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2009-01-16T23:52:00.001-08:00

iPsychohistory

2009-01-16T00:39:00.000-08:00

Days like yesterday, I secretly hope that Steve Jobs is Hari Seldon and he has already recorded keynotes for WWDC 2010 - 2050 in a vault somewhere.

Rick Santorum is Making Sense

2009-01-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

Former Senator Man-on-Dog writes:

Obama also faces the reality of needing at least one Republican senator to join him to break filibusters. Many speculate that three moderate Republicans will provide the necessary Senate votes and the imprimatur of bipartisanship.

Still, Obama and the GOP moderates will not produce the kind of post-partisan harmony that Obama promised and the public now expects.

But I believe Obama has an ace in the hole among Senate Republicans. This unlikely ace can deliver not only the GOP moderates needed to break a filibuster, but also the stamp of bipartisanship: the 2008 GOP standard bearer, John McCain.

Santorum's essential point -- as much as it pains him to say it -- is that McCain, in an effort to rebuild his damaged image with the public and, more importantly, the media will now go back to tweaking the conservative GOP leadership who has done him no favors.

I believe that this is essentially correct. Further, I would wager that John McCain will, in the next four years, regain his position as the Democrats' favorite Republican Senator by delivering the dwindling block of Republican moderates and McCain buddies to Obama on critical legislation.

This is why it was smart of Obama to absolve McCain buddy Joe Lieberman of his sins, as well as nominate McCain's chief 2010 rival Janet Napolitano to Obama's cabinet.

For immediate evidence of this theory, look no further back than yesterday, when Lindsay Graham publicly supported Tim Geithner's nomination and, as Politico noted, lended "yet another bipartisan boon for President-elect Barack Obama."

Are Retiring Republican Senators More Likely To Support Obama?

2009-01-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a question I can't figure out: will retiring Republicans, freed from their need to appeal to their base, be more likely to support President Obama's agenda?

I assume the answer is yes, but I'm actually not so sure.

Obviously we need to distinguish between more moderate and conservative Republican retirees (i.e., Martinez & Bond vs. Brownback.)

The question does assume that their is some sort of objective "correct position" in the national interest on the issues that Republicans only stray from in order to play political games. Thus, freed from that game-playing obligation, the Senator will be free to maximize national interests, having eliminated their need to play to the base.

A good example of this is Specter, who I imagine is saber rattling on Holder more because of Pat Toomey's looming primary challenge than any real umbrage. I think this is exacerbated because of Specter's particular vulnerability on justice issues from the Conservative base. (It will be interesting to see how Specter treats Obama's judicial nominees. Harshly, I'd assume.)

But I'm not so sure that the retiring Republican votes on Obama's agenda are so assured. Take the auto-bailout bill. Martinez (who I believe had announced his retirement at that point, but certainly knew about it) still voted against it -- I'm not sure about how much foreign auto production occurs in Florida.

It is interesting to note that Bond was one of 3 Republicans south of the Mason-Dixon line (retirees J. Warner & Dole were the others) to vote for the bill. (Actually, come to thnk of it, Brownback also voted for the bailout.)

Joe Biden Gets a Puppy

2008-12-13T22:04:00.001-08:00

Turns out Malia and Sasha weren't the only ones who were promised a puppy:

Biden's wife, Jill, made the same assurance to her husband if he and Obama, his running mate, won the election.

Jill Biden had taped pictures of different dogs on the back of the seat in front of Biden on his campaign plane to inspire the candidate as he crisscrossed the country in the final sprint to election day, according to published reports during the campaign.

Would you buy a used car company from this man?

2008-12-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

This strikes me as rather inspired and sensible. From everyone's favorite sock-wearing former Governor:

We also know that the incipiency of bankruptcy tends to focus the mind and produce real offers. Why don't we tell the current Big Three that $25 billion in capital is available—but only to two of them? The surviving two will be those that submit the best, and final, binding bids, supported by all the necessary constituencies: boards, managers, suppliers, vendors, creditors, and the UAW.

Fascinating...

2008-12-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

Instead of being John McCain's strongest argument, the McCain campaign now thinks that the surge--specifically Bush's post-2006 election co-option of the strategy--did him in.

Ambinder:

McInturff, McCain's pollster, told a story.: "The point was, we do the surge, John's been for it from like, 2004,45 and 6, we are the leading critic of the Bush administration, and then we get to January of '07, and then, guess what, the Bush administration ...adopts the surge, we go on TV in January on Meet the Press, and I said 'we have to say, over and over and over again, here's where I've been for years, and the president's behind me... and John was very, very tempered in a way that really affected our numbers with the base."

[...]

"What really happened," McInturff said, "was that John McCain really became President Bush's spokesperson on Iraq."

The 3OBARACK Story

2008-11-20T23:23:00.000-08:00

From our humble beginnings at Camp Obama - Los Angeles in August 2008 to our final Election Weekend of phonebanking at Culver Studios with 1,650 people making 117,000+ calls to battleground states.

Enjoy.

The best moment of the night

2008-11-05T09:11:00.000-08:00

I have to be honest, the whole thing still hasn't quite sunk in for me. But in the height of yesterday's craziness, the campaign asked us to make 5,000 emergency calls to New Hampshire in one hour before the polls closed.

In that melee, I saw a guy waiting around who had no cellphone. Without thinking, I handed him my iPhone and told him to get calling.

I completely lost track of him over the next hour and a half, which started to stress me out.

I eventually did find him and he returned my phone intact. (And yes, I did check to see how many calls he made. 64 calls in 2 hours. Man, the Obama campaign is good.)

Then, about two hours later, after McCain conceded and Obama was about to give his speech, I got a call from a strange number--and I picked up.

The woman's voice on the other end of the line said: "Hello, California?"

"Yes?"

"This is Iowa. We want to thank you for everything you guys did for us!"

The floor cheered.

Who Are You?

2008-11-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

The Pessimist
You've seen this story before. Democrats, poised for victory in the White House, get it stolen away at the last minute. Maybe it's because of faulty voting machines, citizens stricken from the voting rolls, dirty tricks, judicial fiat, or maybe we just get out-hustled at the last minute. Whatever the case, you wake up Wednesday morning devastated and wondering how this could come to pass.

And now this year is no different. You're looking at those critical battleground state polls and seeing tightening across the board. Those people who were undecided just a week ago now seem to be flocking to John McCain, and the Republicans are guaranteeing victory. After the last eight years, you cannot understand why.

The country's character is about to be tested, and you harbor dark thoughts about the secret feelings that live deep inside America's psyche.

You are beside yourself with anxiety--and don't know what to do.

Here is the only prescription for your ailment:

Get involved. Come to our phonebank and be inspired by the hundreds of other people who care enough to call voters across the country urging them to vote and to make the right decision.

Instead of sitting helplessly watching MSNBC, do something. Make a difference.

Click here to sign up to come TODAY.
Click here to sign up to come on ELECTION DAY.

The Optimist
After eight years, it is almost "Morning in America"...again. You look at the television and see tens of thousands of Democratic voters in Atlanta, Georgia willing to stand in line for eight hours to vote early for Barack Obama. You're looking at those critical national polls and seeing widening across the board. The independents and moderate Republicans are flocking to Barack Obama. After the last eight years, you understand why.

You see Democrats united as they have never been before. You see prominent Republicans endorsing Barack and Joe. You start hearing terms like "filibuster-proof majority," "landslide" and "mandate"--and you think this could happen. You're seeing polls with Barack tied or ahead in states like North Carolina and Indiana---and Georgia and North Dakota!

For you, this is not about getting 270 electoral votes--this is about getting 370. About crushing the soul of the party who has steered America on the wrong course. Years like "1932" and "1980" come to mind, where the entire political map was redrawn for decades.

You don't just want to win. You want to win big.

You want to run up the score.

And most of all, you cannot wait to celebrate the biggest transformation of American politics in your lifetime.

You are beside yourself with excitement--and don't know what to do.

Come celebrate with us. Come to our phonebank and begin the party early. Enjoy meeting fellow Obama supporters and share your stories and enthusiasm and be a part of history.

Click here to sign up to come TODAY.
Click here to sign up to come on ELECTION DAY.

---

We cannot do this without you. The entire Obama campaign is premised on two things: a once-in-a-lifetime candidate, and the support of energized volunteers who believe that we can make a difference.

Let me know if you have any questions -- I hope to see all of you there.

Barackbar!

2008-10-30T08:27:00.001-07:00

These are getting better and fancier

2008-10-29T13:51:00.001-07:00

Do it for this little guy

2008-10-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

Election Day

2008-10-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

"Don’t believe for a second this election is over. Don’t think for a minute that power concedes. We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does."

-Barack Obama, October 28th, 2008.

---

Many of you have been asking how you can help the most on Election Day.

Here is the answer.

Next Tuesday, we are going to be running one of the biggest, most powerful Get Out The Vote (GOTV) Phonebanks in the entire country. California is going to make the vast majority of GOTV calls for the entire Obama Campaign on election day.

We have a soundstage at Culver Studios that will be able to seat 200 people.

Starting at 6 AM, we are going to start calling the East Coast. Then, hour by hour, we are going to work our way across the country with states selected by the Obama campaign based on the exit polling they are receiving on Election Day in real time.

We will be calling the most important, highest leverage voters in the country -- the voters that we have to turn out in the states that we have to win. Quite simply, there is nothing you can do to make a bigger difference on Election Day.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Sign up for a shift by clicking here.

We really need you to officially sign up, because the campaign wants to know how many callers we are going to have.

2. If you can, take November 4th off---if you can't take the whole day, please come for a couple of hours before work, during lunch, or after work.

3. Bring your friends.

4. Come to The Megabank!
Culver Studios – Stage 2
9336 West Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232

5. Please forward this to all of your Obama supporting friends in Los Angeles. In order to make this work, we need hundreds of callers even for an hour or two.

6. If you can't make it, you can help by donating food and drinks for our hungry and thirsty callers! (and if you are coming, please feel free to bring snacks or food, potluck style too.)

Click here for more information.

I hope to see you there.

Obama's Closer

2008-10-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

He's awesome.

7 Days to go.

Et tu, Romney?

2008-10-27T23:21:00.001-07:00

Remember when I said that Mitt Romney would try and sink Sarah Palin behind the scenes?

Gotcha.

Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers, some of whom are currently working for Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin's bid for the White House, have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election. "Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won't be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012," says one former Romney aide, now working for McCain-Palin. "The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney. He's in charge on November 5th."

Jon Hamm and SNL

2008-10-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

It may be a bit premature and sacrilegious to say, but Jon Hamm's SNL appearance last night felt very much like an early 1990's Alec Baldwin episode.

That's pretty much my highest compliment possible.

True

2008-10-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

On the heels of yesterday's Ron Howard nostalgia, a little memory lane for something a little more recent.

NY Times Endorsements

2008-10-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

The New York Times's Presidential Endorsements through the years.

Abraham Lincoln, 1860:

Things will go on very much as they have hitherto—except that we shall have honesty and manliness instead of meanness and corruption in the Executive departments, and a decent regard for the opinions of mankind in the tone and talk of the Government on the subject of Slavery.

Good For Apple

2008-10-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

From their start page:

No on Prop 8
Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.

Republicans Endorsing Obama

2008-10-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Now that Colin Powell has sounded the call, there has seemed to be a constant drip-drip-dripping of moderate (and not-so-moderate) Republicans coming forth to endorse Obama.

It seems to be me that this trickle of GOP endorsements is being as effectively stage managed as the the stream of Democratic endorsements in the primaries.

Powell, of course, is by far the biggest, but the less prominent Republicans seem to be getting more and more prominent by the day.

A few days ago, it was a Wisconsin state senator.

Now, Republican former governors William Weld and Arne Carlson both endorsed Obama.

If I had to make a prediction, I think that the prominence of the Republicans coming out for Obama are going to get bigger and bigger.

Culminating with election eve endorsements from a pair of sitting Republican Senators in a very competitive state and district perhaps?

I also wouldn't be surprised about endorsements from Ross Perot and possibly Bloomberg in the next few days either.

UPDATE:
Slightly more obscure to the layperson, but symbolically powerful. Legal scholar Charles Fried just announced that he's voting for Obama. Besides being Reagan's Solicitor General, Fried was (until this morning) one of John McCain's legal advisors!

Ouch.

Little Opie Cunningham Endorses Obama

2008-10-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Joe the Plumb Crazy

2008-10-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hoo-boy:

We have the tape of a 911 call made by John McCain's brother earlier this week.
He called the police emergency line because he was angry he was stuck in traffic.

The 911 call came into the City of Alexandria on Oct. 21st That's creating some buzz because it appears to come from Joe McCain, John McCain's brother.

Operator: 911 state your emergency

Caller: It's not an emergency but do you know why on one side at the damn drawbridge of 95traffic is stopped for 15 minutes and yet traffic's coming the other way?

Operator: Sir, are you calling 911 to complain about traffic? (pause)

Caller: "(Expletive) you." (caller hangs up)

John McCain's response: "Say it ain't so, Joe."

For Sarah

2008-10-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

Now that she thinks she's going to run the Senate:

McCain goes full Bush

2008-10-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

Brutal. Oof.

McCain Takes 8 Point Lead in the Wrong Georgia

2008-10-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Who says that lobbying doesn't pay?

In Gallup's latest poll of Presidential preferences around the world, the only European country that McCain leads in is his campaign's favorite little breakaway republic that could, Georgia: 23-15.

For the rest of the world, Obama leads comfortably by a nearly 4-1 margin.

Meanwhile, in American Georgia, McCain's lead seems to have slipped to about five points.

Also, early voting numbers in Georgia appear to be hugely favoring Obama.

Even the internets are against him

2008-10-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

Eric Schmidt endorses Obama.

McCain probably should "do a google" and find out who he is.

(His campaign knows, and is pissed:

According to a well-placed source, the McCain folks are absolutely livid.

)

Filibuster Proof Senate

2008-10-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

According to Nate Silver, we are approximately one Ichiro hit away from getting sixty seats in the Senate.

A political analogy

2008-10-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

For independents (and some Democrats):

McCain 2000 : McCain 2008 :: Raiders of the Lost Ark :: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Colin Powell's Endorsement

2008-10-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

Seems to me that Barack Obama just turned in his Commander-in-Chief test and Colin Powell turned out to be his grader.

A+.

"University of Chicago" Democrat

2008-10-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

If Obama wins, isn't he basically our first "Moneyball" President?

Susan Collins Attacks John McCain

2008-10-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

Ouch. Republican Senator Susan Collins slams McCain for his sleazy robo-calls.

Last Night's Debate Reaction

2008-10-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

There was absolutely nothing unpredictable about last night's debate. In fact, it followed the essential pattern of every other debate in the General.

Obama came across as calm and collected.
McCain was disdainful, aggressive and petulant.
McCain started off strong, but ended up getting flustered when his attacks weren't landing. He petered out as the debate wore on.
The post-debate pundit spin was that McCain won...
...which was immediately disproven by the across the board sweep of all of the focus groups and snap polls that showed Obama wiped McCain out.

Interestingly, even the VP debate followed this basic series of events.

Obama definitely won the expectations game when it came to the debates. For whatever reason, it seemed to be a universally accepted fact that Obama was not a great debater.

However, one fact got lost in murky past of the brief Republican primary season: John McCain is a horrible at debating. All of the same traits that he evinces now were on display back then as well: his choppy style, his peevishly aggressive demeanor and his lack of familiarity or understanding of the economy.

Lucky for John McCain, he seemed to go up against the only person who was worse at debating than he was: Mitt Romney. That, coupled with the McCain-Mike Huckabee double teaming pretty much guaranteed that Romney was considered the loser of most of the Republican debates. But let's be honest, the Republican crop of candidates this year was pretty weak stuff.

NBA Ponderable

2008-10-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

Now that the Sonics no longer exist, will Gary Payton never get his number retired until Seattle is awarded a new NBA franchise?

If so, will he be the best player in NBA history to not have his number retired?

John McCain Is The Penguin

2008-10-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty remarkable find:

For the record, I always thought Bill Gates was the most likely Lakeside alumni to be President, with Jamie Twiss a respectable second.

Who knew it would be Adam West?

The One Term Stunt

2008-10-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Several writers have been speculating that McCain may try to pull some sort of stunt tonight, including, but not limited to announcing a pledge to only serve one term. The rationale behind this is: John McCain will put country first ahead of his own political ambitions.

I want McCain to lose, but let me offer some free advice:

That may have been an intriguing tactic six months ago. And probably a much better one at the RNC in September. But now, such a move would backfire worse than suspending his campaign again.

Every time people looked at McCain they would think one thing: Sarah Palin 2012.

Biden wants West Virginia

2008-10-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

First Read:

Biden was campaigning in Ohio, but had West Virginia on his mind late this afternoon, making a bold promise to win a state that has gone Republican in the past two elections.
“Which way is West-By-God-Virginia?” Biden asked the crowd Ohio University Eastern Campus, about 10 miles west of that state's border with Ohio. “I want to send a message to West Virginia -- we’re going to win in West Virginia! … We’re going to shock the living devil out of y’all!”

John McCain's Brother Goes Nuts

2008-10-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

Wow. This actually includes a script for a commercial.

The commercial stars John McCain's flight jacket.

He makes Billy Carter & Roger Clinton look like Bobby Kennedy.

Palin learned it by watching you.

2008-10-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

A new PSA from MoveOn.org, Doug Liman and the cast of Gossip Girl.

Microsoft is turning into the McCain campaign

2008-10-14T09:00:00.001-07:00

Less than four hours before Steve Jobs introduces new laptops today, Microsoft is already circulating whiny-baby, anti-Apple Talking Points??

They offer charts comparing the feature lists of similarly priced Windows and Mac notebooks and make numerous accusations of an "Apple Tax." The email is interesting: nothing they say is incorrect, but none of it is new. Most importantly, all of it misses the point completely.

Seriously. Talking points??

Hmm, maybe after this campaign is over, Steve Schmidt can get a job after all...

Wait a second:

(Left to right: Steve Schmidt, Steve Ballmer, artists' renditions)

Senators Who Live In Seven Glass Houses Shouldn't Throw ACORNs

2008-10-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

Footage emerges of an ACORN event in 2006...

...starring John McCain.

Ambinder has more:

Who says Latin is dead?

2008-10-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Apparently you bust out a little high school Latin and the Internet wakes up...

We just crossed 10,000 readers--including an amazing 7,000 since Ms.
Dowd channeled her inner Cicero on Saturday.

Still Shameless, But Enjoy

2008-10-13T16:05:00.001-07:00

Joebi-Wan Kenobi

2008-10-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

In Joe Biden's experience, there's no such thing as luck:

“When Barack Obama is president we’re not gonna wait for our luck to change,” he said. “We’re gonna change our luck. We’re gonna change this country. In the neighborhood I come from, you make your own luck.”

Edgar Martinez Unendorses Obama

2008-10-13T12:13:00.001-07:00

Obama on sports:

The DH?

"I'm not really into it."

On the other hand, Nate Silver is thrilled:

Is a walk as good as a hit?

"Yes."

Meanwhile, Dean Smith endorses Obama (for real):

Linnea and I respect all that Senator McCain has done for our country. However, we feel strongly that it is Barack Obama who offers the real leadership our nation needs to tap its potential as a land of opportunity -- even as we face difficult times at home and abroad. Senator Obama is a patriotic American, a committed Christian, a good family man, and a man who shares the bedrock values that most North Carolinians have in common: fairness, hard work, respect for others, and personal responsibility.

How McCain can still win

2008-10-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

Mark Halperin links to Adam Nagourney's piece on six ways John McCain can still win.

Short version:

Adam Nagourney: "Please still buy our newspaper."

Does Chuck Todd Not Watch NBC?

2008-10-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

From Chuck Todd's First Read on MSNBC.com:

*** Money to burn? This past weekend, your First Read team had the luxury of watching some TV in the DC area (Northern Virginia). While enjoying college football games on Saturday, the Sunday morning news shows, NFL games, and 60 Minutes, we probably viewed 30-40 Obama TV ads. And get this -- we didn’t see a single McCain advertisement

Unless Chuck Todd is a die hard Notre Dame fan and really wanted to see them lose to #22 North Carolina, outside of possibly watching "Meet The Press," apparently none of the shows he watches over the weekend are on NBC...

Who is the Advance Wizard Who Came Up With This One?

2008-10-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

John McCain, desperate because he is slipping in the South, is making his first campaign stop in North Carolina today. The location of his rally? "Cape Fear Community College."

Cue ten million jokes...now.

Dear Slate.com

2008-10-13T06:15:00.001-07:00

Please publish a special RSS feed that contains all of your columns minus Mickey Kaus. Readership will quadruple.

That is all.

McCain and Palin are fighting

2008-10-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

This was inevitable. McCain is the last Republican Presidential candidate of the 20th Century. Palin wants to think that she's the first of the 21st. With the race clearly slipping from their grasp, Palin is now throwing John McCain under the bus.

Sarah Palin is now out for herself. The next three and a half weeks should be fascinating.

From The Times of London:

With his electoral prospects fading by the day, Senator John McCain has fallen out with his vice-presidential running mate about the direction of his White House campaign.

[...]

“Sarah Palin is no fool. She sees the same thing and wants to salvage what she can. She is positioning herself for the future. Her best days could be in front of her. She wants to look as though she was the fighter, the person with the spunk who was out there taking it to the Democrats.”

The Meta-Narrative of Steve Schmidt

2008-10-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

By many accounts, Steve Schmidt is less than a pleasant fellow.

In a new article in Newsweek, the author Holly Bailey claims that:

The man in charge of John McCain's day-to-day presidential campaign is tired of reporters saying he's Rove's "protégé"—the implication being that he is willing to do anything to win.

The article goes on to detail how "pained" Schmidt is this campaign has turned out this way--neglecting, of course, of the single-minded way that the McCain campaign, under Schmidt's direction, has injected toxic negativity at every turn.

The article also makes curious mention of one of Schmidt's prior jobs:

After Bush won in '04, Schmidt took a job at the White House working for Dick Cheney. The vice president had the worst persona in politics—his popularity was in the low 20s—and Schmidt was given the unenviable task of giving the dour, secretive vice president a personality makeover.

Hmm, a campaign consultant whose job was to make over the image of a violently unpopular Republican political figure. (A job he failed to do, by the way.)

Say... you don't suppose that Schmidt, with his client John McCain highly favored to lose--and lose big--isn't possibly trying to pull the same PR shenanigans with the press for himself, do you?

Exit Turd Blossom 2.0?

Enter the kinder, gentler Schmidt whose feelings get hurt when someone even mentions Rove in his presence?

And, bingo:

Privately, Schmidt's friends say he has expressed worry about how he will be viewed after the campaign. "He does not desire to go through life with the tag of Karl Rove disciple attached to him," says one friend who asked not to be named talking about private conversations. "He has a life to go back to that has nothing to do with politics … But he also wants to win."

Aww, poor baby.

Maybe next time, Schmidty will realize that actions have consequences.

Obama's Battlefield Widens

2008-10-12T00:28:00.000-07:00

Interesting tidbit from the AP:

Hillary Clinton also planned return visits to Ohio and Florida in the next few days and has scheduled trips to Omaha, Neb., and Minnesota.

Obama is serious about winning Nebraska-02 if he's sending Hillary there. She also just spent Friday in West Virginia, which according to recent polls may have suddenly come into play, as well as Arkansas, which is probably a longer shot.

The ultimate scenario for Obama is 375 EVs + Georgia (15), West Virginia (5), Nebraska-02 (1), Montana (3) and North Dakota (3).

402: that has to be the ultimate ceiling...right?

Maureen Dowd Translated From The Original Latin

2008-10-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

Credit where it's due: Maureen Dowd writes half of her op-ed on Sunday in Latin.

As a public service, I'll try and dust off my two decade-old mad Latin skills and translate:

(With all due apologies to Mr. Rheinschmidt...)

Manes Julii Caesaris paucis diebus aderant — “O, most bloody sight!” — cum Ioannes McCainus, mavericus et veteranus captivusque Belli Francoindosinini, et Sara Palina, barracuda borealis, qui sneerare amant Baracum Obamam causa oratorii, pillorant ut demagogi veri, Africanum-Americanum senatorem Terrae Lincolni, ad Republicanas rallias.

The spirts of the dead Julius Caesar are present -- "oh, most bloody sight!" with John McCain, maverick and prisoner of the war of French Indo-China and Sarah Palin, northern barracuda, who love to sneer on account of Barack Obama's speeches, pillorying and demogoging the African American Senator from the Land of Lincoln at Republican rallies.

Rabidi subcanes candidati, pretendant “no orator as Brutis is,” ut “stir men’s blood” et disturbant mentes populi ad “a sudden flood of mutiny,” ut Wilhelmus Shakespearus scripsit.

The rabid less-than-dogs of candidates pretend they are "no orator as Brutus is", as they "stir men's blood" and disturb the minds of the people to a "sudden flood of mutiny" as William Shakespeare wrote.

Cum Quirites Americani ad rallias Republicanas audiunt nomen Baraci Husseini Obamae, clamant “Mortem!” “Amator terroris!” “Socialiste!” “Bomba Obamam!” “Obama est Arabus!” “Caput excidi!” tempus sit rabble-rouseribus desistere “Smear Talk Express,” ut Stephanus Colbertus dixit. Obama demonatus est tamquam Musulmanus-Manchurianus candidatus — civis “collo-cerviciliaris” ad ralliam Floridianam Palinae exhabet mascum Obamae ut Luciferis.

When the screaming Americans at the Republican rallies hear the name "Barack Hussein Obama", they exclaim "Death!," "Lover of terorists!," "Socialist!," "Bomb Obama!," "Obama is an Arab!," "Cut off his head!" the time has come as Stephen Colbert says, to stop "the Smear Talk Express." Obama is demonized just as if he was a Muslim Manchurian candidate -- a citizen "stag's neck(?)" exhorts to Palin's Florida rally that Obama is the Devil.

Obama non queretur high-tech lynching. Sed secreto-serventes agentes nervosissmi sunt.

Obama did not ask for a high-tech lynching. But Secret Service agents are extremely nervous.

Vix quisque audivit nomen “Palinae” ante lunibus paucis. Surgivit ex suo tanning bed ad silvas in Terram Eskimorum, rogans quis sit traitorosus, ominosus, scurrilosus, periculosus amator LXs terroris criminalisque Chicagoani? Tu betchus!

Scarcely any person heard the name "Palin" prior to a few moons (ago). Emerging from her tanning bed to the forests in Eskimo-land, now she is asking everyone who is the most traitorous, most ominous, most scurrilous, most dangerous lover of 60's terrorists and criminals of Chicago? You betcha!

“Caeca ambitio Obamana,” novum rumorem Palina McCainusque dixit. “Cum utilis, Obama laborat cum amatore terroris Wilhelmo Ayro. Cum putatus, perjuravit.” McCainianus bossus maximus Francus Keatinx vocat Obamam, “plebeium,” et ut iuvenum snifferendum cocaini minimi (“a little blow.”)

"From blind ambition comes Obama," Palin and McCain say a new rumor. "For an advantage, Obama worked with the lover of terrorists, William Ayres. With a pruner(?), he lies." McCain's big leader Francis Keating said Obama was "a plebe" and, as a youth he must have sniffed a little cocaine.

Cum Primus Dudus, spousus Palinanus, culpari attemptaret “Centurionem-Gate,” judices Terrae Santae Elvorumque castigat gubernatricem Palinam de abusu auctoritatis per familiam revengendum.

While the First Dude, the husband of Palin, attempted to be blamed for "Centurion-gate", the judges of the land of Santa's Elves chastened the lady-Governor Palin concerning the abuse of authority for the purpose of familial revenge.

Tamen Sara et Ioannes bury Obama, not praise him. Maverici, ut capiunt auxilium de friga-domina, hench-femina, Cynthia McCaina Birrabaronessa, (quae culpat Obamam periculandi suum filum in Babylonia), brazen-iter distractant mentes populares de minimissimis IV 0 I K.ibus, deminutione “Motorum Omnium,” et Depressione Magna II.0. Omnes de Georgio Busio Secundo colossale goofballo. “V” (because there’s no W. in Latin) etiam duxit per disastrum ad gymnasium.

Notwithstanding Sarah and John bury Obama not praise him. The Maverices along with the their chief aide, the frost-lady, henchwoman Cindy McCain, beer-baroness (who blamed Obama for putting her own son in maximum danger in Babylon) brazenly distract the minds of the people from their decimated 401ks, the shrinking "General Motors" and the Great Depression 2.0. This is all from "W", George Bush the second, the colossal goofball certainly is leading through disaster to the gym.

Gubernatrix (prope Russia) Palina, spectans candidaciam MMXII, post multam educationem cum Kissingro et post multam parodiam de Sabbatis Nocte Vivo atque de Tina Feia, ferociter vituperat Obamam, ut supralupocidit (aerial shooting of wolves) in Hyperborea.

The lady-Governor (lying next to Russia) Palin, looking to be a candidate in 2012, after much learning with Kissinger and much parody from Saturday Night Live and Tina Fey, will insult Obama arrogantly, in the manner of shooting wolves from the air, North of Thrace.

Vilmingtoni, in Ohionem, McCain’s Mean Girl (Ferox Puella) defendit se gladiatricem politicam esse: “Pauci dicant, O Jupiter, te negativam esse. Non, negativa non sum, sed verissima.” Talk about lipsticka in porcam! Quasi Leeus Atwater de oppugnatione Busii Primi ad Dukakem: “non negativus, sed comparativus.”

In Wilmington, Ohio, McCain's mean girl defended herself being a warrior-politician-lady, "O Jupiter, some people say that this is negative. No. It is not negative, but the highest truth." Talk about lipstick on a pig! Just as Lee Atwater (said) about George Bush the First's assault to Dukakis: "it's not a negative, but a comparison."

The Historic McCain-Palin Ticket

2008-10-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

Not quite the way Gerry Ferraro would have imagined it:

Now that Sarah Palin has been found to have abused her powers, violated state ethics, and lied about it, I did a little digging and found an interesting historical footnote.

The McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election.

2000, 2008

2008-10-11T09:42:00.001-07:00

John McCain was the first guy in the country to hate George W. Bush in 2000, and seemingly the last guy to support his policies in 2008.

It will cost him the Presidency twice.

Parnell was good, but...

2008-10-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here's what SNL missed out on:

He gives Darrell Hammond a run for his money too.

The most pedantic article about Mad Men ever

2008-10-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

And thus, a must read.

Obama Sees The Future

2008-10-10T06:59:00.001-07:00

Obama predicted the McCain campaign tactics of the past few weeks back on July 30th.

Separated At Birth

2008-10-10T02:02:00.000-07:00

Joe Scarborough and Matthew Perry.

McCain's Final Act of Service to His Country

2008-10-09T21:44:00.001-07:00

At least he's taking all sorts of reckless, crazy political acts off the table for generations to come?

Economic Advice

2008-10-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

Given today's continued economic cratering, isn't investing in Obama on Intrade or IEM actually a good hedge against further losses?

John McCain is a Class Act

2008-10-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Remember the African-American guy that John McCain seemed to be a condescending jackass towards at the town hall meeting? ("You probably never even heard of Fannie or Freddie before this crisis.")

Well, it turns out that John McCain actually was a condescending jackass:

How did I feel about Sen. McCain stating “You probably never heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before this.”

Well Senator, I actually did. I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person. I have a bachelor degree in Political Science from Tennessee State, so I try to keep myself up to date with current affairs. I have a Master degree in Legal Studies from Southern Illinois University, a few years in law school, and I am currently pursuing a Master in Public Administration from the University of Memphis. In defense of the Senator from Arizona I would say he is an older guy, and may have made an underestimation of my age. Honest mistake. However, it could be because I am a young African-American male. Whatever the case may be it was somewhat condescending regardless of my age to make an assumption regarding whether I was knowledgeable about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Obama's Path To Victory

2008-10-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

If the election were held today, I think Obama would win 375 electoral votes:

All of the Kerry States (252) plus:

Iowa (7) & New Mexico (5)--all but locked up.

Virginia (13)--which will take him over 270.

After that, I think it would be a clean sweep of the following swing states, from biggest margin to smallest:

Colorado (9), Nevada (5), Florida (27) & Ohio (20).

The following three are legitimate polling toss-ups, but I have to think that the superiority of the Obama ground game will be determinative here:

North Carolina (15), Missouri (11), Indiana (11).

This is probably Obama's ceiling--and it is legitimately a landslide. To get beyond this, there will truly have to be an unprecedented turn-out for new voters, young voters, and African Americans. Bad news for your 401k, the Dow would probably have to drop another 1,000 points or so, too--Obama would have to increase his national polling average by another 4-5 points or so.

If you want to start to really get greedy, the next state that Obama could get would probably be Georgia (15). Early polling in Georgia has shown that 9% of the state has voted, and that they favor Obama 64-35. Now there is no way that that is going to last, but it does indicate that the Obama campaign is outhustling the McCain campaign in getting their voters to the polls early. A good sign.

Beyond that, the next most likely state to fall is strangely West Virginia (5)--a state that gave Obama less than 30% of the vote in the primaries. One less than reputable poll gives Obama an 8 point advantage here.

After that, the only states I think Obama could win would be Montana (3) and North Dakota (3). Pre-Sarah Palin, I think Obama could have won both (along with Alaska), but that seems very remote at this point.

But, if Obama supporters stay focused and hungry for the next four weeks, and Republicans get increasingly depressed about the election and stay home, we could be in for some very, very, pretty numbers.

Raaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiineeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrr

2008-10-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

The creator of the best television commercials in history (especially if you were a kid growing up in Seattle in the late 70's/early 80's) blasts modern political ads:

"I have never seen a political ad I liked," Heckler said from his Belltown office. "And I've seen very few all of the way through because I usually turn them off."

Tina Fey Saves America

2008-10-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here's proof:

About 33 percent of independents said the "Tina Fey effect" is hurting the McCain-Palin ticket, compared with 9 percent who said it was helpful, a Fox 5/The Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports survey says. The figures were nearly identical among independents in the survey.

Tina Fey 2, Republicans 0.

UPDATE:

Are the Republicans fighting back by trying to make Sarah Palin look less like Tina Fey?

Brokaw as Ifill

2008-10-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

Just to make a point, but isn't pretty much every Tom Brokaw book about the noble patriotism of old white guys who were soldiers?

On Endorsements

2008-10-07T13:18:00.001-07:00

Do they sway voters? Probably not. But they definitely sway media narratives.

In light of the endorsement from Chuck Hagel's wife today, the question has been raised about Chuck Hagel's rumored endorsement (and Colin Powell's). Clearly Nebraska's 2nd Congressional district electoral vote is in play--witness Sarah Palin playing defense (and then lying about it) on Sunday.

But the one constant in the Obama camp is that they have been masters of timing their endorsements perfectly: Ted Kennedy, Bill Richardson, John Edwards.

Chuck Hagel endorsing Obama will be a big deal--media-wise. My guess is that the Obama camp is saving that card for if and when they need it. (It would be pretty effective for Colin Powell and Chuck Hagel to endorse Obama after a Bin Laden videotape emerged, for instance.)

Opening the Debate

2008-10-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

Will Obama beat McCain to the punch, and offer condolences to Joe and Jill Biden over the passing of Jill's mother, or will McCain try to double down on the Ted Kennedy card?

Keith's Special Comment

2008-10-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

Women in glass igloos, shouldn't cast stones...

Bailout Politics

2008-10-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'm just saying--if John McCain had opposed the bailout bill last week, it had still passed, and the Dow still ended up under 10,000 today, wouldn't he have a much better set of talking points today than warmed over William Ayres smears?

Apple Rumors

2008-10-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

Is Cupertino throwing in the towel on squelching Apple rumors on the net?

Obama Drops Keating Bomb

2008-10-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Watch:

Thursday's SNL

2008-10-05T23:50:00.000-07:00

Given their new penchant for casting cameos as debate moderators (Chris Parnell as Jim Lehrer, Queen Latifah as Gwen Ifill), would it be too much to hope for SNL bringing back Dana Carvey as Tom Brokaw?

The Conservation of Comedy

2008-10-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

This year, Tina Fey is having precisely an equal and opposite reaction from Will Ferrell in 2000.

Where Ferrell took Bush's folksy, mentally deficient "charm" and turned it into a likable positive, Fey is doing exactly the same thing to Palin, but turning it into a devastating negative.

Turnabout is fair play.

Jon Meachem Explains It All

2008-10-05T07:20:00.001-07:00

A fascinating look inside Palinworld and dangers Sarah Palin's "you betcha" politics pose to the country.

If Biden Was A Jerk

2008-10-04T19:25:00.001-07:00

He could have said "Every time Sarah Palin opens her mouth, all you
hear is a noun and a noun and an 'also'."

Saturday Night Live Preview

2008-10-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Sounds like Tina will be back, because they're doing a VP Debate skit with Gwen Ifill being played by...

...Queen Latifah.

Judging from last night, Queen Latifah may have been a better choice to moderate the real thing.

Schlep Wars!

2008-10-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

A week after Sarah Silverman released her amazing "Great Schlep" video, the McCain campaign responds with...Jackie Mason?!

Something tells me Sweet Johnny Mac should ask his good friend Rudy Giuliani why Mason might not be the best surrogate on this issue:

September 28, 1989:

Rudolph W. Giuliani said yesterday that the comedian Jackie Mason would no longer have a role in his mayoral campaign, after a newspaper quoted Mr. Mason as making racially charged remarks about blacks and Jews.

[...]

''There is a sick Jewish problem of voting for a black man no matter how unfit he is for the job,'' Mr. Mason said. ''All you have to do is to be black and don't curse the Jews directly and the Jew will vote for a black in a second. Jews are sick with complexes.''

Was Michael Richards just not available?

In other news, Jackie Mason is still alive?!

The Hagelian Imperative

2008-10-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

After reading this tidbit from Marc Ambinder:

Obama Adds Field Office In Nebraska

Some evidence that the Obama campaign is heavily targeting the state's second congressional district: they've just opened another field office in Omaha.

It just reminded me: where is Chuck Hagel's endorsement?

You have to think that would play insanely well in Nebraska's 2nd.

Homer Votes

2008-10-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

Much was made of Obama's weakness in the primaries with "hardly working, yellow, Animated-Americans" who broke for Hillary Clinton decisively in each state that Springfield is rumored to be in.

Judging from this, Obama has clearly made the sale.

Noonan Crashes

2008-10-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

No one has squandered their credibility boost from this year's primaries more quickly or sharply than Peggy Noonan.

After getting caught speaking her mind when she thought no one was looking, on the same day she espoused the opposite position in her Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan has been in full damage control mode, trying to get back in favor with her conservative puppet-masters.

Today's column is a pretty pathetic continuation of this rehabilitation:

She killed. She had him at "Nice to meet you. Hey, can I call you Joe?" She was the star. He was the second male lead, the good-natured best friend of the leading man. She was not petrified but peppy.

Three months ago, I thought Peggy Noonan could have earned a spot in the American Political Pantheon by crossing party lines and crafting Barack Obama's version of "Morning in America."

Now she is continues to reveal herself to be nothing more than another partisan hack. One who hypocritically attacks Democrats for being elitists through a op-ed column humbly titled "Declarations."

Closet Minmei Fan?

2008-10-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

It's really odd that Letterman uses twenty-five year old incidental music from Robotech in his comedy sketches.

Mark Halperin is back to being an idiot

2008-10-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

Biden and Palin both get B's? Give me a break. He cleaned her clock.

Joe Biden takes the Kobayashi Maru

2008-10-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

Everyone I know is worried. "She's won the expectations game. She's going to win this debate. Ugh!"

Guess what? They're probably right.

Biden is screwed. If he's too mean, he's a jerk. If he's too nice, he's condescending.

If he ignores her attacks, he cedes her 90 minutes to run up his negatives unchecked.

If he knows too much, he's a know-it-all.

He's going to gaffe. Everyone knows that.

He's probably going to try to cop a feel--and that's just how he'll treat Gwen Ifill.

Guess what?

It. Does. Not. Matter.

Sure Sarah can staunch the bleeding. She may even get an hour and a half of folksy charm masking snotty attacks.

But at the end of the day, Sarah Palin is not going to win this election for John McCain. Maybe she will acquit herself and her future political reputation. Maybe McCain will even bounce in the polls.

But if any of you want to give me even money that Palin is going to somehow remain gaffe-free for the next 33 days, I will gladly eat your money.

Any takers?

The Very Best of Sarah Palin

2008-10-02T10:37:00.001-07:00

Thanks, Talking Points Memo!

Diagramming Palin

2008-10-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

Palin's sentences. Diagrammed.

Gwen Strikes Back

2008-10-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is promising.

"I've got a pretty long track record covering politics and news," [Ifill] said. "so I'm not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation. The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate tomorrow night and make their own decisions about whether or not I've done my job."

Hopefully, she has the integrity to live up to this.

Failing that, hopefully she looks at the polls and realizes there's no profit in kowtowing to right-wing bullies.

Now it can be told

2008-10-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

We now know why John McCain suspended his campaign.

Watch CBS Videos Online

It's actually worse than I thought.

On Saturday, when Tina Fey does this bit, I hope she whips out a flute.

This counts as five, ok..?

2008-10-01T16:06:00.001-07:00

Obama's Poll Bonaza

2008-10-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting much polling data here, but today warrants an exception.

Things got kicked off this morning by Quinnipiac which showed the following:

FLORIDA: Obama 51, McCain 43
OHIO: Obama 50, McCain 42
PENNSYLVANIA: Obama 54, McCain 39

Staggering numbers to be sure. The McCain campaign panicked about these numbers and attempted to laugh them off.

"These polls are laughable. We hope Obama thinks they’re true. The national tracking is clear: Some polls have us down 2 percent, some 4, some as high as 6. How could you have national numbers like that, but have those kinds of numbers in three of the largest, most competitive states in the country?"

But then, CNN/Time Magazine laid down the smackdown:

FLORIDA: Obama 51, McCain 47
MINNESOTA: Obama 54, McCain 43
MISSOURI: Obama 49, McCain 48
NEVADA: Obama 51, McCain 47
VIRGINIA: Obama 53, McCain 44

These are staggering, staggering numbers. Assuming Obama wins all of John Kerry's states (and really at this point, the only question mark is New Hampshire's 4 Electoral Votes) and Iowa and New Mexico, which everyone assumes he wins, as well as Colorado where he is leading, we're talking about 349 Electoral Votes...

...and we're not even factoring Indiana and North Carolina where the polls are deadlocked, if not showing a slight Obama lead.

The most devastating factor of all is, as far as I can tell, these polls are now talking about likely voters--not registered voters. Likely Voters have usually voted in at least the two last elections, which means that they are disproportionately oversampling older voters, and undersampling younger voters and new registrants.

And I'll give you two guesses on who those groups favor.

What this means is: there is a reasonable assumption that as amazing as these poll numbers are today, they could very well be understating Obama's actual support in these states.

I told you this was worth posting.

Attacking Ifill

2008-10-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

Just a thought: If things are going badly for Palin tomorrow night, do you think she might change tactics (or is it strategies?) and actually attack Ifill herself for being biased? This seems to be Palin's favorite move in her Couric interview.

I would argue it's a losing strategy, but it certainly would create the dominant story coming out of the debate--and it would be a story that wasn't about Palin's complete lack of knowledge about, well, anything.

The Palin Adventure Is Just Beginning

2008-10-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

Wow. Just wow.

And even worse stuff coming today...

The future of Sarah Palin

2008-09-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, we will never hear from her again after November 5th. Obviously the Republicans will trot her out to fundraise, but she is such a knucklehead even they can't possibly try and position her again for higher office.

In short, she will become the Geraldine Ferraro of the Republican Party.

Which, I guess, means that someday she will piss off Republican voters by NOT being racist.

The Early Political Life of Sarah Palin

2008-09-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

In what alternate universe does anyone believe that Sarah Palin knew who Joe Biden even was in the 2nd grade?

How about the 12th?

How about during college(s)?

How about two years ago?

Bonus fun fact: Sarah Palin has two less alma maters than John McCain has houses.

Brokaw Watch

2008-09-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

It continues to trend downward:

In an interview here after Sunday’s broadcast, Mr. Brokaw said that over the summer he had “advocated” within the executive suite of NBC News to modify the anchor duties of the MSNBC hosts Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews on election night and on nights when there were presidential debates.

[...]

Mr. Brokaw said he had also conducted some shuttle diplomacy in recent weeks between NBC and the McCain campaign.

The Newest "Real McCain": The Economy

2008-09-30T09:33:00.001-07:00

Robert Greenwald deserves a medal

Martian Snow Days

2008-09-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

On a crummy economic day, here's something to cheer you up.

The Mars Phoenix lander just discovered that it actually snows on Mars!

Icy snow falls from high in Mars's atmosphere and may even reach the planet's surface, scientists working with NASA's Phoenix lander reported yesterday.

[...]

"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," said Jim Whiteway of York University in Toronto, lead scientist for the Canadian-supplied Meteorological Station on Phoenix. "We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground."

Democrats Are Irrelevant??

2008-09-29T17:15:00.001-07:00

Apparently, even thought Barack Obama now leads in practically every single critical swing state, and per Nate Silver and national polling, is the odds on favorite to win the election, according to Mark Halperin not one of the "5 Most Important People In Politics (Who Aren't Running For President" is even a Democrat.

Um, suuuure.

The Bailout and the Election

2008-09-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

Even Republican pundits agree. The House Republicans cooked themselves today:

How any of this could possibly be construed as a positive for either McCain or the Republican Party is beyond me (and I say this as a life-long Republican)? In fact, it would seem much more likely to me that the House Republicans just handed the election to Obama on a silver platter. Blaming the vote on Pelosi’s antagonistic remarks seems especially dumb, and I expect to see Barney Frank-type comments all over the MSM tonight and throughout the week

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.

McCain needs political Viagra

2008-09-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

Paging Bob Dole...

McCain suspends his campaign.
Goes to Washington to wrangle the House Republicans.
Restarts his campaign.
Gets blown out at the debate.
Goes back to Washington to wrangle House Republicans.
Claims credit for putting the bill back together...
And then fails to deliver House Republicans.

John McCain is the leader of his party--how, exactly?