Friday, August 1, 2008

Morning Break...McCain Driving a Wedge in this Campaign...Wal-Mart Against Obama...Economy Tanking....


obama in cedar rapids, iowa, july 31, 2008

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McCain Playing the Clinton Playbook, Only Times 100 Stronger

I keep stating this because it is true.

McCain bringing race in this campaign is just utterly ridiculous.

One good thing is this, the Olympics start soon as in next week and most media for politics will be shut down.

One reason many should be concerned is this, McCain now dictates the national media by making big noise on the race issue. He is attempting to drive Obama's negatives up and hope to change the dynamics of the race.

Will this work? I don't know. Obama's line of not looking like other president's on dollar bills is nothing new. Obama has been using this line since June and if you view the Springfield, Missouri speech, it is a laugh line.

McCain and the Republicans don't want the public to think about all the issues that face this country right now. The Republicans have nothing, repeat, nothing to offer this country but more of the same. It is John McCain that want oil drilling, he is tied HEAVILY to oil lobbyists, that is a fact. Issues on housing, gas prices, jobs, college tuition, etc., will not be talked about if the wedge issue is "race", day in and day out.

The Obama Campaign needs to find their voice for the issues and not go into the mud with McCain. Respond hard and factually, but don't get in the mud.

Right now it is McCain striving to get relevant, not the other way around.





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So Much for St. John

It's awfully early for John McCain to be running such a desperate, ugly campaign against Barack Obama. But I guess it's useful for Democrats to get a reminder that the Republican Party plays presidential politics by the same moral code that guided the bad-boy Oakland Raiders in their heyday: "Just win, baby."

The latest bit of snarling, mean-spirited nonsense to come out of the McCain camp was the accusation, leveled by campaign manager Rick Davis, that Obama had "played the race card." He did so, apparently, by being black.

On Wednesday, at a campaign stop in Missouri, Obama had predicted that Republicans would try to "make you scared of me. You know, 'He's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, 'he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.' " So what does Davis do? He promptly tries to make voters scared of Obama by feigning outrage over the presumptive Democratic nominee's "divisive, negative, shameful and wrong" remarks.

Of course the McCain campaign isn't really offended that the first black major-party candidate for president in American history might mention this distinction from time to time. The idea is to slow Obama down before he runs away with this thing, and the weapon of choice is handfuls of mud.

Remember St. John the Reformer, who promised a high-minded campaign and said he wouldn't question his opponent's patriotism? Clearly, he's been replaced by an evil twin. The switch seems to have taken place during his opponent's world tour, when Obama's prescriptions for Iraq and Afghanistan began to look prescient -- and McCain's began to look irrelevant. continue

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WalMart warning employees of a "Democratic Win" could mean "Union"

I have never been a WalMart fan.

Yes, I have shopped there in the past, but not for the past few years. They treat their employees shabbily, many know this but are scared to do anything about it, mainly because in their towns this is the "big cheese" for employment, at the minimum wage.

Well, they have, as in the past, dipped their big toe in presidential politics.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.

According to about a dozen Wal-Mart employees who attended such meetings in seven states, Wal-Mart executives claim that employees at unionized stores would have to pay hefty union dues while getting nothing in return, and may have to go on strike without compensation. Also, unionization could mean fewer jobs as labor costs rise. continue

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Obama Sticking with his Grassroots Plan, Which includes Local Media

Remember, Obama won the Democratic Primaries by being open to local media. One thing a friend of mine's reminded me last night is this, "Most people get their information from local media, not the national media."
But the local coverage wars are not so clearly tilted toward McCain's advantage. A review of reporting in local papers finds a slew of coverage of Obama's active field operation, mostly hooked on the dozens of Obama campaign offices opened in recent weeks.

This week in Montana, for example, the Helena Independent Record led its story on local organizing with a Obama staffer's line: "Republican presidential candidate John McCain is taking Montana for granted..." The paper noted that the Illinois Democrat currently has six state offices in action to McCain's zero. In a July 31 Bozeman Daily Chronicle story headlined "McCain campaign manager expects big victory," the paper pointed out that a Obama's advantage in paid field staff may be yielding dividends -- citing a Rasumussen poll that showed McCain down five points despite the fact that President George W. Bush carried the state handily over John Kerry in 2004. continue

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and....

WSJ asks: ‘Could Sen. Obama’s skinniness be a liability?’

GM is in the "doo-doo", 15.5B 2Q Loss.....

Unemployment rises to 4-year high at 5.7%.....

Obama slams McCain over oil company tax breaks.....one thing these executive are not hurting......

Minnesota GOP don't want to talk about that bridge collapse....or lack of money they did not give for infrastructure.....

and Evening Wrap Up, is here.....


chuck todd, first read, msnbc

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