O B A M A

Would it be wrong pray for someone to get terminal cancer?

If this "pray for rain" strategy for success is all they've got......

Barack in Berlin

Barack talks religion

Barack talks to staff

Via kid oakland @ DKos

The commentariat chime in on McSame's speach

A resounding thumbs down. And wtf is up with Harold Ford Jr? Please msnbc, keep him off my tv! Courtesy of TPM.

McCain

rather than afford the moment it's historic import and standing down, attempted to take advantage of the large tv audience to get some shots in. Unfortunately for him, the contrast between his speach and Brack's was stark. Here are the lowlights...

History

Its just a flesh wound

Shrillary crosses the line (again): Poss. Assassination now a rationale

File under: Sick

Just when you thought Hillary's various rationales for staying in the race couldn't get any more ridiculous (fighting for disenfranchised voters, supposed lead in the popular vote, leads in swing states, etc.), speaking in South Dakota today she rolled out the possibility of Obama being assasinated as a reason to stay in, reports the New York Post:

My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," she said, dismissing calls to drop out.

She has gone from looking desperate and ridiculuos to looking desperate, offensive and completely unhinged. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, DNC, grow a pair already and end this thing now!!! That goes for the remaining super delegates as well. She is NOT buying time to: bow out gracefully; to have MI and FL delegates seated; to position for VP or a cabinet slot. She actually thinks she has a chance to win and will destroy the party as well as Her and Bill's legacy (what's left of it) in order to win.

Huckabee - File under.......Sick

Obama strikes back

Great response, tying McCain to Bush and pointing out the hypocisy of McCain and Bush's position that you shouldn't talk to our enemies:

On to McCain

Its Ova'

In case you had any doubts, this post from Ben Smith at Politico:

May 08, 2008Categories: Barack Obama

Obama in the House: A Clinton super gets an autograph

I think you call this "wavering."

Politico's Amie Parnes e-mails from Obama's visit to the House floor, where he was mobbed instantly.

New York Rep. Yvette Clarke, in theory a Clinton superdelegate, asked him to autograph the cover of today's New York Daily News, with the headling "It's His Party."Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Clinton supporter from Florida, gave him a big hug.

Even Republicans were star-struck. Ileana Ros Lehtinen of Florida crossed the aisle to say hello and brought three children — in town for a school safety patrol trip — with her.

Lessons Learned Classic Diary at Dailykos

By Hunter found here. So good in fact I'll qoute it in full:


Lessons Learned
by Hunter
Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 09:10:13 AM PDT
Things I have learned during this campaign season:

In a race that includes a former First Lady of the United States and a multimillionaire Republican senator rumored to share up to eight residences with his wife, the black guy from Chicago is unforgivably elitist.

Racism in America is caused primarily by black Chicago preachers.

The guy who keeps getting confused over the relationship between Iraq, Iran, and al Qaeda is the foreign policy expert.

The guy who goes to campaign stops on his wife's private jet aircraft is the most down-to-earth.

The guy who changed his stance on tax cuts, Roe v. Wade, immigration, gun control, the confederate flag, torture, public financing, and his own anti-earmark rhetoric is the "straight talker".

People in the heartland don't like it when you call them bitter, but they do like it when you explain to them that they're too dumb to understand issues more important than whether or not they like to be called bitter.

Arugula is the measure of a man.

Bowling is the measure of a man.

Orange juice is the measure of a man.

Flag pins are the measure of a man.

Success in Iraq consists of any reduction in violence, except when violence increases that's good too.

A recession is only a recession if you call it one.

Bill Kristol, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Karl Rove, Maureen Dowd, David Brooks, David Broder, Charles Krauthammer and Bob Novak are all intensely interested in giving advice to the Democratic candidates because they just want to be helpful.

There are people in this world dumb enough to believe every one of these things.

Gas Tax "holiday"?

I'm not too wise in the ways of the dismal science, but most economists agree with Obama that a suspension of the gas tax this summer would have little impact.

From the Washington Post:

Most economists side with Obama on the issue. Summer gasoline price spikes are driven by demand for fuel far more than supply issues. Suspending the federal gas tax might have a very temporary impact, but prices would rise back quickly to what's known as "the market-clearing rate." If they did not, the country would quickly face fuel shortages.
That would mean the 18-cent decrease in gas taxes would represent a temporary subsidy to the oil companies, says James Hamilton, an energy economist at the University of California - San Diego.
Hoyer agreed, as did other Democratic congressional leaders, who confirmed a "tax holiday" is unlikely to be part of either a gasoline price bill to be unveiled tomorrow in the Senate or gas-price legislation expected to be attached by the House next week to a war-funding bill.
"A suspension of the tax would not be positive," Hoyer said. "The oil companies would just raise their prices."

Toon of the day, From Tom Tomorrow

More debate angst : Flag pins? WTF?

Does Hillary or McCain wear a flag pin? Why was this question asked? Everyone knows all the remaining contenders should wear at LEAST 15 pieces of flair.

ABC Dem Debate: The Horror, The Horror

Tom Shales says it best @ Washingtonpost.com :

"For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with.

The boyish Stephanopoulos, who has done wonders with the network's Sunday morning hour, "This Week" (as, indeed, has Gibson with the nightly "World News"), looked like an overly ambitious intern helping out at a subcommittee hearing, digging through notes for something smart-alecky and slimy. He came up with such tired tripe as a charge that Obama once associated with a nutty bomb-throwing anarchist. That was "40 years ago, when I was 8 years old," Obama said with exasperation.

Obama was right on the money when he complained about the campaign being bogged down in media-driven inanities and obsessiveness over any misstatement a candidate might make along the way, whether in a speech or while being eavesdropped upon by the opposition. The tactic has been to "take one statement and beat it to death," he said.

No sooner was that said than Gibson brought up, yet again, the controversial ravings of the pastor at a church attended by Obama. "Charlie, I've discussed this," he said, and indeed he has, ad infinitum. If he tried to avoid repeating himself when clarifying his position, the networks would accuse him of changing his story, or changing his tune, or some other baloney.

This is precisely what has happened with widely reported comments that Obama made about working-class people "clinging" to religion and guns during these times of cynicism about their federal government.

"It's not the first time I made a misstatement that was mangled up, and it won't be the last," said Obama, with refreshing candor. But candor is dangerous in a national campaign, what with network newsniks waiting for mistakes or foul-ups like dogs panting for treats after performing a trick. The networks' trick is covering an election with as little emphasis on issues as possible, then blaming everyone else for failing to focus on "the issues." "

Richardson Responds to Carville

In the Washington Post here.

Loyalty to My Country

By Bill Richardson
Tuesday, April 1, 2008; 10:29 AM



My recent endorsement of Barack Obama for president has been the subject of much discussion and consternation -- particularly among supporters of Hillary Clinton.

Led by political commentator James Carville, who makes a living by being confrontational and provocative, Clinton supporters have speculated about events surrounding this endorsement and engaged in personal attacks and insults.

While I certainly will not stoop to the low level of Mr. Carville, I feel compelled to defend myself against character assassination and baseless allegations.

Carville has made it very clear that this is a personal attack -- driven by his own sense of what constitutes loyalty. It is this kind of political venom that I anticipated from certain Clinton supporters and I campaigned against in my own run for president.

I repeatedly urged Democrats to stop attacking each other personally and even offered a DNC resolution calling for a positive campaign based on the issues. I was evenhanded in my efforts. In fact, my intervention in a debate during a particularly heated exchange was seen by numerous commentators as an attempt to defend Sen. Clinton against the barbs of Sens. Obama and John Edwards.

As I have pointed out many times, and most pointedly when I endorsed Sen. Obama, the campaign has been too negative, and we Democrats need to calm the rhetoric and personal attacks so we can come together as a party to defeat the Republicans.

More than anything, to repair the damage done at home and abroad, we must unite as a country. I endorsed Sen. Obama because I believe he has the judgment, temperament and background to bridge our divisions as a nation and make America strong at home and respected in the world again.

This was a difficult, even painful, decision. My affection and respect for the Clintons run deep. I do indeed owe President Clinton for the extraordinary opportunities he gave me to serve him and this country. And nobody worked harder for him or served him more loyally, during some very difficult times, than I did.

Carville and others say that I owe President Clinton's wife my endorsement because he gave me two jobs. Would someone who worked for Carville then owe his wife, Mary Matalin, similar loyalty in her professional pursuits? Do the people now attacking me recall that I ran for president, albeit unsuccessfully, against Sen. Clinton? Was that also an act of disloyalty?

And while I was truly torn for weeks about this decision, and seriously contemplated endorsing Sen. Clinton, I never told anyone, including President Clinton, that I would do so. Those who say I did are misinformed or worse.

As for Mr. Carville's assertions that I did not return President Clinton's calls: I was on vacation in Antigua with my wife for a week and did not receive notice of any calls from the president. I, of course, called Sen. Clinton prior to my endorsement of Sen. Obama. It was a difficult and heated discussion, the details of which I will not share here.

I do not believe that the truth will keep Carville and others from attacking me. I can only say that we need to move on from the politics of personal insult and attacks. That era, personified by Carville and his ilk, has passed and I believe we must end the rancor and partisanship that has mired Washington in gridlock. In my view, Sen. Obama represents our best hope of replacing division with unity. That is why, out of loyalty to my country, I endorse him for president.

The writer is governor of New Mexico and a former Democratic candidate for president.