The Times They Are A-Changing

This picture is from the meeting at the White House between President-Elect Obama and President Bush. I’m not a body language guru, but I found this to be a pretty powerful picture. President-Elect Obama is wasting no time in asserting himself.

RNC Steps in it on Rahm Emanuel Chief of Staff Pick

On the heels of Rahm Emanuel agreeing to the Chief of Staff position, the RNC had decided the best response is to blast Rahm:

Republicans attacked the selection, however. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement: “This is an ironic choice for a president-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil and govern from the center.”

This is amazingly boneheaded. Just days after McCain and Obama pledge cooperation, and with even George Bush being somewhat of a “team” player, the RNC decides to go to war on…the Chief of Staff? Watching MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell questions why they are picking this fight. Atlantic Media’s Ron Brownstein notes that this is why they are the minority party. Even the GOP pundit questioned why the RNC is starting out on this negative note. Meet the new RNC, same as the old RNC.

It’s Almost Gametime!

I’ll be poll-watching as part of the legal Voter Protection Team here in Washington. It’s gonna be a long day for me (about to hit the bed to get a relatively decent night’s sleep), but it will be well worth it. I see that Obama won Dixville Notch, the first of the election day voting. A good start to what will hopefully be a great day.

Al and Tipper Gore to Rally for Obama in Palm Beach Friday

We’re obviously in the home stretch here, and Flordia, while giving Obama a slight slight lead, is still very close and will likely be decided by a few points in either direction.

Senator Obama has been going full bore in Florida, spending much of his time this week in that crucial state. In addition, he’s bringing Bill Clinton to Orlando for their first joint appearance.

Given the tight race there, it’s great to see that he is bringing out all of the big guns:

Former Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic presidential contender in 2000, will be joined by his wife, Tipper Gore, at a rally for Barack Obama on Friday afternoon at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.

Convention center officials announced the event today. It will be held in the Center’s Grand Ballroom, and is expected to be limited to about 2,000 attendees.

NYT to Raise New Questions on McCain’s Health

One of the stories bubbling just over the surface is the issue of John McCain’s health. While the story of his frequent bouts with cancer have been well documented, and he did allow reporters to see his records in a very controlled setting, many have demanded a more thorough accounting of his various medical issue. The New York Times will be shedding some additional light on this issue.

Story:

The New York Times will break new ground on the health of the presidential candidates and their running mates in a major expose set to be published in Monday’s print edition.

Lawrence Altman — the veteran Times reporter, George Polk Award winner, and one of the few medical doctors working as a full-time journalist — has spent weeks working with the campaigns and medical professionals on the piece, sources say.

Much of the speculation centers on new questions about the status of John McCain’s cancer raised by the story. The Washington Post reported last week that a growing number of doctors believe that McCain’s melanoma is “more advanced than his physicians concluded and that the chance of recurrence is consequently higher.”

But another peculiar facet of the Times story involves the McCain campaign’s refusal, as of this weekend, to turn over Sarah Palin’s medical information.

Halperin: McCain to [Ctrl/Alt/Delete] Campaign?

Well, this is interesting. Mark Halperin, press flak to the stars, has a rather cryptic lead at the top of his page right now:

Now, this is rather interesting, isn’t it? What oh what could McCain be thinking at this point.
It’s no secret that the GOP writ-large is freaking out right now. They’ve got some pretty pathetic polling right now, including Colorado, which now shows a ten point Obama lead.

We’ve also got a major backlash against McCain for his disgusting campaign tactics:

Obama Purchases One-Half Hour of Primetime on CBS

Big move from Obama, as he is purchasing 1/2 hour of primetime on CBS, and negotiating with other stations as well.

Story:

Barack Obama has purchased a half-hour of airtime on CBS, sources confirm.

The Obama campaign will air a half-hour primetime special on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m.

Sources say the Obama camp is also in talks with NBC and Fox. It’s not yet clear if an ad buy is locked on any other network, however, or if the special’s duration or time period is the same.

A CBS spokesperson declined comment. The buy will push comedy “The New Adventures of Old Christine” to 8:30 p.m. and pre-empt “Gary Unmarried.”

The direct purchase of such a large block of time is considered unusual in modern presidential politics, though not without precedent — Ross Perot did a similar purchase in 1992.

This year has seen the first time in many years that presidential campaigns have bought national broadcast TV advertisements. In the past 12 years, much of the billions of dollars in political advertising spent has gone to local TV stations in battleground states. While some money has gone to national cable channels, the thinking has always been that it would be more prudent to target battleground states’ voters instead of addressing the entire nation, including states that reliably vote for one party or another.

Whoa. I think we can assume from this move that Obama had a HUGE September fundraising. Boy, I can’t wait for the numbers to be reported. I’d guess this will be a huge political story, in addition to the stunning drop from the DOW. How long will McCain be able to bring up the Ayers nonsense and not get punished by the voters? As to the Obama prime-time special, I’d like to see an in-depth discussion on the economy. That is issue one, and Obama should continue to hammer on it.

And the winner is

This one wasn’t even close. Obama was fluid, specific and forceful on nearly every issues. McCain was irritable, sarcastic and dismissive of Obama. The best turn was on Pakistan, when McCain talked about “talking softly and carrying a big stick.” Obama, showing how much he has grown as a debater, immediately pounced, riffing on McCain’s “bomb bomb bomb Iran” comments. Devastating. The snap polls are universally in Obama’s favor:

The CBS News poll of undecided voters went for Obama 39%-27%. The Fox News focus group went for Obama. The CNN focus group went for Obama, but barely.

CNN national poll numbers coming soon…

And here they are: Among national voters, Obama wins 54%-30%. Yikes.

And of course, what everybody is buzzing about, McCain’s dismissive reference of Obama as “that one”:

Palin Stomps Her Feet: ‘Do We Have To’ Bail on Michigan?

I’ve tried to stay away from talking **too** much about Palin recently. She is a joke, after all. And spending precious time giving her more attention and responding to her nonsense is a sure way to accelerate hair loss. But this quote from her is simply priceless. Like a spoiled 15-year old who doesn’t want her parents dragging her to church (or in her case, her parents dragging her from church), Palin is upset about McCain bailing on Michigan. And she let her feelings be known. Check out her persuasive argument.

Story:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday that she disagrees with the John McCain campaign’s decision to pull staff and resources out of Michigan.

“I want to get back to Michigan, and I want to try,” Palin said in an interview on Fox News. “Todd and I, we’d be happy to get to Michigan. We’d be so happy to speak to the people there in Michigan who are hurting.”

The McCain campaign confirmed yesterday that it will be moving resources out of Michigan to more favorable terrain in Pennsylvania and Maine.

The Alaska governor first heard the news this morning and fired off a quick e-mail to campaign officials expressing her displeasure with the move.

“Oh c’mon, do we have to?” Palin said she wrote.

AP: McCain Bets (one of his) Houses, Craps Out

The AP comes through with what I think is a comprehensive article on the bailout fiasco.

Story:

The house always wins, gamblers are warned, and the U.S. House made John McCain pay Monday for his politically risky, high-profile involvement in a financial rescue plan that came crashing down, mainly at the hands of his fellow Republicans.

The bill’s defeat can hardly be blamed on the GOP presidential nominee, and it’s possible that a revised measure might succeed. But by his own actions last week, McCain tied himself far more tightly to the failed bill than did his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.

Setting aside the economic consequences for now (and frankly, such analysis is beyond my pay grade), and looking at the political consequences, it’s hard to see how McCain could have played this worse.