Rumors abound that the Obama campaign is leaning to Evan Bayh as a veep choice.
Bayh was a cheerleader for the war. He's not his dad. In fact, he's not much.
Bayh is better than Dan Quail Quayle, but at this moment I'm having trouble coming up with another compliment. He makes Joe Biden look really good.
If we must have a Senator, how about Chris Dodd? He emerged from the campaign without much if anything in the way of delegates, but he ran a good clean fight and retired from the field with honor not just intact, but enhanced.
Who says Mario Diaz-Balart is dumb? In an (uncharacteristic?) display of savvy, the incumbent GOP congressman in FL-25 is busy trying to avoid appearing on the same stage as Joe Garcia, his charismatic and articulate (in both English and Spanish) challenger.
Incumbents frequently don't want to do events with challengers, on the perfectly sensible (if selfish) theory that incumbency is an advantage, and sharing a stage just elevates the opponent. And, if the challenger's name recognition is low, a debate raises it more than do single-person events, so why go there.
The trouble is, of course, that the public likes debates, and often learns from them. So even the most cynical incumbent usually agrees to a few of them.
In the case of Mario Diaz-Balart, however, there's a lot of betting that he'd get his clock cleaned in a debate. So on the one hand, he comes in with low expectations, which can help him, but on the other hand to the extent that those low expectations are justified … well, it could be bad.
Better to have voters suspect you'd lose than to actually lose. Which if you think about it, is either not stupid…or very stupid if macho Miami voters decide you're … afraid.
This new Obama ad, Book strikes me as a largely welcome messaging departure in several ways.
First, it's an attack ad — but on substance. And it's not a rebuttal ad, either.
Second, it alludes (dog whistle anyone?) to the Responsible Plan to End the War, without of course actually endorsing it.
Third, and least delightfully, although probably wise tactically, it offers what may become a campaign mantra if it catches on “the middle class first” (i.e. before those rich lobbyist and GOP beneficiaries of Haliburton largess). I preferred Edwards's focus on the poorest among us, but this is how you win elections.
I dunno. I suspect it's not the single most demeaning ad ever put out by a major party presidential campaign, and I'm prepared to believe it's not the most stupid (although I wonder), but is this new McCain (web only) ad Fan Club the most simultaneously demeaning and stupid ad ever put out by a major party Presidential candidate?
I think “Anonymous Liberal” at Crooks & Liars got it just right when he wrote what he'd have Obama say in response to all this rot,
My opponent has taken to calling me a “celebrity” in all of his commercials. The suggestion, I can only assume, is that all of you (gesturing to the crowd) show up at events like this and donate your time and your money to this campaign because you’re all adoring groupies who are obsessed with me. Now, that would certainly be flattering if it were true, but I’m not going to delude myself. The reality is I can’t act, I can’t sing, and my personal life is incredibly boring.
The truth is that no one would be paying any attention to me at all if I wasn’t talking about things that really matter to a lot of people. You’re not here tonight–and you’re not watching at home–because you want to be entertained. Lord knows there are plenty of things that you could be doing with your time right now that would be far more entertaining than listening to me. No, you’re here tonight because you love your country and you’re concerned about the direction it’s been heading over the last eight years.
You’re not here tonight to see what kind of outfit I’m wearing or to hear my latest hit single–and if you are, I think you’re probably going to be disappointed. No, you’re here because you want change, you want a government that fights for people like you and not on behalf of powerful special interests; you want a government that keeps you safe by pursuing a rationale foreign policy abroad and keeps your family secure by creating jobs, ensuring access to affordable health care, and fighting for energy independence.
That’s why you’re here. That’s why you’re volunteering your time at record levels. That’s why you’re contributing your hard-earned money in record amounts.
So remember, when John McCain and his surrogates call me a “celebrity,” they’re not insulting me; they’re insulting you. They’re insinuating that you are a mindless groupie rather than a concerned citizen, a fan rather than a voter.
But it’s not going to work. You know why you’re here, you know why you’re watching, and you’re much smarter than they give you credit for.
