Politics Daily

Arizona, Florida, Utah Finalists for 2012 Republican Convention

Christopher Weber — 2010-03-01T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Republicans, Conventions, Republican Convention, 2012 President

Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Tampa, Fla., are the possible sites for the 2012 Republican National Convention, which will nominate the party's candidate for president.

The Republican National Committee's site selection team will visit the cities in late March and early April, Talking Points Memo reported.

The 12-member panel will submit its findings in time for a July vote by the full committee membership.

"Phoenix, Tampa, and Salt Lake City are all amazing American cities and I wish them the best of luck with their bids," RNC chairman Michael Steele said in a statement.

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Black Caucus Disputes Story on Corporate Ties, Fundraising Practices

Tom Diemer — 2010-02-19T11:50:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Fundraising, Conventions, Culture, Congress, Liberals, Ethics

Black lawmakers are raising a ruckus about a recent New York Times story questioning the Congressional Black Caucus' ties to corporate interests -- some of them accused of exploitative practices in African-American communities, Politico reports.

The caucus' chairwoman, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), said the article had unfairly linked the caucus and the Congressional Black Foundation, a separate entity that the Times called a "fund-raising juggernaut" for the caucus.

In a letter to the paper, Lee said it was a "disservice to the CBC" and other organizations named in the article to lump them together in a way that demeans each as well as their work. She asked the Times for an acknowledgment that the story was misleading and "well below " journalistic standards. But she did not ask for a correction.

The Times story said the foundation's corporate backers include Wal-Mart, General Motors, Coca-Cola, AT&T and Altria, the large tobacco company. Millions of dollars have been raised, some of which goes to charities, but a lot of it is spent on elaborate social events and conventions, the newspaper said.

The black caucus is comprised of 42 members of the House of Representatives -- all Democrats.

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Scenes from the Tea Party: A Reporter's Notebook in Nashville

Mary C. Curtis — 2010-02-06T19:06:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Republicans, Barack Obama, Environment, Economy, Humor, Taxes, Immigration, Conventions, Energy, Sarah Palin, Obama Administration, 2012 President, Culture, Independents, 2010 Elections, Video, Congress, Conservatives, News Media, Tea Party

The Birther Movement Lives
Joseph Farah, editor of the conservative Website WorldNetDaily, opened his speech at the Tea Party convention in Nashville with jokes and questions about President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship. To loud approval from the crowd, Farah said his dream is that if Obama seeks re-election in 2012, he won't be able to go to any city in America without seeing signs that ask, "Where's the birth certificate?" The fact that the rest of the media has declared the issue settled is proof, he said, that it's not.

Where Are the Young?
A funny thing about the break-out session "How to Involve the Youth in the Conservative Movement" - not too many young people showed up. Mishelle Perkins, a 44-year-old mother of five children, worries about the paucity of young people at local meetings. The Rutherford County, Tennessee activist came Friday to get some tips. Jordan Marks, executive director of the conservative Young Americans for Freedom, suggested that activists use Facebook, volunteer to speak at high schools ("bastions of liberalism") and simply do fun stuff that hooks high school and college-age kids. Marks described a bowling party he organized - "Knock Down the Pinheads of Communism." A strike equaled Mao, a spare, Pol Pot. Perkins said she supplements her children's education with books by Tea Party authors, but right now it's hard to get them too interested.

Tom Tancredo Was Right, Says Tea Party Organizer

Remarks that Tom Tancredo made on Thursday were just fine with convention organizer Judson Phillips, who praised the former Colorado congressman. Tancredo had said voters who "could not spell the word vote or say it in English" were responsible for putting a "committed Socialist ideologue" in the White House. Phillips agreed that those particular Americans "didn't understand what they were voting for."

Which Brings Us to Former Judge Roy Moore

The Friday luncheon speaker wants to be the next Governor of Alabama. That state's judicial ethics panel removed Roy Moore from office in 2003 for refusing a federal judge's order to move a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Supreme Court building. Ovations greeted his Scriptural references and Patrick Henry quotations. America's "borders are open to criminals and terrorists who now roam among us," Moore said. President Obama "has ignored our history and our heritage by denying we are a Christian nation," Moore continued. "An appeal to the God of hosts is all that is left." Either that or "300 million people armed in the cause of liberty." John Beal traveled from, Spokane, Wash., to support Moore. "I can't vote for him, but I can raise money for him," said the 66-year-old.

JFK Is Their Hero, Too; Al Gore, Not So Much

Democrats aren't getting much love in Nashville - except for President Kennedy. Several speakers have judged JFK the last Democratic president who stood up for America. On Friday, global warming skeptic Steve Milloy urged Tea Party members to become more engaged in environmental issues, often seen as a Democratic cause. But modern environmentalism, he said, is "totalitarianism." South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham was criticized for cooperating with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on climate change legislation; California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's environmental efforts had Milloy calling for "reverse immigration." Milloy, who runs the website junkscience.com, questioned the sanity and morality of cap and trade supporters, whom he called "bad people."

Scott Brown for President?

New GOP Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts is second only to Saturday speaker Sarah Palin in popularity here. As his success is held up as a Tea Party triumph, it is clear his spirit is felt in Nashville.

Every Convention Sells Stuff

And the National Tea Party Convention is no different. T-shirts are popular, with slogans like "Keep the Change, I'll Keep My Freedom My Guns and My Money." For $89.99, you can buy a sterling silver tea bag necklace/pendant, decorated with your choice of gemstone. (Buy one, and the second is $49.99, with a free cup thrown in.)

First You Hate Us, Then You Love Us, Sort Of

In the beginning, the National Tea Party Convention held its media passes close. It was a "working" conference, the media relations team said. Organizer Judson Phillips said space and access were limited, with only Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and conservative websites Breitbart.com, Townhall.com and WorldNetDaily making the cut. But by Friday, Phillips instead was bragging about media representatives from Canada, Ireland, France and even Al Jazeera English. (Germany has an especially large contingent.) C-Span is broadcasting sessions, and pjtv.com is streaming some events live. Phillips encouraged cooperation, though in practically every workshop and interview the MSM, or mainstream media, are named as complicit in the downfall of American society. A side effect of the wall-to-wall coverage: I've been stopped by several journalists anxious for reaction from a black Tea Party member. The guy from CNN looked so disappointed when I told him I was a working journalist, too.

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Obama Braves Snow, Talks Politics, as Monster Storm Paralyzes DC

Tom Diemer — 2010-02-06T14:58:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Barack Obama, Environment, Health Care, Fundraising, Conventions, Energy, Obama Administration, 2012 President, 2010 Elections, News Media, Campaigns, Public Option, Transportation

President Obama ventured out of the White House on Saturday, but he was among a mere handful of Washingtonians willing to brave blizzardy conditions, as a record snow storm paralyzed the nation's capital and left tens of thousands without power.
Even the president of the United States had to defer to the elements.

Obama's motorcade was delayed for a few minutes by a fender-bender on its way to the Democratic National Commitee winter meeting. The DNC event was only a few blocks from the White House at the Washington Hilton Hotel, but it was slow-going after one vehicle in the presidential motorcade slid into a press SUV, Politico reported.

At the Democratic Party meeting, Obama acknowledged missteps during his first year in office, but again vowed not to "walk away from health care insurance reform." The DNC is the national party's main fundraising and organizational unit.
"Sometimes we may be moving forward against the prevailing winds," Obama told the party loyalists. "Sometimes it may be against a blizzard. But we are going to live up to our responsibility to lead."

Outdoors, yet another small weather adventure awaited the determined president.

On the way back to the White House, a medium-sized tree branch snapped under the weight of the still-falling snow and landed on top of the same SUV that was nicked in the early incident, Politico said, quoting a pool report.

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Todd Palin: 'First Dude' Was Key Adviser to Governor Palin, E-Mails Show

Tom Diemer — 2010-02-06T13:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Republicans, Veepstakes, Conventions, Sarah Palin, 2012 President, Culture, Governors, 2010 Elections, Conservatives, Tea Party

"First Dude" Todd Palin was former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's main man in state government decision-making as well as in the couple's private life, a trail of e-mails reveals.
The e-mails between the Palins show that Todd Palin was involved in a host of key decisions -- from judicial nominations to bids for gas pipelines, according to the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and MSNBC.com.

Some 3,000 electronic messages, obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests, have Todd Palin weighing in on state board appointments, labor issues and even use of government aircraft during his wife's 2 1/2 years as governor.

Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president in 2008, resigned as governor last July. Still enormously popular with conservatives, she is to address the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville Saturday night.

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Palin Stylist Tells the Whole Wardrobe Story

David Sessions — 2009-11-19T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Conventions, Sarah Palin

Lisa Kline, the New York-based stylist who dressed the Palin family for their national debut at the Republican National Convention last year, tells the New York Times that Palin is telling the truth when she says in her memoir that she never participated in any shopping sprees. Kline got the call about making Palin over for the convention only three days before it began, and, after she arrived, was also asked to dress the rest of the family. She says she bought most of the clothes at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York and Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis.

Kline's story of the last 24 hours before the Palins took the stage details a whirlwind of shopping, tailoring and "run-throughs." The local Neiman Marcus store opened for her at 7 a.m., and store staff helped her and an assistant rush through selecting clothes for all of the Palin children and Levi Johnston. Once the clothes were bought, Kline set them up in Palin's suite at the Hilton for a hectic run-through.

"Oh, God, it was just staying focused," Kline recalls. "Get each person their outfit, get the clothing tailored right there in the room. The clothes literally went from the sewing machine onto their bodies. It was, 'OK, this is good, let's go, next!' "

There was a breakdown in communication with the campaign about the clothing expenses, which totaled around $150,000, including Kline's $54,000 fee for working "24-hour days" on a holiday weekend. Kline said Neiman Marcus never asked her for payment, as it had been pre-arranged by the RNC. Only after the purchases were made did she and other McCain staffers realize the expenses had not been approved.

Kline says she found Palin "very, very sweet" and enjoyed working with her despite the harried circumstances. She removed gold buttons from the $2,500 Valentino jacket Palin wore to give her convention speech because she thought they were too "grand," and shortened the sleeves to three-quarter length. "I felt I had achieved my goal," Kline said. "I thought she looked great. I really did. It was perfect for the occasion."

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Ron Paul Wins! (Sort Of)

Christopher Weber — 2009-11-02T18:03:00+00:00

Filed under: Ron Paul, Primaries, Conventions, Republican Convention

A count of missing delegate ballots from Nevada's Republican convention last year concluded with a surprising result. It turns out three delegates supporting Rep. Ron Paul should have been sent from the Silver State to the national GOP convention in Minneapolis.

The result has no bearing on Nevada's role in nominating John McCain as the GOP candidate for president, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported. But a group of discontented Republicans who fought for the count say it's vindication for what they've been claiming all along: Ron Paul, who ran as an independent before dropping out in June, deserved a voice at the national convention.

In April 2008, the Nevada GOP convention was abruptly shut down by party leaders after a group of Paul supporters won a rules change that allowed them to alter the way national delegates were elected. As a result, a box of ballots from the 2nd Congressional District was locked up before being fully counted.

For 18 months Paul supporters demanded the remaining ballots be counted, stoking divisions within the Nevada Republican party. The count was finally made Friday and it was determined that delegates supporting Paul should have represented the 2nd District in Minneapolis.

"It's good to get it done," Paul supporter Wayne Terhune told the Gazette-Journal. "It's nice to be vindicated. The fact the three Ron Paul people won, indicates that might have been the reason they shut down the convention. Now it's done. We can put it behind us."

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Poll Update: Bounce for McCain

Dave — 2008-09-07T15:34:00+00:00

Filed under: 2008 President, Polls, Veepstakes, Conventions

With the results I've seen so far I'm confidently declaring McCain the winner of the VP and convention bounce events. On August 24th, on the eve of the Lieberman selection, Obama was holding a narrow but steady 2 point lead in the race according to RealClearPolitics. First came Obama's underwhelming choice of Joe Biden as his VP, and then we had the DNC convention which was clearly a success and resulted in a 5 point bounce for Obama by late last week.

Obama's time in the news was extremely short lived as on Friday morning John McCain upended the contest as we thought we knew it and it hasn't been the same since. The polls tell the story that although Republicans immediately moved to support McCain and Palin, the general public was much slower and in fact no bounce started showing until Friday morning which would be the first polls to show since the Palin speech. But since then, it's been nothing but positive movement for McCain. It's likely that we aren't done yet moving in the McCain direction.

Currently Gallup has McCain at +3 and Rasmussen at even. (Zogby interactive also has McCain up by 4, but I don't trust that poll farther than I can throw it). Here's Gallup.

The very least we can say is that Obama's momentum coming out of his convention has been completely erased. Worse than that, no one is talking about him. He may take scant comfort in the fact that no one is really talking about McCain either. It's Sarah Palin's world and we are all just living in it.

Also my initial feeling that Biden was a horrible pick is confirmed. Biden is arguably a drain on the ticket, and is not a useful proxy for Obama in making his case to the target demographics that he needs (i.e. Women).

Republican supporters shouldn't get too comfortable as convention bounces fade as they inevitably do and this one will be no different. But the fact remains that we moved into these two weeks with an Obama clear advantage in enthusiasm, in a gender gap, and on the issues. We come out of this week with both essentially tied and the enthusiasm and gender gaps narrowed severely.

On to the debates!

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Andrea Mitchell Attacked By Balloons

Liza Porteus Viana — 2008-09-04T23:50:00+00:00

Filed under: John McCain, 2008 President, Conventions, Republican Convention, Sarah Palin

God bless TiVo.

I just hit "rewind" on my remote about three times to watch NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell be absolutely bombarded with red, white and blue balloons on the Republican convention floor in St. Paul, Minn., after John McCain gave his nomination acceptance speech. The best part was, she kept trying to talk amid the flying objects, but can't quite get much out. Viewers at home -and those convention-goers swarming her just to get in the camera shot - just watched her hopelessly bat them around her head as her face continued to disappear into a patriotic sea of color.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann called it "the political equivalent of Chuck E. Cheese."

Tom Brokaw dubbed the comedic episode: "Andrea 'Boom-Boom' Mitchell and the Dance of the Republican Balloons." Yes, those darn "balloon wielding thugs" actually kept her from finishing her report.

NBC's Brian Wilson was incredulous at what could possibly stop the network's fearless chief foreign affairs correspondent. "I've been in Ramadi with that woman with automatic weapons going off - that didn't stop her, but it appears mylar has stopped Andrea Mitchell in her tracks."

(Update: Finally found the video, below)

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Obama: Treat Palin Like One of the Guys

Liza Porteus Viana — 2008-09-04T15:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Barack Obama, John McCain, Breaking News, 2008 President, Conventions, Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin should be treated like anybody else running for office, Barack Obama said today. And that means not treating her with kid gloves.

When questioned by reporters during a campaign stop in York, PA, Obama pushed back against criticisms that his campaign and the media are downplaying the political experience of John McCain's vice presidential running mate. The McCain campaign, some women's groups, as well as former staffers to Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, argue that much of the treatment of Palin is sexist, and that many questions and issued being raised would never surface if she were male.

"Listen - if they want to work the refs, they are free to do so and I think the public can make their judgments about this," Obama said today, shrugging off the sexist accusations.

The notion, he added, that any questions or doubts floated about the work Palin has done as a mayor and governor in Alaska is somehow not relevant to her ability to handle the vice presidency, "doesn't make too much sense to me."

"I think she's got a compelling story but I assume she wants to be treated the same way that guys want to be treated - that means that the records are under scrutiny. I've been through this for 19 months - she's been through it what? Four days so far?"Obama also responded to Palin's convention remarks that essentially tried to devalue his work as a community organizer in Chicago.

"I would argue that work done in the community ... that that's relevant only in understanding where I'm coming from, who I believe in, who I'm fighting for, and why I'm in that race," the Illinois senator said. "The question I have for them is, 'why would that kind of work be ridiculous?' Who are they fighting for? Who are they advocating for?"

Obama said he was well-prepared for the attacks lobbed against him and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., during this week's Republican convention, saying: "I've been called worse on the basketball court. It's not that big a deal."

The Republicans are so vehemently attacking him, Obama said, because they don't have their own ideas or agenda.

"What do you guys expect? I anticipated this last Thursday in my acceptance speech. This is what they do - they don't have an agenda to run on - they haven't offered a single concrete idea in two nights ... to make the lives of middle class Americans better.

"They can use their convention time any way they want. "

Obama also said the pick of Palin as McCain's running mate doesn't change his strategy or focus heading into November's general election. His focus is McCain, not Palin. (But maybe Biden should focus a little bit more on Palin - he referred to her this morning as a "lieutenant governor of Alaska.")

"I'm running for president - I'm running against John McCain. As far as I can tell, I don't get a sense Governor Palin has ideas that are different than John McCain's. That speech that she delivered was on behalf of John McCain."

"I think, ultimately, this race is gonna be about myself and John McCain, and who's in a better position to lead the country."

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RNC Downtime a Boon for Paul Rally

Denise Williams — 2008-09-01T17:21:00+00:00

Filed under: Ron Paul, Conventions

Ron Paul's shadow rally in Minneapolis' Target Center on Tuesday, Sept. 2 will go on despite the RNC scale-down of its events this week.

With a whole lot of media out there with nothing to do now, interest in the Ron Paul event has risen. Paul's press spokesman, Jesse Benton, tells me that they will not cancel and have received an additional 50-60 new requests for press credentials since the Republicans announced their truncated schedule yesterday.

We'll be there tomorrow as well to bring you the highlights of the rally including Tucker Carlson, Bruce Fein, former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura and Ron Paul himself.

Stay tuned!

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Bounce Scoring Status

Dave — 2008-08-30T10:22:00+00:00

Filed under: Barack Obama, John McCain, 2008 President, Conventions

Beginning about a week ago, there were four events that had the ability to reshape the presidential election of 2008. The Democratic VP, the Democratic convention, the Republican VP, and the Republican convention. And to add to the excitement, we came into these events essentially within the margin of error, with most polls showing Obama with about a 2-3 point lead.

Obama chooses Biden on August 24 (at 3am) - No detectable bounce. In fact according to Rasmussen, which has been highly accurate, Obama lost four points by choosing Biden.

Obama gives the speech of his life on August 28th - Too soon to tell, and the Palin announcement is going to muddy the waters, but we see a 4 point bump in Rasmussen on the 30th and that would include all of the convention plus the speech, and it should go higher, I think we can call the convention a 4-8 point bump for Obama. Remember the McCain blog trying to set expectations for a 10-15 point bounce. That was clearly crazy and was intended to allow them to claim victory with anything less.

McCain chooses Palin on August 29th. - Too soon to tell, but boy will that be interesting. My guess is that the polls might not move much but the internal numbers for Republicans excited about McCain will move sharply. More than the overall numbers. I predict that McCain will get something small.

McCain speech on September? - With Gustav in the Gulf, events are a little more fluid than McCain will like, but after this speech we will have eight weeks or so until the election, the major events will be over.

So far McCain has to be happy with how things have been going with Obama's major events. They blew the VP selection and are weathering the Obama speech. The next events are under his control and his campaign is hitting every time they are at bat.

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Hating the Conventions

David Knowles — 2008-08-25T09:28:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Republicans, Barack Obama, John McCain, Featured Stories, Conventions

It's that time again. Time to wear funny hats, paint the stage red white and blue, drop the confetti and the balloons, get footage of ordinary-looking Americans being inspired to the point of tears. Yes, it's political convention time.

In what has evolved into the most self-congratulatory waste of air time since the advent of the music video, the two parties will take to the airwaves over the next two weeks for all the free advertising that the networks will grant them. With an assist from the 24-hour cable "news" networks, and blogs like this one, we'll be slicing and dicing every speech and protest and stage design for lasting import.

We're led to believe that the Democratic convention may actually provide some honest-to-God news this year, as Hillary Clinton's name will be -- for purely symbolic reasons -- placed on the delegate ballot along with Barack Obama's. Just so you didn't think that this was anything other than a meaningless gesture, Hillary has already announced that she'll release her delegates to Obama no matter how many of them stick by her. Furthermore, Florida and Michigan, formerly in the dog house for messing with the primary calendar, will return to the fold just in time for the pretend voting fun.

So, is there any other possible reason to stop reading the book you're in the middle of and start watching the conventions? Well, after a year and a half of campaign coverage, how desperate for possible intrigue are you? Maybe Bill will be combative in his speech. Maybe Hillary won't be as conciliatory as some pundits demand. Maybe a PUMA protester will manage to smuggle a banana cream pie onto the convention floor.

Television ratings for political conventions have plummeted in recent years. I guess it's possible that Obama's stadium speech will reverse that trend, but it's hard to imagine American households will be revved up to hear John McCain's, even those that support him. For those of us who have actually been paying attention to the race for such a long time now, the conventions are just a gaudy, pumped-up version of what we've already heard and seen. We know the themes. We know what the surrogates will say. We can probably come up with whole sentences from McCain's and Obama's acceptance speeches as if we were reading directly from the teleprompter.

Yes, we've been there, we've done that. Flags will wave, tears will roll down cheeks, balloons will drop, and we'll all argue about whose pep-rally/infomercial was better. Here's a bold prediction: Republicans won't much like the Democrats' convention, and vice-versa. Then again, I could be wrong. Maybe I should tune in to the coverage, after all and hear what "political strategists" from each party have to say about it. Or maybe I'll get back to my book, Rory Stewart's "The Places In Between."

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Fox News Forced Out of Protest March

Caleb Howe — 2008-08-24T19:50:00+00:00

Filed under: 2008 President, Media, Viral Video, Conventions, Democratic Convention, Floor Fight

Today, Tommy Christopher and I spent the morning at the Recreate68 protest here in Denver. The protest included a rally, speeches, Cynthia McKinney, a hip-hop performance, costumes, slogans, Palestinian flags and, of course, assault on Fox News. Warning: Extremely foul language throughout.

Tommy will have a post later this evening with more video featuring the Fox crew.

It's hard to tell in the video (I was getting jostled pretty badly), but the protesters got very physical with the Fox crew. They attempted to smash the camera on the street, and, when they couldn't get it from the cameraman's grasp, they just started shoving him instead. It looked like the initial hit struck the camera on the bridge of his nose hard enough to draw blood, but I couldn't be sure. Eventually the Fox crew had to leave on a side street. The bloodthirsty crowd cheered their Roman Coliseum cheers.

The rage and hate of the violent protesters was clear. They despised the Fox News crew. They feel Fox is conservative, and therefore, I suppose, scum. So much for hearing all views.

Throughout the event, these men and women exercising their freedom of speech lamented, in dramatic and ominous terms, their lack of free speech. Then in the middle of the event they decided to silence the Fox News crew.

For a peace protest, these guys sure are ready to make war. Not with enemies abroad, but with conservatives at home, real or perceived. Stop war, they cry. Just not theirs, apparently.

Tommy Christopher, a Democrat, and Caleb Howe, a Republican, are on the ground in Denver to bring you their dueling political perspectives throughout the Democratic National Convention. Check back to follow their feature, "Floor Fight."

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McCain's Aversion to Jangling Keys

Denise Williams — 2008-08-22T18:21:00+00:00

Filed under: John McCain, Featured Stories, Viral Video, Conventions

A YouTube video went a little viral today (h/t Paddy).

The videographer, Joeyess, has disabled the embed feature so I can't post it here. But how's this for an idea - a whole bunch of people at the DNC get a keyrings filled with keys to represent each of John McCain's houses that he forgets he owns. And then they start jingling those keyrings everytime McCain's name gets mentioned at the convention. It would be payback for the Republican conventioneers in 2004 who sported purple bandaids mocking Kerry's war injuries and subsequent Purple Heart.

Sounds cute and maybe a little dumb. The DailyKos diary for this hit the rec list and the diarist was linked to by Atrios, TPM and PM's own contributor from Americablog, John Amato.

There's just ONE small problem. From Salon discussing the release of McCain's medical records in May:

There are behaviors associated with the candidate that would be consistent with a diagnosis of PTSD. Author Robert Timberg mentions McCain's intense explosions of anger --- a hallmark sign of lingering mental trauma from war -- in his book "John McCain: An American Odyssey." Timberg describes the episodes as "an eruption of temper out of all proportion to the provocation." Timberg, who McCain has said "knows more about me than I do," wrote that McCain's sudden fury is a result of Vietnam coming "back to haunt him." McCain has himself described having an adverse reaction to the sound of jangling keys, which reminds him of his Vietnam jailers. McCain also told doctors that during solitary confinement he had strayed pretty "far out" and had referred to himself as "mentally deteriorating."

(italics and bold mine)

So any attempt to pull off this little stunt, if it even takes off, would surely be perceived to be mocking a POW's PSTD. But then again, how many people know that the Senator suffers from PSTD? That's a little disturbing and not much reported.

To be fair to "Joeyess" he was unaware when he made this video and posted it on Kos and got linked to by blog superstars, that McCain has a jangling key issue.

And to be fair to Senator McCain - no matter how viral this gets or how fun it seems - Convention Dems - don't do it. It's a lose-lose.

But maybe someone can look into this PTSD thing a little more?

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Denver and the Greatness of Hillary Clinton

Tommy Christopher — 2008-08-22T11:35:00+00:00

Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats, Featured Stories, 2008 President, Veepstakes, Conventions

Update: In case I don't get to post again before Denver, some important notes for readers. I expect I'll be busier than usual, and might not get to the comments like I usually do. Fret not, loyal T-Bots. You can email me at TommyChristopher@comcast.net if it's something you want to make sure I'll see, even if you don't need a reply.

Also, bookmark this link and check it a few times a day if you want to keep track of me. Here's Caleb's, too. I will try my best to stay in touch, and I promise to read all of the emails. Wish me luck!

I'm getting ready to head for Denver, along with my colleague Caleb Howe, to cover the Democratic National Convention. It's exciting, but nerve-wracking too. I want to stretch myself out completely and take it all in, but I also want to connect with every moment. I have to not miss something because I'm worried about missing something.

Philadelphia was a good dry run, but pales in comparison to this. I think the key is going to be to relax, and let myself be carried on the currents of the people and places I will see there.

To that end, I'm going to open my hands and let the Dream Ticket fly away if it wants to. I've made the best case that I can, made sure that the people who needed to have seen it, and that's all I can do. Barack Obama is supposed to announce his choice this weekend, and if it's Hillary, you won't need to be on that text-message list to know it.

The ground will shake from the shouts of joy in every corner of this country. The earth will quake from the Rumpelstiltskin-esque stamping of Rush Limbaugh's feet. You'll know from the 60/60/24/7 coverage on every channel except maybe that one that shows the minutes from your town council.

A few months ago, I wrote a story called "The Greatness of Hillary Clinton." The responses I got really moved me. It was reposted on blogs all over the internet, and you would have thought that nobody had ever written a nice thing about Hillary. Of course, that is why I wrote it, because she has faced irrational hatred for years and thrived anyway.

Whether she gets picked for the VP or not, I want people to know that she didn't get to be a big deal at the convention through some tough negotiation about how hard she'll campaign, or any other machinations like that. It's because she deserves it, and here's why:

The Greatness of Hillary Clinton

Senator Hillary Clinton is now neck-and-neck with Illinois Senator Barack Obama going into today's Super Tuesday contests, after what has been a hard-fought, turbulent campaign so far. Unless you live in a cave, you know that every move the candidates make, or the candidates' staffers, or their cousins, has been scrutinized and magnified by our conflict-starved news media, and the din from both camps of supporters has reached supersonic pitch.

It is easy to lose perspective at a time like this. A lot of criticism has been leveled at Hillary Clinton, some of it fair, most of it not. If you are an Obama or former Edwards supporter, you might feel the need to tear down their opponent out of a belief in your candidate, rather than explore why you may agree with all 3, but with your guy more. No matter what happens today, I think it needs to be remembered that Hillary Clinton is a great American, a pioneer, and in my view, would have gone just as far or farther had she never even met William Jefferson Clinton.

I think Hillary says it best when she says, "I may be the most famous person that you don't really know." The level of bile and hatred that has been spewed at her, dating back to her husband's first term, is truly astounding, and it is clearly motivated out of a fear of women.

I first became aware of a Hillary backlash when she began working on the Clinton healthcare plan in 1993. Hard to believe that was 15 years ago, but looking at that plan now, even if you disagree with it, you have to admit it was a bold and pioneering step toward addressing one of the major issues of our time. Almost immediately, the cry of, "Who does she think she is?" went up all across the airwaves.

From then on, the narrative on Hillary Clinton was set. Every misogynistic cliché in the book was applied to her. Some at least bothered to mask this with an ostensible concern about her not having been elected, but that was a thin veil indeed. Of course, her plan was defeated by the Republicans and the health insurance industry, and labeled a failure in the press.

Since then, she has weathered a never-ending tsunami of scrutiny and criticism and hate from every quarter. What always surprised me was that the most virulent reactions to Hillary came from women that I knew, even before the Lewinsky scandal. Perhaps she represented a challenge to them to overcome their own marginalization.

Then there was that "scandal." To this day, I can't figure out why, even if you cared about that business, why would anyone be resentful of Hillary? I remember at the time being so impressed with her composure in the face of all of that adversity. I was no fan of Bill Clinton, whom I felt did too much to appease the extreme right wing at our country's peril, but I was always impressed by Hillary.

She ran for Senate in New York at the end of her husband's term, and suddenly, everyone was calling her a "carpetbagger." I had to run and get my English-to-1930s-Slang dictionary. (Roget's puts it out) But as she campaigned, a funny thing happened. People liked her. She won the election, becoming the first woman Senator from New York.

For me, the erosion of my support for Hillary was a slow process that began with this country's drastic shift to the right in the wake of 9/11. The events that unfolded after that pushed me to more progressive politics, and I saw Hillary as part of the wing of the Democratic Party that stood in the way of progressives like Howard Dean. To be clear, I didn't move left as much as the country moved right and I ended up on the left. For a long time, I bought into a lot of the left's anti-Hillary rhetoric.

Hillary makes a strong argument that her ability to appease those elements, and to weather attacks from the extreme right, make her an effective agent to enact practical changes. There's validity to both arguments, really. For me this election is not about who I agree and disagree with, but rather with whom do I agree more? After last week's debate, the choice isn't so clear to me anymore, but it is also beginning to look as though both of these candidates will end up on the ticket, anyway.

Whomever you vote for today, just think about what you were doing in 1973, what your mom was doing, what your buddy's mom was doing. More to the point, what they were allowed to do. Hillary was graduating from Yale Law School. You can google a long list of her accomplishments, I won't waste time listing them, because they are tangential to the essence of my argument.

Hillary Clinton is a force of nature. When I saw her at the debate last week, it rekindled in me the admiration that I had felt for so long. I still have political and philosophical disagreements with her, although I do think she exposed a weakness in Obama's healthcare plan, and she may not get my vote, but I sure do think she's a great American. I don't see how you can deny that she would have been as successful, or more so, had she not been First Lady. She has something innate that drives her to lead.

You can disagree with her politics, or with some of her campaign strategy, or her overarching philosophy, but if you want to talk about "fishwives" or cackling or crying, man, do I not want to hear it. History will record Hillary Clinton as a great American and a pioneer, and possibly the first woman President, or Vice President. History will record those who smeared her with misogyny as clowns.

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Rudy to Deliver GOP Keynote

Christopher Weber — 2008-08-20T15:59:00+00:00

Filed under: Rudy Giuliani, Breaking News, 2008 President, Conventions, Republican Convention

My first thought was, "Giuliani? Really?" As a presidential "front runner" for about two seconds last year, I figured Rudy would speak at the Republican Convention but I'm surprised he's getting the spotlight slot. After all he's not a particularly electric orator, he failed to pick up a single delegate during his woefully-run campaign and he doesn't hold any office. I have no idea what Giuliani does these days besides stump for McCain. My guess is some kind of "consulting," whatever that means.

The choice goes to show how much Republicans have become enamored of Rudy since September 11th (and vice versa). I lived in New York during his tenure as mayor and can remember when my relatives on the right would grouse that he was "barely" a Republican. As some people like to say, 9/11 changed everything.

Speaking of almost-but-not-quite-Republicans, Joe Lieberman will also speak at the confab, along with plenty of dyed in the wool GOPers. The full lineup can be seen here.

What do you think? Is Giuliani a good choice as keynote or would you rather see someone else deliver the big speech?

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DNC Protesters Fear 'Crap Cannon'

Jay Allbritton — 2008-06-12T14:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Breaking News, Humor, Conventions

Windbreaking News: Fox News.com is reporting that Denver activists planning protests at the Democratic National Convention are concerned about police unleashing a "crap cannon" on them. The crap cannon is also called "the brown note". According to Fox "it is believed to be an infrasound frequency that debilitates a person by making them defecate involuntarily."

Mark Cohen of a Denver protest group called Re-create '68 said, "We know this weapon and weapons like it have been used at other large protests before." He says the weapon is uses inaudible frequencies to disrupt people's equilibrium. The theory is that the brown note weapon comes from military developers looking for non-lethal alternatives to conventional weapons. For example, there was a report last year of a so-called "gay bomb" the military may or may not have tried to develop.

Fox cited the popular Discovery Channel TV show Mythbusters' 2004 test to poo poo the brown note. The show concluded that there is no evidence any frequency can cause people to crap themselves. In an episode from season three of South Park, the children tried to find the mystical tone with more success (clip).

In April, Democracy Now's Amy Goodman spoke to Cohen about Recreate '68.

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Ron Paul Announces Rival Convention

Tommy Christopher — 2008-06-10T16:41:00+00:00

Filed under: Republicans, Breaking News, Ron Paul, 2008 President, Conventions

Or, as Wonkette sensitively puts it, "Oh God: Ron Paul Plans Paultard Convention"

As of now, your Wonkette still plans on attending the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities in early September, because why not. But now there may be something interesting to do! That's right: Ron Paul will hold a Rival Convention, same time, same cities, with every Paultard in the world.

And from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: (I like the tribune, but not so much the review. Too predictable.)

A Paul campaign aide said the Texas congressman hopes to pack about 11,000 supporters into the Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota on Sept. 2, which coincides with the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center in neighboring St. Paul.

At first, I thought this would be a big monkey wrench in my "Ron-Paul-calypse Now!" plan, but since that's set for day 1 of the convention, this event will allow the triumphant Paul Army to get together and celebrate, sing hymns praising my name, perhaps design a tattoo for me. Then, on day 3, perhaps a rumble?

The Ron Paul campaign has not made any official statement about Operation: RonDemption (and the 24% showing in Idaho that resulted from it), but I can assure you they know about it, just as they know about "Ron-Paul-calypse Now!" This announcement cannot be a coincidence.

For those of you who missed it, here's the plan:

MyRonPaulBlimp.com sells mini Ron Paul Blimps (not to be confused with Law & Order actor Fred Thompson's "Fred Zeppelins," or the "Huck-enberg"), and they ain't all that mini, measuring 15 to 26 feet in length, depending on how much coin you want to drop. A portion of the proceeds go to the Ron Paul campaign.

They're pricey, I'm not gonna lie, but they have some useful suggestions on how to defray the cost.

The plan is for massive numbers of Ron Paul blimp owners to descend on Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention, September 1-4, 2008. I want several thousand Ron Paul mini-blimps to ring the Xcel Energy Center, expanding out like a shock wave, with "Flight of the Valkyries" blaring from every Paulite's car stereo.

So, just to be clear, at this point, Ron Paul has to be named as a VP candidate in order for me to get the tattoo.

Still, if I see enough Ron Paul blimps in the St. Paul skies on September 1, I might just be moved to the ink. Wager notwithstanding.

While the political press likes to have fun at the Paul Army's expense, I would like to point out that the whole genesis of this is the fact that Ron Paul has been denied a speaking slot at the GOP conclave because he won't endorse McCain, due principally to Dr. Paul's opposition to the war. I don't see anything "Paultarded" about that.

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Ron-Paul-calypse Now!

Tommy Christopher — 2008-06-05T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Republicans, Ron Paul, 2008 President, Conventions

"I love the smell of money bombs in the morning. Smells like...liberty." - Fictitious Ron Paul/Robert Duvall Hybrid

After the success of Operation RonDemption, where we hit our goal of a 20+ point finish for Dr. Paul in Idaho, I was feeling a little let down, as the mainstream media continued to characterize these as anti-McCain votes, instead of recognizing the very real power of the Paul grassroots movement.

I floated the brilliant, but impossible, idea of a McCain/Paul ticket yesterday. Some Paul supporters have expressed reservation at the gulf between the two candidates on the issues, but that is the key to its brilliance. McCain shores up his maverick image, while Dr. Paul has some real influence over policy. However, with no primaries left, there are very few ways to leverage Dr. Paul's support into serious national coverage.

I urged Republicans to e-mail the McCain campaign and suggest Ron Paul as McCain's VP, but who knows how many will do that, and will they listen? I even put the tattoo back in play.

Then, I saw MyRonPaulBlimp.com, and a bolt of lightning struck me again.

Update: I got an e-mail from the proprietor of the blimp site, he was very excited. Also, Digg this story to help it spread faster.

Before I get to my idea, I want to explain that I am not a Ron Paul supporter, in that I would never vote for him. I disagree with him on some very fundamental issues.

However, I do find rare and admirable qualities in Dr. Paul, and it is clear that he has been unfairly ignored and marginalized. His stance on the Iraq war is courageous, much more so than many Democrats'. Like Barack Obama, he has an uncanny knack for articulating nuance in ways that defy oversimplification by his opponents.

I believe this is because Dr. Paul doesn't rely on talking points, or focus groups. He draws from a well of principles, so he can't be caught off guard, and he can always look you in the eye.

His platform is, in fact, a bit too principled, in my view, relying too much on abstract truths rather than practical reality.

Even so, the size and intensity of his following belies the amount of media coverage he gets, which keeps it from reaching more people who might otherwise join. When he finished 2nd in Nevada, barely a peep was uttered.

This is unfortunate, since Ron Paul's influence could go a long way toward pulling the Republican Party away from red meat, and towards core conservative principles, restoring a healthier balance between the two parties.

To that end, I suggest Ron-Paul-Calypse Now! The plan is simple, beautiful, and only requires a fraction of the Paul Army to have a huge impact.

MyRonPaulBlimp.com sells mini Ron Paul Blimps (not to be confused with Law & Order actor Fred Thompson's "Fred Zeppelins," or the "Huck-enberg"), and they ain't all that mini, measuring 15 to 26 feet in length, depending on how much coin you want to drop. A portion of the proceeds go to the Ron Paul campaign.

They're pricey, I'm not gonna lie, but they have some useful suggestions on how to defray the cost.

The plan is for massive numbers of Ron Paul blimp owners to descend on Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention, September 1-4, 2008. I want several thousand Ron Paul mini-blimps to ring the Xcel Energy Center, expanding out like a shock wave, with "Flight of the Valkyries" blaring from every Paulite's car stereo.

Even a few hundred would do the trick. You could waste money on millions of mailers and TV commercials, and never get that kind of impact.

Democrats, feel free to join in too. You would be contributing to the moderation of the GOP, and you'll end up with a cool blimp.

Send this story to all of your friends, Ron Paul meet-ups, message boards, etc., and let's see if we can't get Ron Paul some air support for his convention fight, and leave John McCain rasping into the microphone, "The horror...the horror."

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