinkable. We're in the last 9 days before the election, and some Republicans finally realize that they need to switch to helium.
God help 'em, I don't think there is enough helium on board to keep the ship aloft this year. Even before the financial meltdown the zeppelin was lookin' a little wobbly. Now it looks like the best hope of survival is jumping close enough to the ground to avoid injury but far enough that you're out of the way when it bursts into flames. Oh the humanity!
Honest, It's Still Not Over
Damn this election cycle - it's destroyed my ability to sleep in on Sunday. No matter when I turn in on Saturday night, my eyes snap open at about 7:50am, which on the west coast is ten minutes before MEET THE PRESS, THIS WEEK, FOX NEWS SUNDAY and FACE THE NATION. Then in ten minutes I have to choose between those four. Lately it's been MTP (it's fun to laugh at Brokaw's "ells") but today I opted for Fox News Sunday.
May I say, mad props to Chris Wallace. I've seen him on other occasions and he's just has hard on Conservatives as he is on Liberals, the way good journalists should be. It's the job of the subject to accept the challenge and either repudiate it or dig themselves into a deeper hole. Wallace at the helm (plus a desire to play beyond the base in a way that people at the Fox News Network don't seem to care to) makes Fox News Sunday a decent news show. Its bias is mitigated considerably by the Wallace interviews, and then shoots back up again during the panel. More on that later.
This morning the guest was Master Strategist Karl Rove.
Karl isn't looking as ebullient as we've seen him in the past. In fact, though he took a few stabs at "it isn't over until it's over" this clip demonstrates that he's pointing a finger at the people who have destroyed the campaign by pointing fingers at the ones who are destroying the campaign. This interview seemed to be the result of a little too much heavy drinking by Rove the night before. And more in the green room.
Karl tried to dismiss the polls by saying you can't trust them, that's why candidates conduct their own polls. However, the impression he gave was that the inside polling was probably just as bad, possibly much, much worse.
The interview was followed by a segment that was to feature Gov. Tim Kaine, D-Va. and former Gov. Tom Ridge, R-Pa. Ridge had plane trouble and couldn't make it, leaving only Obama supporter Kaine, whom Wallace seemed to be going easy on; that is, no talk of Ayers or socialism.
Then came the round-table discussion. It was the usual balanced panel - William Kristol and Britt Hume representing the right, Mara Liasson and Juan Juilliams (ha ha, just kidding - Williams) representing the left. Though the latter two work at NPR, they're moderates. Liasson seemed visibly perturbed at the idea of an Obama presidency. So the panel, just like the rest of the country, is three-quarters opposed to Obama. Anyway, the discussion ranged from whether Sarah Palin is a liability to the McCain campaign to how over the race is. There was a notable lack, again, of the terrorist-socialist-antichrist subject matter that has dominated the race. Since I haven't seen that muck on MTP either I cannot say that FNS has been wading through it. Maybe all these shows think it's beneath the purview of the beltway insiders; it's for the Applebee's crowd and they dine at Puck's.
It's only nine days to the election, and it could still turn around. But it's gonna have to turn around A LOT in such a short time, and nobody can quite put their finger on what the thing is that will make Obama look like a worse choice than McCain. With Ashley Todd in jail, there is even less hope.
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