The conservative Heritage Foundation and its PAC have taken President Obama’s re-election really well.
They’ve declared war on him. Not figuratively, as far as I can tell, but literally. This is propaganda that would make any dictatorship proud.
You can’t blame them. After all, the Heritage Foundation invented Romneycare/Obamacare so that a REPUBLICAN could take credit for introducing universal health insurance to America.
In the wake of Mitt Romney’s devastating failure to act remotely presidential in response to some international incidents, his campaign (and some in the right-wing reactionary commentariat) has shifted into “blame the media” mode, and is running now against, e.g., the New York Times, CNN, and the Washington Post.
This is a traditional Republican meme as reliable as Reagan hagiography, deficit spending, and tax cuts.
I wondered this week whether the McCain/Palin team had begun running against the media as early as September 12, 2008. Luckily, GLOW-area Democratic activist Adama Brown was quick with some answers:
@buffalopundit Think it was either September 11th with “In what respect, Charlie?” or the 24th, when McCain suspended his campaign
— Adama D. Brown (@AdamaDBrown) September 13, 2012
@buffalopundit Plus Sept 11, 2008 was the same day she talked about seeing Russia from Alaska. 9/14 was when Tina Fey killed it on SNL.
— Adama D. Brown (@AdamaDBrown) September 13, 2012
@buffalopundit So a pretty good case could be made that the last two Rep campaigns self destruction both started on the 11th.
— Adama D. Brown (@AdamaDBrown) September 13, 2012
Because the Republican mindset nowadays is such that any challenge – any attempt to check facts – any pointed, relevant question of anything at all is an “attack” and proof of some left-wing media cabal set on hurting Republicans and helping Democrats.
This only works if you consider, “do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?” to be a slanted leftist Marxist attack. This only works if you consider, “what insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state [of Alaska] give you?” to be a hack job set up to embarrass McCain.
These aired on September 11, 2008. At the time, Obama was down by a few points. The conventions had just ended, and this was Sarah Palin’s first major interview. She did not acquit herself well here, there, or anywhere.
A podcast of the panel discussion on the 2008 election is here, courtesy of Erica Wolfling of WCVF at SUNY Fredonia.
[audio:http://www.fredoniaradio.com/audio/download/8782/2008+What+Happened.mp3%5D
The Observer put our panel discussion from last night on its front page. I had a great time, and the questions from the audience were very good and insightful. My understanding is that there will be video and audio available shortly, and I’ll post them here when it’s up.
On Sarah Palin:
“She has more then carved out her own persona in the past two weeks to the extent that she has become a superstar in the party, although that can very much change,” McCarthy said. “Don’t forget she reflects everything the Republican party stands for and has some personality to boot. The other part, in four years probably continuing as Governor of Alaska, she will have an record that is enhanced tremendously by that time and she’ll have some stature.”
“I think a good campaign doesn’t cancel on Letterman and say they’re going to Washington when they’re doing an interview in the same building,” Cornell said, referring to how poorly he felt the McCain campaign was organized, even from an entertainment standpoint.
I added that it was up to the Republican Party to decide whether it was going to back to what it had stood for pre-Bush II, or whether it was going to continue down the spending, big government, Christianist, anti-intellectual, anti-thought ways of the present. If they go for the former, then someone like Romney or some other person with conservative credentials will be the standard-bearer. If they pine for Bush II, then Palin will be a lock.
(Photo by the Observer)
The McCain-Palin campaign chartered a JetBlue Embraer 190 to fly Alaska Governor Sarah Palin around the country. It ended its voyage in Anchorage earlier this week, and was returned to JetBlue.
The 2-engine jet then flew the 2694 miles from Anchorage to Buffalo yesterday, setting a world distance record for the E190. The standard range is 2071 miles.
[HTML1]
From Newsweek:
1. Evidently, Palin’s shopping spree was more expensive and worse than previously reported – she outfitted her kids and husband on the RNC’s and Republican Donors’ dimes.
2. A foreign entity hacked into both the Obama and McCain campaign websites.
3. The genius of the Obama campaign:
The Obama campaign’s New Media experts created a computer program that would allow a “flusher”—the term for a volunteer who rounds up nonvoters on Election Day—to know exactly who had, and had not, voted in real time. They dubbed it Project Houdini, because of the way names disappear off the list instantly once people are identified as they wait in line at their local polling station.
It’s easier to get out the vote if you know exactly whom you have to go get.
4. This is what happened when McCain-Palin (but especially Palin) began yelling “fire” in the metaphorical crowded theater:
The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Michelle Obama was shaken by the vituperative crowds and the hot rhetoric from the GOP candidates. “Why would they try to make people hate us?” Michelle asked a top campaign aide.
5. The candidates, too, get frustrated by just how dumb our domestic media can get, at times:
The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, “I don’t consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, ‘You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.’ So when Brian Williams is asking me about what’s a personal thing that you’ve done [that’s green], and I say, you know, ‘Well, I planted a bunch of trees.’ And he says, ‘I’m talking about personal.’ What I’m thinking in my head is, ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t solve global warming because I f—ing changed light bulbs in my house. It’s because of something collective’.”
Tomorrow is the day. The smart money says Obama’s got it in the bag.
However, Obama’s win percentage has ticked upward again for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he’s gotten some relatively good numbers out of Pennsylvania since our last update, with PPP and Zogby giving him leads of 8 and 14 points, respectively, and Rasmussen shttp://buffalopundit.wnymedia.net/blogs/wp-admin/post-new.phphowing his lead expanding to 6 points after having been at 4 before. (The Zogby poll is probably an outlier, but may serve to balance out outliers like Strategic Vision on the other side).
Secondly, McCain’s clock has simply run out. While there is arguable evidence of a small tightening, there is no evidence of a dramatic tightening of the sort he would need to make Tuesday night interesting.
Busloads of people from Western New York are now in Ohio to get out the vote, because the race has been tighter there – and Ohio is more susceptible to hijinks – than elsewhere in the area. Phonebanks to GOTV are still being held at the Polish Cadets Hall with calls being made to battleground states to ensure that people know where and when to vote, and that they know their rights. You can even make GOTV calls from the comfort of your own home.
On the Mesi, Stachowski, and Kryzan races, you can do lit drops or phonebanks for them, as well. Yesterday, the Republicans threw a dirty trick at Mesi by doing a robo-call during the Bills game that was designed to inflame people’s anger. Don’t let them and their cynical, bigoted bullshit win.
This has been one of the strangest, longest campaign cycles I’ve seen and I’ll be rather relieved when it’s over.
Don’t forget that you can follow us here at WNYMedia.net, and we’ll feature video and liveblogging right here on Election Night, complete with interviews from both Democratic and Republican victory parties.
The Buffalo Record 