The 2008 Presidential Campaign: What Happened and Why?

[ToshoftheWuffingas]

First of all sorry for not realising the difference between Republican campaigns and the McCain campaign. I know the funding is distinct.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08299/922849-53.stm

Two things from this news report:

Mr. Garcia took the widely published picture of Ms. Todd with her injuries. He said he took several photographs with a digital camera to document what had happened. He said he only gave copies of the photos to police and Ms. Todd's employer, the College Republicans. One photo appeared on The Drudge Report on Thursday, setting off a storm of media attention.

Mr Garcia was Ashley Todd's friend who was also misled by her. That above quote indicates that the College Republicans relayed the story and picture to Drudge where it first appeared. McCain and Palin also reacted very quickly to the story.

Two, this isn't the first dirty trick that she has tried: (Are you paying attention CG?)

In March, Ms. Todd was asked to leave a grass-roots group of Ron Paul supporters in Brazos County, Texas, group leader Dustan Costine said. He said Ms. Todd posed as a supporter of former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and called the local Republican committee seeking information about its campaign strategies.

"She would call the opposing campaign and pretend she was on their campaign to get information," Mr. Costine said last night. "We had to remove her because of the tactics she displayed. After that we had nothing to do with her."

About a month earlier, he said, Ms. Todd sent an e-mail to the Ron Paul group saying her tires were slashed and that campaign paraphernalia had been stolen from her car because she supported Mr. Paul.

What else are these field workers doing?

[Primula Baggins]

As far as anything that's been reported, Tosh, they are mostly perfectly decent people. If they weren't, we would be hearing of more incidents like this one, because there are hundreds of thousands of them out there working now, for all sorts of candidates and issues, in an election where feelings are running high.

Given how eager each "side" is to point out and make issues out of mistakes made by the other, it seems clear to me that there really aren't many problems like this occurring.

[ToshoftheWuffingas]

Aww, aren't I allowed a tip of the iceberg moment too?

*sulks*

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[ToshoftheWuffingas]

[Primula Baggins]

Here's some video from a Florida TV station whose news anchor interviewed Joe Biden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW_wQgWviZ8

In contrast, her hard-hitting interview with John McCain:

http://www.wftv.com/video/17712615/index.html

Just, lest anyone think the U.S. media is marching in lockstep for Obama.

(I tried to link to the Biden interview directly from the station, but it had apparently been taken down.)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I saw those interviews, Prim. I thought Biden handled himself quite well. I particularly liked it when he asked her if she was joking when she tried to compare Obama to Marx.

[Primula Baggins]

Yes, he was good—laughing at her openly when there was just no other possible response. I like him. He was impressive in the VP debate (and did not laugh at Sarah Palin).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I like Biden, too, and I was impressed that Obama chose him despite knowing that he had a tendency to speak his mind without filter. I think he was chosen more because he would be a good governing partner rather than because he would be a particular asset for the campaign (as opposed to, say Hillary Clinton, who would have been a big asset for the campaign, but would have presented governing difficulties, particularly with Bill).

Speaking of Bill, he is campaigning with Obama in Orlando, Florida tomorrow, the first time they will have campaigned together.

[Primula Baggins]

I've read comments on how well the Obama campaign is managing the news cycles. Obama and Bill Clinton on the same stage will be big news for Obama, again. Wednesday and Thursday will be all about the Obama TV special. That leaves the McCain campaign Monday, Tuesday, and Friday to get out a message that will change the entire political narrative of the country and move McCain up in the polls by at least 6 points.

I honestly don't think even Rev. Wright will do it for them.

[Frelga]

(x-posted on Manwë) How low can you go?

Pa. Republicans Disavow Obama 'Holocaust' E-Mail

PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Republicans are disavowing an e-mail sent to Jewish voters that likens a vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to events that led up to the Holocaust.
[...]
State GOP officials disavowed the e-mail and said the strategist who helped draft it had been fired.

"The Republican Party of Pennsylvania did not authorize that e-mail," Michael Barley, communications director for the state party, told The Associated Press on Saturday evening.
[...]
Political consultant Bryan Rudnick was identified as the person responsible for it. Rudnick, reached Saturday night, confirmed that he no longer works for the party, which employed him a few weeks ago as a consultant to do outreach to Jewish voters.

"I had authorization from party officials" to send the e-mail, Rudnick said, but he declined to say who had signed off on it. "I'm not looking to drag anyone else through the mud, so I'm not naming names right now," he said.

I mean, there's got to be one divisive tactic this campaign will not resort to at some point. I hope they got a refund from this "consultant."

[Primula Baggins]

This campaign seems <knocks on wood> like something of a perfect storm, doesn't it?

A really skillful and disciplined candidate, running a tight and intelligent campaign, up against a candidate who can't seem to get a consistent message together and a campaign that is making mistake after mistake. And all in a political and economic situation that would favor the first candidate even if the campaigns were equally good.

This may really test the limits of how well Democrats can do when they've got everything (more or less) in their favor.

Note: I am not intending to gloat or be smug; this is really how things look out there, according to people assessing the situation from both sides of the party line. Believe me, I sooooo know how it feels to be backing the candidate of the party that is not doing well.

[Túrin Turambar]

This may really test the limits of how well Democrats can do when they've got everything (more or less) in their favor.

That would be 1936 or 1964. I seriously doubt we'll see a Democratic victory of that magnitude this year.

[yovargas]

Here's some video from a Florida TV station whose news anchor interviewed Joe Biden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW_wQgWviZ8

In contrast, her hard-hitting interview with John McCain:

http://www.wftv.com/video/17712615/index.html

Just, lest anyone think the U.S. media is marching in lockstep for Obama.

(I tried to link to the Biden interview directly from the station, but it had apparently been taken down.)

Hey! That's my local Orlando news station! Neato!

I really like how Biden carries himself. He really impressed me in the debate and he impresses me here with how he handles these questions.
McCain's interview bored me and I'm tired of hearing him talk about that stuff.

[halplm]

So what do you guys think of the fact that the Obama campaign is now "punishing" that station, by refusing any more access?

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entert ... paign.html

Is this going to be the way of an Obama presidency? A citizen asks Obama a perfectly valid question he answers poorly, and then gets press over it, and they drag him through the mud and make a joke out of him? An interviewer asks tough and entirely valid questions that they refuse to answer, and the station gets blacklisted?

So not only are they dodging tough questions, but they're actively punishing people that dare to disagree with them or might make them look bad.



Wampus, nothing is universal. one media source that is running perfectly unbiased, does not balence out a nation of media sources that promote bias.

[JewelSong]

So not only are they dodging tough questions, but they're actively punishing people that dare to disagree with them or might make them look bad.

Dare I say it? Just like Sarah Palin. Only her "tough questions" were about what newspapers she reads.

I watched the interview and I thought it was a loaded situation. It wasn't that they were asking "tough questions." The questions were designed to deliberately make the candidate look evil. Sort of like the question "So, when did you stop beating your wife." It was a disingenuous, crap interview and the station deserves to be denied further interviews. (IMVHO, of course.)

Wampus, nothing is universal. one media source that is running perfectly unbiased, does not balence out a nation of media sources that promote bias.

And as far as the generalizations about editors, I doubt if Wampus is the ONLY clean one out there. I would suspect she has a good handle on how other newspaper editors conduct their business. The article linked to really wanted to portray ALL of them as evil, conniving and dishonest to the core. I distrust ANY article that deals in blatant stereotypes or paints everyone with the same, very broad brush.

[WampusCat]

For the record, hal, local conservatives complain that we're horribly biased.

So do liberals.

When I was in the editorial department, I got calls almost daily from both left and right complaining that the news coverage was slanted against them or that the editorial pages failed to reflect their point of view.

Were we perfect in that regard? No. But every effort was made to be.

My theory: We all tend to see red when confronted with facts we don't want to hear or opinions we think are wrong-headed. When we become , we only see what angers us and the rest recedes into insignificance.

The truth is that most newspapers are not the printed equivalent of Keith Olbermann. Nor of Bill O'Reilly. They're just trying to publish the news and (in editorials) help citizens figure out what it means.

[yovargas]

Jeez, I hate to do the time-honored "oh yeah, well your candidate is even worse" technique but, hal, the double-standards you are willing to accept are pretty astonishing. Remember your whole "Couric was trying to make her look bad so why should she answer her questions?" stance? (Which I found baffling, btw.) That's what that interview looked like to me. I mean, common, Marxism? She might as well have asked him if Obama's really a Commie. Now, I'd rather any politician be willing to take questions from anybody but I'm not going to hold it against anybody for choosing not to waste their time with people like that. And more importantly, I'd be damn surprised if everybody in this campaign - yes, including Palin - wouldn't do the same when facing the same thing.

[Primula Baggins]

That's just it. Those are not "questions" that Obama is afraid of facing; they're "questions" that are a complete waste of everyone's time.

[River]

Dude, was that a journalist of a member of the McCain campaign? 'Cuz she was reciting McCain's attacks almost verbatim.

I would like to point out that even though Biden laughed at her he did, in fact, answer the questions.