I Have Issues (A Political Blog)

Sunday poll

2008-07-27T00:56:00.004-04:00

This one's a rerun (the only time I'll do this) from when the blog wasn't featured on the front page of the site and it didn't get a lot of traffic.

Since I'm on the front through convention time, I thought this would be a good time to reuse it. Here's the original setup:

This week's poll is a look at the people who didn't get to be president. For this list, I've assembled a mix - some I think would have been wonderful, some I believe would have been absolutely horrid and possibly brought about the end of the U.S.A.

I've included as many eras and political stripes as I could, though I admit it's skewed a bit toward modern times.

The only qualification was that the person actually had presidential aspirations - some lost narrowly in the general, others lost in the primary, some never had a prayer in any case and some died before they could be nominated.

Have at it:

Third party watch

2008-07-26T23:33:00.007-04:00

Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr was on Ed Schultz's radio program a few days ago. He said he is likely going to appear on the ballot in 49 out of 50 states.

He didn't mention the one he's having trouble with is the Mountain State.

His deputy campaign manager Shane Cory talked to West Virginia Public Radio about their efforts:

He said West Virginia is one of the toughest states for the third party candidate to get on the ballot. To qualify, Barr must get signatures from 2% of voters from the 2004 election. That’s more than 15,000 signatures.

“For us, it was a matter of resources,” he said. “We had not planned to make an effort in West Virginia. It was only in the last two weeks when we said, we can send in the manpower and we can make a valid attempt to get on the ballot in West Virginia.”

Independent candidate Ralph Nader's campaign turned in their signatures this week.

Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party will get the Mountain Party ballot line (as the Mountain Party's Jesse Johnson bombed in his own bid for the Green nomination).

Photo: Bob Barr, Libertarian Party presidential nominee, gestures as he answers a question during a news conference in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, July 15, 2008. AP

Fox follies continue

2008-07-26T23:05:00.006-04:00

620, 127 signatures were delivered to the pretend news network, calling it out for it's use of racial stereotypes.

Rolling Stone:

The rapper stood next to 19 neatly stacked cardboard boxes, with the number 620,127 taped to the side of each one — over 600,000 signatures gathered by ColorOfChange demanding that network president Roger Ailes “find a solution to address racial stereotyping and hate-mongering before it hits the airwaves.” Fox rejected the petitions, but Brave New Films says that Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report will accept them instead.

Meanwhile, Bill O'Reilly's constant projection is turning him into a complete cartoon.

He compares Netroots Nation to the Nazi party and David Duke. And he thinks Moveon is the new Klan.

The fact that both groups are openly critical of BillO and have documented numerous inaccuracies by him has nothing to do with this, of course.

This is just the usual thing where BillO accuses everyone else of behavior that he's guilty of.

He's no stranger to hate, having made numerous racist slurs over the years.

Lots of them.

Lots and lots.

And if you really want to see BillO's double standards in action, take a look at the guy who immediately follows him on TV. Mr. No Spin is strangely silent on this one.

Photo by me.

Quickies

2008-07-25T17:25:00.004-04:00

- Pollster.com has a good map up on their front page showing how the Obama-McCain polls break down state-by-state and how the electoral vote stands if the election were held today.

- Ralph Nader's supporters have turned in signatures for ballot access in W.Va.

From AP:

The Charleston Gazette reports that petitions containing 7,500 signatures of state voters were submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office on Friday. More than 17,000 signatures were turned in previously and county clerks across the state already have validated more than 12,000.

To get on the November ballot, Nader needs 15,118 valid signatures of registered West Virginia voters.

Obama addresses 200,000 in Germany

2008-07-24T18:39:00.002-04:00

AP:

"People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment. This is our time," he declared.

"The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand," Obama said, speaking not far from where the Berlin Wall once divided the city.

"The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christians and Muslims and Jews cannot stand," he said.

---

Laughably, the GOP is trying to tell us that if people in Europe like him, then he must be bad for America (That was Hannity's sad line today).

Yeah, that whole Europe-bashing, Freedom Fries approach to foreign policy worked out so well these last eight years, didn't it?

----

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves as he arrives at the Victory Column in Berlin, Thursday, July 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Push-polling goes national

2008-07-24T18:15:00.003-04:00

Courtesy of the joke that is FOX News.

With pretty much all polls showing Obama leading McCain, Republican State Television is getting desperate and is pulling out all the stops to get a favorable result.

From TPM. FOX's latest series of questions brings us gems like this:

Some people believe Barack Obama, despite his professed Christianity, is secretly a Muslim. Others say that is just a rumor and Obama really is a Christian as he says, and point out he's attended a Christian church for years. What do you believe -- is Obama a Muslim or a Christian

and this one:

John McCain was held captive for five years in a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. Do you think that experience would make McCain a better president or a worse president?

Even Colbert couldn't parody stuff like this.

And when you go out of your way to influence the results, you can then send them out to to GOP operatives in talk radio and have them crow "Fox Poll shows McCain-Obama statistical tie!," as Rush Limbaugh did today.

Checking in on Hagee

2008-07-24T17:24:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since we heard from nutjob televangelist John Hagee. The controversial pastor was courted by McCain for months. When he finally got his endorsement, McStraighttalk stood by his man for months as controversial statements (praising Hurricane Katrina for wiping out New Orleans, for instance) from the ministry's history became publicized.

Eventually, McMaverick couldn't take the heat and decided to reject him, along with the man he called his "spiritual guide," televangelist and faith healer Rod Parsley.

Hagee has been quiet for a bit, but this week he's kicking off his long-promised gathering of followers at a D.C. conference (McSurrogate Joe Lieberman will be there).

Even though Hagee has hired a p.r. firm to try to put a pretty face on his conference, you don't have to dig too deep to see what kind of fanatical people McCain was seeking to win the approval of.

The American News Project has video and a report on this. Check it out here.

Off topic Thursday

2008-07-24T00:22:00.000-04:00

Public Image Ltd. "Don't Ask Me"

CBS covers for McCain's error

2008-07-24T00:15:00.006-04:00

Can we bury that tired "lib'rul media bias" myth once and for all?

Politico:

CBS News, which is under fire for its editing of Katie Couric's interview with Senator John McCain last night, defended the editing in a statement to Politico.

In the version of the interview that aired, an apparent McCain error reversing of the surge and the Sunni awakening was edited out, and a different answer was shown in response to the same question, drawing criticism from Huffington Post and from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, among others.

Quickies

2008-07-23T17:23:00.003-04:00

- Public health hazard number one: Bob Novak.

- Bush on the economic crisis:

"There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk ... it got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments."

Write your own joke here.

- Rasmussen has Obama leading in Florida. 49-47%.

- Lina Newhouser, co-founder of Commondreams.org has died at age 56.

- Rasmussen also has McCain up by 10 in Ohio, which is the opposite of PPP's latest poll, which has Obama up by 8.

Quickies

2008-07-21T16:31:00.004-04:00

- Public Policy Polling shows Obama with a 8 point lead over McCain in Ohio (48-40).

- South Carolina State Senator Kevin Bryant does GOP bigots proud.

- Glenn Greenwald explains the real reason for the Democrats' cave on telecom amnesty: The convention is brought to you by AT&T!

- Brownsox at Daily Kos says the race for Ky.'s U.S. Senate seat may be very competitive:

KY-Sen: Speaking of fundraising news, Bruce Lunsford is committed to keeping pace with fundraising juggernaut Mitch McConnell. Largely through personal donations to his own campaign, Lunsford matched McConnell's stunning $3 million take from last quarter.

Barth gaining on Capito?

2008-07-20T23:25:00.008-04:00

AP had a story today on the race between incumbent Republican Shelley Moore Capito and Democratic candidate Anne Barth for W.Va.'s 2nd District U.S. House seat.

As the campaign continues, the race is being seen as more and more competitive. The Democrats have listed it as one of their "Red to Blue" targets and national leaders are helping Barth with fund raising.

The Gazette reported last week that Capito is outraising Barth, but as today's AP story shows, political observers like Charles Cook have to keep changing their rankings of the race as Barth closes in.

AP (via the H-D):
Noted national political analyst Charles Cook, for instance, upgraded the race from "Safely Republican" to “Likely Republican” after West Virginia’s May primary and then to “Lean Republican” earlier this month.

Capito has never really faced a serious challenge in her time in office. She won election to the seat vacated by Bob Wise in 2000, largely due to the the fact that Democrats had a lousy and unpopular candidate in James Humphreys.

She beat Humphreys again in 2002 and, in 2004 and 2006, she faced an underfunded candidate and then a challenger with no serious backing from the national party.

Though she won both times, the numbers hardly indicated she was invincible for future races.

Now she's facing Barth, who ran Sen. Robert C. Byrd's office for nearly twenty years and has the national party's backing and support.

And it's a hostile political climate for Congressional Republicans this year.

The way things are going, we may see this win in the "toss-up" category very, very soon.

Al-Maliki says Obama's plan is "more realistic"

2008-07-20T23:11:00.005-04:00

Your buried lead this weekend in the mainstream media.

From Spiegel Online:

SPIEGEL: Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the US troops will finally leave Iraq?

Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.

SPIEGEL: Is this an endorsement for the US presidential election in November? Does Obama, who has no military background, ultimately have a better understanding of Iraq than war hero John McCain?

Maliki: Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems. Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business. But it's the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that's where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited.

In this photo released by the Iraqi Government, the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki gestures as he speaks at a meeting with several Arab ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates in that country's capital, Abu Dhabi, Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Iraqi Government, HO)

----
UPDATE: Al-Maliki appeared to back off this statement a bit yesterday, but today the Iraqi government spokesman issued a statement that looks like it favors the Obama plan.

Gore on coal issues

2008-07-20T22:51:00.008-04:00

Former vice-president Al Gore made a surprise appearance at Netroots Nation and took some questions.

wvblueguy of WVaBlue asked him about mountaintop removal and coal-to-liquid technology.

Gore's take on MTR?

"Mountaintop mining is an atrocity. It is an outrage."

[...]

"It's all done in automated way. That's why the coalminers lost all of their jobs. When we make this transition to renewable fuels, we have to keep them in mind. We ought to guarantee a good job in the fresh air and sunshine for every single coal miner who has been affected by the transition over to renewable fuels."

Here's the video:

More on this here in the original WVaBlue post.

Mandela celebrates 90 years

2008-07-18T23:55:00.003-04:00

AP:

Sounding and looking vigorous, Mandela told a small group of reporters he was fortunate to have reached 90, crediting his "behavior" for his longevity.

"If you are poor, you are not likely to live long," he said.

His message was simple — the wealthy must do more.

"There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate, who have not been able to conquer poverty," Mandela said during the 10-minute interview, his first such exchange with journalists in years.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela reacts during an interview with the media at his house in Qunu, rural southeastern South Africa, Friday, July 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, Pool)

Netroots Nation

2008-07-18T23:33:00.002-04:00

The W.Va. Blue folks are attending Netroots Nation (I envy them), the yearly gathering of progressive bloggers that grew out of of the Yearly Kos conventions.

Read all about their experience here.

Here's Howard Dean, whose 2004 campaign revitalized the Democratic grassroots and energized the netroots, addressing the gathering:

The Real McCain 2

2008-07-18T20:23:00.001-04:00

The follow-up video from Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films.

Well, that was quick

2008-07-18T17:24:00.004-04:00

McCain has decided to kiss and make up with top advisor and complete jerk Phil Gramm.

Robert Scheer explains how Gramm's lobbyist-driven policies led to Enron and the current banking crisis here.

UPDATE: Looks like Novak's source spoke too soon. Gramm has resigned. To use the most overused GOP cliche, "Look how many people are under the bus in that campaign."

In this Feb. 3, 2008 file photo, former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm looks on at right as Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. addresses a rally at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. The Associated Press

Icelandic horror!

2008-07-17T22:22:00.009-04:00

China's totalitarian rulers have listed Bjork as a national security threat and are banning her from the county.

Yes, Iceland's pop star has the ability to do what centuries of warfare, natural disaster and everything in between couldn't: Bring about the end of the Chinese nation.

Can you blame them? Just look at how chilling she is!

This, of course, is due to the fact that Bjork has been openly critical of China's murderous occupation of Tibet

Earlier this year, Bjork shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" at a Shanghai concert having performed her song "Declare Independence," which she has used in the past to promote independence movements in other places such as Kosovo.

Bjork's position is unlike, say, our last few presidents (and especially the current one) who can't wait to honor such brutality with the reward of trade and U.S. dollars.

Photo AP

Quickies

2008-07-17T18:29:00.002-04:00

- Howard Zinn says no one wins in a war.

- Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr attended Gore's speech.

-Clem Guttata at W.VaBlue has a good take on what the Gore plan can mean for W.Va.

- Poor Holy Joe Lieberman has no friends.

Gore hands the Democrats an issue

2008-07-17T16:53:00.006-04:00

The Democrats have more or less dropped the ball in making the energy crisis a meaningful issue so far in this race.

McCain and the GOP have put forward their horrid "drill here, drill now, blah blah blah" plan. But, to some voters, at least they're [seen as] talking about a solution. And it's helped McCain some.

I have no doubt that Obama would be a bazillion times better on the issue than McMaverick and his army of career lobbyists, but so far, he hasn't spelled it out as well as he should.

Today former Vice President Al Gore called on the U.S. to set a real alternative energy goal for the nation.

AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Just as John F. Kennedy set his sights on the moon, Al Gore is challenging the nation to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10 years, an audacious goal he hopes the next president will embrace

[..]

Gore said he fully understands the magnitude of the challenge.

The Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan group that he chairs, estimates the cost of transforming the nation to so-called clean electricity sources at $1.5 trillion to $3 trillion over 30 years in public and private money. But he says it would cost about as much to build ozone-killing coal plants to satisfy current demand.

"This is an investment that will pay itself back many times over," Gore said. "It's an expensive investment but not compared to the rising cost of continuing to invest in fossil fuels."

This is the way Obama should approach this issue. Propose an Apollo Plan for energy. He hinted at it a bit when he criticized McCain's 'magic battery' pitch. Possibly, he'll elaborate as the campaign continues.

He needs to focus on this issue, contrast the differences in his plan and the GOP's and make it his own.

Former Vice President Al Gore speaks about energy and the future, Thursday, July 17, 2008, at Constitution Hall in Washington. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Go Rachel!

2008-07-17T16:43:00.003-04:00

The NYTimes reports that, my hero, Air America's Rachel Maddow is in the running to get her own show on MSNBC.

It's about time.

“At some point, I don’t know when, she should have a show,” said Phil Griffin, hours before he was promoted on Wednesday to president of MSNBC. “She’s on the short list. It’s a very short list. She’s at the top.”

You see, conservatives, this is what actual liberal media would look like.

Contrary to popular misconception, it's not Wolf Blitzer, George Stephanopoulos and the others members of beltway punditocracy you constantly cite.

More on Ms. Maddow, whose radio show airs locally on 1340AM at 6p.m. M-F, can be found here.

Off topic Thursday

2008-07-17T00:16:00.002-04:00

Ray Davies of The Kinks performs his classic "Waterloo Sunset" with Damon Albarn from Blur

Who is the greatest president we never had?
	Alexander Hamilton
	Samuel Adams
	Henry Clay
	Horace Greeley
	Samuel Tilden
	William Jennings Bryan
	Eugene Debs
	Robert La Follette
	Huey P. Long
	Alf Landon
	Tom Dewey
	Henry Wallace
	Strom Thurmond
	Adlai Stevenson
	Barry Goldwater
	Robert F. Kennedy
	Eugene McCarthy
	Hubert Humphrey
	George Wallace
	George McGovern
	Walter Mondale
	Gary Hart
	Michael Dukakis
	H. Ross Perot
	Bob Dole
	Steve Forbes
	Al Gore
	Ralph Nader
	Pat Buchanan
	John Kerry

pollcode.com free polls

I Have Issues (A Political Blog)

Sunday poll

Third party watch

Fox follies continue

Quickies

Recommended Reading: Amy Goodman

Obama addresses 200,000 in Germany

Push-polling goes national

Checking in on Hagee

Off topic Thursday

CBS covers for McCain's error

Quickies

Quickies

Barth gaining on Capito?

Al-Maliki says Obama's plan is "more realistic"

Gore on coal issues

Mandela celebrates 90 years

Netroots Nation

The Real McCain 2

Well, that was quick

Icelandic horror!

Quickies

Gore hands the Democrats an issue

Go Rachel!

Off topic Thursday

Recommended reading: Coal to Liquid Plan Means a Kentucky Fried Earth