I'm no fan of the current President Bush. But occasionally, he reminds me of the decent folks I grew up with in Oklahoma. I read this morning that he called President-elect Barack Obama last night, but I figured it was just routine -- all in a day's work for one of the most unpopular presidents in U.S. history.
But then I watched his brief Rose Garden address this morning. He looks so much older, so tired. He has two girls, just like Obama does. I think he truly meant and felt what he said. I think he realizes the historic nature of yesterday's election -- and I think he's ready to go home. You decide:
Susan G posted this great clip on Daily Kos. It's U.S. Sen. Barack Obama at his best, explaining how one voice can literally change the world. Virginia hasn't voted for a Democrat in the presidential since 1964. Let's see if 2008 breaks the streak.
Check out the clip. Are you fired up and ready to go?
Voting this morning was unlike any other voting experience I've ever had. I've never waited. I've never seen lines of people snake down Massachusetts Avenue. I've never felt such an air of excitement. I've never seen so many people bring their kids to a polling place.
My favorite part of voting this morning: a toddler kept asking her mother "Where is he? Where is he?" I soon discerned that the "he" in question was U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. The mother explained to the toddler that "he" wasn't actually at the polling place. The toddler burst into tears, setting off a chain reaction around the church of other babies and toddlers. Sippee cups and Cheerios did nothing to stop the din.
A group of foreign observers got off a bus and were escorted in to look at us. Their pamphlets read: "Official Poll Watching Tour." They just stared at us like we were exotic animals in a zoo. I felt somewhat offended until I realized many of them did not have this right in their own country. The man behind me said he had lived many years overseas and had seen peoples thumbs cut off so those thumb prints could be used to vote with. Apparently, foreign observers are a big thing this year.
One of my favorite stories from this cycle: A 109-year-old Texas, woman, the black daughter of a man born into slavery, voted early for Barack Obama, the nation's first African-American presidential nominee.
And this: Obama's grandmother, who helped raise him, died yesterday and won't see whether her grandson becomes the 44th President of the United States. But she voted absentee on October 27. And according to Hawaii election officials, her vote will count.
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are the gifts that keep on giving to Jon Stewart's Daily Show. Obama was Stewart's guest on Wednesday night's show following the Illinois senator's primetime network fest. The result? 3.6 million viewers tuned in -- Stewart's highest ratings ever, second only to the show that featured Michelle Obama.
Stewart asked Obama about charges that he is a Socialist and the so-called Bradley Effect. See what Obama had to say:
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is covering all of his bases. He did his 30-minute network gigs last night, then headed over to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Today he sat down with Rachel Maddow, a self-avowed, liberal wonk who is redefining the so-called liberal media. Check out American Propsect's recent write-up of the Channel Changer and tune in to Maddow and Obama:
The campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain has a new Web video ad up designed for one purpose only -- to convince potential voters that U.S. Sen. Barack Obama really is a Muslim, which incidentally, he is not, and if he were, who cares?
As Sam Stein reports in the Huffington Post, the new McCain ad superimposes an image of Obama over a map of Iran. The ad "lists" some of Obama's foreign policy statement as music most closely associated with the Muslim prayer call plays in the background.
The Obama-superimposed-on-a-Middle-East-map strategy seems to have picked up some steam. Writes Stein:
Indeed, the Republican ticket has been subtly pushing this line for days now. As the Huffington Post reported on Tuesday, the Republican Party of Florida is sending out a new mailer that places the Illinois Democrat's face right over a map of Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. It accuses him of being "dangerously unprepared" and "no friend of Israel."
This is McCain's second attempt in the last few days to play the Middle East card. Earlier this week, his campaign re-released an old campaign ad that accused Obama of not being wary enough of Iran.
McCain's Web video, as controversial as it is, is up for some stiff competition tonight as Obama takes his case to voters on several networks in 30-minutes blocks. But there's no doubt McCain's latest commercial will get free media, which is good when you have no money left.
Most of this new ad from the McCain camp feeds viewers the usual tropes: Obama's just a celebrity, he's inexperienced, he's not ready to lead. The really curious thing about the ad comes at the very end. Take a look, then let's talk about it:
You notice what I notice? Just at the very end: "Barack Obama's not ready... yet." Isn't that weird? The implication that comes with the "... yet," is that he will be ready, which seems like a strange qualifier to grant your opponent-- especially when your central argument against him is that he's not ready. Even if the line had just been "not ready yet," the impact would have been less, but that ellipsis really drives it home.
What do you think? Maverick tactic or nothing notable? Share your thoughts in a comment below...
In a new ad, John McCain invites you to do a little forced word association. The weakness of this spot, much like some of his others, is that it's just colossally vague, at a time when Americans want more than random words and phrases thrown at them.
Perhaps as a warm-up to his 30-minute network buys coming this Wednesday night, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has released two new campaign ads this weekend as the presidential campaign enters the final stretch.
The first ad, released yesterday in key battleground states, hearkens back to Obama's very effective ads at the onset of the financial crisis. It's a two minute-ad -- very long by television standards -- and according to a press release, asks:
“are you better off than you were four years ago?” We know the answer to that. The real question is will our country be better off four years from now? The ad includes Senator Obama telling America how we will lift our economy and restore America’s place in the world.
Watch "Defining Moment" here:
The second ad, released today, is less about a positive Obama agenda and more negative about U.S. Sen. John McCain. Says the Obama campaign in a statement: America needs a president that will change the economy, not the subject. You can see "New Subject" here:
Joe "The Vice Presidential Candidate" Biden is known for his big mouth, and when Barack Obama chose him as his running mate, the campaign was surely including in their calculations the good odds that Biden would say something silly before election day. He did, and, all things considered, I don't think it was that bad.
Still, the McCain campaign pounced on it, and cooked up this ad, which manages to make the prospect of an "international crisis" sound pretty scary. This, I would say, is a quintessential example of the use of fear as a political weapon. A voter who's scared into voting for you is just the same as a voter who picks you for other reasons.
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