Independent Voters Move Toward Obama

The Wall Street Journal Online
By LAURA MECKLER - October 7, 2008

Independent voters swing behind Barack Obama and Joe Biden according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. Sens. Obama and Biden have a six-point lead, with 49% of registered voters saying they would vote for them, compared with 43% for Sen. McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. That is up from a two-point advantage in the previous Journal poll, two weeks ago, and parallels other recent national polls. Independent voters are among the most important voting blocs because many of them would consider voting for either candidate. In the Journal/NBC poll two weeks ago, independents favored Sen. McCain by 13 points. The new survey finds Sen. Obama leading by four points.

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McCain Campaign's Descent Into Ugliness

Embarracuda
Time Magazine
Posted by Joe Klein - October 6, 2008

I'm of two minds about how to deal with the McCain campaign's further descent into ugliness. Their strategy is simple: you throw crap against a wall and then giggle as the media try to analyze the putresence in a way that conveys a sense of balance: "Well, it is bull-pucky, but the splatter pattern is interesting..." which, of course, only serves to get your perverse message out. I really don't want to be a part of that. But...every so often, we journalists have a duty to remind readers just how dingy the McCain campaign, and its right-wing acolytes in the media (I'm looking at you, Sean Hannity) have become--especially in their efforts to divert public attention from the economic crisis we're facing. And so inept at it: other campaigns have decided that their only shot is going negative, but usually they don't announce it, as several McCain aides have in recent days--there's no way we can win on the economy, so we're going to go sludge-diving.

But since we are dealing with manure here,
I'll put the rest of this post below the fold - Read the rest of the story.

McCain: Make-Believe Maverick

A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty.

By TIM DICKINSON - Oct 16, 2008

Few politicians have so actively, or successfully, crafted their own myth of greatness. In McCain's version of his life, he is a prodigal son who, steeled by his brutal internment in Vietnam, learned to put "country first." Remade by the Keating Five scandal that nearly wrecked his career, the story goes, McCain re-emerged as a "reformer" and a "maverick," righteously eschewing anything that "might even tangentially be construed as a less than proper use of my office."

It's a myth McCain has cultivated throughout his decades in Washington. But during the course of this year's campaign, the mask has slipped. "Let's face it," says Larry Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. "John McCain made his reputation on the fact that he doesn't bend his principles for politics. That's just not true."

Few politicians have so actively, or successfully, crafted their own myth of greatness. In Mc- Cain's version of his life, he is a prodigal son who, steeled by his brutal internment in Vietnam, learned to put "country first." Remade by the Keating Five scandal that nearly wrecked his career, the story goes, McCain re-emerged as a "reformer" and a "maverick," righteously eschewing anything that "might even tangentially be construed as a less than proper use of my office."

It's a myth McCain has cultivated throughout his decades in Washington. But during the course of this year's campaign, the mask has slipped. "Let's face it," says Larry Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. "John McCain made his reputation on the fact that he doesn't bend his principles for politics. That's just not true."

Read the full Rolling Stone story

• VIDEO: Five Myths About John McCain
• The Double-Talk Express
• McCain's Keating-5 Participation in the late 1980's Savings and Loan Banking Crash

Back in 1999, John McCain acknowledged his role in the 1980's Keating Five savings and loan scandal that rightly stained his career. "The fact is," McCain said, "it was the wrong thing to do, and it will be on my tombstone and deservedly so."

As AmericaBlog, Crooks and Liars and Politico reported, the campaign, ignoring McCain's own acknowledgment of his role in the 1980's savings and loan scandal, deployed McCain's lawyer John Dowd to rewrite history on his client's behalf during a conference call on Monday October 6th: McCain lawyer John Dowd described McCain's "former relationship with Charles Keating as 'social friends,'" and called the situation a "classic political smear job on John."

Get Out The Vote 2.0

Over the course of the 2008 election, Barack Obama's campaign has shown vision in deploying web-based technology to fundraise, establish political (social) networks, advertise to targeted audiences, build email lists and otherwise facilitate grassroots organizing. This week team Obama released its new application for the iPhone - a powerful new tool to help its supporters Get Out The Vote, literally wherever they are.

The Obama '08 iPhone application (available for free) brings much of the content and functionality of the Obama web site to the Apple iPhone. Supporters can access issue information, immediately receive campaign updates, get national and local campaign news, find nearby Obama events and browse video and photos. And the iPhone's global positioning system technology gives directions to the nearest campaign office or event and can help in working block walking lists too.

Anyone that has been doing any "virtual phone banking" will see the real power of Obama's new iPhone application for political organizing at the grassroots level. The "Call Friends" feature turns the iPhone into a "personal phone bank" that allows supporters to get and use call lists to call potential voters anywhere anytime.