Romney Fails to Wow with Foreign Policy Speech

There was a point in the 2008 presidential election--some time in September, I think--that Obama supporters began to freak out and swallow their tongues. McCain/Palin had improbably surged, and the Obama/Biden ticket fell upside down in the polls. Used to losing after Bush/Cheney 2000 (where we felt it was stolen) and Bush/Cheney 2004 (which was hinky, but we had a dull candidate), we expected the worst. There was much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth for a week or so, and then the polls flipped over again, and all was right in Democratland.

Image from source, NYT.

We've had a bit of a repeat, this time due to the perceptions formed around the first presidential debate. It hasn't been quite as dramatic or decisive--not yet--but it still has many liberals worried and upset. I'm a bit of a pessimist, so I'd be worrying some anyway, but I'll cop to feeling a bit blue after having a nearly carefree spring and summer politically. I don't think it's as dire as it's being made out to be, but sometimes it is perception that rules the day. Obama's camp has been doing a bang up job since the debate, except for a minor kerfuffle over Sesame Street and Andrea Mitchell (?!). But polls are slow, and it's hard to know when a bubble or bounce is over, or if the trend is here to stay.

For their part, the Romney campaign hasn't actually been setting the nation on fire. The "undecideds" might be so fickle as to change horses after a single debate, but could they change back? After debacles like Monday's Mitt Romney foreign policy, will the needle move? Do the undecideds even pay attention to substance (or lack of it)? I don't know. So I'll be over here in the corner hoping for the best. . .

[Excerpt]

Parsing Romney’s Foreign Policy Speech

There’s hardly a paragraph in Mitt Romney’s foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute that doesn’t need clarifying in one way or another. . .

Read more at: New York Times

4 Years Ago Today: Voter Rolls in at Least 19 States Being Purged

The more things change, the more they stay the same. . .

ORIGINAL POST: October 2, 2008

Conservatives often rail about "voter fraud," where dead people, illegal aliens, criminals, and unregistered voters allegedly vote--apparently for Democrats. The cases have been pretty thin, with people convicted of voter fraud numbering somewhere around a few handfuls. Maybe not even enough to matter in Palm Beach County, Florida in the 2000 election.

But election rigging--a specialty of Republicans--is real, and much more effective. By various means, they attempt to sway elections, and probably (almost certainly, by my estimation) even decided both elections for George W. Bush.

Image from source, BradBlog

Unfortunately, the issue apparently isn't very sexy to your average American, and only crops up in the news right before an election. Usually to late to do anything about it. And just as unfortunately, even when the rigging becomes known, very few people go to jail for it (Karl Rove, anybody?). You'd think in America that people messing with thousands of legitimate voters would be a big deal. But if they care at all, they're worried that Mickey Mouse cast one vote in Chicago or something. If they're going to focus on an illegal voter, you'd hope they'd finally go after Ann Coulter.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Even if you don't want to read this article, I urge you to click the link at the bottom of the story, and find out if you are registered to vote. Even if you know you are, it doesn't mean you haven't been "purged." It's an easy and useful tool, and took me all of two minutes.

[Excerpt]

BS News: New Study Details Massive Voter Roll Purges Underway in At Least 19 States

Tonight's CBS Evening News finally covered what may well be the November Surprise that we've been trying to warn about for months here at The BRAD BLOG: Massive voter roll purges being done in secret, with little or no oversight, and often under federal Justice Department cover, in states and counties around the country. . .

Read more at: BradBlog

4 Years Ago Today: Dow Drops 777; Largest Drop Ever

Four years ago, this was the point in John McCain's campaign that the writing was on the wall. Given his comments on the economy, the massive nosedive of the stock market just didn't fit with his narrative, and he kept making it worse. But on the day this happened, I wasn't really putting it in that context. I was just blown away by the spectacle. So much so that I used a fairly bad graphic--but then, it was from the source, so I guess they did too? It should have been a jagged stab downward. . .

ORIGINAL POST: September 29, 2008

It's admittedly hard to write this blog, when the biggest stories of the day are in an area I simply cannot speak authoritatively about. I've written a few times already, that I just don't get Wall Street, and all that it entails. And I'd be a bad broker if I did understand it, because the roller coaster ride of the Dow Jones Industrial Average gives me heartburn anyway.

Image from source, AOL News

Today's stock market ride was kind of like watching someone spike your bid on eBay. After seemingly being headed back up after a dive, at about one minute until closing bell, the bottom dropped out. I have a stock ticker on my desktop, and when refreshing it every 20 or 30 seconds, it went down each time. And after 1:00 pm Pacific time, it still kept dropping, from the six hundreds to the low seven hundreds, all the way down to minus 777. That's a lot, right? And how does it keep dropping after the market has supposedly closed? Maybe I don't want to know how all of this works.

Oh, and the headline below is rounding to the nearest fraction, but 777 is the number being used most.

[Excerpt]

Bailout Vote Sacks Dow by Record 778
The failure of the bailout package in Congress triggered a historic selloff on Wall Street - including a terrifying decline of nearly 500 points in mere minutes as the vote took place, the closest thing to panic the stock market has seen in years. . .

Read more at: AOL News

4 Years Ago Today: Obama & McCain's 1st Debate

Can you believe it's already time for this again? Of course you can, this campaign has been waging for over a year, and we're ready for it to be over! But I didn't remember that the first debate was a week earlier last time.


ORIGINAL POST: Sept. 26, 2008

Not surprisingly, MSNBC (or at least Keith Olbermann) thinks that Barack Obama won the debate. And even less surprisingly, FOX "News" has called it for John McCain. I honestly have to call it a draw. I of course agreed more with Obama, and much less so with McCain. But both came off strong, in command of their understanding of the facts. No major gaffes were made, at least not what I'd consider major. And no very notable soundbite moments jumped out.

 Photo from source, MSNBC

I seriously doubt, unless the media picks up on a point that catches fire, that either candidate gets much of a boost out of this debate. Neither Obama nor McCain supporters are likely to have changed their minds watching this. In fact, I believe that McCain supporters might gain some grudging support for Obama's ability to lead, and Obama supporters might have more confidence in McCain's lack of--what--dodderingness?

[Excerpt]

Bank crisis overshadows defense in first debate

Wall Street hijacked the first presidential debate Friday night between Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain, who clashed over tax cuts, congressional spending and President Bush's proposed $700 billion bank bailout in a forum that was supposed to be about foreign policy. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

4 Years Ago Today: Sarah Palin's Pastor Problem

Over the next few weeks until the election, I'm going to highlight items from exactly four years ago. The point is multi-fold: to remind us about big things, little things, parallel things and disparate things. You'll see stories that you forgot about, stories that still stand out, and puzzlements that never did pan out.

This one has to do with double standards, and the fact that while Barack Obama's religion and religious experience was a huge campaign issue, Sarah Palin's wacky Christian offshoot religion never sparked a WTF moment from the right (or even much from the left).

ORIGINAL POST - SEPTEMBER 19, 2008:
Sarah Palin's Pastor Problem

Photo from LiveJournal

There are many things I'm sick and tired of in politics. One of them used to be candidates that promised "change." It is an often used phrase, but this time, I'm hoping that my candidate (guess who) delivers.

Another thing I'm tired of is IOKIYAR. To the uninitiated, that means it's OK if you're a Republican. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some parallels on the other side of the aisle, and I'm sure right-wingers probably have their own IOKIYAD laments. But that is not what seems to be as strongly in play right now.

Here are just a few examples:

- Barack Obama, not well known, gave a good speech, celebrity. Bad.

- Sarah Palin, not well known, gave a good speech, celebrity. Good.

- John Edwards cheated on his wife, and that somehow reflects badly on Barack Obama.

- John McCain cheated on his wife, and we're not supposed to comment on it.

- John McCain's history as a POW 40 years ago tells us about his character.

- John McCain's behavior 30 years ago (adultery), and 20 years ago (Keating 5) are irrelevant.

- Barack Obama attended a radical (black) Christian church for 20 years. Bad.

- Sarah Palin attended a radical (crazy) Christian church for 20 years. So?

[Excerpt]

And If She Weighs The Same As A Duck...

. . .The pastor whose prayer Sarah Palin says helped her to become governor of Alaska founded his ministry with a witchhunt against a Kenyan woman who he accused of causing car accidents through demonic spells. . .

Read more at: DailyKos