House minority leader John Boehner called Barack Obama a "chickenshit" while campaigning in Ohio this week: "Now, listen, I've voted 'present' two or three times in my entire 25-year political career, where there might have been a conflict of interest...
John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, says he is "jazzed up" for next Tuesday and predicts a major upset. "We are witnessing, I believe, probably one of the greatest comebacks that you've seen since John McCain won the primary," said...
Former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein mocks McCain's rushed interview process with Sarah Palin. According to reports, the two only met once and she was anything but his first pick. McCain subsequently caved to advisors who pushed a candidate...
A low-information McCain supporter exercises his freedom of speech outside an Obama rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. Oddly, while exercising his right to free speech, he won't actually speak to people and explain the details of his poster depicting Obama...
I am not going to call Sarah Palin and idiot mainly becuase I don't think she is one and to underestimate her political talent and understanding of how to sway votes would be a mistake. Next Tuesday will not be...
Now, please do not get overconfident when you read this, because who knows how accurate polling information is, but check this out. One of the sites I've been compulsively refreshing dozens of times a day, FiveThirtyEight, has a breakdown of...
You might think that the lame duck president hasn't been up to much lately. You're wrong. Bush launches last-minute deregulation push: The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government...
With just a few days to go, Barack Obama maintains his lead over John McCain in national polls. New NYT/CBS Poll: Obama 52% McCain 41% Gallup: Obama 51% McCain 44%, with a ±2% margin of error, unchanged from yesterday. Rasmussen:...
(Note to McCain camp – this is how NOT to win the youth vote...) The Iowa State Daily reported on Tuesday that a number of people were escorted out of a McCain rally at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI)...
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo nails John McCain for the latest smear campaign: The McCain campaign has been throwing around so much mud and smears in recent weeks that it's easy to miss just how ugly and shameful their...
Campaigning today Sarah Palin said that she and McCain would fix the economy by imposing a spending freeze. She also declared that a McCain administration would balance the budget by the end of their first term. Only problem is that...
John McCain addressed a crown in Defiance, Ohio today and after promising an appearance by Ohio's newest resident celebrity, Joe the Plumber (whose real name is Sam and he isn't really a plumber, but never mind that...), McCain called out...
Last night, Barack Obama aired a 30 minute ad that basically makes his closing argument with the American people. Part mini-documentary, part sales pitch, the video was beautifully produced infomercial entitled "American Stories, American Solutions" Wednesday evening simultaneously on CBS,...
The latest McCain Campaign tactic has been to paint Barack Obama as a socialist because he wants to repeal Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and re-target them to the middle class, but who's the real pinko here? Today, ExxonMobil...
Obama campaign volunteers loaded while phone banking? Maybe. Who cares if it's real or not, this is funny. Drunk Dialing for Change...
Quote of the day: "By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in Kindergarten." --Barack Obama in Raleigh, NC today Any wonder why he's kicking so much ass...
Obama is closing out with another sharp and beautifully executed ad this time zinging both McCain and his lack of economic understanding and the choice he made for VP, somone who was supposed to help make up for that understanding....
The city of Chicago is bracing for the election night rally Barack Obama is planning in Grant Park with Mayor Daley expecting a million or more people at the lakeshore event. "It's gonna be surprising. There's gonna be a lot...
The Onion, January 17, 2001: Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over' "We as a people must stand united, banding together to tear this nation in two," Bush said. "Much work lies ahead of us:...
My wife is from a cozy little beach community about 45 minutes north of Detroit and I grew up in Grand Rapids on the state's ultra-conservative west side. She and I had separate trips to our home state of Michigan...
I've done some phone banking for Barack Obama here in Chicago and can tell you that the coordination and level of professionalism from campaign staffers and volunteers well be what puts him over the top should he win next Tuesday....
The Associated Press reported today that Caribou Barbie, speaking to supporters at a rally in Florida, voiced her displeasure with the campaign of the very uppity Barack Obama for acting as if Obama has already won the election. "You kinda...
I recently reported on an incident at a McCain campaign rally in Maryland at which a number of McCain supporters, including some who identified themselves as Muslims and some who identified themselves as Christians, came together to do the right...
(Via ThnkProgress) In a recent interview with Brian Williams of NBC, Caribou Barbie (with John McCain watching over her) told Willliams that Bill Ayers is unquestionably a terrorist because he tried to destroy the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon. Williams...
"These liberals want complete control of government in a time of crisis, all branches of government," warns a Republican ad playing in North Carolina. "No check and balances, no debate, no independence. That's the truth behind Kay Hagan. If she...
Adventuring Party Politics: The Campaign is Getting Ugly GM: OK, the bugbear attacks you. What do you do? OBAMA: I send one of my 672 henchmen after it. MCCAIN: OK, seriously. Why does he have so many henchmen? I'm a...
In a scintillating interview with People Magazine, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Caribou Barbie (also known as Sarah Palin) proudly described herself as an intellectual: People – Do you think you're intellectual? Caribou Barbie – Yessss. "You have to be up...
A new AP poll says it's tighter than you might think: The presidential race tightened after the final debate, with John McCain gaining among whites and people earning less than $50,000, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that shows McCain...
I've been looking for this video so props to ThinkProgress for tracking it down. Check out what John McCain thought about increasing taxes (slightly, like Obama is proposing) just a few years ago. McCain on Taxing the Wealthiest Americans in...
Why does the Obama campaign let McCain continually haul out "Joe the Plumber" as some sort of representative hero for the middle class during his stump speeches? After it was revealed that Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher is, apparently, behind on his...
Given a softball by John Murtha's recent remarks that western PA is full of racists, John McCain even misses that. It's sad, just sad......
Watch Karl Rove tense up and slap away a protestor who attempts to put him under Citizens Arrest for treason during an appearance in San Francisco. Karl Rove almost gets handcuffed Also funny is when former Senate majority leader calls...
Most of us enjoy a little political diversity in our families. There are liberals who argue with conservatives who argue with libertarians who argue with socialists...and we all ignore the anarchists sulking in the basement. Most families disagree respectfully and...
McCain says his campaign is focused on the economy and it's Barack Obama and his liberal friends who have turned this election season ugly. Google says otherwise....
Video: Daily Show: Understanding Real American in Wasilla Via Sullivan....
CNN: McCain camp looking for way to win without Colorado Iowa and New Mexico always have been viewed as difficult races, but the similar assessment of Colorado reflects a dramatic shift for a campaign that had long counted on the...
What happens when a rabidly anti-Obama McCain supporter tries to use Islam to defame Barack Obama at a McCain rally attended by conservative American Muslims, tolerant Christians, and other tolerant conservatives? Watch and find out (it's good): As bad as...
Electronic Frontier Foundation Challenges Constitutionality of Telecom Immunity in Federal Court: In a brief filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, EFF argues that the flawed FISA Amendments Act (FAA) violates the federal government's separation of powers as...
John McCain gets called to the carpet over his campaign's use of robocalls in a surprisingly tough line of questioning from Fox News' Chris Wallace. Watch McCain seethe as he's confronted with his own words that he "has never and...
Update: The article is online now: Block the Vote. It's Already Stolen According to an investigative report out today in Rolling Stone magazine, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast, after a year-long investigation, reveal a systematic program of "GOP...
Speaking on NBC's Meet The Press this morning, Former Secretary of State General Colin Powell publicly endorsed Barack Obama for President. Among his reasons: The Republican Party has drifted too far to the Right, John McCain has exhibited a lack...
Earlier this week, The Chicago Tribune endorsed Barack Obama for President. While it is hardly unusual for newspapers across America to endorse Presidential candidates, the Tribune's endorsement of Obama is unique in that it marks a moment in history. "This...
This is an interesting addendum to yesterday's PolJunk story about Minnesota Repbulican 6th District Representative Michelle Bachmann's comments on MSNBC's Hardball. In short, Bachmann basically said that those of us who do not share her Republican views are inherently anti-American....
Minnesota Republican 6th District Representative Michelle Bachmann on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews today suggested that Barack Obama isn't sufficiently "American" and is not worthy of being elected to the White House. Her reasons for suggesting that Obama doesn't belong...
A few weeks ago John McCain bailed on a David Letterman appearance to "get back to Washington" and broker a deal for the recent economic bailout. Lettermen got wise to the thing and sure enough ran a live feed of...
McCain says he doesn't care about a "washed up old terrorist," but this robocall says otherwise: Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill...
While McCain and Obama were figuratively beating each other up in the last presidential debate last night, some war veterans protesting outside were literally beaten up and arrested by Hofstra cops. Will the parties denounce this sort of abuse of...
Some long faces and subdued voices are in evidence at FOX tonight as some in their "undecided" focus group appear to have decided in favor of Obama....
The Pol Junk compound (aka Derek Phillips' basement) was alive with chatter during round three of the prez debates. Phillips Twittered it live, Johnny Loftus live-blogged some thoughts when he wasn't taking swigs of High Lifes and making lame asides...
In what is I think both a humble move and a politically savvy one, Obama addresses the "bitter" comment head-on and explains his admittedly "boneheaded" comment: "How it was interpreted in the press was Obama talking to a bunch of...
Just as Michigan, so goes Wisconsin and Maine. The AP reports"The Republican National Committee is halting presidential ads in Wisconsin and Maine, turning much of its attention to usually Republican states where GOP nominee John McCain shows signs of faltering."...
If you love smart, funny, cutting, and utterly unmerciful poltical writing, then you're probably already a fan of Matt Taibbi. He fills the void left by Hunter S. Thompson and then tops it off with whip smarts. A classic example...
Dig this funny slide show explaining in very...simple...terms this whole ACORN hullabaloo. Money quote: Well, no. They were registrations for people who don't exist. So they're probably not gonna show up on election day. Unless my applications were magical and...
Today we've reached 100 followers on Twitter and just in time to follow our live Tweet of tonight's final debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. Johnny Mac has all but promised to bring up Willie Ayers tonight since Obama...
Perhaps the last great hope of the McCain/Caribou Barbie Campaign is that their charges of guilt-by-association directed at Barack Obama for his flimsy ties to former Left-wing radical and terrorist Bill Ayers will generate enough doubt about Obama's love of...
The Times-Tribune reports another death threat against Obama from hysterical McCain-Palin supporters in Scranton, PA: Chris Hackett addressed the increasingly feisty crowd as they await the arrival of Gov. Palin. Each time the Republican candidate for the seat in the...
The Post is such a rag (can anyone tell me why "Dixie" was playing as a music bed on that site???) but this is troubling (emphasis added): The Post reported last week on the Cleveland-area probe and the subpoenas, which...
A new set of polls from Quinnipiac gives Barack Obama very strong leads in four key swing states: Colorado: Obama 52% McCain 43% Michigan: Obama 54% McCain 38% Minnesota: Obama 51% McCain 40% Wisconsin: Obama 54% McCain 37% VIA Talking...
Wow. The Anchorage Daily News calls Sarah Palin's response to the "Troopergate" report "Orwellian. Yes..."Orwellian. Sarah Palin's reaction to the Legislature's Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation. ... Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright...
The McCain/Caribou Barbie campaign has made much hay lately of the tenuous (at best) associations that Barack Obama once shared with former Weather Underground member Bill (or Willie) Ayers. In the early 1970's, Ayers participated in bombings of the New...
Caribou Barbie booed in Philadelphia at Flyers/Rangers game. No, I don't think they're saying "Mooooose..."...
As one analysis after another shows Barack Obama slowly gaining ground and a lead over John McCain, some "conservatives" can see the writing on the wall, and they don't like the message they're reading one bit. In fact, the low-information...
Buried in a recent Fox News Poll is this: There has been some discussion of Barack Obama's relationship with the former radical activist William Ayers. Because Ayers is linked to plots to bomb the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol in...
UPI rounds up a couple of recents polls that suggest that young religious kids are cooler than their parents when it comes to Obama, gay rights, and other issues. Some encouraging trends: • "71 percent of young first-time religious voters...
Sullivan nails it: What Rove never realized is that many of us fought hard for intellectual and moral respect for conservatism in college and grad school, only to have our efforts turned into a joke by the crassness of the...
Trying to head off potentially damaging information from a state ethics report on her misuse of office, Sarah Palin released a report clearing her of all wrong doing. The author of the report? The McCain-Palin Campaign. Palin is the subject...
Obama hits McCain-Palin for stoking fears and rage at their rallies. I like this: It's easy to rile up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that's not what we need right now in the United States. The times...
Charlie Gibson asks McCain why he hasn't asked Obama about Bill Ayers when they've met face-to-face. McCain stumbles a bit trying to explain why and then falls back on his reputation as a blow hard. McCain Responds to "Say It...
Bill Ayers walks with his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, and their son Zayd Dohrn, 4, Barack Obama outside Federal Court in New York in this May 17, 1982, photo. Courtesy of Donaldson...
Political rallies sometimes bring out the worst in people. Especially as tight races head into the final stretch, emotions run high and you tend to rally around your candidate of choice; both because you actually support their views and ideals...
Brave New Films has a short video on McCain's notorious anger management issue and how it could be a national security problem. Of the several people interviewed for the piece who described incidents, the most shocking is one in which...
Sarah palin appeared on the Laura Ingraham Show today, where I am sure she was peppered with tough questions, to rally listeners to really demand accountability and openness from the candidate. Laura, it's so important for your listeners to start...
Obama goes for the heart of McCain's story as a "steady hand" un troubled times by highlighting the many, many variations to the Republican's financial proposal. Emphasis added. Now, this is just the latest in a series of shifting positions...
I am going to call McCain out for what he is: a pussy. John McCain and Sarah Palin have been doing everything they can do show a link between 60s radical and ex-Weatherman Bill Ayers and Barack Obama. They...
Barack Obama is taking some heat for comments he made regarding our strategy in Afghanistan, a strategy that forces our military to conduct operations in a way they'd rather not. In August 2007, Obama called for a change in that...
Andrew Sullivan takes out McCain's perceived strength as a steady hand in foreign affairs and a deep undertsanding of the issues. Specifically, McCain's oddly reactionary response to Russia's invasion of Georgia last month: If you sensed last August that something...
A New York Times editorial takes the McCain-Palin campaign to task over sleazy tactics: "Senator John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have been running one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember," the Tuesday editorial said. "They have gone...
Video: Sarah Palin: Palling Around With Secessionists...
A quick round-up of what the talking heads thought of last night's debate: MSNBC's Chuck Todd (AKA: Sabu) Obama started out strong and was surprisingly aggressive with McCain. I don't know that he missed an opportunity in the first...
McCain advisor is a lobbyist -> Taiwan signs advisor for services -> McCain lobbies for more arms to Taiwan So much for rooting out special interest groups in Washington. MORE...
Today's round-u... SurveyUSA poll of Pennsylvania: Obama 55% McCain 40%. Obama is ahead 52%-43% among men, ahead 57%-38% with women, and even leads 49%-45% among white voters. Muhlenberg Poll: Obama 49% McCain 38% Quinnipiac: Obama 54% McCain 39% Obama ahead...
You read that right: John McCain as the Penguin Because it's just too funny not to post. VIA Best Week Ever...
From MSNBC's First Read team (emphasis added): Obama at 264: A week after Obama's poll numbers spiked in battleground states and after McCain's campaign announced it was retreating from Michigan, Obama has opened up a nearly 100-point electoral-vote lead, according...
Want to know why the McCain campaign is panicking? This might have something to do with it: SUSA Poll: Obama Has 10-Point Lead In Virginia Suffolk Poll: Obama Up 51-39 In Virginia Obama leading by 10+ in VIRGINIA? No wonder...
Who's running the McCain campaign? Is it John McCain? Is it Sarah Palin? Is it Karl Rove? Is it some cyborg McCain impersonator? Here's what John McCain said a few months ago when surrogates tried to use Obama's association with...
It's October in America and if it's an election year that means one thing: shit is about to hit the fan. With the McCain camp seemingly coordinating their hits with Fox News Democrats are rightfully nervous about how Obama responds...
Here's a tale from the front: Two separate rallies, one for the Obama/Biden ticket and one for the Caribou Barbie/McCain ticket, were held in Anchorage, Alaska this week-end. While I found it heartening to hear that there are enough Obama...
In what is either an incredible coincidence or a coordinated effort to smear Barack Obama as a friend to terrorists, Fox News' Sean Hannity debuted an hour-long special called "A History of Radicalism" that is overflowing with incredible insinuation, bizarre...
The Republican candidate for Vice President, Caribou Barbie, tried once again to discredit Barack Obama by suggesting that Obama has ties to known terrorists, CNN reported today. Speaking at an event in Colorado, she said that, "This is not a...
Palin gets to take another wack at some of the questions she totally bumbled with Katie Couric. Her excuse for not being able to answer them the first time? She was "annoyed" with Couric. Palin On Supreme Court Decisions...
My favorite exchange of the night: PALIN: Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American...
FactCheck.org has the breakdown on who was bullshitting what. Here's a summary, but check out the link, they do a fine job of breaking down the details and who said what. Summary Biden and Palin debated, and both mangled some...
Four majors show Obama increasing his lead over John McCain. I don't think the debate last night has factored yet, but it'll be interesting to see how it does. • Gallup: Obama 49%, McCain 42%, with a ±2% margin of...
Like most anyone who gives a shit about this election, members of the GLONO crew gathered in Chicago last night to watch the Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. We had drinks, we had TV, we had...
The early polls are trickling in and they all give a win to Joe Biden. CBS Biden: 46% Palin: 21% Tie: 33% CNN Biden: 51% Palin: 36% TPM also points out this nugget from the CNN poll: While a startling...
In a post quoting Joe Lieberman saying that passage of the bailout package would be really good for McCain because it would divert attention away from the mess created by Republicans' incessant calls for de-regulation, ThinkProgress provides a nice run...
In what can only be seen as a defeat for McCain, the campaign has closed up shop in mega battle ground state Michigan and will focus his efforts on others swing states. According to Politico, McCain will pull all TV,...
Uh oh, looks like another of Palin's claims has been debunked, this time what she cited as experience working with foreign countries, namely Russia, as evidence she's ready for the VP: Anchorage Daily News In an interview last week with...
Tonight's the night! It's the event most of us have been waiting for. We have two loose cannons in the VP slot going head-to-head on live TV. palin is coming off of a horrible week with a disasterous CBS interview...
Mind you, this election is still very fluid--Obama's lead has broken over the last two weeks and we have five weeks to go--but if the trend continues then Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. CNN's...
Get your "head" shots ready. Now casting....
It was bound to happen, but I can't tell who this benefits most: people who want to paint Sarah Palin as an emptyheaded robo queen, or people who want to humanize her to bored Americans sick of politics. Video Footage...
Given what's articulated in my earlier post regarding Americans' uncanny ability to award style over substance in everything, especially politics, this does not bode well. Andrew Halcro served two terms as a Republican member of the Alaska State House of...
When asked by Hugh Hewitt last night whether her family had ever suffered financial difficulties (a clear attempt to position her even more closely to working class Americans), Palin responded by saying that her family struggled to get health insurance...
With every major national poll breaking in Obama's favor this week it's tempting to want to buy up a bunch of liquor and chips and start planning the post-election parties now. But if 2004 taught me anything it's to be...
