That was the core piece missing from Hillary's endorsement. She did not embrace Obama's judgment and character to lead.

Absolutely!!

I felt the exact same thing. Hillary needed to do two things. One, bring her reluctant supporters over to Obama and unite the party. She did that admirably well. Two, give a full throated endorsement of Obama and counter the negative "Not ready to lead" theme she herself pressed in the waning, terribly destructive last weeks of her campaign, and which McCain had taken up with gusto. This she most emphatically did not do.

Her endorsement of Obama boiled down to "We need a Democrat," not "We need Obama, who is an extraordinary man, and an extraordinary candidate and will be an extraordinary President."

On the whole, I was disappointed. As usual, Clinton's speech seemed all too much about, guess who, Clinton.

Posted at August 27, 2008 12:16 PM in response to New York Times: Hillary Speech Partly Driven By Ambition

Debra Bartoshevich:

Joe Lieberman's new BFF! I hear they're dating now. What a cute couple!

Posted at August 25, 2008 11:27 AM in response to As Convention Begins, McCain Ad Features Hillary Supporter For McCain

Brilliant.

The best attack ad I have ever seen.

Most attack ads have some serious voice-over telling us how awful the other person is. It's not really something you want to hear and after a short time you tend to tune them out, because they are annoying.

This is 30 seconds of a much beloved song, sung sweetly, something you won't mind hearing again and again. Who wouldn't like short interlude of Sam Cooke (or Simon and Garfunkle who did a great cover) in the midst of angry political chatter?

At the same time when you listen to the words, as you will because most probably know the words of the original and subconsciously would sing along, you hear a mockingly devastating put down of McCain's economic ignorance. Then to top it all off, the huggy bear photo in all its glory.

The downside? No McCain supporter or operative, and especially John McCain himself, will ever want to hear this song again.

Posted at August 25, 2008 11:15 AM in response to New Obama Ad Hits McCain, But With Lighthearted Touch

From the female announcer with the overly serious and concerned voice to the totally uninspired visuals, to the economic fear mongering without any real basis or any actual program from McCain, this ad is like a not very well done parody of a campaign ad.

I think the public understands that we already have an economic disaster and whose policies are largely responsible for it. Given this trying to frighten voters with Dem positions is a joke well past its sell by date.

This ad will probably make people laugh more than scare them and won't convince anybody not already planning to vote for McSame.

If this is the best old John's got, he's toast.

Posted at August 15, 2008 10:47 AM in response to New McCain Ad: "Celebrity" Obama Is Also The "Taxman"

Absolutely!

Clark is by far the best choice Obama has. White, Southern, Washington outsider, tons of experience, Rhodes Scholar, no whiff of scandal or personal impropriety, progressive, anti-Iraq War from the start, military and foreign policy creds beyond compare, proven willingness to be an attack dog and the ONLY one able to up against McCain on military issues and biography.

It should be a no brainer.

Posted at August 12, 2008 1:26 PM in response to New York Times Hits Bayh For Membership In Committee For Liberation Of Iraq

Hey, gotnolife, go to Gallup and they claim that because they poll up to 2,000 people per day their margin of error is 1% or so in the daily tracking polls.

Further, when you combine several polls, such as 538 and pollster do, you get samples that also add up to the thousands and therefore the combined error of the aggregate sample is far less than the error in any one poll.

Or is that too difficult for you?

I have no crystal ball but right now Obama is ahead by more than enough to win.

Posted at August 7, 2008 10:56 AM in response to More Rightwing Hackery from The Politico

Politico goes to the fights:

The Challenger, originally a big underdog who became a heavy favorite in the days before the bout, knocked out the champ in the third round with a devastating combination of body blows and uppercuts.

This is terrible news for the challenger who should have decked the champ in the first round and sent him to the hospital. Some officials, who asked to remain anonymous, are wondering aloud if the winner should really be allowed to wear the belt.

"The fact that the loser was able to actually walk from ther ring, after he came to, shows what a weak performance the challenger put on," said leading boxing analysts.

Posted at August 7, 2008 10:50 AM in response to More Rightwing Hackery from The Politico

So, I think Roadkill, that this ad is very very very effective.

Maybe, but only with that "greatest generation" crowd. They are old, like McCain, and getting older. They are also dying off and there are fewer and fewer of them.

I don't have any handy facts to prove it, but I suspect that that is also the base of Bush's 25% approval ratings.

If that is the base of MCCain's support and that is to whom he is appealing with these ads, then old John is in deep trouble. There are just too few of them and too many young people who are not going to be swayed by these ads and won't be voting for the old guy, anyway.

Posted at August 6, 2008 12:43 PM in response to New McCain Ad: Will "Biggest Celebrity In The World" Help Your Family?

Thanks.

Anyone who agrees with me is, of course, completely right.

Posted at July 31, 2008 1:38 PM in response to MoveOn Ad: "Senator McCain, You Let Me And My Kids Down"

I think the look of being low budget and underproduced is very intentional and could be very effective.

The actor looks the opposite of slick, he looks kind of nervous and ill-at-ease, twisting his wedding band around his finger in a nervous mannerism. The effect is disarming, so when the actor says he told his kids "this was a principled guy," and "I believed you," it drives the point home that McCain has gotten off the straight talk express in a big way.

I liked it.

Posted at July 31, 2008 10:25 AM in response to MoveOn Ad: "Senator McCain, You Let Me And My Kids Down"