US Election Coverage 2008
US Election Coverage 2008
- Thread starter Game Theory
- Start date
Rev. Kishoka
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 7, 2006
- 4,526
- 1,552
Wakubwa,
Ingawa tunamsubiri Ahmed Jongo atangaze Jumatano asubuhi November 5th 2008 kuwa "na Mpira umekwiiii.....sha" si ukweli uliofichika kuwa kuna kundi kubwa la republicans hata Bush mwenyewe ambao wanafurahia Kibabu kuteleza na kuonekana mjinga.
Infact kama hata shinda na kurudi bungeni, utashi na hata ile heshima kwake zimeshuka sana kama vile anaukoma.
He will not come out respected as he was after 2000 saga with Bush. Ukisikia kifo cha kujinyonga ndio hicho!
Barack akiukosa uraisi, bado atakuwa powerful force ndani ya chama na usishangae election za 2010 democrats wakaendelea upeta maana kuingia kwa Kibabu Ikulu hakutawasaidia republicans na wengi watamkimbia wakimjenga Kisura!
Tukiangalia yajayo, je 2012 nani atakuwa kinara GOP au nani atakuwa kinara DFL?
Ingawa tunamsubiri Ahmed Jongo atangaze Jumatano asubuhi November 5th 2008 kuwa "na Mpira umekwiiii.....sha" si ukweli uliofichika kuwa kuna kundi kubwa la republicans hata Bush mwenyewe ambao wanafurahia Kibabu kuteleza na kuonekana mjinga.
Infact kama hata shinda na kurudi bungeni, utashi na hata ile heshima kwake zimeshuka sana kama vile anaukoma.
He will not come out respected as he was after 2000 saga with Bush. Ukisikia kifo cha kujinyonga ndio hicho!
Barack akiukosa uraisi, bado atakuwa powerful force ndani ya chama na usishangae election za 2010 democrats wakaendelea upeta maana kuingia kwa Kibabu Ikulu hakutawasaidia republicans na wengi watamkimbia wakimjenga Kisura!
Tukiangalia yajayo, je 2012 nani atakuwa kinara GOP au nani atakuwa kinara DFL?
Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,149
- 137,114
Scott who? Hii mbona habari ya zamani mno...tokea jamaa atoe kitabu chake...wewe kweli akili yako ina funza. Yaani unapigia vigelegele endorsement ya McClellan?
Hakuna cha bad signs....hivi mmeona rally za Mac watu walivyokuwa na passion na walivyochangamka? Haki ya Mungu tena nyinyi mtapata ugonjwa wa moyo usiku wa Novemba 4.....mtalia hadi kukaukwa na machozi. Mtaishia kulalamika ubaguzi...maana hiyo ndio hoja yenu kuu
Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,149
- 137,114
Arse who? who is he/she?
Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,149
- 137,114
What the hell? Kwa nini mabilioni aliyochangisha Obantu asiyagawe 'spreading the wealth' style kwa hao watu anaowapigania...middle class?
Capitol Hill
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 19, 2007
- 749
- 48
Capitol Hill
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 19, 2007
- 749
- 48
Asante mkuu...umesikia mambo ya Michelle Bachmann? Naona anavaa custom ya devil kabla hata ya Haloween...and she's gonna pay for it.
Capitol Hill
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 19, 2007
- 749
- 48
Kama kweli watu wako unenthusiastic na kibabu McCain na Sarah wake...hizo funds ziko wapi? Mbona wanapigwa bao na Obama? Au nimekosea? Big Rally = Big Money????? I think there is a correlation.
Capitol Hill
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 19, 2007
- 749
- 48
Mmeishiwa sera mnakaa kulalamika Obama's use of his Boeing 767 kumtembelea bibi yake. Hivi mmesahau kuwa this is a freaking free country anybody can do any thing if they have the resources? Kama vile Sarah Palin alivyo spend hela kwenye shopping spree Minneapolis wakati ambapo mngeweza kuweka "TV na Radio ads" North Carolina au Virginia kwa hiyo hela.
...just wait nov 4th for scumbag Joe the plumber to shit directly into your mouth!
Icadon
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 21, 2007
- 3,581
- 196
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Blacks are already surging to the polls in parts of the South, according to initial figures from states that encourage early voting - a striking though still preliminary sign of how strongly they will turn out nationwide for Barack Obama in his campaign to become the first African-American president.
There have been predictions all year of a record black turnout for Obama. The first actual figures suggest that wasn't just talk:
• In North Carolina, blacks make up 31 percent of early voters so far, even though they're just 21 percent of the population and made up only 19 percent of state's overall 2004 vote.
• Roughly 36 percent of the early voters are black in Georgia, outpacing their 30 percent proportion of the state's population and their 25 percent share of the 2004 vote.
No one but the voters can be sure how they voted. And John McCain's campaign officials note that the Obama camp has put much more effort than they have into early voting. But the numbers are still notable.
Democrats are outvoting the GOP by a margin of 2.5-to-1 in North Carolina, where early voting has been under way for a week. That's roughly double the margin from 2004.
More than 210,000 blacks who are registered as Democrats have cast early ballots in the Tar Heel State - compared with roughly 174,000 registered Republicans overall. Four years ago, the number of GOP early and absentee voters was more than double that of black Democrats.
"It's a sign about how energized African-Americans are about this election," says David Bositis, who tracks black voting trends at the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
In Louisiana, more than 31 percent of the early voters are black, and Democrats are topping Republicans nearly 2-to-1. In the crucial battleground state of Florida, nearly 55 percent of early voters are registered Democrats - well above their 41 percent share of the electorate in the Sunshine State.
Virginia, another Southern state that usually votes Republican - but where Obama is doing well in opinion polls - does not track voter registrations by race or party. But some of the largest increases in registrations this year were in Democratic-leaning cities with large minority populations.
Absentee voting - as the name suggests - was originally designed for people who couldn't make it to the polls on Election Day. But this year, more than 30 states allow any registered voter to cast an early ballot, and many election officials are encouraging voters to do so to ease the strain on Nov. 4. About a third of voters nationwide are expected to cast their ballots before Election Day
Obama's campaign has focused heavily on turning out those voters, using advertising and campaign events. That's the message the Illinois senator brought to North Carolina during his last stop, when he addressed a predominantly black crowd in Fayetteville.
"We want to get as many votes in as possible as early as possible," he said.
Louise Boyd, a 61-year-old Charlotte retiree, voted early this year and then returned to wait in line two days later with her sister, Nyata Frazier. Boyd, who is black, said she expected a very large turnout from watching rallies and noting the historic nature of voting for a black presidential candidate.
"I had a little more pride," she said. "It shows how vastly the U.S. has changed."
The surge in black voters follows a similar trend this year in voter registration. In the five states that track voter registration by race, blacks signed up to vote at twice the rate of whites in the six months through September.
The question then was would those newly registered voters turn out to vote, and now there are signs that they will. In Georgia, 230,000 more people have cast early ballots than voted absentee in 2004.
Many of those early voters have come from metro Atlanta counties, including heavily Democratic Fulton and DeKalb.
In Marietta, just north of Atlanta, poll workers were warning arriving voters of waits up to four hours on Thursday. Many were not deterred.
"Take off work, get in line and just expect a long wait," said Kristy White, 30. "Bring a book if you have to."
Georgia election officials expect 1.4 million people to vote early this year - more than double the total from four years ago.
It's the same in North Carolina, where State Board of Elections Director Gary Bartlett said two months ago he told senior staff members that mail-in and in-person early voting could reach 2 million ballots. Bartlett said his colleagues thought he was a little crazy.
But based on results so far - more than 735,000 people had voted early as of early Thursday - "it looks like that we're going to be pretty close to that."
"We're seeing historic numbers with a historic election year," Bartlett said. "I'm very proud to be a part of that historical process."
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires several Southern states to report racial breakdowns among voters, an effort designed to prevent discrimination. But North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana are the only ones reporting that information as early voting is proceeding.
"We believe in transparency," Bartlett said.
North Carolina has long had more registered Democrats than Republicans but hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976. President Bush won the state by 12 percentage points four years ago. Bush beat John Kerry by 17 points in Georgia, a state that last voted Democratic in 1992.
This year's trends are daunting for McCain, the Republican nominee. Polls out this week favor Obama in both North Carolina and Florida.
Last year, Obama said his place on the Democratic ticket would boost African-American turnout by 30 percent - potentially opening up Southern states that his party hadn't won in more than a generation. But Obama campaign officials now play down the prospect that his place as the first black to top a major party ticket would sway enough voters to win the presidency.
"I don't think we should talk only about race. There are so many other factors - age, geography," said spokeswoman Carolina Adelman. "This campaign's not about race, it's about bringing people together."
Republicans also caution it would be a mistake to read too much into the early totals. McCain spokesman Mario Diaz said the GOP will benefit from high turnout on Election Day, and he noted the party has focused less on early voting than Obama.
"We anticipate the support to only intensify by Election Day," he said.
There have been predictions all year of a record black turnout for Obama. The first actual figures suggest that wasn't just talk:
• In North Carolina, blacks make up 31 percent of early voters so far, even though they're just 21 percent of the population and made up only 19 percent of state's overall 2004 vote.
• Roughly 36 percent of the early voters are black in Georgia, outpacing their 30 percent proportion of the state's population and their 25 percent share of the 2004 vote.
No one but the voters can be sure how they voted. And John McCain's campaign officials note that the Obama camp has put much more effort than they have into early voting. But the numbers are still notable.
Democrats are outvoting the GOP by a margin of 2.5-to-1 in North Carolina, where early voting has been under way for a week. That's roughly double the margin from 2004.
More than 210,000 blacks who are registered as Democrats have cast early ballots in the Tar Heel State - compared with roughly 174,000 registered Republicans overall. Four years ago, the number of GOP early and absentee voters was more than double that of black Democrats.
"It's a sign about how energized African-Americans are about this election," says David Bositis, who tracks black voting trends at the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
In Louisiana, more than 31 percent of the early voters are black, and Democrats are topping Republicans nearly 2-to-1. In the crucial battleground state of Florida, nearly 55 percent of early voters are registered Democrats - well above their 41 percent share of the electorate in the Sunshine State.
Virginia, another Southern state that usually votes Republican - but where Obama is doing well in opinion polls - does not track voter registrations by race or party. But some of the largest increases in registrations this year were in Democratic-leaning cities with large minority populations.
Absentee voting - as the name suggests - was originally designed for people who couldn't make it to the polls on Election Day. But this year, more than 30 states allow any registered voter to cast an early ballot, and many election officials are encouraging voters to do so to ease the strain on Nov. 4. About a third of voters nationwide are expected to cast their ballots before Election Day
Obama's campaign has focused heavily on turning out those voters, using advertising and campaign events. That's the message the Illinois senator brought to North Carolina during his last stop, when he addressed a predominantly black crowd in Fayetteville.
"We want to get as many votes in as possible as early as possible," he said.
Louise Boyd, a 61-year-old Charlotte retiree, voted early this year and then returned to wait in line two days later with her sister, Nyata Frazier. Boyd, who is black, said she expected a very large turnout from watching rallies and noting the historic nature of voting for a black presidential candidate.
"I had a little more pride," she said. "It shows how vastly the U.S. has changed."
The surge in black voters follows a similar trend this year in voter registration. In the five states that track voter registration by race, blacks signed up to vote at twice the rate of whites in the six months through September.
The question then was would those newly registered voters turn out to vote, and now there are signs that they will. In Georgia, 230,000 more people have cast early ballots than voted absentee in 2004.
Many of those early voters have come from metro Atlanta counties, including heavily Democratic Fulton and DeKalb.
In Marietta, just north of Atlanta, poll workers were warning arriving voters of waits up to four hours on Thursday. Many were not deterred.
"Take off work, get in line and just expect a long wait," said Kristy White, 30. "Bring a book if you have to."
Georgia election officials expect 1.4 million people to vote early this year - more than double the total from four years ago.
It's the same in North Carolina, where State Board of Elections Director Gary Bartlett said two months ago he told senior staff members that mail-in and in-person early voting could reach 2 million ballots. Bartlett said his colleagues thought he was a little crazy.
But based on results so far - more than 735,000 people had voted early as of early Thursday - "it looks like that we're going to be pretty close to that."
"We're seeing historic numbers with a historic election year," Bartlett said. "I'm very proud to be a part of that historical process."
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires several Southern states to report racial breakdowns among voters, an effort designed to prevent discrimination. But North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana are the only ones reporting that information as early voting is proceeding.
"We believe in transparency," Bartlett said.
North Carolina has long had more registered Democrats than Republicans but hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976. President Bush won the state by 12 percentage points four years ago. Bush beat John Kerry by 17 points in Georgia, a state that last voted Democratic in 1992.
This year's trends are daunting for McCain, the Republican nominee. Polls out this week favor Obama in both North Carolina and Florida.
Last year, Obama said his place on the Democratic ticket would boost African-American turnout by 30 percent - potentially opening up Southern states that his party hadn't won in more than a generation. But Obama campaign officials now play down the prospect that his place as the first black to top a major party ticket would sway enough voters to win the presidency.
"I don't think we should talk only about race. There are so many other factors - age, geography," said spokeswoman Carolina Adelman. "This campaign's not about race, it's about bringing people together."
Republicans also caution it would be a mistake to read too much into the early totals. McCain spokesman Mario Diaz said the GOP will benefit from high turnout on Election Day, and he noted the party has focused less on early voting than Obama.
"We anticipate the support to only intensify by Election Day," he said.
Nyambala
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 10, 2007
- 4,465
- 1,172
Blame game: GOP forms circular firing squad
By JONATHAN MARTIN & MIKE ALLEN & JOHN F. HARRIS | 10/23/08 7:46 PM EDT
With despair rising even among many of John McCain's own advisors, influential Republicans inside and outside his campaign are engaged in an intense round of blame-casting and rear-covering--much of it virtually conceding that an Election Day rout is likely.
A McCain interview published Thursday in the Washington Times sparked the latest and most nasty round of Washington finger-pointing, with senior GOP hands close to President Bush and top congressional aides denouncing the candidate for what they said was an unfocused message and poorly executed campaign.
McCain told the Times that the administration "let things get completely out of hand" through eight years of bad decisions about Iraq, global warming, and big spending.
The candidate's strategists in recent days have become increasingly vocal in interviews and conference calls about what they call unfair news media coverage and Barack Obama's wide financial advantage - both complaints laying down a post-election storyline for why their own efforts proved ineffectual.
These public comments offer a whiff of an increasingly acrid behind-the-scenes GOP meltdown-a blame game played out through not-for-attribution comments to reporters that operatives know will find their way into circulation.
Top Republican officials have let it be known they are distressed about McCain's organization. Coordination between the McCain campaign and Republican National Committee, always uneven, is now nearly dysfunctional, with little high-level contact and intelligence-sharing between the two.
"There is no communication," lamented one top Republican. "It drives you crazy."
At his Northern Virginia headquarters, some McCain aides are already speaking of the campaign in the past tense. Morale, even among some of the heartiest and most loyal staffers, has plummeted. And many past and current McCain advisors are warring with each other over who led the candidate astray.
One well-connected Republican in the private sector was shocked to get calls and resumes in the past few days from what he said were senior McCain aides – a breach of custom for even the worst-off campaigns.
"It's not an extraordinarily happy place to be right now," said one senior McCain aide. "I'm not gonna lie. It's just unfortunate."
"If you really want to see what ‘going negative' is in politics, just watch the back-stabbing and blame game that we're starting to see," said Mark McKinnon, the ad man who left the campaign after McCain wrapped up the GOP primary. "And there's one common theme: Everyone who wasn't part of the campaign could have done better."
"The cake is baked," agreed a former McCain strategist. "We're entering the finger-pointing and positioning-for-history part of the campaign. It's every man for himself now."
A circular firing squad is among the most familiar political rituals of a campaign when things aren't going well. But it is rare for campaign aides to be so openly participating in it well before Election Day.
One current senior campaign official gave voice to this "Law of the Jungle" ethic, defending the campaign against second-guessers who say it was a mistake to throw away his experience message in an attempt to match Obama's "change" mantra.
See Also
McCain kicks off 'Joe the Plumber' tour
Avalanche! Early voting at record pace
What are the candidates hiding?
"Everybody agreed with the strategy," said this official. "We were unlikely to be successful without being aggressive and taking risks."
Running as a steady hand and basing a campaign on Obama's sparse resume was a political loser, it was decided.
"The pollsters and the entire senior leadership of campaign believe that experience versus change was not a winning message and formulation, the same way it was no winning formula with Hillary Clinton."
Beyond the obvious reputation-burnishing-much of it by professional operatives whose financial livelihoods depend on ensuring that they are not blamed for a bad campaign-there is a more substantive dimension. Barring a big McCain comeback, and a turnabout in numerous congressional races where the party is in trouble, the GOP is on the brink of a soul-searching debate about what to do to reclaim power. Much of that debate will hinge on appraisals of what McCain could have done differently.
That is why his criticisms of Bush hit such an exposed nerve Thursday. Was McCain hobbled by party label at a time when the incumbent president is so unpopular? Or did his uneven response to the financial rescue-and endorsement of such non-conservative ideas as a massive government purchase of homeowner mortgages-seal his fate?
Dan Schnur, a McCain communications advisor during his 2000 run and now a political analyst at the University of Southern California, said McCain should step in to halt the defeatism and self-serving leaks-an epidemic of incontinence-on his own team.
"It's a natural and human reaction when you're struggling to make up ground, but that doesn't make it right," Schnur said. "As long as the campaign is still potentially winnable, these are an unnecessary distraction. This looks like it's reached a point where the candidate has to step in himself and crack some heads to remind everyone why they came to work for him in the first place."
Offered a chance to respond to the suggestion that the McCain campaign is awash in defeatism, a McCain official delivered a decidedly measured appraisal: "We have a real chance in Pennsylvania. We are in trouble in Colorado, Nevada and Virginia. We have lost Iowa and New Mexico. We are OK in Missouri, Ohio and Florida. Our voter intensity is good and we can match their buy dollar for dollar starting today till the election. It's a long shot but it's worth fighting for."
Earlier this week, campaign manager Rick Davis complained to reporters in a conference call that reporters refuse to call out Obama for alleged shady fund-raising tactics, but in the process revealed no small amount of envy about the Democratic financial advantage. "Now, I'd love to have that $4 million right now to put into Pennsylvania," he said. "It'd be a good thing for our campaign. I think it's a game-changer if I can slap all of that right on Philadelphia media market. It's an expensive place. And, yet, Barack Obama gets away with raising illegitimate money and spending it."
A New York Times Sunday magazine piece chronicling McCain's campaign featured numerous not-for-attribution McCain staffers participating in what amounted to a campaign autopsy. One aide told writer Robert Draper, "For better or worse our campaign has been fought from tactic to tactic," and one criticized McCain's debate performance.
Long-time McCain alter ego Mark Salter gave an interview to Atlantic writer Jeffrey Goldberg criticizing everything from the news media to the vagaries of fate: "Iraq was supposed to be the issue of the campaign. We assumed it was our biggest challenge. Funny how things work."
Many conservative commentators likewise have been writing of McCain's campaign in a valedictory tone. Among this group there is an emerging debate-one with the potential to last for a long time about the role of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
One school-including syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker and Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal-called her a drag on the ticket and implicitly rebuked McCain's judgment in picking her. Another school believes she is the future of the party, a view backed by Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard: "Whether they know it or not, Republicans have a huge stake in Palin. If, after the election, they let her slip into political obscurity, they'll be making a huge mistake."
In The Week, former Bush speechwriter David Frum wrote of McCain's travails in a way that seemed to take defeat for granted and warned the GOP faces a long road back. "That's not a failure of campaign tactics. It's not even a failure of strategy. It's a failure of the Republican Party and conservative movement to adapt to the times."
While Frum was focused on the long view of history, many Republicans in Washington are much more in the moment-and much harsher in their denunciation of McCain and his team.
A senior Republican strategist, speaking with authority about the view of the party's establishment, issued a wide-ranging critique of the McCain high command: "Lashing out at past Republican Congresses, … echoing your opponent's attacks on you instead of attacking your opponent, and spending 150,000 hard dollars on designer clothes when congressional Republicans are struggling for money, and when your senior campaign staff are blaming each other for the loss in The New York Times [Magazine] 10 days before the election, you're not doing much to energize your supporters.
"The fact is, when you're the party standard-bearer, you have an obligation to fight to the finish," this strategist continued. "I think they can still win. But if they don't think that, they need to look at how Bob Dole finished out his campaign in 1996 and not try to take down as many Republicans with them as they can. Instead of campaigning in Electoral College states, Dole was campaigning in places he knew he didn't have a chance to beat Clinton, but where he could energize key House and Senate races."
A House Republican leadership aide in an e-mail was no more complimentary: "The staff has been remarkably undisciplined, too eager to point fingers, unable to craft any coherent long term strategy. The handling of Palin (not her performances, but her rollout and availability) has been nothing short of political malpractice. I understand the candidate might have other opinions and might be dictating some aspects of the campaign to staff – but the lack of discipline and ability to draft and stick to a coherent message is unreal. You have half of the campaign saying Ayers is a major issue, and then the candidate out there saying he doesn't care about a washed up terrorist. You have McCain one day echoing Milton Friedman and the next day echoing FDR."
By JONATHAN MARTIN & MIKE ALLEN & JOHN F. HARRIS | 10/23/08 7:46 PM EDT
With despair rising even among many of John McCain's own advisors, influential Republicans inside and outside his campaign are engaged in an intense round of blame-casting and rear-covering--much of it virtually conceding that an Election Day rout is likely.
A McCain interview published Thursday in the Washington Times sparked the latest and most nasty round of Washington finger-pointing, with senior GOP hands close to President Bush and top congressional aides denouncing the candidate for what they said was an unfocused message and poorly executed campaign.
McCain told the Times that the administration "let things get completely out of hand" through eight years of bad decisions about Iraq, global warming, and big spending.
The candidate's strategists in recent days have become increasingly vocal in interviews and conference calls about what they call unfair news media coverage and Barack Obama's wide financial advantage - both complaints laying down a post-election storyline for why their own efforts proved ineffectual.
These public comments offer a whiff of an increasingly acrid behind-the-scenes GOP meltdown-a blame game played out through not-for-attribution comments to reporters that operatives know will find their way into circulation.
Top Republican officials have let it be known they are distressed about McCain's organization. Coordination between the McCain campaign and Republican National Committee, always uneven, is now nearly dysfunctional, with little high-level contact and intelligence-sharing between the two.
"There is no communication," lamented one top Republican. "It drives you crazy."
At his Northern Virginia headquarters, some McCain aides are already speaking of the campaign in the past tense. Morale, even among some of the heartiest and most loyal staffers, has plummeted. And many past and current McCain advisors are warring with each other over who led the candidate astray.
One well-connected Republican in the private sector was shocked to get calls and resumes in the past few days from what he said were senior McCain aides – a breach of custom for even the worst-off campaigns.
"It's not an extraordinarily happy place to be right now," said one senior McCain aide. "I'm not gonna lie. It's just unfortunate."
"If you really want to see what ‘going negative' is in politics, just watch the back-stabbing and blame game that we're starting to see," said Mark McKinnon, the ad man who left the campaign after McCain wrapped up the GOP primary. "And there's one common theme: Everyone who wasn't part of the campaign could have done better."
"The cake is baked," agreed a former McCain strategist. "We're entering the finger-pointing and positioning-for-history part of the campaign. It's every man for himself now."
A circular firing squad is among the most familiar political rituals of a campaign when things aren't going well. But it is rare for campaign aides to be so openly participating in it well before Election Day.
One current senior campaign official gave voice to this "Law of the Jungle" ethic, defending the campaign against second-guessers who say it was a mistake to throw away his experience message in an attempt to match Obama's "change" mantra.
See Also
McCain kicks off 'Joe the Plumber' tour
Avalanche! Early voting at record pace
What are the candidates hiding?
"Everybody agreed with the strategy," said this official. "We were unlikely to be successful without being aggressive and taking risks."
Running as a steady hand and basing a campaign on Obama's sparse resume was a political loser, it was decided.
"The pollsters and the entire senior leadership of campaign believe that experience versus change was not a winning message and formulation, the same way it was no winning formula with Hillary Clinton."
Beyond the obvious reputation-burnishing-much of it by professional operatives whose financial livelihoods depend on ensuring that they are not blamed for a bad campaign-there is a more substantive dimension. Barring a big McCain comeback, and a turnabout in numerous congressional races where the party is in trouble, the GOP is on the brink of a soul-searching debate about what to do to reclaim power. Much of that debate will hinge on appraisals of what McCain could have done differently.
That is why his criticisms of Bush hit such an exposed nerve Thursday. Was McCain hobbled by party label at a time when the incumbent president is so unpopular? Or did his uneven response to the financial rescue-and endorsement of such non-conservative ideas as a massive government purchase of homeowner mortgages-seal his fate?
Dan Schnur, a McCain communications advisor during his 2000 run and now a political analyst at the University of Southern California, said McCain should step in to halt the defeatism and self-serving leaks-an epidemic of incontinence-on his own team.
"It's a natural and human reaction when you're struggling to make up ground, but that doesn't make it right," Schnur said. "As long as the campaign is still potentially winnable, these are an unnecessary distraction. This looks like it's reached a point where the candidate has to step in himself and crack some heads to remind everyone why they came to work for him in the first place."
Offered a chance to respond to the suggestion that the McCain campaign is awash in defeatism, a McCain official delivered a decidedly measured appraisal: "We have a real chance in Pennsylvania. We are in trouble in Colorado, Nevada and Virginia. We have lost Iowa and New Mexico. We are OK in Missouri, Ohio and Florida. Our voter intensity is good and we can match their buy dollar for dollar starting today till the election. It's a long shot but it's worth fighting for."
Earlier this week, campaign manager Rick Davis complained to reporters in a conference call that reporters refuse to call out Obama for alleged shady fund-raising tactics, but in the process revealed no small amount of envy about the Democratic financial advantage. "Now, I'd love to have that $4 million right now to put into Pennsylvania," he said. "It'd be a good thing for our campaign. I think it's a game-changer if I can slap all of that right on Philadelphia media market. It's an expensive place. And, yet, Barack Obama gets away with raising illegitimate money and spending it."
A New York Times Sunday magazine piece chronicling McCain's campaign featured numerous not-for-attribution McCain staffers participating in what amounted to a campaign autopsy. One aide told writer Robert Draper, "For better or worse our campaign has been fought from tactic to tactic," and one criticized McCain's debate performance.
Long-time McCain alter ego Mark Salter gave an interview to Atlantic writer Jeffrey Goldberg criticizing everything from the news media to the vagaries of fate: "Iraq was supposed to be the issue of the campaign. We assumed it was our biggest challenge. Funny how things work."
Many conservative commentators likewise have been writing of McCain's campaign in a valedictory tone. Among this group there is an emerging debate-one with the potential to last for a long time about the role of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
One school-including syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker and Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal-called her a drag on the ticket and implicitly rebuked McCain's judgment in picking her. Another school believes she is the future of the party, a view backed by Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard: "Whether they know it or not, Republicans have a huge stake in Palin. If, after the election, they let her slip into political obscurity, they'll be making a huge mistake."
In The Week, former Bush speechwriter David Frum wrote of McCain's travails in a way that seemed to take defeat for granted and warned the GOP faces a long road back. "That's not a failure of campaign tactics. It's not even a failure of strategy. It's a failure of the Republican Party and conservative movement to adapt to the times."
While Frum was focused on the long view of history, many Republicans in Washington are much more in the moment-and much harsher in their denunciation of McCain and his team.
A senior Republican strategist, speaking with authority about the view of the party's establishment, issued a wide-ranging critique of the McCain high command: "Lashing out at past Republican Congresses, … echoing your opponent's attacks on you instead of attacking your opponent, and spending 150,000 hard dollars on designer clothes when congressional Republicans are struggling for money, and when your senior campaign staff are blaming each other for the loss in The New York Times [Magazine] 10 days before the election, you're not doing much to energize your supporters.
"The fact is, when you're the party standard-bearer, you have an obligation to fight to the finish," this strategist continued. "I think they can still win. But if they don't think that, they need to look at how Bob Dole finished out his campaign in 1996 and not try to take down as many Republicans with them as they can. Instead of campaigning in Electoral College states, Dole was campaigning in places he knew he didn't have a chance to beat Clinton, but where he could energize key House and Senate races."
A House Republican leadership aide in an e-mail was no more complimentary: "The staff has been remarkably undisciplined, too eager to point fingers, unable to craft any coherent long term strategy. The handling of Palin (not her performances, but her rollout and availability) has been nothing short of political malpractice. I understand the candidate might have other opinions and might be dictating some aspects of the campaign to staff – but the lack of discipline and ability to draft and stick to a coherent message is unreal. You have half of the campaign saying Ayers is a major issue, and then the candidate out there saying he doesn't care about a washed up terrorist. You have McCain one day echoing Milton Friedman and the next day echoing FDR."
Nyani Ngabu
Platinum Member
- May 15, 2006
- 97,149
- 137,114
Nyinyi mna hoja kali kweli kweli....especially kwenye hoja ya nguo...
Capitol Hill
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 19, 2007
- 749
- 48
Unajua kwa nini tuna shadadia hoja ya nguo za Miss Wasila? Kwa sababu your campaign is switching directions and try to grasp on the well being of the "little people" like Joe the Plumber...wakati you have always been there for the interets of " Joe the CEO" and "Joe the Investment Banker"..and never for "Joe the Katrina" sasa mnakamatwa na mitego yenu wenyewe.
Ni kama vile Former Congressman Mc Folly kupigia kelele amendments za kuzuia child predators wakati yeye mwenyewe ana pray on little boys. Ni kama vile Sen. Larry Craig anapomwita Bill Clinton "He is very nasty bad boy", na ku condemn Bill Clinton sex scandal wakati yeye anaka mchezo ka wavulana kwenye public bathrooms.
Ni issue ndogo ndogo za unafiki..
Capitol Hill
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 19, 2007
- 749
- 48
Ingawa stocks zinaanguka leo kuna good breaking news kwa baadhi ya sector....Habari zilizopatikana sasa hivi via wire zinasema...Shares za Retail stores kama Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom na Macy's zime rebound baada ya Sarah Palin ku announce kwamba ana mpango wa kununua nguo kwa ajili ya election night. Habari zaidi baade.
Susuviri
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 6, 2007
- 3,713
- 891
Capitol, Koba, HOfstede, REv Kishoka..... yaaniuongo umewakolea GOP sasa wame umbuka!
Huyu mama alidai kwamba alipigwa na kuchanjwa na Black man who is Obama supporter and who first mugged her then when he saw the MCCain bumper sticker on her car akarudi na kumchanja! Now... it turns up she LIED!!!!!
Kwikwikwkwikwkwikwikwikwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Hahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa
Nyaniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Hii imekaaje?
Alafu within a few hours this update:
Actually it is no longer amusing
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
it is a shame that they wanted to:
a) do a bit of race baiting and reinforce stereotypes about Black being muggers, lusting after white women etc
b) create a scandal as a game changer in the final days of general election campaign!!
This is what Fox had to say when the news first broke:
Huyu mama alidai kwamba alipigwa na kuchanjwa na Black man who is Obama supporter and who first mugged her then when he saw the MCCain bumper sticker on her car akarudi na kumchanja! Now... it turns up she LIED!!!!!
Kwikwikwkwikwkwikwikwikwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Hahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa
Nyaniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Hii imekaaje?
Alafu within a few hours this update:
Actually it is no longer amusing
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
it is a shame that they wanted to:
a) do a bit of race baiting and reinforce stereotypes about Black being muggers, lusting after white women etc
b) create a scandal as a game changer in the final days of general election campaign!!
This is what Fox had to say when the news first broke:
capitol, koba, hofstede, rev kishoka..... Yaaniuongo umewakolea gop sasa wame umbuka!
huyu mama alidai kwamba alipigwa na kuchanjwa na black man who is obama supporter and who first mugged her then when he saw the mccain bumper sticker on her car akarudi na kumchanja! Now... It turns up she lied!!!!!
Kwikwikwkwikwkwikwikwikwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
hahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa
nyaniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
hii imekaaje?
Alafu within a few hours this update:
Actually it is no longer amusing
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
it is a shame that they wanted to:
A) do a bit of race baiting and reinforce stereotypes about black being muggers, lusting after white women etc
b) create a scandal as a game changer in the final days of general election campaign!!
This is what fox had to say when the news first broke:
...ouch!...ouch!
Susu
Mi nilisema hawa jamaa watajaribu kila njia and last they'll go "Racists" as their last card. The GOP Ticket is baiting for RACE now to divide blacks and white, they've failed. All statements, coded messages and rest have failed. I heard Pitbull says someone called her "Redneck woman"
Mi nilisema hawa jamaa watajaribu kila njia and last they'll go "Racists" as their last card. The GOP Ticket is baiting for RACE now to divide blacks and white, they've failed. All statements, coded messages and rest have failed. I heard Pitbull says someone called her "Redneck woman"
Capitol Hill
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 19, 2007
- 749
- 48
Capitol, Koba, HOfstede, REv Kishoka..... yaaniuongo umewakolea GOP sasa wame umbuka!
Huyu mama alidai kwamba alipigwa na kuchanjwa na Black man who is Obama supporter and who first mugged her then when he saw the MCCain bumper sticker on her car akarudi na kumchanja! Now... it turns up she LIED!!!!!
Kwikwikwkwikwkwikwikwikwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Hahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa
Nyaniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Hii imekaaje?
Alafu within a few hours this update:
Actually it is no longer amusing
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
it is a shame that they wanted to:
a) do a bit of race baiting and reinforce stereotypes about Black being muggers, lusting after white women etc
b) create a scandal as a game changer in the final days of general election campaign!!
This is what Fox had to say when the news first broke:
Huyu mwanamke alipigwa kweli au ? Hilo jicho nafikiri ni "kazi gone bad" ya make up artist wa Miss Wasilla (Gov. Palin).
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