Category Archives: Politics: US: 2008 Elections

This funny Obama commercial is by MoveOn. The question is, is this thing catching, or are we immune?

Get Your Free Button

They will ask for a phone number, email, and a shipping address, so I imagine this might have some junk mail/e-mail consequences unless you opt-out. Move On's full privacy policy is here.

Open Left:: Obama Blows Out the Pundits with a 50M Quarter. I especially like this part:

At any rate, the whining from DC pundits about how the left was undermining Obama's chances at winning was absolutely wrong. His small dollar donor army wants him in that White House, and they are going to pay to put him there. While it's often impossible for consultants in DC to keep multiple thoughts in their head, it is possible for most of us normal bluggers and blug readers to get that we don't like his vote on FISA but we want him to win the White House desperately anyway.

Posted from the back of the room in the Open Left caucus at Netroot Nations.

Note: Darcy Burner is in the room and got a big, big round of applause.

Update: Joe Garcia dropped by – and got a very warm round of applause too. Matt Stoller asked him how the energy issue is playing in FL-25. Joe said, first, Bush always sets up the issue as a Hobbsean choice – only bad options: they've set up a crisis and forced you to make a crisis decision. … Why haven't home energy bills gone up as fast as gas prices? Because of long-range planning. … Why hasn't the department of Energy done planning? … Bush has been stripping alternative energy from energy bills… They [create a crisis] to give oil companies even more leases. … We have to explore alternatives … wind, coal, solar, including nuclear …

With the price of oil at this level, all those alternative energies are viable…

XKCD is a great online comic strip.

This guy from Kansas has appropriated the XKCD style to power his campaign for State Representative. It's cute. See Running for Office: It's Like A Flamewar with a Forum Troll, but with an Eventual Winner.

I wonder if XKCD approves?

Joe Garcia isn't the only local Democrat who had a good fundraising quarter.

And Mario Diaz-Balart isn't the only local Republican who had a very bad quarter. It's striking just how poorly the incumbents' fundraising is going. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen retains a huge advantage from the $1.8 million she had stockpiled before the campaign began — but it's amazing how her funding seems to be drying up. The others also have a serious cash cushion. But the gap is shrinking…

As the Herald puts it, Miami GOP congressional incumbents outraised again.

District 18
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen – R
Net Contributions for the quarter: $281,087
Net Contributions for election cycle: $1,119,122
Cash on hand: $1,893,392

Annette Taddeo – D
Net Contributions for the quarter: $324,829*
Net Contributions for election cycle: $289,286
Cash on hand*: $457,105
*Ms. Taddeo has loaned her campaign $350,000 to date, including $170,000 this quarter.

District 21
Lincoln Diaz-Balart – R
Net Contributions for the quarter: $324,215
Net Contributions for election cycle: $1,158,451
Cash on hand: $1,755,490

Raul Martinez – D
Net Contributions for the quarter: $600,529
Net Contributions for election cycle: $1,217,195
Cash on hand: $1,079,068

District 25
Mario Diaz-Balart – R
Net Contributions for the quarter: $234,320
Net Contributions for election cycle: $746,985
Cash on hand: $1,044,586

Joe Garcia – D
Net Contributions for the quarter: $492,749
Net Contributions for election cycle: $824,196
Cash on hand: $700,983

I predict Taddeo's next quarter will be substantially better than this one, as her name recognition in the district grows, and as she continues to rack up national endorsements.