The Power of One: McCrash and Mooselini

by: CA Berkeley WV

Sat Oct 18, 2008 at 02:36:20 AM EDT

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144

Death threat, vandalism hit ACORN after McCain comments

WASHINGTON - An ACORN community organizer received a death threat and the liberal activist group's Boston and Seattle offices were vandalized Thursday, reflecting mounting tensions over its role in registering 1.3 million mostly poor and minority Americans to vote next month.

Attorneys for the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now were notifying the FBI and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division of the incidents, said Brian Kettenring, a Florida-based spokesman for the group.

Comments right out of Heat of the Night directed to a sound man, probably a union guy, at one event. A blogger/reporter trying to interview Obama supporters at a Palin rally kicked to the ground by a big bearded fan of Mooselini. The Secret Service's reaction: stop reporters from interviewing the crowd.

Letterman skewers McCain

by: Carnacki

Fri Oct 17, 2008 at 10:00:00 AM EDT

Woman against McCain-Palin

by: Clem Guttata

Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 12:54:33 PM EDT

McCain's erratic behavior

by: Carnacki

Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 00:51:37 AM EDT

One of those two men looks presidential. The other one is John McCain.

Update

Same shot from a different angle.

A miracle brewing in West By-God Virginia

by: stormbear

Wed Oct 15, 2008 at 14:07:08 PM EDT

Biden: We'll win West Virginia

by: Carnacki

Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 21:42:16 PM EDT

From the Charleston Gazette:

At a rally a few miles from the West Virginia border on Tuesday, Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden predicted he and Sen. Barack Obama would win West Virginia in the Nov. 4 presidential election.

According to NBC's Mike Memoli, Biden asked the crowd in St. Clairsville, Ohio, "Which way is West-By-God-Virginia?" He then said, "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!"

Let's win to send a message that Hope triumphs over Hate.

The Hate Talk Express was going to come through West Virginia.

Instead it turned into Sarah Palin's Blow Off West Virginia Tour.

At a rally last weekend, a group of West Virginians took the front row at a Portsmouth, Ohio rally, across the Ohio River from West Virginia.

The story going around here is they shouted, "Come to West Virginia."

Obama called back, "I'll be there soon."

You know what, we're looking at a landslide of historic proportions.

Obama doesn't need West Virginia's five electoral votes.

But you can tell from Joe Biden's statement, his throwing down of the gauntlet, that Obama and Biden WANT them.

You want to send a message to the country that a new day has dawned in America, you win West By God Virginia.

This is a Democratic state. The governor, four of the five Congressional caucus, the attorney general, the treasurer, the agricultural secretary, the auditor, four of the five Supreme Court justices and soon to be the secretary of state.

Dems out number Reps by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. Sure many of them are conservative Democrats. But we are the party of the Big Tent. Not the Rs, who have issued a fatwa on Christopher Buckley.

West Virginia went Democratic when many other states voted for the Republicans. Al Gore took the state for granted and we all paid a price. In 2004, with so many of our young men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan, I heard over and over canvassing that people didn't want to change leaders in the middle of a war.

I told them they were wrong, that we needed to. But we lost.

This is an opportunity to return one of the most Democratic loyal states back into the blue column. Sure there's some racism here - just as there is in EVERY OTHER state. But I've canvassed numerous African Americans here who voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary. What are we to make of them since the primary vote is what caused so many to label the state as racist?

People will inevitably say, Obama is better off spending his resources elsewhere.

Here's what they don't understand. Many of those surrounding states that are battleground states are filled with expatriate West Virginians. Their roots, their kin, are in West Virginia. If Obama and Biden win them over, their grandmammas and grandpappys are going to be telling them to vote for Barack Obama.

We heard over and over again that Appalachians were not ready to vote for a black candidate. What a load of bullshit!

In the worst case scenario based off the polls, we are in tossup status. ARG's poll, the latest, showed Obama up by 8 POINTS. ARG is often disparaged for being a bad pollster. I looked it up today. ARG often was off from 3 to 5 points in Kerry's favor in many states. 3 to 5 points consistently off. Do the math! Hell, say they were 8 points off. Hell, say they were 11 points off.

That's tossup.

We were told over and over by the Republicans McCain would win this state by 20 points.

They swore it'd be a landslide for McCain.

This is the time, this is the state to break the backs of the rightwing movement.

I'm just a small state blogger and a foot soldier who canvasses and tells funny stories.

But I know this: When we were told this state could not be won, I had faith in my fellow West Virginians.

When we were told by 538 that the odds were 89 percent of a McCain win, I said, "Never tell me the odds."

When we were told by the state GOP McCain would bury us, I remembered what my old football coach used to say.

And he'd say, win or lose, I don't care as long as you're leaving it all on the field.

With the coordinated Campaign for Change we are leaving it all on the field.

I know how we lost in landslides in 2004 presidential and congressional and 2006 congressional.

But my coach had another thing he'd tell his undersized players every Friday night on our way to a 9-1 season (F Oak Hill High School - yes I hold grudges).

He'd say, "Boys it's not the size of the dogs in the fight that matters, it's the size of the fight in the dogs."

West Virginian's Campaign for Change is bringing it.

Hillary Clinton brought it.

Joe Biden is bringing it.

And Barack Obama is bringing it.

Let's go win this state.

Update

See here for details.

Update 2

Al Giordano at The Field also highlights Biden's remarks.

McCain vs. McCain

by: Carnacki

Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 10:30:00 AM EDT

and more McCain vs. McCain

In case you did not like Rep. Lewis's statement

by: CA Berkeley WV

Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 07:36:00 AM EDT

He was assassinated that November. Being a self-absorbed fifth grader, I did not understand why all the sixth graders were so upset that day at school. It eventually sunk in at home. Kennedy had to overcome resistance to his Catholicism in 1960 to get elected. It was just 36 years before that the Indiana KKK went to the Notre Dame campus to rumble.

The memory comes to the surface when I hear of the kind of things being shouted out at Palin rallies. Hate is not helping my 401k. John "Country First" McCain takes no responsibility for these outbursts. Remind you of "No one could imagine . . ."? The traditional media was mostly silent as this was being built on weeks of dog whistles and drum beats. John McCain never lost his base. How did we get to this point?

The NRA is for Republicans and not for hunters

by: Carnacki

Sun Oct 12, 2008 at 14:15:11 PM EDT

World Class Hypocrites: NRA Endorses 'Enemy of the 2nd Amendment' McCain

The following is a statement by Ray Schoenke, President, American Hunters and Shooters:

Today, the National Rifle Association demonstrated once again that it is a partisan political entity, not an organization committed to the best interests of gun owners.

In 2001, the NRA's magazine, America's First Freedom, said that John McCain was "one of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of the Second Amendment." That came after McCain introduced federal legislation on gun show background checks, which came after McCain's appearances in television ads supporting referenda in Colorado and Oregon to require backgrounds checks at gun shows. The NRA vehemently opposed those measures, which were passed by voters. The ads can be seen here and here.

In 2004, the NRA endorsed George Bush despite his long-standing support for renewal of the federal assault weapons ban, a measure also vehemently opposed by the NRA. In fact, John McCain voted for the renewal of the assault weapons ban in 2004, when he supported S. 1805, which included an amendment on assault weapons.

This history is important. It's hard to imagine any Democrat getting a similar pass from the NRA. In fact, the NRA has been going over Barack Obama's state senate record with a microscope to find any bad vote. Meanwhile, Obama has repeatedly expressed support for the Second Amendment and has even supported a key NRA bill in the U.S. Senate.

But, the NRA's long memory on Obama is contradicted by its lack of honest scrutiny of John McCain and his record. The GOP nominee mocked the NRA to its face by appearing in those TV ads in 2000 and serving as the lead sponsor for gun show legislation. The NRA is holding Obama accountable for votes taken 10 years ago, but giving McCain a pass for his actions within the past 8 years.

But, the leaders of the NRA always put their own political interests first. They're willing to spend the millions of dollars of their members' money to fight Obama when McCain has led the charge against the organization. The NRA is spending those millions to deceive its members and other gun owners. Three independent sources -- FactCheck.org, CNN and the Washington Post, have found the NRA's ads misleading and false.

And, the truth is that NRA has been selling out hunters on conservation interests for years. The organization that I head, the American Hunters and Shooters Association put out a comprehensive report showing that the NRA has support Members of Congress with the worst conservation records (Read the report at: www.realhuntersrealconservation.org). Our report showed that the NRA has stood with George Bush, John McCain, and the corporate lobbyists instead of standing up for hunters and shooters' interest in protecting our forests and public lands.

Today's action by the NRA wasn't unexpected. It just confirms that Wayne LaPierre has made that once great institution nothing but a pawn of the right wing conservative politicians.

A former Washington Redskin great and avid hunter who now runs a 300-acre hunting farm on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Ray Schoenke is the president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA). Located in Maryland, AHSA is an organization committed to supporting the right to keep and bear arms, responsible gun ownership, and conservation.

This amazing campaign

by: West Virginia Lover

Sat Oct 11, 2008 at 07:08:44 AM EDT

This race has not disappointed us who are junkies for presidential politics.  I am not going to review here all the twists and turns the primaries took.  Neither will I rehearse even the surprises that have occurred during this astonishing general election campaign.  But for those of us fascinated with the narrative of presidential politics, yesterday was not a day that let us down, and it is that to which I wish to address myself.

The dishonor of John McCain

by: Carnacki

Fri Oct 10, 2008 at 19:12:22 PM EDT

So who is John McCain? Apparently a grumpy old man with no ideas and trying to hide his own ties to the biggest lobbyists on his campaign behind a smoke screen of lies about Barack Obama.

Obama has challenged McCain to say the same things to his face that he's saying at rallies. McCain has the chance to do that at the next debate.

Gov. Joe Manchin says that when all your candidate does is attack you, it's because they don't have anything good to run on. I think we see that from McCain and Sarah Palin.

During the two debates, Barack Obama mentioned the middle class 17 times. McCain did not mention the middle class a single time.

Not once.

He's got nothing to offer but hate.

Now the GOP base is eating that up, but it doesn't offer anything for the rest of America. That's why conservatives like Peggy Noonan and David Brooks, once filled with McCain and Palin at the convention, have turned on them.

Sarah Palin's going to bring her Hate Tour to West Virginia on Sunday.

Now one of the things I learned in Sunday School long ago is one of the 10 Commandments of the Bible says "Don't Bear False Witness."

Even Republicans are calling McCain and Palin out for their continued lies about Obama's past and his connections to Bill Ayers.

But will Palin obey the commandments, or will she continue to break them out of blind ambition to win?

You know how you can tell she and McCain have nothing to offer in terms of solving problems? Because they don't talk about issues and they want to distract people from talking about them.

Update

After days of stoking the hate, McCain tries to walk it back and loses the crowd. McCain wants it both ways and he'll find he can have neither.

Fayette County Democrats greet Joe McCain

by: Carnacki

Thu Oct 09, 2008 at 22:44:58 PM EDT

Fayette County Democrats showed up to greet him.

Great job, folks!

ARG Says Obama Is Winning in West Virginia

by: West Virginia Lover

Thu Oct 09, 2008 at 14:39:34 PM EDT

Obama 50
McCain 42

Amazing ARG W.Va. poll: O50 M42

by: Clem Guttata

Thu Oct 09, 2008 at 14:37:12 PM EDT

Obama 50 (45)
McCain 42 (49)
Other 3 (-)
Undecided 5 (7)

First set of numbers is poll in the field Oct 4-8, in parenthesis is the Sep 14-16 poll.

Obama has solidified support among Democrats and among Women. West Virginia is absolutely in play. This is great news for Obama and a huge blow to McCain.