More McCain Sleaze Coming ...
From WaPo ...
Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said.With just a month to go until Election Day, McCain's team has decided that its emphasis on the senator's biography as a war hero, experienced lawmaker and straight-talking maverick is insufficient to close a growing gap with Obama. The Arizonan's campaign is also eager to move the conversation away from the economy, an issue that strongly favors Obama and has helped him to a lead in many recent polls.
"We're going to get a little tougher," a senior Republican operative said, indicating that a fresh batch of television ads is coming. "We've got to question this guy's associations. Very soon. There's no question that we have to change the subject here," said the operative, who was not authorized to discuss strategy and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
--Josh Marshall
Surprise, Surprise
She fibbed about Darfur too. She supported divestment about as much as she killed the Bridge to Nowhere.
--Josh Marshall
Palin Around with Traitors
Sarah Palin is accusing Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists." But isn't her husband a former member of a political party which has treason against the United States as its central tenet?
Answer: yes.
--Josh Marshall
Desperate
Republican state legislators, at the behest of the McCain campaign, have now filed an emergency appeal with the Alaska Supreme Court trying to shutdown the 'Troopergate' investigation. The plaintiffs (echoing the Bush v. Gore decision) claim "the plaintiffs and Alaskans will suffer irreparable harm" if the Branchflower report is released, as scheduled, next Friday, October 10th.
Bear in mind, the people in charge of the investigation moved the release date up so as not to have it released on the eve of the election. That was the original schedule long before Palin was chosen as veep nominee. And the GOP lawyers the McCain campaign sent to Alaska have succeeded in having almost all the parties connected to Palin refuse to cooperate with the investigation. So it's not completely clear just what Branchflower is going to be able to come up with, either inculpating or exculpating.
But this is an opportunity to refocus our attention on something that has been lost in the nonstop coverage of Palin's campaign trail lies and botched interviews: her record in Alaska strongly suggests she lacks the character to be trusted with high office. Though the troopergate scandal is tied narrowly to Palin's firing of Alaska's top cop, Walt Monegan, the heart of the story is about a private vendetta that Palin tried to settle using her new powers as the chief executive of the state of Alaska. Thwarted in doing so, all evidence suggests she fired the public official who refused to execute her plan.
Nor is it the only example. Both as mayor and governor, Palin has shown the tell-tale signs of a politician who hires cronies and fires or blackballs critics. This part of Palin's record gets deep in the weeds. So it's not as flashy as the boffo interviews or and irresistible as the straight-up lies she's been caught in. But we need no closer example than the Bush administration to know that people like this are dangerous and corrosive to our public institutions.
--Josh Marshall
It Goes Way Back
From TPM Reader PM ...
Speaking of McCain's temper, does anybody remember the whole 2006 ethics reform matter. I have been thinking about this for days, ever since the first debate. I didn't remember all the details at first, only that McCain had responded to a cordial, inoffensive letter from Obama with some unhinged rant. At the time Obama's star was definitely rising and I remember thinking this old guy is mad as hell that he is being shown-up by this "young upstart". Perhaps it was even more calculated than that. Certainly in 2006 McCain already had this election in mind and the word presidential was being applied to Senator Obama. I felt at the time it was a preemptive smear, trying to knock Obama down a few pegs before he became too much of a threat. Thank God for Google, a search for "Obama McCain letters" brought up this:I didn't remember Obama's reply but upon reading it all I could think was how consistent it was with the sort of campaign he has run. Unfortunately it would seem McCain has been consistent as well.
Check out the link and relive the early days, when the bile was just beginning to rise.
It so happens I do remember this. And very well actually. I remember blogging about it at the time.
This was McCain's response to Obama's pretty anodyne letter ...
I'm embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics, I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party's efforts to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman senator, and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness.
You can really see the kernel of this campaign's psychodrama (in more than one sense of the word) in this first exchange. Here from February 2006 are some more thoughts I had then about what was going on.
--Josh Marshall
One More for the Road
Why did the Couric interviews go so badly for Palin? As Palin herself explains to Fox, it was because she was "annoyed":
She gets another chance to provide her reading list, too. It includes ... The Economist.
--David Kurtz
What's Eating Him?
Not just a rhetorical question. What do you think has John McCain so angry? It's like anything could send him over the edge. Look at the video (the McCain vids start about 30 seconds in). Send me your thoughts ...
--Josh Marshall
"My Sweet Coconut"
From the "you can't make this up" file, a McCain foreign policy adviser claimed today that the candidate's decades-long interest in Latin America is exemplified by the fact that he had a girlfriend in Brazil 50 years ago while he was in the Navy:
Speaking at an Americas Conference panel discussion Friday on the next U.S. president's Latin American policy, McCain advisor Richard Fontaine started out by mentioning an old Brazilian flame of McCain's, who recently emerged in the press.''Talking a little about his personal experience, he was famously born in Panama and has traveled all over the hemisphere for many years.'' Fontaine said. ``In fact, I saw, I guess it was last week, that his old girlfriend in Brazil has been found from his early days when he was in the Navy and was interviewed. She's a somewhat older woman now than she was then, but it sorta speaks to the long experience he has had in the region -- in the most positive terms.''
Fontaine was referring to former model Maria Gracinda Teixeira de Jesus, who recently gave an interview to O Globo saying the former sailor was quite the kisser. According to McCain's memoirs, `Faith of My Fathers,` they met in 1957, when his ship, the USS Hunt docked in Brazil.
''I called him John but also my darling and my sweet coconut,'' she said. ``He was a great kisser. I liked it so much that I bought a book to learn how to kiss myself.''
She goes on to say that if McCain wins the election, she'll send him a telegram.
--David Kurtz
She Read the Cliffsnotes?
Fox gives Sarah Palin a second bite at the Supreme Court question she flubbed so badly with Katie Couric:
You get sense that if Cameron had interrupted her at any point there, she would have had to start her answer all over again from the top.
--David Kurtz
All Negative, All The Time
Nearly 100 percent of the McCain campaign's TV ad spending is now going to attack ads, TPM Election Central reports.
--David Kurtz
First, Do No Harm
Great catch from Krugman: The Reagan quote Palin used at the end of the debate came from a 1960s recording he made for the AMA for doctors' wives to play at coffee klatches to rally opposition to that totalitarian evil: Medicare.
Late Update: The Reagan audio is here.
--David Kurtz
Out of the Loop?
Sarah Palin says she learned that the McCain-Palin campaign was conceding Michigan to Obama when she read about it in the newspaper this morning:
Bonus Flub Update: And, yes, as readers have pointed out, Carl Cameron mistakenly identifies Palin as the Democratic nominee for vice president.
--David Kurtz
Will Boehner Bring His Caucus?
The House just started voting on the latest version of the bailout plan. Stay tuned ...
Late Update: The vote hasn't been gaveled yet, but looks like it will pass by a comfortable margin.
Later Update: It passes 263-171 (final number subject to change).
Latest Update: Still not clear if a majority of House Republicans came on board. We're double checking that now.
McCain Lost the Caucus Update: A majority of House Republicans voted against the bailout this time around, too. That's not leadership we can believe in.
--David Kurtz
Oh, Puh-lease
Last night Sarah Palin told Joe Biden, "You had supported John McCain's military strategies pretty adamantly until this race."
Not true, as we detail at TPM Election Central.
--David Kurtz
Veep Debate Highlights
It was more joint press conference than debate, but if you were, say, watching the baseball playoffs and missed it, we bring you an abbreviated version of the veep debate, in all its glory, you betcha:
--David Kurtz
Truth or Consequences
An interesting case brewing in Michigan. A local GOP official there just filed suit against an indy media outlet for libel for reporting last month that the GOP was going to use foreclosure rolls to disqualify potential voters in November.
This is the (alleged) lose your house, change your address, lose your right to vote scam we reported about a couple of weeks ago.
That's a big can of worms for the GOP to be potentially opening up to discovery. We'll be watching this one very closely.
Late Update: Who's paying for the lawyer representing the GOP official? The lawyer declined to tell TPMmuckraker, but he did refer us to the Michigan Republican Party ...
--David Kurtz
First Class All the Way
Charles Krauthammer (yes, THAT Charles Krauthammer) calls the race for Obama.
--David Kurtz
Election Central Morning Roundup
The Obama camp already has a TV ad up using footage from last night's debate where Joe Biden is ripping on McCain's health care tax. That and the day's other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
Sure Doesn't Sound Good.
I'm curious to hear from economists and/or state finance experts on the precise significance of this. But it does not sound good. According to the LA Times, Gov. Schwarzenegger has written to Secy. Paulson saying that the state of California may need to borrow as much as $7 billion from the feds within weeks because of the unavailability of short term loans it uses to finance state government in advance of tax monies coming in.
--Josh Marshall
Post-Debate Thought
It was a good idea on the McCain camp's part to get the rules changed so prevent any follow-up questions. But I'm still curious to know whether it was the rules that prevented Ifill from asking any follow-ups or pressing the candidates to answer the actual questions, or whether she just didn't do as good a job as Lehrer.
--Josh Marshall
On Second Thought
I think I may have spoken too soon when I said that Palin didn't have any Couric type moments in this debate. Here's her discussion of the current financial crisis -- note particularly her description of what is happening to the economy which starts about 45 seconds in ...
--Josh Marshall
D'oh
Watching the debate I noticed that Biden referred to the Muslim population of Bosnia and Herzegovina as "Bosniaks". This is actually the correct term, though in English people often say simply Bosnian Muslims. When he said it, the first thing I though was, I wonder how many right-wingers would jump on this as a gaffe on the model of candidate George W. Bush's reference to 'Grecians.'
I don't know who else exposed their own ignorance by falling into this trap. But Cokie Roberts did.
Late Update: Here's the video:
Late Update: Seems like Mona Charen and Joanna Weiss in the Boston Globe flubbed this one too. And, alas, the folks at RedState got burned too.
--Josh Marshall
Critical Post-Debate Moment
This may not have gotten a lot of attention. But in the post-debate commentary, Chris Matthews had Howard Fineman and Roger Simon on. And Simon started in on some aggressive tire-swinging. And as this was happening, a member of the crowd raised this anti-tire-swinging sign. Here you see it behind Matthews. But it was raised in Simon's line of sight and he would be the logical target since he was the clear tire swinger on the panel ...
(ed.note: Special thanks to TPM Reader MC for catching this critical moment.)
Late Update: For a brief primer on tire-swinging, see this post.
So Late It's Morning Update: Here's the text version of Simon's tire-swinging.
--Josh Marshall
Creeping Cheneyism
Hmmm. Sarah Palin wants to give the Vice President more control over running the Senate? Here's Sen. Kit Bond, one of Palin's surrogates, saying maybe that's not such a hot idea.
--Josh Marshall
What McKiernan Really Said
So what did our top general in Afghanistan really say about an Afghanistan 'Surge'? Not what Palin claimed. We have the details here.
--Josh Marshall
Her Biggest Whopper
The claim from this debate that is still sitting with me is this: Gov. Palin said that Sen. Biden supported McCain's Iraq policies "pretty adamantly until this race." Well, that's complete nonsense. At least since 2004 they've been on completely different sides of this question. That was one of her biggest attack lines through the debate. And it's completely false.
We'll be hearing more about this.
Here's the vid ...
--Josh Marshall
Palin Pro-Civil Unions?
Another point that bears some notice. Biden got Palin to agree that she believes in full civil rights for gay couples. I think she'll want another bite at that apple.
Here's the vid. The key exchange comes at 1:40 in to the video ...
--Josh Marshall
No Follow Ups
We were just talking about why Palin did better tonight than she did in her interviews. I think it's actually very simple. No follow ups. It's not a criticism of Gwen Ifill. It wasn't the format she was supposed to work with. But if you look at Palin's interview trainwrecks things always got bad on the follow up -- when the interviewer (Gibson or Couric) pressed her on the nebulous answer for some specifics, which she couldn't provide. That's the difference.
--Josh Marshall
Initial Reaction
My global thought on this debate is that it helped the Obama-Biden ticket more than McCain-Palin's. But I also think it probably helped stop some of the hemorrhaging and morale breakdown among hardcore Republicans.
One clear fact about this debate is that Palin didn't have one of those stammering moments that we've seen especially in the Couric interview. She got the name of the top general in Afghanistan wrong. And she dug in on a clearly false claim when she said that Joe Biden had supported McCain's Iraq policies up until this campaign started. That's nonsense. And I suspect we'll see that whopper taken apart over the next hours and days. Still, though, these whoppers and gaffes aren't in the same category. (I mean, a pretty ridiculous standard -- she clearly has virtually no grasp of any major national political or policy issue.) For that reason, as I said, I think she gives base Republicans a reason to feel reassured and permission to stop feeling embarrassed.
One thing that I think is easy to overlook here is that Biden did really well. He started a little slow. But he quickly got into his groove and in the second half there were several answers that he took the debate squarely to John McCain in a way that I thought was very effective.
So basically a win for Biden because he just did a lot better and it's Obama-Biden who want the trajectory of the race to stay as is. She made herself less of an embarrassment and gave core Republicans a reason to stop being embarrassed. But there were a bunch of flatly false or nonsensical things she said -- and we'll see those picked apart over the next few days.
--Josh Marshall
One of Biden's Best Moments
Toward the end, one of Biden's most powerful moments in the debate ...
--Josh Marshall
Gen. McClellan
Needless to say, getting the name of the top general in Afghanistan wrong just shows that Palin is new to the subject matter. But lying about what he said is a much bigger deal.
--Josh Marshall
Live Biden-Palin Blogging Part II
10:03 PM ... Didn't Palin just get the name wrong of our Army commander in Afghanistan. His name is David D. McKiernan. Who's the McClellan she was talking about? She pretty clearly misstated what he said, but she seems not even to know who he is. And here's the article with the General saying what Biden said he said, that a surge type strategy wouldn't work.
Here's the vid ...
10:06 PM ... What's Palin talking about saying that Biden was supporting McCain's line on Iraq during the primaries? Really? Can we go to the videotape on that?
10:14 PM ... What'd she just say? That she'd like the VP to take a stronger role in the senate?
10:15 PM ... A bit earlier Gov. Palin said that Sen. Biden supported McCain's policies on Iraq until this race. Let's do some fact-checking on that. Here's her quote: "You had supported John McCain's military strategies pretty adamantly until this race." What's she basing that on.
10:18 PM ... "America is a nation of exceptionalism."
10:21 PM ... Biden saving the best for last. Very powerful.
10:29 PM ... Palin: "I like answering the tough questions."
10:33 PM ... Here was one of Palin's weirdest moments ....
--Josh Marshall
Live Biden-Palin Blogging
9:03 PM ... "Can I call you Joe." That was actually well done. Cosmetic, yes. But still good optics.
9:04 PM ... Biden's strategy seems to be not to look at anybody.
9:06 PM ... Oversight? McCain for greater oversight? Just a few days ago, Palin got stumped when asked for any example of McCain being for any kind of oversight.
9:10 PM ... Really hoping that Biden comes back at McCain's record of always being for lax oversight ... He's sort of doing it here, but not really driving the point home ...
9:13 PM ... Palin repeats the $42,000 dollar a year tax increase lie.
9:14 PM ... Now, this is a Joe Biden I can believe in.
9:17 PM ... Palin, lie, lie, lie ...
9:18 PM ... Isn't this government out of the way line in a bit of tension with Palin's call for tighter regulation?
9:21 PM ... Hmmm. That was pretty good on Biden's part and he's getting into his rhythm. But there were a lot of numbers flying around in that health care answer.
9:24 PM ... Wait, Palin undid what was done in 2005 Energy Bill? Really?
9:45 PM ... Someone go back and see how Palin said the economic crisis was a toxic mess on Main Street that was threatening to spill over to Wall Street.
9:51 PM ... Spain!
9:56 PM ... Very solid from Biden.
9:56 PM ... Wo ... what happened with the nuclear weapons answer?
10:00 PM ... Did Palin just get the name wrong of the top US General in Afghanistan?
--Josh Marshall
Palin a Good Debater?
The spin from the Obama campaign and from various independent commentators (who seem to mean it) is that Sarah Palin is actually a pretty good debater. So, given how ridiculous she's been in these network interviews, is there any way that can possibly be true?
In a narrow sense at least, I think the answer is, Yes. When we were doing research on her position on the Road to Nowhere back during her 2006 gubernatorial run, I watched a number of her debates. And she was pretty good. She definitely held her own. She played the role of the common sense political outsider. And she was good at turning a line, especially ones that were cutting without seeming angry or hostile.
The key though was the issues. Those debates were about local Alaska issues that she clearly knew well enough to give pat answers. They were also highly structured debates where there wasn't a lot of give and take. But it seemed clear that when she felt comfortable with the issues and had some sense of where they were, she was confident and affable and came off well. But that's the key. She appears to know nothing about national economic or foreign policy issues. It's as simple as that.
I also think my colleague Greg Sargent is right on the mark when he says that the terrible interviews actually raised the bar for Palin. As they say, better to stay mum and have people assume you're a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt. At the moment, I think the consensus is that Palin's a fool. So just stumbling through with some bromides, I don't think that will do it. Because people will assume that she's a fool who got off a few bromides. Successfully executed zingers may juice up McCain's core supporters. But I think to change non-right-wingers' views about whether Palin belongs in the White House she has to do or say something that gives some reason to believe that those interviews gave an unrealistic view of her.
--Josh Marshall
Last Line of Defense
In a conference call with reporters this afternoon that was heavy on damage control in the wake of reports that McCain is conceding Michigan to Obama, the McCain campaign acknowledged that the six core battleground states are now Ohio, Virgina, Florida, Missouri, Indiana, and North Carolina. In other words, as Josh noted earlier, McCain is now fighting just to hold onto the red states Bush won in 2004.
--David Kurtz
Preview
Voter suppression guru and US Attorney firing scandal luminary Hans Von Spakovsky says Obama will make the DOJ "partisan and politically-biased."
--Josh Marshall