campaign manager

McCain And Company Screw My State

McCain's here in Ohio campaigning and fundraising today. Actually McCain was in Wilmington, Ohio this afternoon on a campaign stop. This is the town that McCain and his campaign manager, Rick Davis, :may be destroying.

Think Progress has more on this. As someone who has been to Wilmington numerous times, and even done work at DHL, this serves as a huge blow to the community, and state. Once again McCain and his strong love of lobbying has screwed the American people. When will everyone realize what a fraud this guy is?

But His Lobbyists Are Different?

Isn't that what McCain kept telling us - that his lobbyists were different? Well now it looks like he is concerned about it:

John McCain's campaign is asking staff members to disclose all previous lobbying ties following the resignation of two officials linked to a firm that worked for Myanmar's military junta.

A memo from McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, also instructs staff to make certain they are no longer registered as lobbyists or foreign agents.

I guess we can chalk all this up to another senior moment for the maverick. Yeah sure - that's what it is.

Land Swapping Straightalk Style

McCain is such a straight and honest guy, really:

Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers].

Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks.

When McCain's legislation passed in November 2005, the ranch owner gave the job of building as many as 12,000 homes to SunCor Development, a firm in Tempe, Ariz., run by Steven A. Betts, a longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000 for the presumptive Republican nominee. Betts said he and McCain never discussed the deal

Legislating for cash in return and lobbyists! I thought McCain was against such things? Oh he is when it's other people doing it. McCain can do whatever he wants though. Doesn't that sound like someone else we know?

The Meltdown Is In Overdrive

Hillary's campaign is circulating this photo:

Drudge is on top of this story:

With a week to go until the Texas and Ohio primaries, stressed Clinton staffers circulated a photo over the weekend of a "dressed" Barack Obama.

The photo, taken in 2006, shows the Democrat frontrunner fitted as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya.

The senator was on a five-country tour of Africa.

"Wouldn't we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?" questioned one campaign staffer, in an email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe on the circulation of the Obama/Somali photo: "On the very day that Senator Clinton is giving a speech about restoring respect for America in the world, her campaign has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election. This is part of a disturbing pattern that led her county chairs to resign in Iowa, her campaign chairman to resign in New Hampshire, and it's exactly the kind of divisive politics that turns away Americans of all parties and diminishes respect for America in the world."

Drudge also has some nice photos of other world leaders dressed in local garb while on world tours.

Obama Grabs Another Super Delegate

David Wilhelm was Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign manager and former chairmen of the DNC. He is also a super delegate and now backing Barack Obama.

Hillary's Campaign Manager Out

Sunday's are supposed to be slow! I spend a few hours with the family and all kinds of news breaks.

This is rather big news though. For a campaign to have a high level shake up this far into the ballot counting isn't something to take lightly:

I've just obtained an internal Hillary email from campaign manager Patty Solis Doyle to Hillary's staff announcing that in a reshuffling of the campaign's inner circle, she's leaving the post of campaign manager, and is being replaced by longtime trusted aide Maggie Williams:

Read the entire letter here.

After Obama's sweep yesterday and a possible win in Maine today, plus the the polls looking very bad for her on Tuesday, this is a sign that Clinton realizes the tough time ahead.

(Oh and on a side note. Obama is also a Grammy winner now. He won the award for spoked word of his book "The Audacity of Hope", beating out Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.)

GOP Lacks Enthusiasm

The Politico takes an good look at how the GOP is in an "anemic" state:

As the New Year arrives at last in Iowa, the signs are everywhere why Democrats have much more reason than Republicans to welcome 2008.

Iowans are voting with their feet. While both parties have wide-open nomination contests, crowds for the Democratic candidates in recent days are unmistakably larger and more enthusiastic than those turning out for the GOP contenders.

Around the country, people are voting with their wallets. Early reports on the close of 2007 fundraising put a yearlong financial disparity between the parties on glaring display.

This is typical for the GOP - they wait until it is too late to realize there is a problem. The GOP candidates have been out there basically saying everything Bush has done has been great and we need more of it. Ask the average citizen, Democrat or Republican, who has been grocery shopping lately. Ask that same person how their utility bills are and every other expense and then ask them to compare it to their income.

You also know it is bad when you got Ken Mehlman admitting it:

Ken Mehlman, a former Republican National Committee chairman and the campaign manager for Bush’s 2004 reelection, agreed that there is for now an enthusiasm gap. “Some of it is natural, and some of it is the basis for concern,” he said.

Mehlman who used to be on Russert all the time talking about how much people loved what Bush was doing. I guess fantasy land wasn't as much fun as they thought.

But there is one part of this article that I don't fully agree with:

The natural part is that the opposition party, after years out of power, is typically more energized by elections and more hungry for victory. His party was the beneficiary of the same trend in 2000.

If It Walks Like Bush And Talks Like Bush

Then America don't want it!

In a widely expected move, Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) press department resigned en masse today.

Communications director Brian Jones stepped down, along with deputies Matt David and Danny Diaz. Research director Brian Rogers and South Carolina McCain spokesman Adam Temple are also leaving the campaign.

None of the depatures is surprising, as Jones, Diaz, David and the others were seen as loyalists of campaign manager Terry Nelson, who resigned last week. Sources familiar with the campaign insisted the departures were not acrimonious, pointing out that Jones and David will stay through the week to help ease the transition.

Perhaps him and Lieberman can just start their own party - the party of delusional loyalists to Bush (aka. The DLB).

Don't Rule Gore Out?

When John Edwards threw his hat in the ring, I gave him my support on one condition - that Gore didn't run. If Al Gore gets in then I am behind him 100%. Now there are rumors coming from the most reliable of sources he still could get in and have the most dramatic stage available for his announcement:

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are the hot early front-runners, while 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry has already bowed out.

But could former Vice President Al Gore be waiting to make a dramatic entrance into the 2008 presidential race, especially if he wins an Oscar next month?

His former campaign manager, Donna Brazile, strongly implied that possibility while speaking at Moravian College in Bethlehem Tuesday night.

''Wait till Oscar night,'' Brazile told an audience of about 100 people at Haupert Student Union. ''I tell people: 'I'm dating. I haven't fallen in love yet.' On Oscar night, if Al Gore has slimmed down 25 or 30 pounds, Lord knows.''

If Gore wins his Oscar and decides to announce then that he is running that will be awesome. Of course the right (and I am sure some even on the left running) will not be too thrilled with it. They will start blaming "liberal Hollywood". Of course it was the strong message Gore gave on the most important issue facing mankind that offered him this kind of opprotunity. It is this same issue that the current administration has worked to hide from addressing.

Please Al do this. The current top 3 are Obama, Clinton and Edwards. That means there is a lot of division and if you get in then it will most likely throw the ball in your court. The people wanted you in 2000 and they want you now!

Deborah Pryce Hasn't Won Yet

It is funny how the Republicans have held the balance of Senate undecided by Allen's wide loss, yet they are quick to jump on a win in OH-15, with over 20,000 votes still uncounted:

With 20,000 ballots still uncounted and her lead just 2,835 votes, Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce yesterday declared victory over Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy in their hard-fought race for Congress.

But Kilroy and her campaign manager said Pryce is premature. They think the uncounted votes in Democratic-leaning Franklin County will be enough to overcome the deficit and send Kilroy to Congress.

In unofficial figures released late yesterday by the Franklin County Board of Elections for the entire 15 th District, the Upper Arlington Republican had 100,343 votes and Kilroy had 97,508. Pryce, a seven-term incumbent, gained her margin in Union and Madison counties.

This race doesn't affect the balance of power in the House - that is long decided now. This is just another typical Republican wanting to make sure every vote doesn't count. This is also a Republican who helped cover up for Mark Foley. It will be interesting to see what happens with this.

Lieberman/Lamont Debate

I been catching up on clips and what nots from it. It my opinion Lamont showed that he is truly concerned about his constituents and the Democratic Party while Joe is worried about only Joe. Here are some great run downs from around the blogosphere.

Matt Stoller is debunking the lies Lieberman told tonight during the debate.

Jane has a clip up of Joe doing a typical Republican style attack of Lamont as well as a great thread going on about the debate

PolticsTV has the video up of the debate

And this is a doozy from Ned Lamont's Blog:

Senator Lieberman stormed out of the debate early, barely answering questions from the local media. He was hearing a lot about his anger during the debate and called it a day. Ned stuck around for questions for about 20 minutes. The result... Sean Smith, Senator Lieberman's campaign manager, fielding questions from a single repoter and Ned swamped by the press.

That will win some hearts and minds Joe - the hearts and minds of people like Malkin (oh wait - he already won that).

Ohio Election Officals Indicted!

Yesterday it was uncovered that Ohio's top election official owned stock in Diebold during the 2004 election. Today we find out some Ohio election officials have been indicted for for skirting the rules to avoid a recount:

After the 2004 presidential election, Cuyahoga County election workers secretly skirted rules designed to make sure all votes were counted correctly, a special prosecutor charges.

While there is no evidence of vote fraud, the prosecutor said their efforts were aimed at avoiding an expensive - and very public - hand recount of all votes cast. Three top county elections officials have been indicted, and Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter says more indictments are possible.

Michael Vu, executive director of the Cuyahoga County elections board, said workers followed procedures that had been in place for 23 years. He said board employees had no objection to doing an exhaustive hand count if needed, meaning they had no motive to break the law.

Internet bloggers have cried foul since 2004 about election results in Ohio, one of the key states in deciding the election. They have been tracking Baxter's investigation with online posts about the indictments.

Since November 2004, there have been so many stories like this coming out that it is hard to keep track of them all. It is also hard to believe that Bush did actually carry this state. True when the state's top election official promises to deliver Ohio to Bush and was also his campaign manager then something is wrong. When the head of the company that makes the voting machines promises to help deliver the election to Ohio then something is wrong. Wake up people - SOMETHING IS WRONG.

Senator Scarborough?

Via the

AP.

Report: Fla. GOP Courts Joe Scarborough
55 minutes ago

Two local businessmen active in Republican Party politics say the GOP is
courting cable TV host Joe Scarborough to replace U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris
in the 2006 Senate race against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson.

Scarborough, a former U.S. representative, has met with senior Republican
officials, Collier Merrill, a Pensacola businessman told the Pensacola News
Journal in a report for Wednesday's editions.

The other businessman, Eric Nickelsen, said he had contacted Scarborough
and encouraged him to run, and he corroborated that other party leaders wanted
the cable talk show host to challenge Harris.

Scarborough declined to comment late Tuesday. He was sent to Congress four
times from the Pensacola area, beginning in 1994.

Some polls have shown Harris lagging behind Nelson. But Harris's campaign
manager, Jim Dornan, said Harris has no plans to step out of the race.

Harris is best known for her role as Florida's then-secretary of state
during the 2000 presidential recount.

Can you blame them? Katherine Harris has to be one of the biggest jokes we
have seen in politics in recent times. Her continued crying that they photoshop
her pictures are nothing compared to her actions when she appeared on Hannity
and Colmes, where she successfully came off as the jezebel of the Republican
Party.