Why Is Andy Stern Helping John McCain?

by: neonatalmichael

Wed Sep 17, 2008 at 12:06

With all the attention that SEIU has received over rampant corruption in its largest California local, 6434 formerly headed by the disgraced Tyrone Freeman, and Michigan’s largest healthcare Union also formerly headed by, yet again another disgraced leader (Rickman Jackson), and now most recently the resignation of one of Mr. Sterns newly elected top International Vice-Presidents, Anelle Grajeda, for diverting members dues to her former boy friend, one must ask the question: “who does Andy Stern really support for President?” At first glance at the current situation with SEIU Andy Stern’s pick as our next President may seem unrelated to the corruption within SEIU. That is, until you examine closely how Mr. Stern has acted upon the alleged corruption within SEIU.

Instead of aggressively pursuing all available remedies to rid the corruption within the aforementioned SEIU locals and getting back to the business of electing a pro-worker candidate he has instead chosen to expend the vast majority of SEIU’s resources in a personal vendetta against arguably one of SEIU’s most successful union locals, SEIU-UHW West.

Why? Because SEIU-UHW West dared to hold Stern and his “Team” accountable for the inherent promise that SEIU be of the members, by the members, and for the members.
SEIU-UHW West has engaged Stern for close to 3 years in an internal debate over union governance that has challenged the destructive direction Stern has moved SEIU towards. SEIU-UHW West attempted to sound the alarm during the recent SEIU convention in Puerto Rico by bringing to the floor measures that would have ensured and preserved member governance, oversight, and participation at the highest levels of SEIU.

Unfortunately, Stern and his “Team” choreographed a textbook campaign that vilified SEIU-UHW West’s platform as centric only to the needs of SEIU-UHW West and devoid of any conscience for the plight of unorganized workers. He stated that SEIU-UHW West was only interested “in polishing their apples”. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact the platform put forward by SEIU-UHW West expanded the powers of its members and was a threat to Stern’s lust for control, power, and centralization of decision making within SEIU.

Second only to 1199 NY in its COPE contributions (member voluntary political fund) to the International, the leader in California COPE dollars by double the states locals average, and the fastest growing local in SEIU, SEIU-UHW West, instead of being utilized by Stern to ensure that we elect a President sensitive to the needs of the working class, is instead under a vicious and completely baseless attack from Stern and his appointed henchmen and surrogates that includes a threatened trusteeship on false charges of financial mismanagement.

It is important to note that this is Stern’s second bite at this apple. The international recently had their proverbial heads handed to them in the highest court in California on this very issue.

The court ruled that the International had no basis for their claims and dismissed all relevant claims made by SEIU with prejudice. Put simply, the court told Stern and his “Team” not to ever bring this frivolous matter before the court again. So now Stern wants to drag SEIU-UHW West thru the mud in an attempt to discredit them as well as distract attention away from the more serious previously mentioned malfeasance (and long known by Stern) of his handpicked appointees, Tyrone Freeman, Rickman Jackson, Annelle Grajeda.

With so much at stake in this years election one must wonder why a personal vendetta against SEIU-UHW West is the highest priority for Mr. Stern. At the SEIU convention in Puerto Rico this year, delegates endured wave after wave of self righteous indignation opposing SEIU-UHW West’s desire to debate internal jurisdictional issues. At stake was the very essence of what it meant to be a healthcare worker; the ability to advocate on behalf of patients, better staffing, improvements in working conditions, and the right to choose in a fair and democratic process what union local to be represented by.

Stern surrogates and appointees made statements calling SEIU-UHW’s arguments selfish and self-serving. One even stated, “People are dying right now as we waste time debating these issues. We have work to do! Let’s get to work!” Staffers from the SEIU continued to echo this same tired line at nausea throughout the debate process.

Certainly the work of electing a progressive pro-working class president falls into the category of “work to do”. And if it does why, with the incredible political fight before us, would Andy Stern sideline his second biggest political weapon against four more years of Bush’s failed policies in order to carry out a personal vendetta against SEIU-UHW West?

Stern has time and again issued the battle cry against corporate greed, affirmed his commitment to lift workers out of poverty, and boldly stated that SEIU will lead the battle to get universal healthcare and pass perhaps one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation ensuring workers rights to organize (EFCA).

So it defies logic that at the most critical time in the election process, where so many peoples lives depend on the outcome, Mr. Stern would allow himself to be consumed with forcing a trusteeship upon a union local that has a long and proven history of, not only adhering to the values he claims to hold dearly but, excelling at those same values.

And why would Mr. Stern schedule the Trusteeship hearing, not only during the most critical time of the general election but on the exact same dates (September 26-27) that the Obama campaign is attempting to mobilize California supporters to participate in a canvassing effort in neighboring “swing state” Nevada, where Obama trails McCain by 1 percentage point?

It begs the question, who ultimately wins if Mr. Stern allows himself to take action against a union local who has the power to help end eight years of failed economic and foreign policies? And whose’ hopes ultimately die if we fail?

Andy Stern prides himself on being a leader in the progressive majority movement. However, his current actions fly in the face of his alleged progressive values. He is jeopardizing real reform in our labor movement to fulfill a personal grudge. These are hardly the qualities of a true progressive and reformer, and certainly not the qualities that will bring hope and “Justice For All”.

Why We Have Two Weeks To Win Or Lose This Election: Early Voting

by: avenged savant

Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 18:56

Thoughts on the media campaign – please read and add your thoughts

by: JC

Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 12:41

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

by: Matt H

Sat Sep 13, 2008 at 21:55

So this is my attempt to divide this campaign into the Good (optimism), the Bad (Pessimism) and the Ugly (things we don’t want to admit to.)

Fight Back… Fight Dirty!

by: btchakir

Sat Sep 13, 2008 at 10:23

Here is what is most frustrating about this situation. The Press KNOWS that this is what is being done, yet they spend their time pushing the “pig-lipstick” issues, rather than evaluating the proposed solutions to the economy or the actual statements on foreign policy from either candidate.

The reason for this MUST be because it is what the audience is ready to eat up. Television journalism, for instance, really goes for ratings to survive, and ratings means number of viewers. Therefore, if we get 12 hours of discussions on whether or not Obama was insulting Palin when he said that the Republicans’ making claims to creating change was like “putting lipstick on a pig… but it’s still a pig.” Easily, on MSNBC’s Morning Joe alone, this used up two days of discussion which might have focused on issues.

I’m afraid the only solution for so little time left is for the Democrats to start fighting just as dirty as McCain. It wouldn’t be hard, it just has to be done.

Under the LobsterScope

Kindergarten Sex? Zzzzzzzzzzzz

by: Spartacus X

Fri Sep 12, 2008 at 08:41

But getting mad at McCain about it seems to me to be missing the point.

Perhaps an analogy might help. Let’s say you’re at war, and an enemy soldier shoots you in the back. Was this an “underhanded” decision on their part? Sure, maybe, but it’s also a smart decision if they want to survive. Expecting them to politely inform you before they fire so you can face them head-on wouldn’t be very wise. The better question, understanding the context of war, would be to ask why you had your back turned to the enemy.

Obviously politics is a lot like war. And while I’m not endorsing McCain’s underhanded move, I also think it’s pretty foolish to whine about it, given the context. In politics – particularly when you’re fighting against Republicans – you should expect that you’re going to face a lot of underhanded attacks. Obama can’t prevent attacks like these but he does have a lot of control over how he responds, and whether his responses are truly effective.

Read Obama spokesperson Bill Burton’s response and tell me how effective you think it really is:

“It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls – a position that his friend Mitt Romney also holds. Last week, John McCain told Time magazine he couldn’t define what honor was. Now we know why.”

Now, if you’re an Obama supporter, you might be happy with this response. After all, you probably already thought McCain’s charges were ridiculous. However I think that weak responses like these help explain why Obama is in danger of losing this race.

McCain: You want to teach kindergarteners about sex.
Obama: No I don’t. I have children. Your friend agrees with me. You have no honor.
Audience: What a sputtering whiner.

There are really several problems with this response, which has multiple threads and is inherently defensive in nature. The riposte is tacked like an afterthought on to the end, and it’s rather weak. Saying a politician has no honor is sort of like saying that he swears. Most people expect it, so it’s a boring attack. More importantly, there’s no real outrage in this response. You’ve just been accused of what many people would consider gross perversion – you want to teach their young children about anal sex and pregnancy. This is an outrageous accusation, and if it’s untrue, many of us would expect to see some outrage on your part. If there’s no outrage – if this idea doesn’t seem to upset you – then the truth of the details isn’t so important because you’ve confirmed the substance of the charge with your reaction.

Rather than issuing a press release by a spokesperson, it would have been better if Obama had responded directly and forcefully – and emotionally – in a live televised press conference.

An even more effective step would be to take the initiative by attacking forcefully in return. This might be a good ad:

Unshaven middle-aged white guy speaking to the camera:
“I don’t know what child molesters like me would do without John McCain. Child molesters don’t often have friends in such high places. Usually we get by because children don’t know enough to run away, but Sen. Obama voted for a bill that would have helped them avoid molesters like me. Thank goodness we have friends like John McCain. The more he attacks Obama, the more people will learn to leave us alone and let us do what we do best.”

Is it outrageous? Sure. But it has a lot more truth in it than McCain’s ad has, and if you really want to cut through the noise, you have to be a little outrageous. That’s why McCain’s ad is likely to be so effective.

I understand why Obama wouldn’t want to run an ad like this, even if I don’t agree. But that fact that he’s taken this attack so cavalierly, yawning about honor in some low-grade press release, helps explain why this race is so close – and may help explain Obama’s eventual defeat.

Cross-posted at http://www.spartacusx.com .

Get Tough Barack, You're up Against the Slimeball Champ

by: Bobc

Thu Sep 11, 2008 at 00:34

Here is what Obama should be saying:  McCain is a weakling. He is a political weakling, afraid of his own convictions. We have seen him time and again since he started running for president give up his position to whoever yelled the loudest. He caved to Bush on the tax cuts for the wealthy. He caved to the extremists on immigration reform. He caved to the extremists and kneeled down for Falwell. And he caved to Bush on torture.

McCain has no backbone when it comes to standing his political ground. The straight talk express goes straight in one direction until John McCain gets scared, and then it backs up and goes in the opposite direction.

It’s too bad that a man of such strength in the Vietnam War is such a weakling when it comes to politics. McCain can’t take the heat for his own convictions. It’s a real shame to watch him cower in the face of political pressure.

Lies in Political Ads

by: mp

Wed Sep 10, 2008 at 23:40

McCain has carried it too far… now the media is responding…

by: btchakir

Wed Sep 10, 2008 at 20:02

Here are highlights from his post on McCain’s integrity:

For me, this surreal moment – like the entire surrealism of the past ten days – is not really about Sarah Palin or Barack Obama or pigs or fish or lipstick. It’s about John McCain. The one thing I always thought I knew about him is that he is a decent and honest person. When he knows, as every sane person must, that Obama did not in any conceivable sense mean that Sarah Palin is a pig, what did he do? Did he come out and say so and end this charade? Or did he acquiesce in and thereby enable the mindless Rovianism that is now the core feature of his campaign?

So far, he has let us all down. My guess is he will continue to do so. And that decision, for my part, ends whatever respect I once had for him. On core moral issues, where this man knew what the right thing was, and had to pick between good and evil, he chose evil.

—

And when he had the chance to engage in a real and substantive debate against the most talented politician of the next generation in a fall campaign where vital issues are at stake, what did McCain do? He began his general campaign with a series of grotesque, trivial and absurd MTV-style attacks on Obama’s virtues and implied disgusting things about his opponent’s patriotism.

And then, because he could see he was going to lose, ten days ago, he threw caution to the wind and with no vetting whatsoever, picked a woman who, by her decision to endure her own eight-month pregnancy of a Down Syndrome child in public, that he was going to reignite the culture war as a last stand against Obama. That’s all that is happening right now: a massive bump in the enthusiasm of the Christianist base. This is pure Rove.

—

McCain has demonstrated in the last two months that he does not have the character to be president of the United States.

So what does it mean when a conservative columnist and blogger (and frequent television pundit) comments this way on the character of someone he used to support? During 2007, in a long column, Sullivan said:

As such, I’ve made my decision. I’m backing McCain. Further, I hope that Obama takes down Hillary and clinches the Democratic nomination. A McCain/Obama race would be one about policy, not personalities, and would be a unifying event, not a polarizing one.

Under The LobsterScope

Strategy Hat: How Obama Can Win

by: fairleft

Wed Sep 10, 2008 at 13:18

No, it’s the smell of fear, insecurity and typical Dem conventional wisdom. The vice president thing showed the real Obama (one I’ve been talking about for months (in many many deleted by Peeder diaries)), an insecure guy very strictly obedient to wuss party conventional wisdom. The recent sky-is-falling was “They say WE’RE WEAK ON FOREIGN POLICY!!!!” and so (showing poor judgment even there) Obama chose the insider-as-parody Biden.

Then McCain and his advisers, showing good strategic judgment, chose a candidate who resonates with and amplifies McCain’s maverick theme. (Biden resonates only to the sound of his own voice.) Obama should’ve chosen as McCain did, a candidate like Bill Richardson who resonates with and amplifies Obama’s (apparent) ‘ethnics r the shit’ message.  

Spengler, an asshole over at atimes.com, sums up:

McCain’s choice of vice presidential candidate made obvious after the fact what the party professionals felt in their fingertips at the stadium extravaganza [Obama’s acceptance speech] yesterday: rejecting Clinton [well, Spengler is wrong on a lot of things] in favor of the colorless, unpopular, tangle-tongued Washington perennial Joe Biden was a statement of weakness. McCain’s selection was a statement of strength. America’s voters will forgive many things in a politician, including sexual misconduct, but they will not forgive weakness.

That is why McCain will win in November, and by a landslide, barring some unforeseen event [again, imho Spengler is wrong here and with the economy sucking so bad this still looks like a close election]. Obama [has] a fatally insecure personality. American voters are not intellectual, but they are shrewd, like animals. They can smell insecurity, and the convention stank of it. Obama’s prospective defeat is entirely of its own making. No one is more surprised than Republican strategists, who were convinced just weeks ago that a weakening economy ensured a Democratic victory. . . .

McCain doesn’t have a tenth of Obama’s synaptic fire-power, but he is a nasty old sailor who knows when to come about for a broadside. Given Obama’s defensive, even wimpy selection of a running-mate, McCain’s choice was obvious. He picked the available candidate most like himself: a maverick with impeccable reform credentials, a risk-seeking commercial fisherwoman and huntress married to a marathon snowmobile racer who carries a steelworkers union card. The Democratic order of battle was to tie McCain to the Bush administration and attack McCain by attacking Bush. With Palin on the ticket, McCain has re-emerged as the maverick he really is.

As I said, Spengler’s an asshole: McCain’s as much a maverick as James Garner was, i.e. he plays one on TV (well, in that lame-ass movie with Jodie Foster too). And Palin’s ‘reform credentials’ are all bullshit. But, anyway, Spengler’s right about McCain refurbishing his image and Obama messing up his (the article also goes into Spengler’s psycho-analysis of Obama, which is a worthwhile read imho).

FAIRLEFT’S Predictable ADVICE TO OBAMA:

Shifting the Political Debate

by: The Opportunity Agenda

Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 12:31

A year and a half ago, The Opportunity Agenda embarked on an ambitious effort to elevate social justice values, problems, and solutions in the 2008 presidential election cycle.  In particular, we sought to make two crucial ideals, Opportunity and Community, front and center in public and political discourse around the campaign.  Opportunity is the idea that everyone should have a fair chance to achieve his or her full potential; it is an idea inextricably linked with the American Dream.  Community is the notion that we share a sense of responsibility for each other; that we’re all in it together and strongest when we leave no one behind.  Community values are the essence of our national motto, e pluribus unum, “from many, one.”

The Opportunity Agenda has promoted those values across social issues, from education to living wages to the integration of immigrants to health care to family farming, identifying the practical solutions that uphold our core ideals.  We have worked in collaboration with hundreds of social justice leaders, organizations, and everyday folks, and in a particularly strong partnership with the Center for Community Change and its network around community values.

Our effort has included research on American values, public opinion, framing, and media discourse; communications tools and training for hundreds of advocates, organizers, faith, and political leaders around the country; outreach to mainstream and ethnic media; new media advocacy, from blogs to YouTube, to MySpace and Facebook; and message support to the Heartland Presidential Forum: Community Values in Action, co-sponsored by the Center for Community Change in Des Moines, Iowa, ahead of the caucuses.

Our effort is strictly non-partisan and does not embrace any candidate or either party.  We believe that a long-term campaign to move hearts, minds, and policy must cross partisan boundaries. 

As the Democratic National Convention came to a close, we were able to see real progress in moving the political discourse.  Opportunity and Community were very much “in the house” at the Democratic convention.  Indeed, the theme of the convention-renewing America’s promise-had deep roots in the narratives of Opportunity and Community.  We’ll be analyzing the Republican convention shortly.

Finally… Obama comes out to say that McCain and Palin are "not telling the truth."

by: btchakir

Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 08:50

“For them to run an ad that doesn’t basically present an accurate record of their positions on issues. I think, should raise some issues on how they would run an administration,” said Obama, referring to the ad where the claim is made that Palin was behind canceling Bridge To Nowhere funding.

The Most Hated Democrats Ever

by: Steve in Sacto

Mon Sep 08, 2008 at 03:28

In It To Win It

Whoever does become the Democratic nominee had better plan to win the general election. If they screw it up, they will become the most hated political figure in Democratic circles for years, like Mike Dukakis only 1000x times worse. If you can’t manage beat one of these clowns in the wake of Mr. 24%’s reign of error….

In It To Win It

Nobody listens to me, but it’s probably a decent moment to remind the various presidential campaigns that if they get the nomination and lose the general election, they will become the most hated figures in the Democratic party.

Fair or not, that’s the way it is. Mike and Walter won’t even ask you to their parties.

Over Soon

As I wrote before, whoever does get the nomination had better plan to win or they will deservedly become the most hated figure in Democratic politics.

Just want to send a gentle reminder to Obama, Axelrod and Plouffe of what the rest of their life will be like if they don’t get their act together in the next eight weeks.

Tax Plan Calculator Idea to See How Candidates' Plans Affect People

by: dr anonymous

Sat Sep 06, 2008 at 18:59

I had an idea, and I think it might be a good one.

I’m tired of hearing politicians argue about whose tax plan will benefit the most Americans. In this election we have both candidates promising tax breaks to the middle class; most Americans have no way of fact-checking, so they end up just guessing based on the candidate’s personality, party affiliation, etc.

Why not have an online tool that can estimate your annual tax bill under each candidate’s plan? In other words, you would type in your annual income (or fill out an easy, 5-10 question survey) and you’d get a little spreadsheet: here’s your approximate tax bill right now, here’s what it would be under Obama, here’s what it would be under McCain.

I understand it might be hard to research both plans and reduce them to simple formulas like that, but even if it just gave you a ballpark figure it would be worth it.

I’m also aware that people would accuse the calculator of being biased, inaccurate, etc. But if enough people were using it, economists and other experts would weigh in and (I hope) reach a consensus. In any case, at least it would raise the level of discourse a little.

I’m sending this message to the candidates and to news organizations in the hope that someone will give it a try. If this sounds like a good idea to you, send it to your candidate or your favorite news source. And if you know anyone that you think could work on a tool like that, send it to that person!

Forget about Eagleton, the relevant example is Checkers

by: sTiVo

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 08:10

The Checkers speech.  Richard Nixon was basically left to sink or swim by Eisenhower.  If he could sell himself with a dynamite speech, he would be left on the ticket, otherwise not.  He sold himself well and Ike said, “atta boy”.  And the rest, unfortunately, is history.

Who's Afraid of Sarah Palin?

by: Syrith

Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 13:27

(Cross-posted at Daily Kos)

McCain strategy: win election by exploiting Democratic primary divisions and crass gender politics

My take: This will fail.  McCain is ignorantly falling for the same conventional wisdom as so many in the media – but his assumptions are false, false, false.  

The CW narrative goes like this: “Obama and Clinton had a nasty primary fight, and lots of white Democratic women (‘PUMAs’ and their sympathizers) are skittish of Obama as a result.  Even if Clinton’s speech this week began to reassure these women, they can still be peeled off, by appealing to McCain’s incredible Maverickosity so that they ignore their Democratic Party instincts, and by appealing to their desire to elect a woman to executive federal office, an opportunity they were denied by Obama’s defeat of Clinton.”  Sounds scary, right?

Too bad my good friend Mr. Actual Polling Results tells me a different story.  

(full analysis, reader poll, and additional McCain strategies and rebuttals below the fold!)

United Democratic Party Money Bomb

by: TheUnknown285

Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:57

Despite the self-important screechings of the traditional media, the hurt feelings and ruffled feathers of the primary season are not insurmoutable. Hillary and Bill Clinton have worked to unite the Democratic Party with their rousing convention speeches and gracious support of Obama during the delegate voting process. Now it’s time to reward Hillary for being a team player by helping pay off her campaign debt.

And while we’re at it, lets give Barack Obama, who was equally gracious in victory, the funds he needs to expand the map, create coattails for down-ballot races, and end the conservative governing that thinks that all social issues are due to gays, Atheists, Hollywood, and working women, that the way to solve all economic ills are tax cuts for the super rich, and that war will solve all of America’s international problems.

Now let's see how McCain responds…

by: btchakir

Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 08:05

We are wondering how he’ll respond to all the specifics that Obama hit him with last night.  Maybe he’ll use his status as a POW forty years ago as an excuse for the pit the Republicans have put America in.

Under The LobsterScope

Obama's Historic Speech

by: QueenTiye

Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:17

More after the jump, and crossposted at http://obamaproject.windonwate…

PA-05: McCracken for Congress — Weekly Update — August 24, 2008

by: vmo1701

Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 15:54

Barack Obama made an excellent choice with his selection of Delaware Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate.  On Saturday I spent the day working at the Democratic booth at the Centre County Grange Fair and throughout the day people were asking if the announcement had been made.  Everyone I spoke with expressed positive opinions about the choice.  If this is any indication of the type of qualified people Barack Obama will surround himself with as President, we can all rest assured that our country will be headed in a better direction come January of 2009.

The daily trivia question at the Democratic booth was “What Pennsylvania town was Joe Biden’s hometown?”  I’m usually pretty good at trivia but Kim Bierly had to tell me the answer was Scranton PA.

JoeBamaRama!

by: Hoooey

Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 13:32

About the Text Message

by: QueenTiye

Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 12:52

OK – but – wasn’t it fun?  This had almost as much drama as election night.  All of us were glued to our computers, our cell phones, our smart phones, etc – waiting for news of the vice presidential pick.  Honestly – I don’t know if I would have been this excited about the decision if I hadn’t signed up to BE excited about it.  I was unsure if anyone would care about being the “first to know” – and only circulated the news because I thought it would be worthwhile to get others on the broadcast list.  But just the fact of signing up, meant that I was anticipating this news, and increased my interest.

In short – even the news interest was heightened because we were all waiting on the notice – and the official notice was not anti-climactic – it was “official.”

One thing the Obama campaign has succeeded in – has been garnering enthusiasm.  In this – the texting campaign was a smashing success.

QT

Obama/Biden '08: What is your Reaction?

by: optimusprime

Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 10:52

Saturday 3:18 am my cell phone received the text of the Obama’s running mate.  

5:17 am, my buddy who is a regional coordinator for Obama PA for good measure sent another message:

Joe biden

If he was awake this early, makes me wonder how many of us are sleep deprived either lambasting Biden for VP or nodding their heads in approval.

Suprised by the news.  Hardly.  Dejected?  No.

Obama confirms Biden on CAMPAIGN WEBSITE

by: paulhogarth

Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 02:56

“Barack Has Chosen Joe Biden to Be His Running Mate”

[Fundraising Button]: “Send Him a Welcome Note”

Obama VP Open Thread: Because It's Fun to Be on the Record

by: Syrith

Fri Aug 22, 2008 at 11:08

In the next 24 hours (maybe less) Barack will decide that he’s ridden McMansionGate long enough and that it’s time to push the button on his cell phone and send a VP announcement text message to millions of Americans.  

In the meantime, way too many of us in the Netroots are sitting around refresh-refresh-refreshing our browsers and hoping Mark Helperin or Howard Fineman will drop some crumb of insight that salves our fears and reassures us that it’s not Dick Lugar (or, you know, whoever – stay calm, stay calm).  

Since even the monkeys at the Washington Post are apt to accidentally type a few lines of Hamlet once in a while, I’m opting to take Howard Kurtz’ advice:

Why wait for the actual event? Whip out that keyboard and tell everyone what you think about Obama’s VP choice right now.

Consider this an open thread for you to expound, in your infinite wisdom, on your Final Predictions for the the Obama Veepstakes.

Women who support McCain are actually asking for government to control their bodies…

by: btchakir

Fri Aug 22, 2008 at 10:38

McCain Judgment: Equal to Bush's

by: btchakir

Thu Aug 21, 2008 at 07:59

Josh Marshall & Digby: Obama has no theme/message

by: Steve in Sacto

Tue Aug 19, 2008 at 19:27

Josh Marshall:

From Obama, honestly, I don’t sense a really clear message. There are attacks on McCain, some of which are quite good. There are positive uplifting commercials. And there are ads/messages targeted to particular states — like Yucca Mountain in Nevada and the DHL layoffs in Ohio. But it’s hard for me to come up with a clear cut Obama message in way that it’s pretty simple for me to do with McCain. Even the ‘change’ message, which is the basis of Obama’s campaign, seems much more diffuse to me than it was during the primaries.

Digby:

…the central problem for the campaign is that nobody knows what Obama stands for. It’s a perennial problem for Democrats, but I think it may be an even bigger problem this time. The hope and change theme was galvanizing in the beginning but it isn’t enough to sustain full campaign. What was once inspiring has become a fog.

Let's Advertise!

by: FearItself

Sun Aug 17, 2008 at 11:44

Obama & McCain at Saddleback Church

by: SteveAudio

Sat Aug 16, 2008 at 14:29

The poster for this event has McCain’s name on the left.  So?

All western languages of which I’m aware read left to right.

When I was taught to look both ways in Kindergarten, it was “look left, then right.”

Menus in restaurants are organized as description on the left, price on the right.

While I’m possibly being paranoid, I’m also pretty sure this is no accident.

Full disclosure:  In my alter ego as a Professional Audio Expert, I have done work for Saddleback Church.  And I have seen ‘backstage’ of their operation.  They have top-of-the-line audio and video equipment, dedicated professionals running same, and I have no doubt they also have pro graphics designers working on web design.

And graphics like that one.

In all fairness, when you go to this site: saddlebackcivilforum.com, the photo order is Warren/Obama/McCain.  So I dunno . . .

What I do know is this:  When we lived in the OC, I had 2 big mega-churches as clients.  One was extremely right-wing, very repressive, male-dominated, based on Four Square Gospel tradition.