Fight Back, Barack!

Mission Accomplished

2008-11-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

VOTE TODAY, TUESDAY NOV. 4TH

2008-11-04T00:31:00.000-08:00

VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT (BECAUSE IT MIGHT). VOTE AS IF YOUR BALLOT WAS THE ONE THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE (IT WILL). VOTE NO MATTER WHAT THE EARLY REPORTS SAY, AND NO MATTER HOW BLUE YOUR STATE IS.

THIS IS YOUR TIME TO ACT LIKE AN AMERICAN. SOMEONE DIED FOR YOUR RIGHT TO DO THIS SIMPLE THING.

NO EXCUSES. BE PREPARED TO WAIT. BRING MULTIPLE FORMS OF I.D., AND IF THEY TRY TO STOP YOU FROM VOTING, CALL 866-OUR-VOTE FOR FREE ON-THE-SPOT LEGAL ADVICE. DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT VOTING, AND DO NOT FILL OUT A "PROVISIONAL BALLOT." STAY RIGHT THERE AND CALL 866-687-8683.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

The Last Attack?

2008-11-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

Scratching and clawing to the end, the McPalin crew unveiled a last-ditch attempt to scare folks in coal country by twisting a remark Obama made nearly a year ago about enforcing clean coal technology. Problem is, here is a video of McCain endorsing the same policy on the senate floor. They are desperate, they will try anything, this is why everyone must vote and help get as many people as possible to the polls. (Bonus: note the DRUDGE graphic on Faux News)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain endorsed by a Dick

2008-11-02T01:51:00.000-07:00

This one speaks for itself.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Joe the Plumber snakes McCain

2008-10-31T00:13:00.000-07:00

Symbolic perhaps?

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Obama calls out McCain on his desperate smears campaign

2008-10-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

Spank...

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

The "Spread the Wealth" nonsense

2008-10-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

McCain's socialist attack is a gun with a U-shaped barrel. Here is McCain arguing with his former self once again, along with Joe the Plumber admitting he'd get a tax break under Obama's plan:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Take this job and shove it.

2008-10-29T00:54:00.000-07:00

GOP call center workers walk out in Indiana

"Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script attacking Barack Obama, according to two workers at the center and one of their parents..."

"We were asked to read something saying [Obama and Democrats] were against protecting children from danger," this worker said. "I wouldn't do it. A lot of people left. They thought it was disgusting."(TPM, Oct. 27 2008)

So this week common decency defeats McCain, and next week it will be Obama/Biden.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Another reason to pull the D lever

2008-10-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

Republican chickenhawks who question the patriotism of their rivals, then vote against body armor for our troops...

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

One military wife's opinion

2008-10-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

"On Nov. 4, my vote will be counted along with all military families. Not all military families’ political beliefs are the same as mine. However, I believe that we can all agree on the following: We miss our spouses. We want our soldiers to be safe. We want smart decisions to be made. Does that mean that Obama or McCain is the right choice? I have chosen to vote for Obama." - Elisabeth Kadlec (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10.28.08)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

The Ted and Sarah show

2008-10-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

That would be the convicted felon on the left:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

A beautiful sight

2008-10-27T12:00:00.001-07:00

in West "by God" Virginia:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Bush and McCain - a "common philosophy"

2008-10-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

In McCain's own words, no less...

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Doing the Elephant Walk

2008-10-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

McCain = Bush 3.0 (but maybe not as nuanced):

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain Worker's Ugly Hoax

2008-10-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

It doesn't get much more disgusting than this:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

March of the Obamacans

2008-10-25T00:40:00.000-07:00

According to the Wall Street Journal, a steady stream of prominent Republicans are moving to support Senator Obama. Former Bush spokesfibber Scott McClellan is no big surprise after the release of his new book, but an increasing number of conservative heavy hitters are dropping McCain like a hot rock...

"Ken Adelman, a prominent conservative on foreign policy matters announced his support for Obama on Tuesday, telling the New Yorker that his decision was based on temperament and judgment.

Adelman called McCain “impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird” in his handling of the U.S. economic crisis. He also was unsettled by McCain’s choice of running mate. “Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office—I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency,” Adelman wrote.

UPDATE: Add Charles Fried, a Harvard Law professor and former Solicitor General in the Reagan administration, to the list of Republicans supporting Obama. Fried’s vote for the Democratic ticket is particularly harsh, as he was associated with the McCain campaign. Fried voted absentee for Obama this week, and informed McCain campaign general counsel Trevor Potter of his decision in a letter where he stated he could not support McCain in large part because of his selection of Palin as his running mate." (WSJ Online, 10.24.08)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Laughter is the best medicine

2008-10-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

...especially when it reminds you of the choice you're about to make:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Talking Points Judo - part III

2008-10-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

Here are a few answers to Republican Talking Points you may hear in these final days before the election. Feel free to print this out and carry it in your pocket...

RTP: The Socialism nonsense
A: What do you call giving $700 Billion in tax dollars to some huuuge financial institutions? It's a redistribution of wealth, and McCain suspended his campaign to help get this done. And he wants to tax your health care benefits.

RTP: Out of touch with "real" Americans
A: One spouse, one house, one car.
Barack took out student loans, John's daddy was an admiral.
McCain wore $500 Italian loafers to a grocery store photo op.

RTP: It's about experience
Nearly three decades in congress hasn't helped McCain. He was involved in his very own banking corruption scandal, and agreed with Bush's disastrous policies 95% of the time. Obama taught constitutional law before becoming a two-term state senator, before becoming a US senator. He also minored in economics, whereas McCain bought Greenspan's book.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain throwing in the towel?

2008-10-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

Not exactly. But typical of his history of childish behavior, apparently McCain plans to blow off his own election night party since it looks like things won't be going his way. It's a pretty big diss to his staff and supporters.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

"Real" America? "Fake" America?

2008-10-23T00:10:00.000-07:00

"Pro-American" vs. "Anti-American" areas? How dare they.

How about this: trying to turn Americans against each other for the sake of winning a political campaign is the most un-patriotic and treasonous thing you can do. Fracture the country to win, and you will lead a fractured country.

Now let's let Obama put it much more eloquently:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

John McCain, socialist

2008-10-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

Once again, McCain contradicts himself – this time on the pro-middle-class tax policies over which he is attacking Obama. Let's watch, shall we?

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Reformer, reform thyself

2008-10-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

According to an AP investigation, it seems Sarah-cuda took a few bites out of Alaskans' pocketbooks when she charged the state for her kids to travel with her, even to events where they were not invited...and then doctored the expense reports after the fact to make it look like official business.

The winner seems to be four nights in a luxury New York hotel (in Anti-America), with Bristol, for a 5-hour conference. Not exactly the kind of behavior you would expect from a mavericky pork-slaying reformer.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Country First?

2008-10-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

...unless you work at a McCain rally. How's this for some disgraceful treatment of the stars and stripes:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Republican War Heroes for Obama

2008-10-20T00:19:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Colin Powell, whose little finger commands more respect than the entire outgoing administration, announced his support for Obama. He also called out the poor judgement and ridiculous distraction tactics of the McCain campaign in recent weeks. Coming from a man who many on both ends of the political spectrum would trust to sleep with the nuclear football, these are heavy words. Why not follow his lead and donate a few bucks or convince five friends to vote November 4th..

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

This is no time to get cocky

2008-10-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

Some great words about running through the finish line. What can you do this week to make sure it's a landslide? The links below will get you started:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Is there anyone McFlailin won't insult

2008-10-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

in their last throes of desperation? "Pro America areas?" "'Real' Virginia?!"

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Sometimes old words speak louder

2008-10-17T00:55:00.000-07:00

...than new words:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Now this is the stuff

2008-10-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

It's almost like he doesn't need us anymore. Witness this Fox News Backfist into a spinning roundhouse Bush comparison:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Sarah Palin - embarassment to Alaskans

2008-10-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

From the Anchorage Daily News:

"Sarah Palin's reaction to the Legislature's Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.

She claims the report "vindicates" her. She said that the investigation found "no unlawful or unethical activity on my part."

Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.

Page 8, Finding Number One of the report says: "I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."

In plain English, she did something "unlawful." She broke the state ethics law..."(10.13.08)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

The ACORN attack

2008-10-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

You mess with the acorn, you get the oak tree. or something.

Since the latest shrill scream from the McPalin campaign is about Obama's alleged ties to ACORN (basically a low-income advocacy group - remember folks, more poor voters = bad for republicans), it's nice to see McCain here in 2006 saying that ACORN is part of what "makes America special:"

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain lies like a rug

2008-10-14T00:23:00.000-07:00

..and claims he hears hateful insults about him thrown around at Obama rallies - which we know is not true or we would be seeing it on Fox "news" 24/7.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Campaign threat level

2008-10-14T00:10:00.000-07:00

It's not hard to guess at which level the McPalin campaign is operating..

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

The Palin Prophecy

2008-10-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

"I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime.” – Sarah Palin

Can we get Sean Hannity to confirm this in an interview? Maybe she could give us a more specific time table.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

You might not get it when..

2008-10-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

McCain vows to whip Obama!
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Republican John McCain vowed Sunday to "whip" Democratic rival Barack Obama's "you-know-what" when the two presidential candidates meet Wednesday in their final televised debate...." (AP News 10.12.08)

You might think that McCain, who is trailing in most of the polls, might want to avoid using a word like "whip" when referring to his opponent since he's of African-American descent. But then, who are you to question a maverick.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Obama called it - McCain resorting to fear

2008-10-11T00:23:00.000-07:00

McCain's new strategy, predicted months ago:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Alaska panel finds Palin abused power in firing

2008-10-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

Well, duh (but now it's official)...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - "Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday. The politically charged inquiry imperiled her reputation as a reformer on John McCain's Republican ticket.." (AP News, Oct. 11th)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Rallying the base

2008-10-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Double-Talk Express in High Gear

2008-10-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

This week:
"The same people that are now claiming credit for this rescue are the same ones that were willing co-conspirators in causing this problem that it is," he said, raising his voice to be heard over the crowd. "You know their names. You will know more of their names." – John McCain

Yes John, we do know their names...

Last week:
"An aggressive Sen. John McCain used an Ohio rally on Monday to rip into Sen. Barack Obama while taking credit for helping to engineer a $700 billion Wall Street bailout agreement, which he said proves he can get things done in Washington. – The Plain Dealer

..and as far as being a co-conspirator, aren't you "basically a de-regulator" with a bank scandal in your past? Whose campaign manager took nearly $2M from Fannie and Freddie since 2000? Drive that B.S. Express, baby.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

John McCain - angry and dangerous

2008-10-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

This is not the cool hand we need at the tiller...

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

The Simpsons Equivalents

2008-10-09T00:20:00.000-07:00

compliments muzical203/kos

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Who is the Real McCain?

2008-10-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

"In its broad strokes, McCain's life story is oddly similar to that of the current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to skate by with a minimum of mental exertion. Both struggled with booze and loutish behavior. At each step, with the aid of their fathers' powerful friends, both failed upward. And both shed their skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives' evangelical churches.

In one vital respect, however, the comparison is deeply unfair to the current president: George W. Bush was a much better pilot..." (ouch)
– Tim Dickinson, RollingStone, October 08

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

"My fellow prisoners"

2008-10-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Flashback? Senior moment? Simple slip? Either way, a bit frightening.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Post-debate analysis - the topline.

2008-10-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

John McCain is a tool.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Palin around with secessionists

2008-10-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government, and I won't be buried under their damn flag." – Joe Vogler, Founder, Alaskan Independence Party (of which Todd was a member for years, and whose convention Sarah addressed this year)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Not the Jackson 5

2008-10-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

"To the extent I was known nationally anymore, it was as one of the crooked senators who had bankrupted the thrift industry." – John McCain, member of the Keating 5

If you know anyone with a brain who is thinking of voting for McCain, this is definitely worth 13 minutes of your time:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

The lighter side of the B.S. Express

2008-10-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Here come the smears

2008-10-06T00:41:00.000-07:00

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain's terror pals

2008-10-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

Since it's guilt-by-association week, let's spend some time on McCain's buddy Carl H. Lindner Jr.

Lindner co-hosted in 2008 a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for McCain in the wealthy Indian Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, raising $2 million. Lindner also serves on McCain's Ohio Victory Team. As CEO and board member of Chiquita Brands International, he oversaw the company's payment of $100,000s to the Columbia terror group AUC that is blamed for many of the country's worst civilian massacres. After being indicted by the Justice Department, Chiquita admitted to illegally funding the terror group and agreed to pay a $25 million fine.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Fear and Smear to the finish line

2008-10-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

"By claiming that Democrat Barack Obama is 'palling around with terrorists' and doesn't see the U.S. like other Americans, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin targeted key goals for a faltering campaign.

In her character attack, Palin questions Obama's association with William Ayers, a member of the Vietnam-era Weather Underground. Her reference was exaggerated at best if not outright false. No evidence shows they were "pals" or even close.." (AP News 10.4.08)

So this is it. When you've got nothing, make stuff up. This is what we'll be hearing for the next 30 days. Never mind the economic crisis, the foreclosure crisis, the healthcare crisis, or George Bush's ill-advised, poorly-planned, unforgivably costly and unnecessary war. Let's just spew some ridiculous half-truths and full-on lies intended to play on people's fears and distract them from the real issues, so people will vote for Grandpa Angrypants, a lifetime lobbyist monkey-boy and world famous hothead who makes Bush look like, well...Obama.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Fun with numbers

2008-10-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

When you hear someone trying to scare you over Obama's record on taxes, remember this:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Palin's Debate Camp Strategy Revealed

2008-10-03T10:57:00.001-07:00

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Mostly a wash

2008-10-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

Sarah the Unready showed she is a quick study, and a small-town back-woodsy folksy kinda gal, darn it...but then there were moments like this to remind us what it's about:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain gives up on Michigan

2008-10-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - "In a major concession, Republican John McCain has abandoned efforts to win Michigan, a Democratic-leaning battleground state the GOP presidential candidate had hoped to capture.

Republican officials with knowledge of the strategy said the GOP nominee is removing staff, curtailing advertising and canceling visits to the Midwestern state, which offers 17 electoral votes.." (10.2.08)

Almost makes us want to break into the Michigan fight song. Almost.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Sarah Palin, "Post Turtle"

2008-10-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old rancher whose hand was caught in the gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Palin and her bid.

The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Palin is a 'Post Turtle.'"

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle' was.

The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle.'"

The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she's up there, and you just wonder what kind of dummy put her up there to begin with."

(compliments kos/openthread)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain interview gets ugly

2008-10-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP News) - "Republican presidential candidate John McCain, once renowned for his jocular sessions with journalists, appeared irritable and at times sarcastic in an interview in which he defended running mate Sarah Palin's experience and campaign ads critical of rival Barack Obama." (view uncut version here)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Obama up by seven points

2008-10-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

..but it's no time to get complacent. Just encouraged.

"WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama has surged to a seven-point lead over John McCain one month before the presidential election, lifted by voters who think the Democrat is better suited to lead the nation through its sudden financial crisis, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that underscores the mounting concerns of some McCain backers..." (AP News, 10.1.08)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Sign of the times

2008-10-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Grandstanding Grandpa

2008-10-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

"How about this - yesterday the stock market ... suffered its biggest one-day drop in history, 777 points... boy, it's a good thing John McCain blew me off to go save the economy."– David Letterman, Late Show 9/30/08.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Hug a Republican today

2008-09-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

They might be feeling down, for creating and maintaining the regulatory climate that lead to the biggest single-day fall in stock market history.

...a fact you need to remember on November 4th.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain takes credit for his failure.

2008-09-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Now this, finally, was some straight talk:

"Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his top aides took credit for building a winning bailout coalition – hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked.

Shortly before the vote, McCain had bragged about his involvement and mocked Sen. Barack Obama for staying on the sidelines." (Politico 9/29)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Sarah Palin - her own worst enemy

2008-09-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

When CNN is cracking up over your botched, nonsensical answers to pre-approved questions, something is very wrong! After watching this, please either donate five dollars or send this to five people you know:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

It's about judgement, stupid

2008-09-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Johnny leaned hard on the surge. Problem is, the surge wouldn't have been necessary if Bush and his cronies hadn't coerced us into that misguided war and occupation in the first place - while taking their eyes off the Al Qaeda ball.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Oh it's on.

2008-09-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

Get ready to rrrrrummmmble!!

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Show up and take your beating, Keating.

2008-09-26T00:46:00.000-07:00

We want a whippin in Mississippin'! (no wait, that doesn't sound right..)

Your tactics are failin' - just send Palin! (nope, that's not it either)

Quit yer balking and do some argumentative talking! (this could take a while - at least we may have some time on our hands tonight to work on it)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

The Keating Five in 97 seconds

2008-09-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

...your Cliffs Notes® on McCain corruption:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain hasn't even read the bailout plan

2008-09-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

...and it's only three pages long. Holy sh*t.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Hey Free Market Republicans...

2008-09-25T00:04:00.000-07:00

You broke it, you own it. And stop trying to scare us into bailing your asses out.
Republican Majority in congress, 1994-2007.
Republican White House, 2000-present.
Nice work people. We can only hope that Grover Norquist owned strong positions in Lehman Bros.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

The Boy King who Cried Wolf

2008-09-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Didn't this guy warn us of imminent doom in the past? Something about WMD?
And who is his best buddy again? Oh yeah...

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain blows off Letterman - and lies about it!

2008-09-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

...and gets spanked by Dave, repeatedly. A long video, but pretty worth it:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Does the financial collapse sound familiar?

2008-09-24T00:12:00.000-07:00

It should to John McCain

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain's campaign manager took $15k a month from Freddie Mac - since 2000

2008-09-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

Is ANYONE still buying that McSame would be anything but another four years of the greed, corruption and incompetence that got us where we are? Well here ya go..

"The lobbying firm of John McCain's campaign manager was paid $15,000 a month for several years until last month by one of two housing companies taken over by the federal government, a person familiar with the financial arrangement said Tuesday night.

That money from Freddie Mac (FRE) to the firm of Rick Davis was on top of more than $30,000 a month that went directly to Davis for five years starting in 2000.

The $30,000 a month came from both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (FNM), the other housing entity now under government control because of the crisis in the financial markets.

All the payments were first reported by The New York Times, which posted a story on its Web site Tuesday night revealing the $15,000 a month to the firm of Davis Manafort. The newspaper quoted two people with knowledge of the arrangement." (AP 9/23/08)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Obama up in Florida, Virginia, nationally

2008-09-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

"Obama makes key gains in tight race (Politico 9/23/08)

Riding a wave of worry about the nation's financial health, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has broken into a lead in a national poll and has made slight but notable progress in several crucial battleground states, including Florida and Virginia.

Obama moved decisively ahead of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a Washington Post-ABC News Poll. And a new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll found that respondents thought Obama would do a better job handing the financial crisis than McCain, by 45 percent to 33 percent.

Perhaps more worrisome for (McCain), however, was a wave of polls this week showing Obama making gains in Florida and Virginia, both of which had looked favorable for McCain.

McCain is also having to sweat states that should be in his back pocket. He is adding staff in North Carolina, and Republicans are considering airing TV ads in Indiana."

Nice. Let's keep the heat up people.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

You borrow my change, I'm taking your reform

2008-09-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

"I am not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every government program just because it's there," Obama said at a rally. "We will fire government managers who aren't getting results, we will cut funding for programs that are wasting your money and we will use technology and lessons from the private sector to improve efficiency across every level of government." – Barack Obama (AP 9.22.08)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

A car for each day of the week - times two

2008-09-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

McCain's version of reality - how can this guy possibly relate to what average Americans are going through? (click on image to enlarge)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Stop worrying. Seriously.

2008-09-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

Note to nervous Obama backers: Snap out of it.
Now is not the time for worrying, it is the time for action.

You cannot control what nasty ad McCain will run next
..or what the right-wing echo chamber will try to say
..or which voting machines will be rigged.

What you CAN do is donate, volunteer, and urge everyone you know to register and vote. And maybe learn a few talking points, so you can fight ignorance and spin at home and in the workplace.

Here are the facts:
1. The election has swung back to the economy, where McSame does terribly.
2. Palin's poll numbers have absolutely tanked in record time.
3. There are 11 Million more registered Democrats this time around.

Six weeks to go - let's make it count. Put all that worrying energy to better use.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Telling it like it is

2008-09-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

How refreshing, after the last 8 years, to hear a smart respectful voice offering some useful ideas. Someone who doesn't think you're an idiot.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Talking Points Judo

2008-09-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a few answers to some hot Republican Talking Points you may hear at the water cooler. Feel free to print this out and carry it around.

RTP: Obama is inexperienced.
A: Bullsh*t.
Top of his class at Harvard Law.
Twelve years as a Constitutional Law Professor.
Eight years as a State Senator (bonus: sponsored 700+ pieces of legislation).
As a US Senator, was directly involved in legislation on loose nukes, ethics/lobbying reform (including those pesky earmarks), immigration reform,
...and built a kick-ass grass-roots 50-state organization that beat the Clintons.

RTP: Obama is an elitist/out of touch
A: McCain can't remember how many houses he owns
...and he wore $500 loafers to a grocery store photo op
...and he thinks Americans won't pick lettuce for $50 an hour
...and that "middle class" means you make less than $5 million a year.

RTP: Obama will raise our taxes.
A: Really? You must make over $250k to bring that up - because if you make less than $250k, he actually gives you MORE of a break than McSame. And if you are pulling in over a quarter mill, you still get a rebate, just a smaller one...and you're buying lunch next time.

RTP: The 'Democrat-controlled congress' has done nothing in two years.
A: 19 months actually - during which the Republicans (who controlled congress for the previous 12 years) have filibustered and obstructed a world-record number of times on everything from Iraq to Medicare to Energy, so they could say nothing got done - how's that for representing the people.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Take it from a GOP Senator

2008-09-18T13:17:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said his party's vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, lacks foreign policy experience and called it a "stretch" to say she's qualified to be president.

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview published Thursday by the Omaha World-Herald. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

Could Palin lead the country if GOP presidential nominee John McCain could not?

"I think it's a stretch to, in any way, to say that she's got the experience to be president of the United States," Hagel said. (AP News, 9.18.08)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Wait, who's on top of the ticket?

2008-09-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Whoa - kill the motor there, turbo.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Obama up in Florida and Ohio

2008-09-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Yeah baby. From the often-painful-to-read Politico comes this little ray of sunshine.

"It seems almost too obvious to say at this point, but Obama-Biden has seized on the events of the last few days with an intensity that would've been hard to imagine just a week ago...the day closed with a New York Times poll giving Obama a 5-point lead nationally.

...a spate of state-level polling shows Obama bouncing back in places like Ohio and Florida, where his numbers suffered last week. If this trend continues, McCain may head into the weekend deprived of his post-convention momentum." (Politico 9.17.08)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

This is what we want

2008-09-17T16:19:00.001-07:00

More of this stuff (thanks Oliver):

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain Waffles - part of a complete breakfast

2008-09-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice list of contradictory McCain positions from the last two days (lifted en toto from kos, compliments to demfromct):

Deregulation: McCain issued a statement Monday morning saying that “we cannot tolerate a system that handicaps our markets and our banks.”

Regulation: McCain’s campaign then put out an ad calling for “tougher rules on Wall Street.”

Deregulation: This morning, on NBC’s Today Show, McCain said, “Of course, I don’t like excessive and unnecessary government regulation.”

Regulation: Then, on CBS’s The Early Show, McCain said, “Do I believe in excess government regulation? Yes.”

Both: On CNBC’s Squawk Box, McCain said, “We don’t want to burden average citizens with over-regulation and government bureaucracy...And I’m proud to be a Teddy Roosevelt Republican, who said, ‘unfettered capitalism leads to corruption,’ and we’ve got to fix this.”

His back has got to be sore from all those gymnastics.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain on the economy

2008-09-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

“The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should...I’ve got Greenspan’s book.” - John McCain, 1/23/08

And he's the one who anyone wants to inherit this mess?
The guy who graduated 5th from the bottom of his academy class? The guy who lost or damaged five planes?
The guy who was a member of the Keating Five? Sheesh.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Sent via my McCainBerry

2008-09-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Adviser says McCain helped create the BlackBerry

MIAMI - Move over, Al Gore. You may lay claim to the Internet, but John McCain helped create the BlackBerry.

At least that's the contention of a top McCain policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Waving his BlackBerry personal digital assistant and citing McCain's work as a senator, he told reporters Tuesday, "You're looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create."

In a statement, Democratic candidate Barack Obama's campaign spokesman Bill Burton said: "If John McCain hadn't said that 'the fundamentals of our economy are strong' on the day of one of our nation's worst financial crises, the claim that he invented the BlackBerry would have been the most preposterous thing said all week."

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Introducing... the Airport to Nowhere!

2008-09-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Palin's Project List Totals $453 Million
(Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2008)

"Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hadn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative. But state records show Gov. Palin has asked U.S. taxpayers to fund $453 million in specific Alaska projects over the past two years.

These projects include more than $130 million in federal funds that would benefit Alaska's fishing industry and an additional $9 million to help Alaska oil companies. She also has sought $4.5 million to upgrade an airport on a Bering Sea island that has a year-round population of less than 100..." WSJ 9/15/08

Can we now just assume the opposite of whatever the McCain campaign tells us?

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Women against Palin

2008-09-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

Women in Alaska turned out in record numbers last Saturday to protest...Sarah Palin! Here is a cross-section of many of their picket signs, set to music. Our favorites include "Corruption up the Wasilla" and, "Palin is not Pro Woman, so why should women be pro-Palin?" Enjoy:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Now it's official

2008-09-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

"McCain has gone in some of his ads...one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100-percent-truth test." – Karl Rove, 9/14/08

Wow. When Karl Rove says you went too far, and stretched the truth...there can now be no doubt that McCain has been knowingly, deliberately lying to the American people.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Straight talk - out of both sides

2008-09-15T00:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a decent collection of McCain lies, flip-flops and fumbles. Do whatever you can to prevent four more years of this, and please pass it along:

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Palin's energy policy

2008-09-14T00:49:00.000-07:00

"We are going to drill now to make this nation energy efficient." - Governor Sarah Palin, Carson City, NV 9/13/08

Even if she meant "energy independent," the experts (and even Bush) would say she's wrong. But she didn't say independent. She said efficient. Which means she just might not know what she's talking about. And that should scare you.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

SNL Palin & Clinton parody

2008-09-14T00:32:00.000-07:00

Tina Fey and Amy Pohler really brought their A game for this one. "In conclusion, I invite the media to grow a pair. And if you can't, I will lend you mine." Let's hope the media takes their cue (forgive the ad, YouTube yanked all their copies under pressure from nbc)...

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Ah those pesky quotes

2008-09-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

"I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time."
-John McCain, October 21, 2007 (thanks RL)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Reformer, reform thyself

2008-09-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Palin billed Alaskans for travel allowance while she was at home.

It turns out Sarah Palin has charged her taxpayers a daily allowance, normally used for official travel, for more than 300 nights spent at her home, The Washington Post reported this week.(AP)

An analysis of travel statements filed by the governor, now John McCain's Republican running mate, shows she claimed the per diem allowance on 312 occasions when she was home in Wasilla and that she billed taxpayers $43,490 for travel by her husband and children.

That's not change we can believe in.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Sexist outrage

2008-09-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

In screaming their outrage and trying to spin Obama's recent comments as sexist, it seems the McCain camp is treading some dangerous ground. After all...

Isn't it McCain who once joked that Chelsea Clinton was "so ugly" because "her father is Janet Reno?"

..who called his second wife the "C-word?"

..who dumped his first wife because she was disfigured in a car crash, and was no longer pretty enough for him?

..and then remarried before his divorce was even final?

Just checking. Because any of those things could be construed as sexist. And if Obama baited them into turning the conversation to sexism, it was another smart move.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

A new low for McCain

2008-09-11T01:06:00.001-07:00

The Republican party knows a thing or two about sex and children (Mark Foley, we're looking in your direction), but their latest attack ad is beyond the pale. The spot suggests that Senator Obama supported legislation requiring comprehensive sex ed for kindergartners(!). This is a huge, malicious whopper.

The Facts: The bill, introduced in the Illinois legislature, called for non-mandatory sex education for grades K-12 that was "age and developmentally appropriate." For kindergartners, that included, among other things, "how to say no to unwanted sexual advances." In other words, empowering little Timmy or Susie to avoid a pervert.

Yes, only the right-wing smear machine could take a measure designed to help parents protect their kids from sexual predators and twist it around to sound dirty and wrong. If you happen to see the spot, be sure to call, fax or email the station to voice your disgust that they would even run it.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Joke

2008-09-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

Q: "What’s the difference between bull-shit and moose-shit?"

A: "Lipstick!"

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Palinheit 451

2008-09-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Shakespeare and Whitman and Twain, oh my!

Here are just a few of the books Mayor Sarah Palin tried to get town librarian Mary Ellen Baker to ban in the lovely, all-American town of Wasilla, Alaska (Stephen King and Harry Potter, your days are numbered).

When Baker refused to remove the books from the shelves, Palin threatened to fire her. The story was reported in TIME Magazine and the list is from librarian.net. You may find a few personal favorites among the classics from which Palin wanted to protect the good people of Wasilla. Our favorites were Little Red Riding Hood and James and the Giant Peach. Enjoy:

Sarah Palin's Book Club

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Cujo by Stephen King
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
...and of course, Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (??!!)

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Maverick or Mav-reckless?

2008-09-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

According to a fellow Navy pilot and acquaintance, McCain "was the kind of guy you wanted to room with -- not fly with. He was reckless, and that's critical when you start thinking about who's going to be the president." The old pilot laughs, and then continues: "But the Navy accident rate was cut in half the day John McCain was shot down." - Timberg biography

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

More of the McSame

2008-09-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

McCain - the most dangerous choice.

2008-09-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

"They broke me."

John McCain just told us in his own words why he would be a dangerous choice for President.

"They broke me." In describing his terrible experience in Vietnam (for which he deserves our respect but not our vote), McCain admitted that his captors tortured him to the point of breaking his will. This comes with a mental price.

Here is a man who is well known to lose his temper. His outbreaks are documented in the public record. He used the word "fight" over 40 times in his acceptance speech. And while he may have glued himself back together nicely over the years, at one time he was beaten and tortured - by the communists - to the point that he completely lost control of his being.

Never mind his last-minute, irrational decision to put a frighteningly inexperienced, power-abusing, lobbyist-loving, science-hating junior governor and former beauty queen just a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world. Never mind that he has flip-flopped on so many of his positions in recent years in running the conservative gauntlet to his candidacy. Or his 90% agreement rate with George Bush.

"They broke me." This is not the kind of leader we want negotiating with Russia and China. Unless you like your food (and your children) seriously irradiated, this man should be nowhere near the nuclear football.

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Caribou Barbie vs. The Truth

2008-09-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere." –AP

get involved | buy merchandise | make a donation

Fight Back, Barack!

Mission Accomplished

** VOTE TODAY, TUESDAY NOV. 4TH **

The Last Attack?

McCain endorsed by a Dick

Joe the Plumber snakes McCain

Obama calls out McCain on his desperate smears campaign

The "Spread the Wealth" nonsense

Take this job and shove it.

Another reason to pull the D lever

One military wife's opinion

The Ted and Sarah show

A beautiful sight

Bush and McCain - a "common philosophy"

Doing the Elephant Walk

McCain Worker's Ugly Hoax

March of the Obamacans

Laughter is the best medicine

Talking Points Judo - part III

McCain throwing in the towel?

"Real" America? "Fake" America?

John McCain, socialist

Reformer, reform thyself

Country First?

Republican War Heroes for Obama

This is no time to get cocky

Is there anyone McFlailin won't insult

Sometimes old words speak louder

Now this is the stuff

Sarah Palin - embarassment to Alaskans

The ACORN attack

McCain lies like a rug

Campaign threat level

The Palin Prophecy

You might not get it when..

Obama called it - McCain resorting to fear

Alaska panel finds Palin abused power in firing

Rallying the base

Double-Talk Express in High Gear

John McCain - angry and dangerous

The Simpsons Equivalents

Who is the Real McCain?

"My fellow prisoners"

Post-debate analysis - the topline.

Palin around with secessionists

Not the Jackson 5

The lighter side of the B.S. Express

Here come the smears

McCain's terror pals

Fear and Smear to the finish line

Fun with numbers

Palin's Debate Camp Strategy Revealed

Mostly a wash

McCain gives up on Michigan

Sarah Palin, "Post Turtle"

McCain interview gets ugly

Obama up by seven points

Sign of the times

Grandstanding Grandpa

Hug a Republican today

McCain takes credit for his failure.

Sarah Palin - her own worst enemy

It's about judgement, stupid

Oh it's on.

Show up and take your beating, Keating.

The Keating Five in 97 seconds

McCain hasn't even read the bailout plan

Hey Free Market Republicans...

The Boy King who Cried Wolf

McCain blows off Letterman - and lies about it!

Does the financial collapse sound familiar?

McCain's campaign manager took $15k a month from Freddie Mac - since 2000

Obama up in Florida, Virginia, nationally

You borrow my change, I'm taking your reform

A car for each day of the week - times two

Stop worrying. Seriously.

Telling it like it is

Talking Points Judo

Take it from a GOP Senator

Wait, who's on top of the ticket?

VOTE TODAY, TUESDAY NOV. 4TH