Is McCain/Palin In Obama's Head?

Obama and his campaign have been showing signs of having been rattled by the VP pick of Palin. However, there were signs before the VP selection that the Obama campaign could be rattled. First, the celebrity ad. Outrage, and cries of foul abounded over an ad that basically poked fun at Obama's celebrity and his legions of euphoric supporters. Second, Saddleback. Not the event itself, but the cries of cheating that came from the Obama campaign. It couldn't be that McCain outperformed Obama there must have been foul play. So the Obama campaign screams cheater because Senator McCain wasn't hermetically sealed in in a sound proof pod, or 'cone of silence'. Their reaction was both foolish, and a sign that even minor victories by the McCain campaign could rattle them. However, the pre-Palin kicker is that someone convinced Senator Obama to give a mediocre acceptance speech. What is the one area where Senator Obama has a decisive edge? Speech making; and he under-performed. How that happened should be studied in political science classes in years to come, because forfeiting a strength in any arena is flat crazy.

Then comes the VP picks. Obama doesn't want Clinton, and chooses a candidate to help him appear more experienced so he picks Biden. McCain supporters chuckle as Senator Biden is a legendary 'Gaffe Machine'. Everyone else yawns. Good guy, fairly safe pick, but no one really cares. Then it's McCain's turn. Everyone is predicting Romney or Pawlenty, both safe choices, but again not terribly exciting. The McCain campaign keeps the pick completely secret, and then Palin explodes on the scene. She gave a good opening speech, but there were a lot of questions about her still to be addressed. The Obama campaign immediately took a shot at her, but then retracted the statement as harsh and unnecessary. The media loses its mind. Certainly that's not the Obama camps fault, but their obvious Obama bias and hysterical reaction to Palin does not help their favorite candidate. Clumsily the Obama campaign chimed in with cracks about her experience as a small town mayor, and dismissed her experience as a sitting Governor. This opened the door for Palin to clock Obama on his community organizer experience during her acceptance speech, which was such a powerful speech that it made the media and Obama look foolish for their attacks.

Since then the Obama campaign has struggled to get its bearings. First, Obama acted horrified that Palin challenged his community organizer experience, when he had really set himself up. Then his campaign had a meltdown over Palin's comment that she had pulled the plug on the 'Bridge to No Where'. Instead of criticizing Palin's original support for a different version of the bridge, or questioning what that money should have been spent on after the project was dead, the Obama campaign instead freaked out. They called Palin a liar, they called the McCain/Palin ticket corrupt, yet in the end Palin did pull the plug on the 'Bridge to No Where' and the Obama campaign's over-reaction looked foolish and unstable. Then comes Senator Obama's 'Lipstick on a pig' comment. One can argue intent all day long, however, there is little argument that the comment was incredibly stupid. Particularly, since in the same day he made another comment about a 'stinking fish', and another campaign member also referenced lipstick in a less than flattering way. For someone who is typically graceful in his use of language, "The fierce urgency of now", "We are not red states or blue states, we are the United States", talking about lipstick on pigs after Palin made a lipstick joke during her speech is at best sloppy and out of character.

Today the fumbling continues. An ad criticizing Senator McCain's out of date attire from 1982, and challenging his apparent internet ineptitude has to be one of the weakest attack ads put out in years. Maybe that helps him somehow with the youth vote, but he already has the youth vote. Most people over the age of 30 know at some point in their lives they've worn a silly outfit, and/or had a bad hair day. As for lack of internet experience, who cares? It's an odd argument that I can't imagine helps the campaign. The Obama campaign has abandoned their 'new politics' argument for random and silly attacks. It's not just that they're struggling since the Palin pick and the convention, its that they're panicking. They're only down a few points in the polls, the real problem isn't the numbers it's that the McCain/Palin ticket has them completely flustered.

Is McCain/Palin in Obama's Head?

Obama & McCain on NH's First in the Nation Primary

Few outside of New Hampshire realize how committed the state is to preserving its first in the nation primary status. However, John McCain does. He has been adamant in his support for NH's primary process, and whatever people feel of Senator McCain's policies it hard to deny that the Senator has a real affinity for the Granite State. Fosters, however, is reporting that Senator Obama's committment to NH's first in the nation status may not be that strong.

John McCain's presidential campaign on Saturday declared itself more committed than Barack Obama's to preserving New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

"Barack Obama will wait until after the election before he breaks the bad news to New Hampshire voters that he will change the nominating process and relegate New Hampshire's traditional role to the history books," spokesman Jeff Grappone said.

His comments came after Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean's visit to the state Friday, during which he responded to a question from Foster's about whether the Democratic Party would place Iowa and New Hampshire first and second in the 2012 nominating calendar.

"That'll be up to President Obama," Dean said, then praised this year's primary voting, which saw states such as Nevada and South Carolina vote earlier than in years past.

McCain's campaign called on rival Obama to say precisely where he stands on preserving New Hampshire's position. Peter Spaulding, chairman of McCain's state operations, used Howard Dean "punting a key New Hampshire question" to shine the light on Obama, the Democrat's presumptive nominee.

Admiral Smith: Obama Should Have the Guts to Question McCain's Service Himself

Statement by Admiral Leighton "Snuffy" Smith on Gen. Wesley Clark's Attack on John McCain

ARLINGTON, VA -- Admiral Leighton "Snuffy" Smith, USN (Ret.) today issued the following statement on Gen. Wesley Clark's attack on John McCain's military service record today on CBS' "Face the Nation":

"If Barack Obama wants to question John McCain's service to his country, he should have the guts to do it himself and not hide behind his campaign surrogates. If he expects the American people to believe his pledges about a new kind of politics, Barack Obama has a responsibility to condemn these attacks."

Admiral Leighton "Snuffy" Smith, Jr. retired from the Navy after over 34 years of service in positions that took him, literally, around the world. His last active duty assignment was Commander, U.S. Naval Force, Europe, Commander in Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (NATO) and, concurrently, Commander of NATO's first ever out of area land operation, the Implementation Forces (IFOR) in Bosnia charged with implementing the Dayton Peace Accords. As a naval aviator Admiral Smith flew carrier-based light attack jet aircraft during multiple deployments to the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Western Pacific and Indian oceans. These included three cruises in waters off North Vietnam where he flew over 280 combat missions.

Full Press Release

McCain Calls Obama On Breaking His Word

No Unity in NH

As the McCain campaign kicks off their Citizens for McCain coalition it is showing that while Unity is a town in NH, it may not be the Democratic Party's state in NH. The head of Citizens for McCain in New Hampshire are well established Democrats who site McCain's experience for choosing him over Obama. As reported by Politicker NH...

MANCHESTER, NH -- U.S. Senator John McCain's campaign today announced the New Hampshire leadership of "Citizens for McCain," a national, grassroots organization dedicated to rallying Americans of all political parties behind John McCain's candidacy. The Granite State group will continue the grassroots effort to recruit and energize Democrats and Independents in support of John McCain.

Democrats Jim McConaha and Valery Mitchell, of Concord, have joined the group and will serve as co-chairs of "New Hampshire Democrats for McCain." Independents Marcia Moran, of Concord, and David Lee, of Londonderry, will serve as co-chairs of "New Hampshire Independents for McCain."

An appointee under former President Bill Clinton and Governor Jeanne Shaheen, McConaha said, "This is the most important job in the world. We need a leader of proven competence, tested judgment and substantial experience in the modern world and, obviously, that is John McCain."

"The Two Obama's" on Obama-style Politics

David Brook's excellent article The Two Obama's does an excellent job laying out how Senator Obama talks reform and inspiration, but plays old school politics as well as anyone out there...

"God, Republicans are saps. They think that they’re running against some academic liberal who wouldn’t wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn’t proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson..."

"...But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes..."

Brooks goes on to explain Obama's history of old school politics. That he is smart and calculating, and has laid out a path for himself that any old-school Chigago politician would be proud of...

"...Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.

Dr. Barack said he could no more disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than disown his own grandmother. Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck.

Dr. Barack could have been a workhorse senator. But primary candidates don’t do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck.

Dr. Barack could have changed the way presidential campaigning works. John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don’t go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck.

And then on Thursday, Fast Eddie Obama had his finest hour. Barack Obama has worked on political reform more than any other issue. He aspires to be to political reform what Bono is to fighting disease in Africa. He’s spent much of his career talking about how much he believes in public financing. In January 2007, he told Larry King that the public-financing system works. In February 2007, he challenged Republicans to limit their spending and vowed to do so along with them if he were the nominee. In February 2008, he said he would aggressively pursue spending limits. He answered a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire by reminding everyone that he has been a longtime advocate of the public-financing system.

Full David Brook's article The Two Obama's