Hillary has a speech to give in 2008 that had better fix this whole 3am question.

McCain didn't have a house when he was in Vietnam, but he came home to one and proceeded to cheat on his wife and dump his family like a bag of trash so he could marry a pretty little beer heiress.

McCain's excuse: "I didn't get to screw any young heiresses when I was a POW!!!"

Just one question: Why is there a John McCain ad on this site?

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

Just one question: Why is there a John McCain ad on this site?

Well, I don't work for them, so I can't say for sure, but I'll bet it's because they paid for one.

But really, they're just wasting money. Because it's not working on anyone reading this blog.

oops double post.
I need an E Racer

I loved David Brooks' op-ed today.

Refreshing:

By DAVID BROOKSPublished: August 26, 2008

DENVER
I flew into the airport here on Sunday and the pilot could barely land because of the fog of bad advice. Democrats are nervous because Barack Obama's polling lead has evaporated. And when Democrats are nervous, all the Santa Monica Machiavellis emerge from their fund-raisers offering words of wisdom. And the subtext of the advice being offered this year is that Barack Obama should really be someone else.
Some sages are saying that Obama needs to get specific. He needs to lay out concrete plans and legislative agendas. Apparently, having nominated Obama, they really want a replay of the Dukakis campaign.
Others say he needs to describe his experience in government better, to make Americans comfortable with him as chief executive. Apparently, having nominated Obama, they want him to run as Chris Dodd.
Still others say he needs to be a scrappy class warrior defending the middle class against the depredations of the rich overlords with their multiple homes. Apparently, for these people it wasn't enough that they got to live through Al Gore's "people versus the powerful" campaign just once. They want to relive the joy again and again.
And yet there are still others who say Obama needs to get bare-knuckled. He needs to hammer McCain above the belt and below. Apparently, these people have decided that having nominated Obama, the party needs to be led by Michael Moore.
The words fly, the quotes are given, campaign aides are pulled aside. It's like a Greatest Misses compilation of every Democratic campaign idea ever conceived.
Obama is already an elusive Rorschach test candidate, and now he's being pulled by his party in a thousand directions. The Democrats are in danger of doing to Obama what they did to their last two nominees: burying authentic individuals under a layer of prefab themes.
Obama's chief problem in this campaign is that large numbers of voters still don't know who he is. They are having trouble putting him into one of the categories they use to grasp those they have not met.
And now he has to define himself amid the phantasmagorical vapors of his own party: the ghosts of the Kerry campaign, the overshadowing magic of the Kennedys and the ego-opera that perpetually surrounds the Clintons.
Of course, the Obama campaign has been here before. Just about a year ago, Obama was stagnant in the polls. His supporters were nervous and full of advice. And in the crowning moment of his whole race, Obama shut them out. He turned his back on the universe of geniuses and stayed true to his core identity.
At the core, Obama's best message has always been this: He is unconnected with the tired old fights that constrict our politics. He is in tune with a new era. He has very little experience but a lot of potential. He does not have big achievements, but he is authentically the sort of person who emerges in a multicultural, globalized age. He is therefore naturally in step with the problems that will confront us in the years to come.
So as I'm trying to measure the effectiveness of this convention, I'll be jotting down a little minus mark every time I hear a theme that muddies that image. I'll jot down a minus every time I hear the old class conflict, and the old culture war themes. I'll jot down a minus when I see the old Bush obsession rearing its head, which is not part of his natural persona. I'll write a demerit every time I hear the rich played off against the poor, undercutting Obama's One America dream.
I'll put a plus down every time a speaker says that McCain is a good man who happens to be out of step with the times. I'll put a plus down every time a speaker says that a multipolar world demands a softer international touch. I'll put a plus down when a speaker says the old free market policies worked fine in the 20th century, but no longer seem to be working today. These are arguments that reinforce Obama's identity as a 21st-century man.
And I have to say, during the first night of the convention, the pluses far outweighed the minuses. In spirit, the night extended Obama's 2004 convention speech. The overarching theme was intrinsic to the man, unity instead of division, something new instead of conflicts that are old. His sister hit this theme forcefully. Jesse Jackson Jr. made the generational-change argument explicitly, paying tribute to the fights of the past while describing the more subtle challenges of the present. Michelle Obama was short on biographical details, but long on the idealism, which is at the heart of Obama's appeal.
Obama may yet recover his core focus. Now he has to preserve it against his most terrifying foes: the "experts" in his own party.

I've changed my name to trollop. Nice ads, Hillary answers back for this tonight? I wonder if she'll answer to her words in this ad? And remember to vote for a dumbassed grand-standing resolution brought to you by draft dodgers and paid for with the blood of innocent Iraqis and the not so innocent blood of American soldiers. What a capitol idea! I can't wait till Joe has his ass handed to him. Lindsey Graham? If I ever get within 10 feet of her I'll bitch slap her into next week. Now that's an assault and battery charge that I can live with!

Can we stop reporting poll numbers? I'm getting whiplash trying to follow them. Since they change so frequently they cannot be reliable or valid.

"..John McCain appeared on "The Tonight Show" last night, and Jay Leno joked about McCain's confusion over how many houses he owns. McCain responded by pointing to -- you guessed it -- his background as a former prisoner of war during Vietnam."
Hey, I laughed at this, and it's been a long time since I've laughed at anything from the "Tonight Show."

Jay Leno joked about McCain's confusion over how many houses he owns. McCain responded by pointing to -- you guessed it -- his background as a former prisoner of war during Vietnam."

Please no one yawn...

Gramps just tends to forget he's told that old self-serving war story 250 times before.

I bet the Republican convention set looks like something out of Apocolypse,Now.

Is there any question 90% of that convention will be POW, 9/11, Islamo-Facists, terror, military, troops? The rational part of says the American people are exhausted of it, but my gut says they fall for it...again.

Maybe Obama is another Dukakis. Instead of getting a bounce from his VP pick and first night of the convention according to Gallup tracking poll McCain is at 46% and Obama is at 44%. WTF is going on?

I bet the Republican convention set looks like something out of Apocolypse,Now.

Hilarious.

Maybe Obama is another Dukakis. Instead of getting a bounce from his VP pick and first night of the convention according to Gallup tracking poll McCain is at 46% and Obama is at 44%. WTF is going on?

Ah, yes, Micheline, every Carpetbagger's favorite concern troll.

If by "Obama's chief problem in this campaign is that large numbers of voters still don't know who he is" Brooks means "no matter how good a candidate Obama may be a black man for president in a racist country is still a hard sell" then, yeah, I see his point.

Brooks also has the cynicism to write:

I'll put a plus down every time a speaker says that McCain is a good man who happens to be out of step with the times.

McCain is not a "good man" who "happens to be out of step with the times."

McCain "happens to be" a longtime, committed conservative (no matter what the radical right says) at a moment when conservatives have damaged the country beyond all recognition.

McCain "happens to be" an outright fraud who cooked up a mavericky image to rehabilitate his tarnished reputation after the Keating 5 corruption scandal.

McCain "happens to be" a womanizer who dumped his disabled wife to marry a trophy heiress who bankrolled his career in politics.

McCain "happens to be" a sleazy opportunist who sold out to the Bush administration and its deranged base.

So Brooks disses the Democrats for several paragraphs before calling McCain a good guy. Then he ostensibly praises convention opening night before dropping this little nugget: Michelle Obama was short on biographical details, but long on the idealism, which is at the heart of Obama’s appeal. Short on details, long on idealism. Sound familair? You've got to admire Brooks. Now he's "good".

I bet the Republican convention set looks like something out of Apocolypse Now.

I love the smell of Republicans imploding in the evening; it smells like victory.

Someone had to say it,
-Z

To paraphrase an earlier comment here (and on other blogs), I think we need to point this fact out:

When John McCain was in the Hanoi Hilton, he DID have a house. It was occupied by his long-suffering wife, whom he came home to, promptly cheated on, and dumped for a younger, richer model.

THAT's John McCain's 'family values.'

Obama should be running away with both Michigan and Ohio, both with detriorating economies. He is not. That is not good.

Perhaps bad mouthing the auto industry for a year was not such a hot idea. His mea culpas in Michigan have not gotten much traction so far.

Obama should be running away with both Michigan and Ohio, both with detriorating economies. He is not.

Do not trust the polls. They are purposefully flawed at worst, systemically flawed at best.

History is repeating itself again! What is up with Democratic nominees and the month of August? Gore, Kerry and now Obama have allowed the Republicans in August to paint the picture and tell the story about each nominee. For Gore and Kerry it lead to their ultimate loss, and it now looks the same for Obama. I would give him a grade of A for the primary campaign and a C - for the past month and a half of campaigning.

I'm beginning to think all these over educated and over paid consultants and advisors to Democrats are really Republicans underneath!

I am always seeing McCain ads on television and absolutely nothing for Obama. Also, where are all the Democrats surrogates that should be on television and radio? I see them for McCain, but not for Obama.

The Democrats are on track of losing the most winnable election in years. Simply unbelievable.

Shortstop,

STFU!! I am no concern troll. Maybe I should not have compared him to Dukakis but I am upset at the fact that he received a negative bounce. These Clinton supporters needs to get over themselves.

I love the smell of Republicans imploding in the evening; it smells like victory.

Someone had to say it

Indeed. And someone has to be Colonel/Mr. Kurtz describing McCain:

"Oh! The whore [sic]! The whore!"

Does anyone know the actual number of votes Hillary got? Seems a shame to throw around 18 million if that's just the campaign's spin number and not the truth.