September 2008 - Posts
From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger SEDONA, Ariz. -- In between her debate-prep sessions here,
Palin called into the conservative Hugh Hewitt radio program Tuesday, decrying the lack of journalism ethics and repeatedly referring to herself as “Joe Six Pack.”
Oct. 1: Sarah Palin, right, in Sedona, Ariz. with Randy Scheunemann, senior policy adviser for the McCain-Palin campaign, prepares for her Thursday night debate with Democratic counterpart Joseph Biden. The interview comes amid new concerns that Palin is losing support among conservatives, as several prominent commentators have suggested she is unqualified for the vice presidency. The conversation touched on many of the key issues that made Palin popular in conservative circles when she was first named -- including her faith, support for Israel, and her decision to have a baby born with Down syndrome.
Palin linked herself to the financial situation many Americans now face, telling Hewitt: "I know what Americans are going through. Todd and I, heck, we’re going through that right now even as we speak, which may put me again kind of on the outs of those Washington elite who don’t like the idea of just an everyday, working-class American running for such an office." The governor of Alaska received a salary of $112,895 in 2007, according to stateline.org. The McCain campaign has not released the Palins' financial records.
“We’ve gone through periods of our life here with paying out of pocket for health coverage until Todd and I both landed a couple of good union jobs,” she added. “Early on in our marriage, we didn’t have health insurance, and we had to either make the choice of paying out of pocket for catastrophic coverage or just crossing our fingers, hoping that nobody would get hurt, nobody would get sick. So I know what Americans are going through there.”
She said her family probably took a $20,000 hit in the stock market last week, mostly through Todd’s 401K plan.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mike Viqueira Some points, in case they aren't obvious by now...
-- They are going to try again by the end of the week
-- It probably WON'T be Thursday. Most House members don't come into town until that evening. Any new proposal would have to go through the same closed door explanation process that we saw Sunday night. Thursday night is not impossible, however, and it has not been ruled out. But most likely Friday.
-- The FDIC expansion and the mark to market rule change that is being considered by the secretary (hearing that from both R and D on House side) are significant for Republicans. Notice the
Boehner statement on FDIC, where he says that Democrats rejected
Blunt in negotiations when he proposed it. Dems question that version of events, but Boehner may be phrasing it that way to portray it as a Republican victory.
-- On the Dem side, extension of unemployment benefits is something that could help with liberals and is being considered. Also, strengthening of the fee that would be imposed on companies whose assets do not improve after five years might be strengthened.
-- A top Republican source says that he thinks votes are there and gettable, with some help from a few Dem switches.
-- All sides agree that tweaks are going to be relatively minor.
-- Blunt and
Hoyer to meet face-to-face tomorrow.
Boehner’s statement: "The presidential candidates' support for increasing the FDIC cap is welcome news. Increasing the FDIC cap is a proposal put on the table by Roy Blunt and House Republicans but ruled out by Democrats during the negotiations that led to yesterday's unsuccessful vote."
Pelosi and Reid also wrote a letter to the president, in which they make nice and welcome his statement this morning:
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli WILMINGTON, Del. – It appears that neither cheesesteak-craving vice presidential candidate is safe from voters’ questions.
Joe Biden took a break from debate prep this afternoon to enjoy a meal with his son, Beau, at the Charcoal Pit, a diner just outside Wilmington known for its burgers and milk shakes. As Beau ordered a cheesesteak (hold the onions) for his dad, Biden made a loop of the diner, where he said he’s been hanging out since high school.
“This is the usual luncheon crowd!” Biden said as he greeted Bert Boyle, who was manning the cash register. “Sorry to bring all this on you,” he added, referring to the media.
One day after Sarah Palin complained of “gotcha journalism” based on questions she faced during a retail stop in Philadelphia, Biden answered some voters’ concerns about the state of the economy.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Lee Cowan RENO, Nev. -- In an interview today with NBC News,
Obama said House Democrats kept up their end of the deal to pass the rescue plan, but did not place blame squarely on the other side.
"I think that, the key now is just to not worry about credit blame publicity, let's just do the spade work to actually get this immediate crisis passed," he said, but added, "There was an agreement between Democratic leader
Pelosi and Republican leader
Boehner in the House that each side was going to come up with a certain number of votes and the Democrats, I think their number was 120 and they came up with 140."
Obama also hinted that had he known earlier the deal was going down to defeat he would have worked the phones even harder, especially given that some of those who voted no, were some of his early supporters .
"At this point, knowing that the Republicans may not be able to muster all the votes they had promised, if we need additional votes to get this done, then I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that that happens," he said, "because I think it's important for the country regardless of what the political alignments are."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Carrie Dann and Jeff Hanley
Of the 47 House Dems who endorsed Obama BEFORE Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, 26 voted in favor of the bailout legislation. That leaves 21 -- almost half of the original Obama loyalists -- who voted against the bill he supported.
Two powerful House caucuses were also split. The Congressional Black Caucus voted 18 Yea votes to 21 Nays. The Hispanic Caucus also voted down the bailout, with eight members voting in favor and 12 voting against the bailout.
But is any of this a measure of the loyalty Barack Obama commands? Or was it the threat of a tough re-election race that was ultimately the best predictor of support or opposition to the bill?
Of 38 incumbents in House races rated by the Cook Political Report as competitive or Toss Ups, 30 voted against the bailout. That's all but five of 17 Dems in tough reelection races, and all but three of 21 Republican incumbents running for another term. And, as First Read noted this morning, most retiring members not running for office -- 19 out of 24 -- voted in favor of the recovery bill.
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones RENO, Nev. -- In a sweeping speech in battleground state Nevada,
Obama made a direct appeal to the American people and to members of Congress to support the $700 billion rescue plan that failed to pass in the House of Representatives yesterday.
It was the first time since the need for such a rescue became clear that the Democratic nominee explained in direct and explicit terms what a total collapse of the credit markets would mean for ordinary people, many of whom are fiercely opposed to the bailout bill.
Quoting Franklin D. Roosevelt , Obama called on Americans to show the “confidence and courage” that he said were essential to the success of the plan. He asked people to believe in the country even if they are angry or anxious about the current crisis. And he tied the rescue plan to his own agenda, spelling out his plans to cut taxes, make health care and college more affordable and promote clean energy, including clean coal.
With an eye to casting the bailout deal as a time for patriotic action to save the American economy, Obama did not once mention John McCain . He said that now was not a time for politics or for taking credit or laying blame, and he compared the situation to putting out a fire in a neighbor’s house so that it would not spread to others. “We’ve got to make sure that we put the fire out and then go start making sure that these folks stop leaving the stove on,” he said. “But right now our job is to put out the fire and we can’t forget that.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro McCain 's gambling after a Sunday New York Times story. The DNC also launched its latest round of gimmickry passing to reporters a package with: phony $100 bills with the image of a tuxedoed, fighter-posing McCain (on the back it reads "In gambling lobbyists McCain trusts"); dice, and chips with McCain's face on it.
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy DES MOINES, Iowa – After making the rounds of the morning cable news shows,
McCain held an economic roundtable this morning and reiterated his call on the
Bush administration for immediate action.
“Inaction is not an option,” McCain said. “In light of the House’s failure to act, this morning, I spoke to the president about two things that the administration has not done, but should do following the inaction of Congress.”
In addition to raising the deposit insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 – something both McCain and Obama have suggested – McCain called on the treasury to use its Exchange Stabilization Fund as “creatively as possible to provide backstop” for financial accounts. He also pointed to the authority granted to the government in the recent housing bill to purchase nearly $1 trillion in mortgages and mortgage backed securities as a short term solution until a bill can be negotiated that will bass through congress.
“The Administration can take these actions with the stroke of a pen to help alleviate the crisis gripping our economy,” McCain said. “I urge them to do so.”
Renewing a call for bipartisanship that has spanned several days, McCain once again told several-hundred local employees gathered at EFCO Forms for the roundtable that this was not the time to place blame.
Video :
Senator John McCain joins 'Morning Joe' to talk about the bailout vote and says he'll 'let others be the judge' on his leadership. “This may be and is the greatest financial crisis of our lives,” McCain said. “And we have to act, and we have to act together in a bipartisan fashion. I'm committed to that. And I'm committed to doing whatever is necessary in a bipartisan fashion, and there'll be plenty of time to point the finger of blame."
The RNC released a television ad today tying Obama to the current financial crisis, even as McCain insisted that this is a time for restoring confidence, not name-calling.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Worse ," tries to pin the blame, at least in part, for the financial crisis on Obama. It also seems to villify the bailout, despite McCain's support for it. The ad stresses that Washington is "forced" to do the "bailout with OUR money. Can it get any worse?" an announcer says.
A McCain ad links Obama to Fannie/Freddie. "John McCain fought to rein in Fannie and Freddie," an announcer says. "The Post says: McCain 'pushed for stronger regulation'...'while Mr. Obama was notably silent.' But, Democrats blocked the reforms. Loans soared. Then, the bubble burst. And, taxpayers are on the hook for billions."
But complicating matters for the McCain campaign on this front, is that that campaign manager Rick Davis "was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations," as the New York Times put it.
Also, there's an Obama ad running painting him as a centrist on health care in swing states Indiana, Wisconsin [Hat tip to Politico's Ben Smith ] and by the sound of Elizabeth Edwards on an SEIU call today, in North Carolina as well.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Obama ad tying Iraq waste to the economy and McCain . No word on where it's running.
"John McCain wants America to keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq when we should be rebuilding America. That’s right. With banks failing because of Washington’s lax oversight, gas prices soaring, and jobs moving overseas. John McCain will keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq.
"After years of Bush -McCain policies taking us for a ride, we just can’t afford more of the same."Politico's Ben Smith reported it's airing in at least Colorado and Virginia and that it's radio.
From NBC's Athena Jones and Chuck Todd With the latest round of punditry blaming leaders from both sides of the aisle for failing to explain the mechanics of the Wall Street recovery plan and sell the proposal to the American people, some new wording from both candidates is worth noting.
"Because of the housing crisis, we are now in a very dangerous situation where financial institutions across this country are afraid to lend money,"
Obama is expected to say in Reno, NV, today. "If all that meant was the failure of a few big banks on Wall Street, it would be one thing. But that’s not what it means. What it means is that if we do not act, it will be harder for you to get a mortgage for your home or the loans you need to buy a car or send your children to college. What it means is that businesses won’t be able to get the loans they need to open new factories, or hire more workers, or make payroll for the workers they have. What it means is that thousands of businesses could close. Millions of jobs could be lost. A long and painful recession could follow. "
And here's how
McCain explained the crisis today in Des Moines, Iowa:
"Sonic Corporation, a drive-in restaurant chain based in Oklahoma, learned on Thursday that one of its lenders, GE Capital, had stopped extending new loans to the chain's franchisees. That will block plans to rebuild restaurants, add equipment and open new locations. When small businesses like Sonic franchisees can't borrow, contractors don't get the remodeling work, equipment-makers lose sales, and restaurants go out of business. It hurts the entire community."
Both candidates appear to be going full-speed ahead with making the financial meltdown relevant to everyday voters' lives. These new explanations are more direct, more explicit and do a better job of explaining the stakes than past remarks about the so-called "bailout" by either McCain or Obama.
From NBC's Carrie Dann NBC's Kelly O'Donnell today, McCain took a step back from blaming Obama for infusing politics into the bailout negotiations, and he previewed fellow "underdog" Palin's debate appearance later this week.
Asked if he still believes that Obama and his Democratic colleagues fueled a partisan atmosphere on the Hill as lawmakers struggled over the economic recovery bill, McCain responded that he wants to "put that aside now."
"I believe that politics has played too great a role in this. I think that Speaker Pelosi's speech was very unnecessary and inflammatory," he said, "But that's not a reason for us not to work together and come up with a solution. I think it's time now not to fix the blame but to fix the problem."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Carrie Dann
An extended version of the latest Obama ad on the economy hits airwaves today. The two-minute television spot, airing in "key states," hits McCain for relying on "the old trickle-down theory" and responds specifically to the claim that Obama's economic plan would raise - and not cut - taxes on the middle class.
"My plan offers three times as much tax relief to the middle class as Senator McCain's," says the Illinois senator, who addresses the camera directly throughout. "If you make less than a quarter million a year, you won’t see your taxes raised one penny under my plan."
The ad is very similar - and looks as though it may have been filmed at the same time - as the one minute spot "A Stronger Economy " released by the campaign last Wednesday.
CONTINUED >>
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann Who shouldn't be blamed : Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more twists and turns in this election year, the House yesterday rejected the Bush Administration’s $700 billion bailout package and the Dow plummeted. It's hard to find any blameless characters in this congressional bailout mess. But is it possible what Congress did yesterday was exactly what the voters wanted? The voters don't trust this current team in Washington -- or on Wall Street -- to do, well, anything.
Video :
NBC's political director, Chuck Todd, offers his first read on the fallout for the presidential candidates following the failed financial bailout effort. Here are some startling numbers from our last NBC/WSJ poll: 73% said we're on the wrong track; 65% disapprove of Bush’s job; 73% disapprove of the job Congress is doing; and only 19% have "a lot" of confidence in the federal government, and that's higher than the confidence level the public has in corporate America (11%) or the financial industry (10%). So given all these polling figures, is it any wonder the public logged so many calls into Congress demanding their members vote against this bill? By the way, while many (including us) are talking about a crisis in leadership in Washington, it is worth noting that a powerful bipartisan coalition against the bailout has come from both the left and the right.
***
"Lord of the Flies" inside the GOP : So who runs the Republican Party? Apparently nobody. Perhaps the most startling political development was the amazing lack of leadership on the GOP side of the aisle. Let's run down the list of Republican leaders who attempted to persuade skeptical House Republicans: President Bush, John McCain, Dick Cheney, and John Boehner. (We'd add Newt Gingrich to this list, but no one is quite sure if his last-minute support was actually cover for his behind the scenes whipping against the bill.) Bush's leadership and trust issues within his party has been evidenced for quite some time, and the icing on the Bush legacy cake is that fact that he could only convince FOUR Texas House Republicans to support his bill. And then there's John McCain, who last week decided to insert himself into the process and then (before the bailout failed) took credit for getting wavering House Republicans on board. Perhaps he did get a few wayward House GOPers on board -- but it wasn’t enough. Now McCain gets a double stomach punch: He's stuck being seen as supportive of this bailout (which isn’t exactly popular with the conservative grassroots) and he gets to share in the blame for the defeat since he didn't have enough political capital to get this done (By the way, not a single member of the Arizona GOP delegation voted for this bill). Watching the McCain campaign deal with this yesterday, one could sense that they were fearful that they were going to look inept and take an even deeper political wound than they sustained last week.
*** Democrats can't escape blame : Pelosi missed a huge opportunity to become an historic speaker and instead invited comparisons to Tom DeLay by deciding to deliver a more partisan speech than necessary at the time. There would have been time for partisan politics AFTER the vote, but to do it before seemed like a strategic blunder.
Video :
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi takes to the floor to announce "this legislation is not the end of the line," in the cleanup of the financial situation in the U.S. markets. Pelosi played into the stereotype she had been very adept at avoiding most of these last two years. That said, did it really cost any GOP votes? Unlikely. But it did give the House GOP leadership a talking point to deflect from its own failure. Obama, who as McCain pointed out (probably jealously) kept a healthy distance from this process, didn't seem to try and exert any influence on some of the "no" votes from the progressive/liberal side of the Democratic caucus. A large chunk of those "no" voters were very early supporters of Obama during the primary. Would a true campaign by Obama to vote for this bill have persuaded another handful of Dems? Possibly. Then again, Democrats were never going to jump off this cliff by themselves. Still, what's another 12 votes at this point if this legislation is so necessary?
***
Profiles in political posturing : So while the "no" voters have tried to portray themselves as the courageous ones (and maybe they'll ultimately be proven right), it's interesting that some 90% of the members of Congress who are worried about the election hides -- either this November or in a GOP primary next cycle -- voted no. By our count, there appear to be, maybe, five potential profiles in courage (casting an unpopular vote with their constituents) with two members worth pointing out by name: Republican Jon Porter of Nevada, who is locked in an intense battle in Nevada's 3rd CD, and Democrat Jim Marshall, who never has an easy time at re-election in Georgia's 8th District.
Video :
Top congressional and White House officials scramble to structure a new bailout proposal. NBC political director Chuck Todd reports. Here are some other ways to slice and dice the "no" votes. Every Arizona House Republican voted against McCain's wishes; seven of the 11 Illinois House Democrats voted the way Obama wanted. Of the 24 retiring House Republicans who are not on the ballot for anything in November, 19 voted for the bailout, four voted against, and one didn't vote. Of the five statewide candidates still in the House, all but one voted AGAINST the bailout, including both Democratic Udalls and Republicans Pearce of New Mexico and Hulshof of Missouri. Only Maine's Tom Allen, who is a massive underdog to Susan Collins in Maine, voted “yes” of the state-widers.
*** A different kind of bailout : The press isn't getting any better for Palin… McCain tried to rescue her a bit yesterday by joining her for the final day of the Couric interview. The McCain campaign knows the pressure is on Palin to rescue the campaign again. Given the last 96 hours for Team McCain, Thursday can't come soon enough.
*** Hey, big spender : Late last week, we reported that the RNC’s independent expenditure unit was going to launch a nearly $5 million advertising blitz in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and even Indiana (a move that played a big role in us moving the Hoosier State from Lean McCain to Toss-up). Well, here’s the ad , and it goes after Obama’s proposed spending increases in the context of the $700 billion bailout. “Under Barack Obama's plan, the Government would spend a trillion dollars more, even after the bailout. A trillion dollars. Who pays? You do. New taxes. New spending. New debt. Barack Obama's plan? It will make the problem worse.” (Of course, McCain’s support for extending the Bush tax cuts has a steep price tag, too…) Between this ad and the new one by MoveOn , it’s striking how both sides are trying to tie the bailout to the candidates. A Buckeye bonanza for Dems? Early voting begins today in the battleground of Ohio, as well as in Nebraska. Lost in the news of yesterday’s bailout failure and the plummeting Dow was a court decision in Ohio that could have big implications in the presidential race. In a 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld same-day voter registration and absentee ballot casting -- a ruling that could help Obama in the state. "The outcome of the court battles is likely to benefit Democrats in a state that narrowly awarded President Bush re-election in 2004," the AP writes. "Obama's campaign has organized car pools beginning Tuesday from college campuses to early voting sites. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is ferrying voters from homeless shelters to polling sites in the Cleveland area. Other organizations that seek to increase poor and minority participation in elections are transporting voters from low-income neighborhoods. The targeted voters have all traditionally had a harder time getting registered, and then getting to polling places on Election Day. Thanks to Monday's court decisions, these Democratic-leaning voters can do it all at once."
*** Still eyeing the Hawkeye State : While some polls show Obama will a double-digit lead in Iowa -- which makes it the likeliest red state to turn blue in November -- McCain today will make his second visit to the Hawkeye State in the past two weeks. He and Palin held a rally in the state on September 18.
***
End of another era? Down the ballot in North Carolina, the Democratic hit that Elizabeth Dole spent just 20 days in the Tar Heel State in 2005 and 13 days there in 2006 might very well have been the final nail in her coffin in her race against Dem challenger Kay Hagan. Could the end of the Bush era also bring us the end of the Dole era? There has been a Dole in the Senate for nearly 50 straight years -- and either a Bush or a Dole on the national ticket going back to '72. Will Liddy Dole's potential defeat signal the true end of the two most powerful Republican families of the last 50 years?
***
On the trail : McCain holds a roundtable in Des Moines, IA. Obama attends a rally in Reno, NV.
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The House yesterday rejected the Bush Administration’s $700 billion bailout proposal -- “a stunning turn of events that sent the stock market into a tailspin and added to concerns that the U.S. faces a prolonged recession if the legislation isn't revived,” the Wall Street Journal writes. “The 228-205 vote, which defied a full-court press from the president and the Treasury secretary, marked a dark moment in a month that has shaken the financial system to its core and forced the government to take a host of ad hoc measures to shore up confidence. Earlier Monday, U.S. authorities helped arrange the sale of Wachovia Corp. to Citigroup Inc., while the Federal Reserve joined other central banks in injecting more funds into credit markets.”
The New York Times notes the lack of leadership on display yesterday. “From the White House to Congress to the presidential campaign trail, the principal players did not rally the votes they needed in the House. They appeared not to comprehend or address in a convincing way an intense strain of opposition to the deal among voters. They allowed partisan politics to flare at sensitive moments.”
“If there was any doubt that President Bush had been left politically impotent by his travails over the last few years and his lame-duck status, it was erased on Monday when, despite his personal pleas, more than two-thirds of the Republicans in the House abandoned the plan.”
In fact, check out this nugget, courtesy of the Washington Post : “Yesterday, Bush called nearly every member of Texas's Republican delegation, GOP aides said. He won over four of the 19.”
CONTINUED >>
The New York Times’ Nagourney looks at the stakes for Palin in Thursday’s debate. “The amount of time and staff power being devoted to [her debate prep] was evidence of concern among Mr. McCain’s associates that Ms. Palin’s early triumphs — a well-received convention speech, her drawing of big crowds — has been overtaken by a series of setbacks, creating higher stakes for her in the debate Thursday… ‘I think she has pretty thoroughly — and probably irretrievably — proven that she is not up to the job of being president of the United States,” David Frum, a former speechwriter for President Bush who is now a conservative columnist, said in an interview. “If she doesn’t perform well, then people see it.’”
Meanwhile, the
Washington Post writes a piece noting Biden’s penchant for making gaffes. “Unlike his Republican counterpart, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Biden has not been shy about talking to reporters, but comments he has made since Obama chose him last month have presented Democrats with their own problems and revived the longtime senator's reputation for gaffes.”
Politico’s Roger Simon reports that Biden will most likely go easy on Palin. “If Sarah Palin goofs, flounders, stumbles or blunders during her debate against Joe Biden on Thursday night, Biden is going to let it slide. ‘If she makes a gaffe, he underplays it,’ one of the people prepping Biden for his vice presidential debate told me. ‘At most, he says, “I am not sure what Gov. Palin meant there.”’”
“Second, Biden knows the press is going to pounce on any mistakes, and so he does not need to. Third, and most important, Sarah Palin is not Biden’s true target. ‘Joe Biden’s No. 1 job during the vice presidential debate is to keep the focus on the top of the ticket,’ the Biden debate prepper told me. ‘He is going to keep the focus on John McCain.’”
The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus dreams of having McCain debate -- drum roll, please -- Sarah Palin. “I can understand how he views Obama as untested and unprepared. I can't square that dismissive attitude with McCain's selection of Palin.”
The
Wall Street Journal focuses on McCain’s crusade against earmarks. “But earmarks represent only a tiny portion of federal spending, and experts say the Arizona Republican has vastly overstated the savings available even if every earmark were eliminated. "They're a rounding error in the budget," said Robert Bixby of the Concord Coalition, which advocates for balanced federal budgets. Nor is it clear that voters are anywhere near as upset about earmarking as is Sen. McCain, who prides himself on never having requested such spending for his state. But the issue does resonate, analysts say, when it is connected with larger failures of Washington.”
The New York Times fact-checker is the latest to take issue with McCain’s claim that Obama voted to raise taxes on those making as little as $42,000. “The basis of Mr. McCain’s accusation is that Mr. Obama has voted twice this year for Democratic-supported resolutions on the budget for the 2009 fiscal year, which begins Wednesday. In those nonbinding resolutions, Mr. Obama and others, including two Republicans, voted to allow the tax cuts that President Bush pushed through Congress in 2001 and 2003 to expire at the end of 2010, as envisioned in the original legislation. The budget resolutions are merely a blueprint and do not have the force of law.”
More: “In his presidential platform, Mr. Obama has also proposed several measures to mitigate the impact of letting the Bush tax cuts expire. Under his plan, only individuals making $200,000 or more and families earning more than $250,000 a year, accounting for less than 2 percent of the population, would pay additional taxes, and more than 90 percent of the population would receive a tax break of some sort.”
Yesterday, the RNC pounced on Obama for saying “we’ve got the long-term fundamentals that will really make sure this economy grows” – after Obama and the Democrats ridiculed McCain for saying that the fundamentals for our economy are strong.
The Obama camp, however, notes that Obama was talking about his economic plan, not the condition of the US economy. Here’s the full context, per the campaign: “I have said it before and I’ll say it again: we need to pass, after this immediate crisis is over, an economic stimulus plan. Right now. For working families – a plan that will help folks cope with rising food and gas prices, that can save one million jobs by rebuilding our schools and our roads, and help states and cities avoid budget cuts and tax increases. A plan that would extend expiring unemployment benefits. For those Americans who have lost their jobs and have been working hard to find a new one, but haven’t found one yet. That’s part of the change we need.”
CONTINUED >>
"Palin said Monday that her comment about attacking terrorist targets in Pakistan, which appeared to contradict the position of GOP presidential nominee John McCain, was a response to
a 'gotcha' question from a voter… McCain, who sat with Palin, said in Monday's interview that he understands "the day and age of 'gotcha' journalism… In a conversation with someone who you didn't hear the question very well, you don't know the context of the conversation. Grab a phrase. Gov. Palin and I agree that you don't announce that you're going to attack another country." Though Palin heard the question clearly.”
"Asked what she learned from the experience, Palin said: 'That this is all about 'gotcha' journalism. A lot of it is. But that's OK, too.'"
And the
AP asks: "Has Sarah Palin become a liability for John McCain? Since joining his ticket, the overnight political celebrity has seen the shine come off her poll standings and doubts surface among some conservatives once excited about her candidacy."
The
New York Daily News on Palin's latest interview with CBS: "In runup to debate, Sarah Palin turns up anger."
COLORADO : "Statewide, nearly 215,000 people between Jan. 1 and Sept. 1 registered as a new voter or because they moved to a different county , according to Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies in Louisville. That's 26,000 more than in the same period in 2004. Of those newly registered voters, 78,013 are Democrats, compared with 48,451 Republicans. New unaffiliated voters outnumber both major parties, with 85,795 registrations during that eight-month period, according to the political consulting firm. More than 40 percent of new voters are opting for mail ballots."
FLORIDA : Good early-voting news for Republicans eying Florida. "Looks like the Republicans are out hustling Florida Democrats again on absentee ballots. According to Democratic figures, Republicans have requested more than 637,000 absentee ballots so far, compared to more than 441,000 for Democrats, and 185,000 for independents."
OHIO : The Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday that newly registered voters can cast an absentee ballot without waiting thirty days, good news for Democrats hoping to boost new voter turnout before Election Day. More from the ruling: "Observers will be allowed in places where people can register to vote and then cast their absentee ballots, all in the same day."
VIRGINIA : The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that "Voters younger than 34 accounted for 62.4 percent of the 284,153 new voter registrations in Virginia between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15."
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones In Denver, Obama did not respond to a reporter's shouted question about how urgent he believes the situation in Washington is. (A campaign aide had already said earlier that he was not going to have a press conference on the matter.) McCain did not respond to inquiries from reporters as he boarded his plane in Columbus, Ohio earlier today, nor did he take questions after making a brief statement in Des Moines on the failure of the bailout bill.
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli WILMINGTON, Del. -- As Biden actively prepares for Thursday’s vice presidential debate in St. Louis, the imminent deployment to Iraq of his eldest son, Beau, is also weighing on his mind this week.
“He usually addresses every unit that we deploy,” Grattieri said. “What he usually talks about is the current situation in Iraq or Afghanistan, depending on where the unit is going, and wishes them good luck in their deployment.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro finished down 777.68 points , or almost 7%. It is the largest one-day drop in points in the history of Wall St. In 1987, on Black Monday, the market dropped 20%.
Video :
CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera discusses the DOW's freefall following the collapse of the Wall Street bailout and what effects it will have on world markets. 'There's no credit available.... It stops business in its tracks,' says Cabrera.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Here's the Obama-Biden statement on the failed bailout bill:
"This is a moment of national crisis, and today's inaction in Congress as well as the angry and hyper-partisan statement released by the
McCain campaign are exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington. Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to join together and act in a way that prevents an economic catastrophe. Every American should be outraged that an era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and Washington has led us to this point, but now that we are here, the stability of our entire economy depends on us taking immediate action to ease this crisis," said Obama-Biden campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Republican-backed lawsuits went to the Ohio Supreme Court, and the court, by a 4-3 vote, "upheld a weeklong period in which new voters can register and cast an absentee ballot on the same day in Ohio. Another federal court decision was expected later in the day over the early voting window...." (The Ohio Supreme Court has six Republicans and one Democrat.)
Previously, voters had to be "registered for at least 30 days before receiving an absentee ballot."
This is the first presidential election in Ohio in which voters can vote absentee and early without excuse. Election officials have pushed the effort as a way to eliminate long lines and voting complications of years past. In 2004, Democrats alleged voter disenfranchisement in areas with large African-American populations, as voters waited hours and hours to vote.
For more on early voting and potential complications, click here.
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy When McCain boarded his campaign plane with Rob Portman in preparation for his flight to Des Moines, just as the bailout legislation was defeated on the House floor, he ignored questions shouted by reporters from under the wing about the fate of the bill.
It's unclear if he could hear the questions, but when he heard reporters shouting his name he turned and waved.
From NBC's Mark Murray McCain's opening line at Friday's debate (the emphasis is mine): "I've been not feeling too great about a lot of things lately. So have a lot of Americans who are facing challenges. But I'm feeling a little better tonight, and I'll tell you why. Because as we're here tonight in this debate, we are seeing, for the first time in a long time, Republicans and Democrats together, sitting down, trying to work out a solution to this fiscal crisis that we're in."
"And have no doubt about the magnitude of this crisis. And we're not talking about failure of institutions on Wall Street. We're talking about failures on Main Street, and people who will lose their jobs, and their credits, and their homes, if we don't fix the greatest fiscal crisis, probably in -- certainly in our time, and I've been around a little while. But the point is -- the point is, we have finally seen Republicans and Democrats sitting down and negotiating together and coming up with a package."
Video: House Republican Leader John Boehner tells reporters he thinks the bailout bill could have passed today, had it not been for partisan comments by House Speaker Pelosi. The McCain campaign is blaming
Nancy Pelosi -- and
Obama by extension -- for the vote's failure in the House. “Just before the vote, when the outcome was still in doubt, Speaker Pelosi gave a strongly worded partisan speech and poisoned the outcome," said McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin. “This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country.”
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones Obama said he's confident a deal will be reached on a bailout plan, despite it failing in the House.
Explaining why he was delayed at the start of his event, he said in this town about 20 minutes outside Denver, "I was on the phone with Secretary
Paulson as well as the Speaker of the House and the Congressional leaders, because they are still trying to work through this rescue package. And obviously this is a very difficult thing to do. It's difficult because we shouldn't have gotten here in the first place.
"We meet here at a time of great uncertainty for America. The era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington has led us to a financial crisis as serious as any we have faced since the Great Depression. They said they wanted to let the market run free but instead they let it run wild, and in the process they trampled our American values of fairness, balance, and responsibility to one another. Now, because of speculators who gamed the system and regulators who looked the other way, your jobs, your life savings, and the stability of our entire economy is at risk."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy McCain was back on the campaign trail today at a rally with his running mate where he criticized his opponent for not responding to the financial crisis in a similar fashion.
"I went to Washington last week to make sure that the taxpayers of Ohio and across this great country were not left footing the bill for mistakes made in Wall Street and evil and greed in Washington," McCain said. Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first, at first he didn't want to get involved. And then he was "monitoring the situation." That's not leadership, that's watching from the sidelines."
McCain's remarks came hours before the bailout legislation failed on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
CONTINUED >>
The U.S. House has rejected legislation to bail out the country's financial industry by a vote of 228-205.
*** UPDATE *** Of the House's 235 Democratic members, 140 voted in favor of the bailout, 95 against. Of 199 Republicans, only 65 voted "yea."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Obama camp has an ad of its own going up on national cable, according to a campaign release, that hits McCain on CEO golden parachutes and invokes economic adviser Carly Fiorina . Fiorina is a former CEO of Hewlett Packard, who received multi-million dollar compensation when she left the position.
"Last week, another bank went under. But its CEO could walk away with $19 million," an announcer says. "John McCain’s advisor, Carly Fiorina -- the fired CEO who left with $42 million. Barack Obama says it’s got to change, demanded any Wall St. bailout restricts CEO pay."
There has been some dispute as to the amount of Fiorina's severance package. In fact, the New York Times article from Feb. 12, 2005, cited in Obama's ad, notes that Fiorina "will receive a severance package worth about $21.4 million, and stands to gain at least $21.1 million more. The additional amount reflects the estimated value of her pension, stock options and Hewlett stock holdings, which the company did not include in her severance package."
The way it breaks down: $14 million in severance pay, an additional $7.38 million "bonus for meeting certain performance goals." HP also "agreed to pay her $50,000 for legal, financial and career counseling and will continue her health and personal security benefits for about a year." And: "Ms. Fiorina also received restricted grants of about 826,000 shares during her tenure, that along with her other Hewlett holdings, now have a market value of $18.2 million. In addition, Ms. Fiorina will receive a pension of at least $200,000 a year that was not included in the company's severance calculations. The pension could be worth at least $2 million, compensation specialists said. She will also keep her computer, receive technical support for three months, and have access to a secretary for six months."
Fiorina has been notably absent from what had been a highly visible role as a surrogate, since she said neither Palin nor McCain (nor Obama or Biden for that matter) were qualified to run a major corporation.
From NBC's Carrie Dann The newest in MoveOn.org's "My Friends" series - an ad campaign knocking McCain's advisers and associates - takes on the Arizona senator over his advisors' role in the dergulation leading up to the Wall Street crash. The bill slams deregulator Phil Gramm and former Freddie/Fannie lobbyist and McCain campaign manager Rick Davis.
But the Number One "friend" targeted in the new spot is none other than George Bush , and the crime is his bailout proposal -- which both Obama and McCain have guardedly endorsed.
*** UPDATE *** RNC spokesman Alex Conant sent on this response when the ad was first unveiled last week: "“Barack Obama’s liberal allies are launching a partisan attack at the precise moment we should be putting politics aside and working to solve the problem. These sorts of false attacks by special interest groups are part of what’s wrong with Washington.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy and NBC's Domenico Montanaro Colorado , Ohio , Pennsylvania and Virginia . energy plan specifically mentions "clean coal" -- "Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology" -- as a way to "Create Millions of New Green Jobs."
The Washington Post (Jan. 10, 2007): "So why then, environmentalists ask, is Obama backing a law supporting the expanded use of coal, whose emissions are cooking the globe? It seems the answer is twofold: his interest in energy independence -- and his interest in downstate Illinois, where the senator's green tinge makes the coal industry queasy.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Pete Williams Michael Mukasey has appointed a career federal prosecutor to further investigate the firings of nine U.S. attorneys two years ago and determine whether any crimes were committed.
Video: Attorney General Michael Mukasey says he's launching an investigation into whether top-ranking administration officials broke the law when they fired a group of U.S. attorneys. NBC's Pete Williams reports. Mukasey's action follows this morning's release of a 300-plus page report on the firing saga, which resulted in the resignation of former attorney general
Alberto Gonzales and several of his deputies.
"At a minimum, the process by which nine U.S. attorneys were removed in 2006 was haphazard, arbitrary and unprofessional and the way in which the Justice Department handled those removals and the resulting public controversy was profoundly lacking," Mukasey said. But he said today's report leaves many questions unanswered. He wants the career prosecutor to look further into the firings and decide whether anyone should be prosecuted.
One reason the inspector general was unable to get all the answers is that his office has no subpoena authority.
*** UPDATE ***
Instead, the process was designed and carried out by an aide to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. It allowed partisan political considerations to be an important factor in several of the firings, most troublingly in the case of the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, David Iglesias, who was booted after complaints from Republican politicians and party activists, the report says.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mike Viqueira and Carrie Dann
The best estimates right now indicate that Republicans will garner about 70 votes in support of the bailout, less than half of the 199 GOPers in the House. Congressional Democrats are more optimistic, predicting that a majority of their 235 members will eventually climb aboard.
From some skeptics, scatological references abound. Minority Leader
John Boehner , despite asking members to hold their noses and sit down at the bailout table with him, told colleagues that the bill is a "crap sandwich.” Rep.
Paul Broun (R-GA) rose on the floor to compare the bill to " a huge cow patty with a marshmallow stuck in the middle of it."
CONTINUED >>
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann A shift towards Obama: As the slew of recent national and state polls suggest, our new map reflects a shift in Obama's direction. Four new states have been added to our Toss-up category: three red states (Florida, Indiana, and North Carolina) and one blue state (Pennsylvania). This gives Obama a 212-174 edge, after his more narrow 233-227 lead last week. What's interesting about these shifts is that while Obama is showing an improvement in fast-growing states (CO, FL, NV, NC, VA), he can't seem to put away the Northern tier states of slow-growing states (MI, PA, WI) or make progress in what some believe is still the all-important state of OH. BTW, how is it that, nationally, Obama's numbers are going up but he's struggling in big states like MI, PA and OH? Is this about Obama's inability to make the sale with older white voters? If he can change the electorates in these Southern and Western states, he can afford to lose two of those three industrial states, but it puts more pressure on him to win two of the following three: FL, NC and VA. Likely Obama: CA, CT, DE, DC, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, NY, RI, VT (157 electoral votes)Lean Obama: IA, MN, NJ, NM OR, WA (55 votes)Toss-up: CO, FL, IN, MI, NV, NH, NC, OH, PA, VA, WI (152 votes)Lean McCain: MO, MT (14 votes)Likely McCain: AL, AK, AZ, AR, GA, ID, KS, KY, LA, MS, NE, ND, OK, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WV, WY (160 votes)
*** Hoosier toss-up: The most surprising move in our map is Indiana, a state that no one believed was a new battleground -- even when Obama's team was first laying out its 25-30 state strategy. Indiana, in fact, is probably the surprise of the cycle. It's a state that probably is somewhere BETWEEN Lean McCain and Toss-up, but because the state's poll numbers look more like a Toss-up state than a Lean McCain state, we're tipping it into the Toss-up category for now, especially since the RNC has decided to ad the state to its TV buy list.
*** Could election night end at midnight: With the Toss-up list expanding at this point in the campaign, it gives the opportunity for either candidate to end up winning somewhat comfortably in the Electoral College. In the last two elections, the candidates basically split the final Toss-up states in half. Two weeks ago, we appeared to be on a similar trajectory. Today, that doesn't seem to be the case. The one thing the public may have learned about the candidates is that the two have VERY divergent worldviews. There's a bright line between these two candidates; it's not a case where both are trying to blur their views.
*** Bill is back … back again … Bill is back … tell a friend:
The 42nd president did it again: He's put into doubt how much he really supports Obama. His non-response about whether Obama -- like McCain -- was a "great man" made some wonder if Meet The Press was running the Darrell Hammond SNL parody yesterday rather than the actual Bill Clinton. Seriously, watch Hammond and Clinton side-by-side on the issue of Obama, you can't make it up.
*** Losing the mo’: At the end of August, it appeared McCain had the momentum in the presidential race. And a month later? Well, just look at today’s rough day for McCain in the op-ed pages. Left-leaning EJ Dionne declares that the Arizona senator lost the month of September; Paul Krugman (normally left-leaning but hardly an Obama fan) writes that McCain “scares me” if the next president has to answer a 3:00 am phone call on the economy; Fareed Zakaria bluntly says that Palin isn’t qualified to be VP; and even McCain friend Bill Kristol admits that McCain “is on course to lose the presidential election.” So how does McCain get his groove back? Whenever the pressure's been on McCain to change the trajectory of the race, he's figured out a way -- so get ready for a wild week. We're guessing lots of stuff is going to get thrown on the wall to see what sticks. Kristol, perhaps the most listened to of the McCain backseat drivers, even suggests (among other things) playing the Jeremiah Wright card.
*** Do we have a winner? On Friday night, it wasn't clear who won the debate. For as many people who thought McCain won, there was a smart analyst who picked Obama. But three days later, it's McCain -- as we mention above -- who’s dealing with how-does-he-turn-things-around? stories, not Obama. And it's Obama who is receiving a poll bump. We're not fans of insta-debate polls, nor weekend tracking polls. But every single one of them shows movement in Obama’s direction. Could it be that voters were judging Friday night's debate in the is-he-ready? prism? It's the most logical explanation for the Obama bump, even when arguably, on a point-by-point scoring system, McCain may have gotten the best of Obama on debate night.
*** It's Palin's week, we're just lucky to cover it: Palin's political future is on the line this week. This isn't about Palin performing well enough at the debate to stop the conservative chattering class from wringing its hands; this is about Palin's future national prospects period. Three weeks ago, she was being called the next Reagan. Now the campaign would be satisfied if she could at least be compared favorably to Quayle. But those are "treading water' expectations.
Video :
With Obama and McCain having tussled over economic and foreign policy in their first debate, Sarah Palin now faces scrutiny for her grasp of the same issues in her upcoming forum with Joe Biden. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports. If she's got true ambition to be the future leader of the Republican Party, she's got to pull out of this perception tailspin and fast. Perhaps it is getting close to being too late: With SNL, Tina Fey, and now the conservative elites, the concrete is drying around Palin's feet. The good news for her is that a record number of people apparently want to watch her debate Joe Biden. She'll have a good chunk of folks watching the debate who are downright rooting for her to not to screw up. A poor performance at the debate and not only will Palin start becoming a true liability for the McCain campaign, she'll damage her ability to transition into a national leader.
*** Four out of five experts agree…: Whatever happens Thursday, you'll know it's a good night for her if a viewer can easily ascertain an issue Palin appears to be an expert on. The campaign wants her to be the energy person, but they've actually done little to reinforce her credentials. She hasn't spent time at key energy symbols (oil rigs, nuclear plants etc.), nor has she spent time with energy reporters. Today is only a taste of the Palin backseat driving the campaign is going to be dealing with in the run-up to Thursday.On the trail: McCain and Palin hold a rally in Columbus, OH. Obama campaigns in Denver, CO. And Biden is down in Wilmington, DE. Click here to sign up for First Read emails.
Congressional leaders reached a deal on the $700 billion bailout package. The House will vote on the measure today, and the Senate will likely go on Wednesday. Both McCain and Obama suggested that the back the compromise legislation.
The New York Times on the deal: “All sides had to surrender something. The administration had to accept limits on executive pay and tougher oversight; Democrats had to sacrifice a push to allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgages; and Republicans fell short in their effort to require that the federal government insure, rather than buy, the bad debt. Even so, lawmakers on all sides said the bill had been significantly improved from the Bush administration’s original proposal.”
“The final version of the bill included a deal-sealing plan for eventually recouping losses; if the Treasury program to purchase and resell troubled mortgage-backed securities has lost money after five years, the president must submit a plan to Congress to recover those losses from the financial industry. Presumably that plan would involve new fees or taxes, perhaps on securities transactions.”
Politico forecasts today’s vote in the House: “House Republicans are at the center of the storm, with conservatives in open rebellion. But Democrats have their own defections, and within hours of the agreement, the leadership was already highlighting the bill’s promise to crack down on Wall Street pay, mitigate foreclosures and even allow Congress to cut off funding at $350 billion.”
Newsweek's Meachum and Thomas write about how the two candidates reacted last week. "The temperaments of the two candidates both have virtues, both vices. History can belong to the bold—to the Churchills and the Reagans, to men who stand when others sit or surrender, to men who seem to move through the world to a soundtrack of trumpets. But history also belongs to the careful, and to the prudent. Churchill needed FDR's caution and his competing intellectual understanding of the war and of the world that was coming into being; Reagan required George H.W. Bush's grasp of diplomacy and sense of balance to complete the end of the cold war and create a new (and, for Bush 41 and for Clinton, successful) model for American military action in a post-Soviet world.”
CONTINUED >>
"Obama [on Saturday] called Republican rival John McCain out of touch with middle-class Americans, telling supporters that the GOP senator never once uttered the words 'middle class' during their first debate," the AP writes. “‘Through 90 minutes of debate, John McCain had a lot to say about me, but he didn't have anything to say about you,' Obama told a cheering crowd at the J. Douglas Galyon Depot in downtown Greensboro. 'He didn't even say the words 'middle class.' He didn't even say the words 'working people.'"
"A pair of one-night polls gave Barack Obama a clear edge over John McCain in their first presidential debate."
But both candidates were a little fast and loose with the facts. The Boston Globe has a (lengthy) fact check on both.
The Boston Globe's Canellos scores the debate for Obama. "McCain … tried hard to make the first presidential debate a test of Barack Obama's fitness for office. McCain succeeded in his framing of the test - but Obama passed it… But with the majority of the debate focused on foreign policy - where McCain's superiority was assumed, and Obama's vulnerability was greatest - the lack of a clear winner benefits Obama more than McCain."
The Des Moines Register’s Yepsen says McCain won the debate. "It was one of the most substantive debates in recent presidential campaign history and John McCain won it. The Arizona senator was cool, informed and forceful in Friday's first presidential debate of the general election campaign. He repeatedly put Barack Obama on the defensive throughout the 90 minutes session. Obama did little to ease voter concerns that he's experienced enough to handle foreign and defense policy. That was his number one task Friday night and he failed."
Is the pressure on McCain again to figure out a way to change the subject this week? The Washington Post's Balz and Murray write, "The burden now falls on Sen. John McCain to reverse the effects of the focus on the economy, and to keep the contest close enough so that a dominant debate performance, a gaffe by Obama or some outside event can shift the momentum back to him. Although Friday's debate in Oxford, Miss., produced no outright winner, strategists in both parties said the coming weeks, which will include three more debates -- two between McCain and Obama and the third between vice presidential candidates Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. -- could be decisive in determining whether the election remains on a trajectory favorable to Obama or shifts back toward too-close-to-call status."
More: “‘The first lesson of this campaign, going back to 2007, is not to be panicky or reactive to poll numbers,’ said McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt. ‘A few weeks back, we had a clear lead, albeit a narrow one, and there were a lot of people on the Democratic side haranguing the Obama campaign in the sense of panic. We always understood not only would that lead dissipate but bounce back the other way and then bounce back again.’”
Also: “Schmidt said the campaign will press two arguments as forcefully as possible in the coming days. One is that Obama is not ready to be commander in chief and that, in a time of two wars, ‘his policies will make the world more dangerous and America less secure.’ Second, he said, McCain will argue that, in a time of economic crisis, Obama will raise taxes and spending and ‘will make our economy worse.’”
Los Angeles Times also wonders how McCain gets back on track. "McCain returns to the trail today after a dramatic but rocky four-day detour that upended his campaign, upset supporters and gave new ammunition to critics who question his judgment. McCain will appear at a rally in Columbus, Ohio, in hopes of regaining the momentum he lost when he abruptly canceled campaign events and returned here Thursday to try to broker a $700-billion bailout of the crippled financial industry."
McCain friend Bill Kristol writes that McCain appears headed for defeat in November. “He has a chance. But only if he overrules those of his aides who are trapped by conventional wisdom, huddled in a defensive crouch and overcome by ideological timidity. Among his suggestions, Kristol recommends that McCain go after Obama for being a liberal and that he play the Jeremiah Wright card.
CBN's Brody reports on the DNC's efforts to take advantage on the Sunday New York Times story about McCain's ties to the gaming industry.
Here’s that Times story: “Mr. McCain portrays himself as a Washington maverick unswayed by special interests, referring recently to lobbyists as “birds of prey.” Yet in his current campaign, more than 40 fund-raisers and top advisers have lobbied or worked for an array of gambling interests -- including tribal and Las Vegas casinos, lottery companies and online poker purveyors.”
The New York Post picks up on Bill Clinton's interview on Meet The Press, in which the former president could not bring himself to call Obama a "great man," as he did with McCain. His biggest praise for the Democratic nominee was: "I think Senator Obama has shown a remarkable ability to learn and grow in this campaign. He always was highly intelligent and always a very good politician."
Speaking of Bill Clinton, he'll be campaigning in Florida for Obama on Wednesday.
The Boston Globe's Carroll writes: "Pundits focus on race as the pivotal issue, boiling Obama's problem down to unspoken national ambivalence about an African-American president. That's a factor, for sure, but it's one of three. Psychosocial storms are swirling around the issues of race, gender, and class -- three storms that have become one great hurricane, with Obama uniquely exposed, as if the lashed helmsman of a boat in danger of going under. Race, gender, and class define American identity, but Obama, just by being who he is, directly challenges the core assumptions that undergird each category."
"The mother of a Wisconsin soldier who died in Iraq says she was 'ecstatic' when Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama mentioned during Friday's debate the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son," AP writes. "Jopek criticized Internet reports suggesting Obama, D-Ill., exploited her son for political purposes. "'I don't understand how people can take that and turn it into some garbage on the Internet,' she said. Jopek acknowledged e-mailing the Obama campaign in February asking that the presidential candidate not mention her son in speeches or debates. But she said Obama's mention on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, said a soldier's mother gave him a bracelet."
Newsweek's Fineman gets two strategists to give advice to Biden and Palin. Bob Shrum on Biden: "You don't ever assume your guy knows enough, but in Joe's case, the problem is that he knows so much. You want to work carefully on honing his answers in practice sessions. It's four steps: an assertion, two supporting points and then the finish. Biden also should have a good feel in advance for Palin's answers. She's so new to all this that they have given her a set of lines: 'Surge is working,' 'John McCain is a maverick.' You practice the comebacks.”
"Biden needs to be ready for two Sarah Palins: the smiling one and the attacking one. Actually, she is pretty good at doing both at the same time. Joe should not go after her at all, but only after McCain. And while he is doing it, Joe cannot adopt a posture of being aggressive toward her or, worse, condescending. He attacks McCain only on the economy -- the GOP ticket's weakest spot. As he does so, Biden talks about his blue-collar background."
Stuart Stevens on Palin: "She should be very aggressive, but primarily toward Obama. She should try to drive a wedge into the Democratic ticket by playing back Biden's own critical, dismissive words about Obama from the primary season. She would not be well served going after snarky debating points. Voters know she can tweak Obama with her gleeful combativeness. That kind of thing plays better to Republican audiences than to a national one. She shouldn't be delivering lines to the faithful.”
Per NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli, Obama strategist David Axelrod talked about the upcoming Biden-Palin debate. On the preparations: "You prepare like you would for any debate." Says VP debates are "the most difficult" though because "in a vice-presidential debate you gotta think about your own record, the candidate’s record, and your opponent’s record… This is primarily gonna be a debate about where the principals, the presidential candidates, want to take the country, but there’s more to keep track of."
On the fact that Biden seems to have the edge heading into Thursday: "Boy I sure don’t -- you know, I don’t see it that way. I think that if you go back and look at the debates that Governor Palin’s had as a candidate, she’s very skilled and she’ll be well-prepared."
CONTINUED >>
FLORIDA: Per the Miami Herald : "About 3,200 new voters are in the cross-hairs of Florida's new and controversial 'no-match' law, which could force them to cast provisional ballots on Election Day if officials can't confirm their identities."
INDIANA: Democrats will like this quote from the Indiana GOP communications director, reported in the Muncie Star Press : "Despite spending millions in Indiana on negative advertising, Obama still trails McCain, though it's a lot closer than we'd like to see."
MICHIGAN: "In search of explanations, two Associated Press reporters -- one black, one white -- listened to people of both races along Detroit's divides: Alter Road, which separates the city from the tony Grosse Pointes near Lake St. Clair, and 8 Mile Road, the vast northern border between a mostly black Detroit and its mostly white suburbs. They found people of both races living just blocks apart who nonetheless spoke of each other like strangers. There was suspicion, contempt -- and yet, for many, a desperate hope that Obama's candidacy might be the final step in America's long path to racial equality. For whites, their support of Democratic economic policies forces them to confront their racial prejudices. It is here you meet decent people with much in common -- both sides of 8 Mile Road are populated by blue-collar Democratic families. But many still can't get past their racial differences."
A good headline for Team Obama in the Detroit Free Press this morning. In a full front-page, above-the-fold spread: "In economic crisis, Obama offers Detroit a message of hope."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Carrie Dann In the political message ecosystem, chief campaign communicators repeatedly pledge to "cut through the clutter" with their latest pitch to voters. Often, their audience has already beat them to it, seeking the truths (or untruths) that Yahoo and Google can reveal.
An analysis of search term data compiled for NBC News by the online research company Hitwise shows that people in the digital universe are desperately curious about this year's presidential and vice presidential contenders. What they're looking for says a lot about how the campaigns are — and are not — making their messages stick.
To take one example: Democrats spent the week after the GOP convention desperately trying to debunk Sarah Palin 's claim that she said "thanks, but no thanks" to Alaska's famed Bridge to Nowhere. Curious truth-seekers used the web to learn more. About one in every five hundred web searches containing the phrase "Sarah Palin" during that week inquired about the Alaska governor's support for the pork project, making "Sarah Palin Bridge to Nowhere" the 72nd most frequent search term on her list. But ranking far above the earmark investigation in popularity (among the 10 million internet users in Hitwise's sample) were "Sarah Palin legs" (No. 16), "Sarah Palin Vogue" (No. 18), and "Sarah Palin sexy photos" (No. 49).
Read more here about everything web users really want to know about the candidates but were afraid to ask -- anyone except the Internet, anyway.
From NBC/NJ’s Matthew Berger PHILADELPHIA, Pa. --
Palin ventured out for cheesesteaks Saturday night, taking a break from her debate prep to get the city's specialty sandwich, wit whiz.
Palin went to Tony Luke's in South Philly, bypassing two better known establishments: Pat's, where
John Kerry asked for a cheesesteak with provolone in 2004, and Geno's, which has run afoul of local groups for a sign on its exterior demanding patrons order in English.
Palin ordered a cheesesteak for herself and daughter Willow, with Cheez Whiz and fried onions. She told a pool reporter she watched Friday's debate.
“
McCain did awesome," she said. "He was great. He was absolutely on his game.”
She also said she was excited for her debate with
Biden on Thursday.
“Look forward to it," she said. "Look forward to getting to speak to Americans through that debate, absolutely.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ’s Adam Aigner-Treworgy McCain addressed the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance via satellite last night after canceling his trip to Ohio to stay in D.C., where he said he would work on the bailout legislation in Congress. But he didn’t visit the Hill yesterday and did all his senatorial work on the legislation over the phone from his headquarters in Arlington, Va.
After apologizing for his absence, McCain went after
Obama on his record on gun control and support for hunters and fishermen. This included a hit on a survey Obama filled out as a state senator and his “bitter” comments in San Francisco.
He also made a brief reference to the debate Friday and played the McCain campaign’s talking point about Obama not mentioning the word “victory” once.
Obama was campaigning in North Carolina and Virginia yesterday.
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones and Mike Memoli DETROIT -- While celebrating the apparent deal reached on Capitol Hill on a bailout bill to stem the crisis on Wall Street, Obama compared his rival’s initial response to the crisis to the Bush administration’s handling of Hurricane Katrina.
Obama told the crowd gathered outside a Detroit public library that it was an “outrage” that the government was being forced to clean up the mess on Wall Street, but said a bailout was necessary to avert a deeper crisis.
“Today, thanks to the hard work of Democrats and Republicans, it looks like we have a rescue plan that includes these taxpayer protections. It looks like we will pass that plan very soon,” he said, adding that he and Biden would continue to fight for passage of an economic stimulus plan to help struggling families.
“I will fight every day of this campaign and every day of my presidency to make sure a crisis like this never, ever happens again,” he continued, part of his effort to portray himself as a "fighter" and a champion for working families.
The campaign has said Obama would go to Washington if needed, with Press Sec. Bill Burton telling a television interviewer this morning the senator would “definitely be back if his vote is needed and, you know, he probably will come.” Obama himself said earlier this week that it was his sense that it could be necessary for both candidates to be present to vote on the bill because of the delicate nature of the negotiations and the controversy that has surrounded how the legislation would be structured.
CONTINUED >>
What follows is a timeline of the events on Capitol Hill from last night to this afternoon as the bailout negotiations to tentative deal took place from our House producer Mike Viqueira. From NBC’s Mike Viqueira WASHINGTON --
Negotiations continue on the House side of the Capitol this evening. This is a full-on negotiation, with breakout groups and members and staff shuttling in and between the suites of
Pelosi and
Boehner , situated on opposite sides of statuary hall.
Sen.
Conrad just took a meandering walk around the Capitol's second floor, followed by a swarm of reporters. Not much to report, although he did say that outside experts, including
Warren Buffet , were being consulted by telephone. He says new proposals were being considered, debated, and vetted by the group.
Conrad was visibly tired, and repeatedly described the work as tedious. He would give no indication of when it might be finished, asserting that deadlines were counterproductive. He described the atmosphere inside the room as good, without an undue amount of argument.
At this point there is no way to know how long this will go on. If Pelosi gets her wish, and there is to be a bill on the House floor by Sunday night or Monday morning, it appears that we are in for a very late, wee hours kind of affair here this evening. That's because even if there is a deal made at some point before dawn, it still must be put into legislative language and bill form. That takes time.
SUNDAY, 1:41AM Got a background briefing from an administration official with general details on agreement. But first, be mindful:
-- The deal will be on the House floor MOST LIKELY ON MONDAY MORNING, if everything goes as hoped. They want to put it out on the Internet for a while. They wanted it on the Web for 24 hours, but with the writing of it overnight and into the morning and the fact that they have a noon Monday deadline, so members can get back for Rosh Hashanah means it might be less than the full 24. Bottom line. Vote on House floor most likely Monday morning.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner Treworgy The campaigns both cut ads after the debate. McCain doesn't use footage of the debate (Obama does), but his uses a topic that was talked about at the debate -- troop funding. It also uses Biden's words about troop funding from the primary. But as nonpartisan groups have pointed out, and Obama said Friday, McCain also urged the President to veto a funding bill because it included a timetable for withdrawal. (
FactCheck.org and
Politifact have more on the candidates' debate truth flubs.)
Obama's highlights McCain not using the word “middle class” -- something Obama camp was pushing after the debate. (See other word counts, including this one,
here .)
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Forbes : “Key lawmakers in Congress have reached a tentative agreement on a bailout proposal that they expect to roll out to their colleagues for final approval Sunday morning.”
AP on the deal on the $700 billion bailout: “The measure would allow the government to buy defaulted mortgages and other distressed housing-related assets, many of them held by Wall Street banks, in an effort to keep the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression from spreading throughout the entire economy.”
Forbes on the details: “The bailout, to be financed by government bonds, includes provisions to limit executive compensation for the firms that are being bailed out, an equity stake in those firms for taxpayers, an oversight board to account for the bailout process, and a measure to help prevent mortgage foreclosures. The $700 billion will be doled out in tranches of $250 billion immediately, $100 billion upon the approval of the president and $350 billion upon the approval of Congress. Lawmakers also said there is language in the plan to allow the government to recover some of the money it is spending to buy troubled assets, as well as a provision that allows firms to buy insurance for toxic securities--something House Republicans had requested.”
AP also notes that Obama and McCain “gingerly embraced” the deal and also “sought to take at least partial credit for the outcome.”
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro and Lauren Appelbaum Obama campaign has put out a fundraising appeal, sure to make its base’s collective mouth drop. McCain winning the presidency, using past NBC election footage from 2004 and McCain’s introducing Palin as his VP, and editing over graphics showing him winning the Republican primary to show him as the 44th President of the United States.This is designed to create a sense of urgency among Obama voters, not to mention raise cash. Obama camp has ramped up get-out-the-vote efforts in key states like Virginia, calling would-be supporters to volunteer and bring laptops to local offices. In Maryland, for example, there is a focus on canvassing in Virginia and phone banking.
From NBC's Carrie Dann With much being made by both campaigns today out of the words both candidates did not say, here's a recap of some of the noteworthy counts from last night.
Obama used the phrase "middle class" three times, and "working families" once. McCain said neither, giving Team Obama a new stump line and fodder for a new ad set to air Monday.
Obama invoked "Bush" ten times, with most of the mentions linking McCain to the administration, at one point simply calling Bush "your president" directly to his rival. McCain said the name of the man he would succeed zero times.
Both candidates mentioned their running mates, although McCain did not refer to Palin by name, but as "a partner that's a good maverick."
With much talk about military strategy, "troops" were the subject of eighteen mentions for Obama and eleven for McCain. The Arizona senator mentioned General David Petraeus twelve times; Obama mentioned him once.
The McCain camp highlighted today that Obama "failed to utter the word 'victory' a single time" in last night's debate. That's correct; McCain himself mentioned it twice. (It's worth noting that the cautious Petraeus has said that he's not eager to use the word himself in describing his hopes for peace in the region.)
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones and Mike Memoli GREENSBORO, NC -- Obama kept the focus on the economy Saturday, arguing at a North Carolina rally that last night’s debate showed McCain was out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans who are struggling economically.
The senator was back in North Carolina for the second time in a week, a traditionally red state that his campaign still appears to have in its sights. It was the beginning of two days on the trail with his running mate Joe Biden , with whom he has not campaigned since just after the Democratic convention.
As they did in the days after Denver, during the Republican convention, the pair stressed what McCain did not talk about during the debate to show where his loyalties lay.
“Last night we had a debate and on issue after issue – from taxes to health care to the war in Iraq – you heard John McCain make the case for more of the same. The same policies that got us into this mess,” Obama told the crowd standing under the gray sky outside a bus and train depot. “But just as important as what we heard from John McCain was what we didn’t hear from John McCain. We talked about the economy for forty minutes, and not once did Sen. McCain talk about the struggles of middle class families.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Jill Hazelbaker (McCain communications director): -- Obama has a “lack of understanding” and “lack of clarity.” His “answers aren't tied to his record” on taxes. “Doesn't have much credibility.”
David Axelrod (Obama chief strategist):
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Chuck Todd
Neither candidate was "off," neither candidate was nervous. Both were on message (sometimes painfully so for those of us who have now witnessed our 38th presidential debate of the cycle). In fact, the primary debate practice clearly had them both prepared tonight.
All in all, the questions I have are viewer/voter related:
1) Did a majority of folks see two presidential level candidates on stage? This is an especially important question for Obama. I suspect that only the most partisan McCain supporters wouldn't say Obama looked as presidential as McCain. In fact, McCain may have helped the audience come to that conclusion when he attempted to make the case directly that Obama wasn't ready.
2) Did McCain look like someone ready to buck the status quo? It's hard to argue that he wasn't showing himself as someone wanting to shake things up. For every time Obama attempted to link McCain to Bush, the Arizona senator had no qualms going after his own party. In fact, Obama's "John is right" mantras were usually connected to one of McCain's anti-Republican establishment points.
3) Did the viewers get turned off by McCain's sometimes dismissive treatment of Obama or will they start asking themselves the same questions? While this was a very heavy and substantive debate, I do wonder if on style, McCain lost a point or two, and that may explain why he's not staying even in some of these insta-polls.
4) Who will the voters-viewers punish for what seemed like a completely tone deaf conversation between the two candidates on the economy. Neither candidate emphasized jobs and instead allowed themselves to get bogged down on taxes and spending, two issues that don't rank nearly as high with voters as other economic issues. Bottom line on the economy: they both need work.
Still, count me impressed by both candidates. I know it may sound a bit pollyannish, but I thought one would not bring their "A" game or that one would get complacent and that didn't happen. There are some who believe a "draw" is better for the candidate perceived to be ahead. If that's the case, then the polls will continue their Obama drift. But I wouldn't be surprised if the polls don't move much in either direction because neither candidate gave a reason why voters ought to stop listening and make their decision now. There are two more debates and this one was good enough that they may see audiences build on this one.
Up next: the very intriguing and potentially entertaining VP debate.
The McCain campaign just sent out an email to supporters that highlights his return to DC tonight to "to resume negotiations with the Administration and Congressional leaders from both parties to forge a bipartisan solution to our economic crisis."
More: "We cannot be interested in who would get credit for finding a solution and who would be blamed if an agreement cannot be reached. We must put our country first to solve this economic crisis. Because in the end, that's what leaders do in times of crisis."
Citing that "we are ready to lead and the Obama -Biden Democrats are not," the email ends with an appeal for fundraising dollars.
"In the final weeks of this campaign, we will need to fund crucial get-out-the-vote and grassroots activities that will assist our entire ticket, from the top to the bottom to secure victory on Election Day. I'm asking you to help us by making a contribution right now to McCain-Palin Victory 2008."
Hillary Clinton's statement on the debate:
"Tonight Barack Obama displayed beyond a doubt that he understands both the gravity of the financial crisis facing America, and the challenges we face in Iraq and around the world. Senator McCain offered only more of the same failed policies of the Bush Administration. America deserves better."
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones At least SIX times McCain said Obama did not understand something.
First on tactics vs strategy; and then on Pakistan being a failed state when Musharraf took office; then on the connection between winning in Iraq and in Afghanistan and about meeting with a leader like Ahmadinejad without preconditions and then on the Russia-Georgia conflict; then again on the need to succeed in Iraq so al Qaeda doesn't establish a base there.
If McCain's argument in the first half of the debate was all about earmarks, in the second, it seemed to be about Obama's lack of understanding.
The question is whether viewers will agree with him on these specific points or just internalize his oft-repeated argument.
In the debate over Obama's position that he would be willing to talk to unsavory world leaders without precondition, Obama brought up that Henry Kissinger -- an adviser to McCain -- actually favors that.
That is true. Kissinger favors direct talks -- without preconditions with Iran -- but he prefers doing at the Secretary of State level.
*** UPDATE ***
From Bloomberg, (3/14):
And from from CNN , (9/20):
Team McCain has just unveiled a new web video, featuring clips of Obama agreeing with McCain throughout tonight's debate.
NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger points out... the video starts with "I'm John McCain and I approve this message," but it is impossible for him to have seen it to approve it, since it uses lines from a debate he was still on stage at.
From NBC's Mark Murray McCain slammed Obama for threatening to "announce military strikes" on Pakistan.
"I'm not prepared to threaten it as Senator Obama apparently wants to do, as he has said that he would announce military strikes into Pakistan."
"Now, you don't do that," he added. "You don't say that out loud."
Is that what Obama really said in August 2007?
Not exactly. Then, Obama said: "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."
So Obama said that he'd go after al Qaida targets within Pakistan's borders, not attack the nation itself. That's a move that the Bush administration actually approved this summer on at least one occasion -- to much objection by the Pakistani government.
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
He's on message, hitting his talking points on the contrasts with John McCain on taxes, his plans for healthcare and energy independence. He seemed to cover more ground than McCain whose main points were about cutting government spending.
For several minutes, Obama was the only one to interrupt his opponent, which seemed to be an attempt to show his willingness to fight back.
Other observations:
*Both mentioned Tom Coburn
*Took 34 minutes for Iraq to be mentioned (unless I missed it before). Obama pointed to ending the war as a cost savings
*The strongest exchanges were on Iraq. Obama seeking to point out areas where McCain was wrong and McCain accusing him of not admitting the United States was succeeding in Iraq and talked about him voting to cut off funding for troops
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy McCain clearly doesn't like Obama questioning his knowledge, understanding or positions on the war in Iraq...he's getting that uncomfortable smile again.
From NBC's Mark Murray Obama said that he will "make sure that we have a healthcare system that allows for everyone to have basic coverage. I think those are pretty important priorities. And I pay for every dime of them."
Take a look at these numbers from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (part of the New America Foundation) on the spending plans for BOTH candidates.
-- $173 billion in 2009 for Iraq and Afghanistan (Congressional Budget Office)
So for each presidential candidate, that comes to almost $1.3 trillion -- on top of everything else in the budget.
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy 'The next President of the United States will not have to address the issue of whether or not we should have gone into Iraq...'
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Domenico Montanaro More than a third of the way through, we get the first foreign policy question. Not surprising actually. I had the 30-minute mark as the over-under. It was at 9:40, we finally saw it. Who had the over?
In July, the McCain campaign unveiled a TV ad making this same claim: "Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan."
That is CORRECT. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, Obama has never held a hearing on Afghanistan. But the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- currently chaired by Joe Biden -- has addressed Afghanistan at the FULL COMMITTEE level. Indeed, in the past couple of years, the full committee has held three hearings on Afghanistan. And Obama has attended ONE of them.
-- January 31, 2008: "Afghanistan: A Plan to Turn the Tide ." Obama DID NOT attend
-- March 8, 2007: "Afghanistan: Time for a New Strategy?" Obama DID attend
-- September 21, 2006: "From Coalition to ISAF Command in Afghanistan ." Obama DID NOT attend
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Domenico Montanaro What if John Kerry had defended himself on the "most liberal senator" charge in 2004 by saying it was because he was so busy trying to stop bush"s "wrongheaded policies"? It took Democrats four years to figure out a response to this hit.
From MSNBC.com's Andy Merten Clinton , talking about his work with her in battling climate change.
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Domenico Montanaro
McCain's the first to mention jobs and he does it by proposing 700,000 new jobs through nuclear power plants.
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Domenico Montanaro
From NBC's Mark Murray McCain brought up that Obama "has the most liberal voting record..."
He and his campaign have made this charge throughout the general election, but it's a bit misleading. The charge is based on the vote ratings for 2007 by the non-partisan National Journal magazine. Indeed, for that year, he ranked as the most liberal senator (voting the liberal way 65 out of 66 votes, per the magazine).
But in 2005, the magazine ranked Obama as the 16th-most liberal senator. And in 2006, his rank was 10th.
So it's correct for McCain to say that Obama was the most liberal senator for 2007. But the "most liberal senator" overall is a bit misleading….
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Domenico Montanaro
How did this debate become about taxes?Andy Merten points out... We’re over 20 minutes into this debate, which was supposed to focus on foreign policy, and there’s been barely a mention of the United States’ two foreign wars.
From NBC's Chuck Todd Obama is wearing a flag pin. McCain is not.
NBC's Doug Adams points out that Obama misspoke and said that under his plan 95% don’t pay higher tax cuts not that 95% get tax cuts.
From NBC's Chuck Todd Obama is responding to McCain more than McCain is responding to Obama...
McCain is delivering his standard lines about cutting pork barrel spending and eliminating earmarks; Obama's responding with a call for oversight and reform.
McCain's is the message that tests more strongly with voters. The latest NBC/WSJ poll showed that respondents prefer "a president who will go in and clean up Washington and take on the waste and fraud in the system" to "a president who will end the Bush administration policies, and have active government oversight.." by a margin of 67 to 29 percent.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Obama fights back to point out that it only accounts for only $18 billion. "Eliminating earmarks alone" aren't going to help middle class, he said. Obama went after him on taxes (more on that later), McCain defends businesses because they create jobs.
McCain said earmarks account for more than $18 billion.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Both sounded as if they'd vote for a plan. Obama said he hadn't seen language but he has laid out his principles. McCain said "sure."
Lehrer tries to get them to address each other.
McCain jokes about his age: "You afraid I couldn't hear him."
McCain went back to spending and earmarks on how to improve the economy. Does Main Street buy it?
McCain defends his declaration that he'd axe SEC Chair Christopher Cox. "We've got to start holding people responsible..."
Obama responds that we do need more responsibility, "but not just when we're in a crisis."
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Domenico Montanaro
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones This economy note is the message Obama has been delivering on the stump all week. Important that he came out with a criticism of John McCain in first answer (And tied McCain directly to Bush.) Also interesting that McCain mentioned Kennedy and Obama didn't.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro No suprprise that the debate opens with the economy. Obama goes first. And not surprisingly, he outlines his six principles. Calls this "final verdict" on Bush's policies, "supported by McCain." First question, first shot.
From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell Advisors earlier described Sen. McCain's mood right now saying....
"He's up. In a good mood, joking around with Lindsey." [Senator Lindsey Graham]
Hi all. NBC First Readers Domenico Montanaro in Oxford, MS, and Carrie Dann in Washington D.C. -- along with the rest of the NBC political unit and our campaign reporters on the road -- will be offering fact checks, analysis, and observations live during tonight's debate.
So stay tuned, fasten your seatbelts, and enjoy the first presidential debate.
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli CUDAHY, Wisc. -- Alluding to tonight's debate, Biden argued that any discussion of foreign policy needs to include supporting first responders, promising a strong federal partnership with local communities to ensure they are equipped to deal with a terrorist attack.
CONTINUED >>
In his latest entry over at iCue's Off Air blog , NBC's Luke Russert asks five big questions about tonight's debate. Here's a preview:
Will either Obama or McCain go for a knockout punch?
To read more of Luke's blog, visit Off Air here .
From NBC's Carrie Dann McCain campaign recommenced its campaign activities, including its television advertising nationwide.
But when did the ads come back?
According to one media buyer and advertising staff at two battleground state television stations, some stations were told yesterday afternoon that McCain’s ads -- first suspended at 5:00 pm ET Wednesday afternoon -- could be recommenced starting today.
One rep firm says that the directive to put ads back on the air came at 1:00 pm ET yesterday, shortly after McCain landed in Washington and around the time that he arrived on Capitol Hill. Another station was cleared to start running the ads by "late morning" yesterday.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Ken Strickland There was supposed to be a bipartisan meeting between the principle Congressional negotiators on the bailout legislation at 3pm today. No Paulson, no Bernanke--just House and Senate members.
But apparently, someone forgot to invite the Republicans.
The meeting didn't happen. They'll try to reschedule.
Who did show up? The Democrats. Democratic Senators Chris Dodd, Kent Conrad, Chuck Schumer, and Max Baucus , and Democratic House members Barney Frank and Rahm Emanuel came by.
It should have been obvious to us press folks that something was wrong. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire is the negotiator for Senate Republicans. He walked down the hall toward the meeting room door and then walked right passed it. He never even made a move to open the door.
The press assumed he was coming back. He never did.
From NBC's Jim Popkin
"SRA Wooten worked hard to locate and deliver appropriate supplies to use in our parade," the then-mayor of Wasilla wrote to Wooten's Air Force commander. "I believe Mike is a fine example of the high-caliber personnel we are blessed to have in the United States Air Force. He was extremely helpful to our community and I thank you for allowing his assistance," Palin wrote.
The unsigned letter is one of hundreds of documents released today to NBC News by the Wasilla city government, dating back to Palin's six-year term as mayor.
Read more at Deep Background , NBC's investigative blog.
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Mark Murray
This is the first evidence we've seen that the GOP is now targeting the Hoosier State, a state Bush won 60%-39% in 2004.
From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro McCain shows up and tonight and says, "I'm sorry I couldn't sign on to this Washington-Wall Street plan that I worried was putting an even bigger burden on taxpayers than this mess already has. Now, Sen. Obama , I understand that you are confident in these folks in Washington and New York who have everyone convinced this is the only plan. And I respect that, but I am hearing from people all over the country who don't get this plan and don't understand how it will work. And why should they trust a group of folks in Washington and New York who broke this system to fix it?"
McCain is not winning this political battle right now as the media elite do believe the White House, Wall Street and Congressional Democrats on this. It's a pretty strong united front for us not to believe this. That said, McCain and House Republicans are channeling their inner populist, something the Republican Party hasn't done in quite some time. Don't write off this McCain strategy just yet if Obama appears too cozy with Washington and New York elites, and it's McCain who is the one looking like the outsider.
And there might be an immigration analogy here. Has McCain learned a lesson from that first battle that almost sunk his campaign and decided to listen to the base on this? This whole fight looks a bit like immigration with media, political elites on one side and “conservative populists” on the other.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Ken Strickland Mitch McConnell today announced that Senator Judd Gregg will be their membership's sole negotiator in talks to reach a deal on a financial rescue package. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Paulson recommended that each of the four congressional caucuses send just one representative to meetings.
(Earlier today, House Republicans appointed Roy Blunt as their point man. House Democrats have been sending over House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank . And while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he reserves the right to send as many representatives as he wants, Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd has been the most visible Senate Democrat involved.)
At a brief news conference earlier today, Gregg said "the progress that has been made so far has been significant." He attributed some of that progress to yesterday's visit to Washington by McCain and Obama . "First, it got us focused," Gregg said. "And secondly, but more importantly, it got the American people focused on the seriousness of the issue."
From NBC's John Yang
Asked about the McCain campaign's contention that all of Obama's statements were political posturing, Perino responded, "Everybody there was constructive and focused on finding a solution." She declined to detail McCain's comments and participation in the meeting.
The administration still backs the central core of the Paulson proposal -- that the federal government assume the risks of "illiquid" assets. Perino said that she did not think that anyone involved believes that the mortgage-backed security insurance alternative proposed by House Republicans would "take over the whole package."
Perino also told reporters today that Bush is primarily communicating with congressional Republicans through House Republican Leader John Boehner and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell . Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson remains the administration's point man in dealing with the Hill. National Economic Council director Keith Hennessey and Legislative Affairs Director Dan Meyer are also on the Hill. Information for the President is being channeled through White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and Deputy Chief of Staff Joel Kaplan.
From NBC's Mark Murray McCain campaign just announced that the Arizona senator will attend tonight's presidential debate. "The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon," the statement reads. "Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners."
Below is the entire statement...
"In response, Americans saw a familiar spectacle in Washington. At a moment of crisis that threatened the economic security of American families, Washington played the blame game rather than work together to find a solution that would avert a collapse of financial markets without squandering hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ money to bailout bankers and brokers who bet their fortunes on unsafe lending practices.
"Both parties in both houses of Congress and the administration needed to come together to find a solution that would deserve the trust of the American people. And while there were attempts to do that, much of yesterday was spent fighting over who would get the credit for a deal and who would get the blame for failure. There was no deal or offer yesterday that had a majority of support in Congress. There was no deal yesterday that included adequate protections for the taxpayers. It is not enough to cut deals behind closed doors and then try to force it on the rest of Congress -- especially when it amounts to thousands of dollars for every American family.
"The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain was apparent during the White House meeting yesterday where Barack Obama’s priority was political posturing in his opening monologue defending the package as it stands. John McCain listened to all sides so he could help focus the debate on finding a bipartisan resolution that is in the interest of taxpayers and homeowners. The Democratic interests stood together in opposition to an agreement that would accommodate additional taxpayer protections.
"Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners."
From NBC's Mark Murray Newsweek's Tammy Haddad at the Memphis Airport that he will know by noon if the first presidential debate will take place. If McCain does not come by law there will be no debate because it is an "illegal contribution."
From NBC's Ken Strickland and Mike Viqueira Chuck Schumer (D) urged President Bush to "respectfully tell Sen. McCain to get out of town. He's not helping."
Schumer also requested that Bush get the his House Republicans in line. "We need President Bush to take leadership. We need President Bush, first and foremost, to get the Republican House members to support his plan or modify it in some way to bring them on board," he said.
He added, "When you inject presidential politics into some of the most difficult negotiations under normal circumstances, it is fraught with difficulty. Before McCain made his announcement, we were making great progress. Now after his announcement, we are behind the 8 ball. We have to put things back together again."
"So this is a plea to President Bush, for the sake of America, please get your party in line. Get the House Republicans to be more constructive; get Sen. McCain to leave town and not throw fire on these flames. And maybe we can get something done."
Meanwhile, per a GOP congressional source, McCain has told House Republicans leaders this morning that it was time to get someone to the negotiating table and work towards a deal.
House Minority Leader Boehner has now designated the whip, Roy Blunt , to be that person.
*** UPDATE ***
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann New York Times ), and McCain can't have those awkward smiles slip in during a serious point (see: "hell, gates of"). Since McCain is behind ever so slightly right now, the burden is on him to start of well tonight. But given the chaotic events of the week, he does have a built-in excuse if he doesn't perform up to par -- he wasn't focused on the debate as much as Obama. Then again, is that a good excuse, especially when it was his decision to direct his focus elsewhere? Here’s one reason why so many folks are convinced McCain will show up: Does he really want to wake up on Monday morning having been a party both to Washington's inability to get a deal done and be perceived as he ducked a debate?
*** Losing the spin war : Speaking of, McCain's losing the spin war on the bailout plan for a couple of reasons. One, he's not just up against a fairly united Democratic Congress and Obama -- but also the White House and Hank Paulson. And Senate Republicans appear to be on board as well; GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander told CNBC’s John Harwood that as many of 40 out of the 49 Republicans in that chamber could support the bailout. It's only McCain and the House Republicans who are now opposing this. Last night, the McCain campaign sent a memo to reporters, saying: "At this moment, the plan that has been put forth by the Administration does not enjoy the confidence of the American people as it will not protect that taxpayers and will sacrifice Main Street in favor of Wall Street. The bottom line is that as of tonight, there are not enough Republican or Democrat votes for the current plan. However, we are still optimistic that a bipartisan solution will be found.” But by injecting himself into the bailout negotiations, McCain has forced himself into this either-or situation: convince House Republicans to back the plan, or come up with a plan of his own. If he can't do either, then why did he come to Washington? And what happens if the market collapses today? Does McCain own a market collapse?
*** Whose bright idea was this? NBC’s John Yang makes this other point: "Besides being a big stakeholder in Washington Mutual, the person I'd least like to be this morning is the Bush aide who told the president it was a good idea to adopt McCain's idea to call the congressional leaders and the two presidential nominees to the White House. (I can still hear him roaring to an aide during the 2000 primary campaign: "Whose brilliant idea was this?!?") By all accounts, what White House officials intended to be a meeting to bring everyone together, get them on the same page, propel them to a final deal -- and, McCain likely hoped, make the Republican nominee look like the hero -- turned into a politically charged session of finger-pointing and bitter recriminations." Also, it was just announced that Bush will make a statement on the financial crisis at 9:35 am ET.
*** Palin’s bad week gets worse : What has happened to the Sarah Palin who stepped onto the national stage with her well-received convention speech three weeks ago? That person is now a shell of her former self. Had it not been for McCain's debate gambit, Palin's near-disastrous two-part interview with Katie Couric would be dominating the political discussion right now. On Wednesday, she was unable to cite an example of McCain being in favor of more oversight outside the one Couric provided (“I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you,” she finally replied). And yesterday, she provided an interview clip heard ‘round the world . Was this a Roger Mudd moment? The news has only gotten worse for Palin, with the Washington Post reporting that she accepted $25,000 in gifts as Alaska governor, which brings into question her credentials as a reformer. Is there now a new meaning to the ”Palin Effect”? At this point, it really depends on how she performs at next week’s debate. If there is an upside to the Palin performance this week, she has moved her debate expectations to an all-time low.
*** The debate skinny : The first presidential debate between McCain and Obama -- if it takes place -- is scheduled to begin at 9:00 pm ET here at the University of Mississippi. The topic of the 90-minute debate is foreign policy, although moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS has suggested that he will ask questions about the economy and the Wall Street crisis. There will be two-minute answers, followed by a five-minute discussion for each question.
*** Talk about shaking things up : Oregon State beating USC last night is the equivalent of Obama carrying Mississippi or McCain carrying Massachusetts. It's not impossible, and we can explain it away if it somehow happened. But it sure is improbable.On the trail : Biden (along with his wife) attends a firehouse fish fry in Cudahy, WI. Palin hits a debate-watching party in Philadelphia, PA. Click here to sign up for First Read emails .
This New York Times analysis lead perhaps sums up best McCain’s gambit. "McCain had intended to ride back into Washington on Thursday as a leader who had put aside presidential politics to help broker a solution to the financial crisis. Instead he found himself in the midst of a remarkable partisan showdown, lacking a clear public message for how to bring it to an end. At the bipartisan White House meeting that Mr. McCain had called for a day earlier, he sat silently for more than 40 minutes, more observer than leader, and then offered only a vague sense of where he stood, said people in the meeting.”
More: "At the very least, Mr. McCain’s actions have shaken up the campaign and the negotiations over the bailout package. It has put him at center stage, permitted him to present himself as putting his country ahead of his campaign — a recurring theme of his candidacy — and put him on deck to, if not help orchestrate a deal, at least be associated with one. But Mr. McCain is certainly seeing the risks of making such a direct intervention. He now finds himself in the middle of an ideological war that pits conservative Republicans, loath to spending so much taxpayer money on Wall Street, against the Bush White House, which, with the support of Democrats and a sizable number of Republicans, sees a bailout package as essential to averting a potential economic disaster.”
While there is no doubt a middle ground, at the moment Mr. McCain finds himself between conservatives that he needs to keep on his side for the election … or being identified with the failure to complete a plan."
The AP has a similar story, which quotes many more folks criticizing McCain's role – and Republicans aren’t over the top in their praise. "Even the House's Republican leader, John Boehner of Ohio, passed up a chance to praise McCain's leadership powers shortly before the two met in the Capitol at midday Thursday. Asked by reporters if McCain could help win House Republican votes for the proposed package, Boehner shrugged and said, ‘Who knows?’”
CONTINUED >>
The Jackson Clarion-Ledger : "The Oxford debate remained listed among 'upcoming events' on McCain's official campaign Web site, and the event page proclaimed: 'Please watch John McCain debate Barack Obama in a presidential debate focusing on foreign policy on September 26th in Oxford.' Most people at the University of Mississippi acted Thursday as if there was little doubt that the debate will happen, though. Media poured onto campus, and satellite trucks filled several parking lots. During certain times of the day, those walking across campus with press credentials and cameras outnumbered those carrying textbooks. Tents went up in the Grove for 'Issues Alley' -- a sort of information fair for young voters. A stage was erected for the Rock the Debate celebration today on campus.”
"McCain's staff also was still working here to advance the senator's visit. His wife, Cindy, has events scheduled today. Ole Miss spokeswoman Barbara Lago confirmed that advance teams for Obama and McCain, as well as debate moderator Jim Lehrer, signed off on the debate facilities. 'Everything is in place and ready,' Lago said."
The Los Angeles Times' Z. Barabak does some expectations setting: "Obama, who once taught constitutional law, tends toward long, annotated answers and shrinks from verbal combat. His laid-back manner can seem aloof and, at times, condescending. McCain is blunt and relishes the cut and thrust of political battle, though his pugnacity can make him seem short-tempered and angry."
The LA Times also does a debate preview of sorts by comparing McCain’s and Obama’s foreign policies and noting that they've started to come closer together. “[O]n a striking list of particulars -- including Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq -- their differences have narrowed as election day has approached. In part, the migration reflects the complexity of this year's national security issues, knotty problems that have defied solutions proposed by partisans on the left or right. But the shift also reflects how the candidates are increasingly focusing on uncommitted voters."
A national New York Times/CBS poll shows Obama leading among registered voters by five points, 47%-42%, unchanged from last week. “Voters who said the economy was the key issue for them were far more likely to support Mr. Obama. And 64 percent of voters expressed confidence in Mr. Obama’s ability to make the right decision on the economy, compared with 55 percent who said they were confident in Mr. McCain’s ability, according to the poll.”
Here’s a new round of All State/National Journal battleground polls… Obama is up eight points in Michigan (47%-39%), up one point in New Hampshire (44%-43%), and up two points in Pennsylvania (43%-41%).
COLORADO : The debate over Social Security is rearing its head in Colorado's Senate race, and in the presidential debate as well. "Social Security reform and the stalled, Republican-backed plan to add personalized, market-invested retirement accounts to the system are back in the spotlight - just in time for the sprint to the November election." FLORIDA : The Orlando Sentinel breaks down just how much Central Florida matters to both campaigns' ad buyers. In the region's media markets, "The Obama campaign bought about $1.4 million worth of airtime since the Aug. 26 primary. By comparison, Sen. John McCain and the Republican National Committee have spent just more than $725,000. Both campaigns see the region as key to capturing Florida's 27 electoral votes."
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David Brooks writes what may become an oft-quoted column for those who want to write what- happened-to-McCain? stories. "Do I wish he was running a different campaign? Yes. It’s not that he has changed his political personality that bothers me. I’ve come to accept that in this media-circus environment, you simply cannot run for president as a candid, normal person.”
Brooks concludes by telling his readers to ignore what McCain has done in the last two weeks -- heck, the last two years. “If McCain is elected, he will retain his instinct for the hard challenge. With that Greatest Generation style of his, he will run the least partisan administration in recent times. He is not a sophisticated conceptual thinker, but he is a good judge of character. He is not an organized administrator, but he has become a practiced legislative craftsman. He is, above all — and this is completely impossible to convey in the midst of a campaign — a serious man prone to serious things.”
(Question for Brooks: Then how do you explain the Palin pick?)
The Boston Globe's Lehigh sees things a bit differently. “Campaigns teach you important things about the candidates, and we're learning this about John McCain: At heart, the former fighter pilot is a riverboat gambler. First came his pick of Sarah Palin… Now comes McCain's debate gambit… Despite McCain's attempt to portray this as an act of statesmanship, it is, of course, blatantly political. Off-balance since the financial market meltdown started, and slipping behind in the polls as the public's attention turns to the urgency of financial and economic matters, McCain is trying to regain the momentum. This move is designed to show him as a man of action, one who, as his campaign slogan goes, puts country first. Not everyone is buying, certainly."
If McCain is the emotional candidate (he channels voter anger better than most pols), then Obama is the cool customer. But is he too cool? The New York Times : "However forceful and passionate Mr. Obama can be, his speeches and public appearances this week have underscored how he is sometimes out of sync with the visceral anger of Americans who are losing their jobs and homes. He often talks about growing up on food stamps and about having paid off his student loans only recently, yet his tone and volume, body language, facial expressions and words convey a certain distance from the ache that many voters feel."
More: "Whereas former Vice President Al Gore and Senator John Kerry struck populist tones during their presidential bids, Mr. Obama is having none of it. For better or worse, his performance in this time of financial peril goes to the heart of who he is. Mr. Obama may have looked subdued as he arrived at the White House on Thursday for a meeting on the economy, but he also stayed calm and ultimately prevailed at a similarly urgent point in his primary campaign against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose turn toward populism helped her win the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries."
Of course, here’s your answer: "For Mr. Obama, the financial crisis poses different risks. He wants to appear fired up over the economy, but he has written before about wanting to avoid appearing like a stereotypical angry black man. Unlike Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and other black leaders whose fulminations could scare white voters, Mr. Obama is not from and of New York, Detroit, or the segregated South; he grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia. To some degree Mr. Obama faces the opposite challenge from fiery black leaders who came before him: Is he too cool for a crisis like this one?"
The New York Times also picks up on the fact that some of Obama's recent attack ads have not just stretched the truth but downright twisted it. Obama's up to four ads released in the last three weeks that have drawn the ire of fact-checkers. "Yet as Mr. McCain’s misleading advertisements became fodder on shows like ‘The View’ and “Saturday Night Live,” Mr. Obama began his own run of advertisements on radio and television that have matched the dubious nature of Mr. McCain’s more questionable spots.
Will the answer she gave to Katie Couric about Russia become her defining moment in this campaign? It's garnering a lot of attention. If there is an upside, it certainly lowers expectations again for the VP debate. New York Times’ Stanley critiques the performance. "While it is quite likely, and perhaps understandable, that Ms. Palin felt nervous and spooked by all the media attention, it wasn’t a reassuring performance. Ms. Palin looked more steady and confident when she took a few questions from reporters after a visit to ground zero in Lower Manhattan, her first, gingerly encounter with campaign reporters since her nomination.”
“The CBS interview, shown partly on Wednesday and partly on Thursday, was only a first taste — Ms. Couric is scheduled to go out on the campaign trail with the Palin team early next week. But it may be hard for Mr. McCain’s running mate to recoup. It wasn’t her first interview on national television, but in some ways it was the worst."
As if Palin's bad week needed to get worse, the Washington Post reports that, as governor, Palin accepted over $25,000 in gifts "from industry executives, municipalities and a cultural center whose board includes officials from some of the largest mining interests in the state, a review of state records shows. About a quarter of the entities bestowing gifts on the governor are represented by one of Alaska's most influential mining lobbyists, who said in an interview that she was not involved in the tributes. The lobbyist, Wendy Chamberlain, has a relationship with the governor's family through the friendship of their teenage daughters.”
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Here's a New York Times piece that's going to drive the Clintons and the Obama campaign nuts. "As comfortable as Mr. Clinton is in saying, ‘I like John McCain,’ and ‘I like Sarah Palin,’ no one seems to have heard him say the same for Mr. Obama. Instead, when speaking of Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee, Mr. Clinton has assumed a professorial stance that sometimes drifts toward emotional aloofness and disregard.”
“‘Is it me, or he didn’t want to say the name “Barack Obama”?’ the comedian Chris Rock asked with barely contained anger when he appeared Monday night on ‘Late Show With David Letterman’ immediately after Mr. Letterman’s 15-minute interview with Mr. Clinton.”
“Answering Mr. Letterman’s questions, Mr. Clinton gave a dispassionate discourse on the cultural and political dynamics of the race, which, he said, would ultimately play in Mr. Obama’s favor. Mr. Clinton mentioned his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had lost the Democratic primary to Mr. Obama, far more often than he mentioned the party’s standard-bearer. And in predicting victory for Mr. Obama, Mr. Clinton suggested that it would happen because people were hurting economically. He did not say that Mr. Obama’s victory would be because voters especially wanted Mr. Obama to be president."
In his latest National Journal column, Charlie Cook writes that the November outlook for Senate Republicans is looking grim. He says that Republicans are the underdogs in Virginia, New Mexico, and Alaska. Six other Republican seats are now basically toss-ups— those held by Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, Gordon Smith of Oregon, John Sununu of New Hampshire, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, plus the seat that Wayne Allard is giving up in Colorado. The GOP’s prospects in Minnesota, Oregon, and North Carolina have dimmed a bit in the past month or two. The GOP candidates are trailing by a little in New Hampshire and Colorado; running about even in Minnesota, Oregon, and North Carolina; and polling a bit ahead in Mississippi.”
“Today, holding its losses down to four seats would be manna from heaven for the GOP. Party leaders would take a five- or six-seat loss in stride, given the circumstances. A seven-seat loss would be bad but not shockingly horrible. Even an eight-seat loss is possible if Democrats draw an inside straight, as they did in 2006… The bottom line is that things have gotten worse for Senate Republicans over the past few weeks, so much worse that a magnitude of losses that seemed impossible just a few months ago now seems entirely possible.”
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Republican Gov. Haley Barbour today called for the debate to go on. The state newspaper was filled with editorials and op-eds urging McCain to show up.
The Republican nominee may have thrown a wrench into the plans, but in the debate hall here, workers are drilling the final screws into the debate set; lights are being checked; podiums are being measured; the last of the set's panels are being put up and wires being weaved. Outside, security checkpoints are in place, network TV camera stands are built and set. (And never mind those hotel reservations and flight plans.)
"The debate will go on," University of Mississippi Vice Chancellor Gloria Kellum told NBC's local affiliate, adding, "We've spent two years working on this."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Jim Popkin Sarah Palin was not amused. Palin, who at the time was Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, quickly drafted a terse letter to the editor of a San Francisco newspaper.
“Dear Editor,” Palin wrote in 2002. “San Francisco judges forbidding our Pledge of Allegiance? They will take the phrase ‘under God’ away from me when my cold, dead lips can no longer utter those words,” Palin wrote.
“God Bless America,” she concluded.
Palin’s letter to the editor is one of hundreds of personal notes and letters written by the former Mayor, and obtained this week to NBC News and others. The documents shed light on the management style-- and personality -- of the small town mayor turned vice presidential candidate.
There are few headline grabbers in the lot. Even Palin’s Pledge-of-Allegiance rant was a commonly held view at the time. (The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the ruling on technical grounds. But not before Palin pushed through a city resolution stating that the Wasilla City Council “shall continue to recite America’s Pledge of Allegiance, in its entirety, including and especially the words, ‘…one nation, under God…”)
Click on to Deep Background for more on this story...
From CNBC's John Harwood and NBC's Alicia Jennings
Sen. Richard Shelby , a vociferous opponent of the bailout legislation, told reporters gathered outside of the White House that negotiators have not yet reached an agreement on the resolution to the financial crisis. “I don't believe we have an agreement,” he insisted of the group meeting inside, which included Bush, McCain, Obama, and bipartisan Congressional leaders. “There's still a lot of different opinions.”
The White House also issued a statement indicating that a deal is still being hammered out, saying via spokesperson Dana Perino that “members of the Administration and the Congressional leaders pledged to continue working together to finalize a bill that will address concerns and solve the problem as soon as possible."
But, CNBC’s John Harwood reports, GOP senators may be ready to sign on to the end product. Tennessee's Lamar Alexander tells Harwood that at least 40 of the 49 Republican senators are prepared to agree to the package.
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli Bush to discuss a compromise on the bailout package, Biden criticized the principles McCain outlined for such a deal, saying they were more notable for what was left out.
“The silence on issues relating to the middle class is deafening in the package John has put forward,” Biden said at a rally on the banks of the Susquehanna River, pointing to the absence of relief for homeowners facing foreclosure. “If John keeps changing his rhetoric but not changing the worn-out philosophy that got us in this spot … why is John expecting us to believe he will be an agent of change?
On the other hand, he praised Obama for reaching out to McCain yesterday, saying that “unlike all the rest of the people talking,” he showed that he “will be prepared to change the tone of Washington.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we mean by leadership, not posturing,” he said.
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From NBC's Robert Windrem Regarding the recurrent rumor that the Bush administration has ordered a renewed effort to "get bin Laden" before the election, a senior (career, not political) U.S. counter terrorism official says it's not true.
"This idea of a renewed effort assumes there has been a 'lull' in our pursuit of him," said the official. "There has been no 'lull.' We may have used different tactics, and our tactics may have changed, but our pursuit of him has not changed."
Asked if he would agree with a statement that the US still "doesnt have a clue" where bin Laden is located -- as a Western military analyst described the status of the search two months ago -- the official said, "I would agree that assessment."
That, of course, doesnt mean that things won't change tomorrow, but they haven't changed in seven years.
From NBC's Ken Strickland Chris Dodd and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said today their bipartisan meeting this morning produced an "agreement on a set of principles."
Here's what those principles are, according to a source involved in the talks.
(Note: This is NOT "the deal" -- just an agreement on principles between about 10 members on the relevant committees. These provisions must still be presented to the leaderships of the House and Senate, Republican and Democratic members, and the White House.)
MONEY : Under the agreement, Paulson would be allowed to get an overall amount of $700-billion, BUT only $250-billion would be available immediately. Then an additional $100-billion would be given to Paulson upon his certification that he needed it. And the final $350-billion would be subject to a "Congressional joint resolution of disapproval."
The other principles include:
TAXPAYER PROTECTIONS :
OVERSIGHT :
FORECLOSURES :
From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger Palin made an unscheduled stop to Ground Zero and the World Trade Center memorials Thursday, and told reporters she agreed with President Bush’s decision to fight terrorism through military action.
“I agree with the Bush Administration that we take the fight to them,” she said outside the firehouse when asked if she would have conducted the war on terrorism differently. “We never again let them come onto our soil and try to destroy not only our democracy, but communities like the community of New York. Never again.”
Palin also was non-committal about whether she would support Republican Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young , who are both seeking re-election amid ethics investigations.
“Ted Stevens trial started a couple days ago,” she said. “We’ll see where that goes.” She later ignored a question on whether she would vote for them.
It was her first press availability with the reporters traveling with her in the four weeks since she was named McCain’s running mate. Palin and the McCain campaign had garnered some bad press in recent days for shielding the vice presidential candidate from the media during her visits with world leaders in New York City.
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From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli Joe Biden said this morning that McCain would not inspire the confidence of the nation at a time of economic crisis, at the same time praising Barack Obama for seeking a bipartisan approach to negotiations on a bailout package.
Referring to McCain’s “epiphany” on the Wall Street meltdown last week, when he declared the economy in crisis after calling its fundamentals "sound," Biden said that no one can lead the nation with a tendency to “lurch so rapidly from one fundamental position to another.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, you can’t gain the confidence of the nation and you can’t gain the confidence of the world when in fact you are not rooted and know exactly what you think,” he said.
At the Pennsylvania event, Biden lauded the kind of leadership he said Obama showed by reaching out to McCain yesterday.
“In the midst of all this political blather that’s going on, all the negative ads being heaped upon him, what did he do? He reached out,” Biden told a few hundred in a working-class community east of Pittsburgh. “He showed leadership by suggesting that we come together.”
RNC spokesperson Blair Latoff responded that McCain's timeout from the campaign to work on the bailout legislation represents the true leadership being shown between the rival tickets. “In times of crisis, Americans have always been able to bridge our divides and solve our problems but apparently Barack Obama’s running mate sees it as an opportunity for unfiltered partisanship and political opportunism. John McCain suspended his campaign and is working with the nation’s leaders to address this serious economic crisis and believes that it is more important to put his country before his political campaign.”
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From NBC's John Yang McCain says it is.
Perino acknowledged that the idea of the meeting came from McCain in his phone call to President Bush yesterday. "The President took a little time to think about that," Perino said, and staff called Barack Obama's campaign to see if he'd be available to fly to Washington. Told that Obama would be open to an invitation, Mr. Bush called the senator to ask him to the meeting.
The purpose of the meeting, Perino said, is to get everyone in the same room, on the same page and hash out the legislation. Isn't that what they're doing on the Hill? Well, yes, Perino acknowledged, but this will include the President. And what will he bring to the meeting? She couldn't say.
The greatest semantic pretzel was over Perino's statements that "we have a framework that we can try to close on" and that "we are driving to a conclusion" -- versus McCain's contention that the deal is dead. Perino wouldn't back away from her contention that a deal is close (though not imminent) and finally acknowledged that she didn't know where McCain was getting his information.
Is this all politics -- McCain declaring the deal dead so he can emerge from a White House meeting to declare that his insistence that the leaders and nominees gather in the Cabinet Room saved the day?
Perino was shocked -- SHOCKED! -- at the suggestion of politics. "We don't think this is a political event, we're not trying to make this a political event," she said.
All that was missing was the croupier handing Capt. Renault his winnings.
From NBC's Carrie Dann With the latest rash of polling showing Barack Obama winning the favor of voters concerned about the economy, the Illinois senator’s campaign is up today with a 60-second ad that lists the Democratic nominee’s economic goals.
At the start of the ad, Obama also digs into the Bush administration policies that he says encouraged the nation’s current financial distress. “Well, now we know the truth,” he says. “Instead of prosperity trickling down, pain has trickled up.”
The spot is running in “key targeted states."
In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released yesterday, respondents gave Obama a 12 point advantage over McCain when asked which candidate they believed would improve the economy.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy NEW YORK -- With mixed signals coming out of Capitol Hill on the progress of negotiations over the bailout legislation, McCain addressed the Clinton Global Initiative this morning and laid out a bipartisan rationale for his return to Washington.
“I cannot carry on a campaign as though this dangerous situation had not occurred, or as though a solution were at hand, which it clearly is not,” McCain said of the progress in Congress. “With so much on the line, for America and the world, the debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol -- and I intend to join it. Senator Obama is doing the same. America should be proud of the bipartisanship that we are seeing.”
Some reports indicate that Democrats and Republicans are on the verge of agreement on the legislation, but this morning McCain asserted that "it has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal."
"I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands," he added, "And obviously we are running out of time."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Chuck Todd Sen. Bob Corker (and Banking Committee member) had this to say in a statement responding to Bush's primetime speech last night:
“I would prefer that Congress stay in session to develop a thoughtful and measured response to our fiscal crisis, but we have been watching the credit markets closely, and unfortunately, it appears the markets are responding to an artificial line in the sand drawn by Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke and are anticipating that we do something by this weekend . I believe the best, most prudent course is for Congress, at a minimum, to work through the weekend to get this right and we could still be done before the markets open on Monday.”
So, is this how skeptical Republicans convince themselves to climb aboard the compromise bailout?
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann *** Nine days later : Nine days after the public got a true sense of the urgency of this financial crisis, President Bush finally addressed the American people last night -- thanks mostly to the fact that the public (through Congress) was sending the message to the Administration and Hank Paulson that it didn't like this plan and didn't understand it. Last night's speech was a sobering one. It was the first time ever in Bush's presidency when he delivered bad economic news. It's not in his nature to talk down the economy, which is what made last night's speech so historic (and yet potentially ineffective). Will the public believe Bush's pleas on this? Of course, it's possible the audience for last night's speech wasn't the American people as much as it was the House and Senate Republican caucuses. Bush needed to actively engage his fellow party members in explaining why he -- himself a free marketer -- believes this to be the only answer. The one thing missing last night in his speech: the emphasis to the American people that this was a shared problem and the solution wasn't just money but potentially changing our own lifestyles.
*** McCain’s only choice : As for McCain's campaign suspension and proposal to postpone the debate until this bailout plan is negotiated and passed, he had no choice but to do this. Yes, he's going to get criticized for making what may look like a VERY political decision. Obama partisans are going to mock him for wanting to duck a debate and wanting to stop his falling poll numbers in the face of what's been 10 bad days for his campaign. But McCain is the head of a Republican Party that is already viewed negatively by the American people. What price would McCain pay if members of his own party ended up being responsible for killing this bailout plan? While McCain likes to say he's never been awarded Mr. Congeniality in his dealings on Capitol Hill, there are two Republican caucuses whose future statuses as strong or weak minority parties depend on a strong McCain-Palin showing in November. Could McCain afford carrying the baggage of being the head of the party that 1) was led by Bush and 2) turned its back on a financial bailout plan that if not enacted could do things like bring about a recession even more rapidly?
*** More guerilla warfare : McCain's campaign has been remarkable in its ability to -- in the words of NBCs Tom Brokaw -- engage in guerilla political tactics, which allow him to win political battles that on paper he shouldn't be winning. And this debate gambit is the latest example of this (following his town hall challenge the day after Obama clinched the Dem nomination, and even his pick of Sarah Palin). But while McCain has proven adept at winning these battles, can he ultimately win the war? By the way, look for McCain today to declare victory with the Bush decision to bring together McCain and Obama at the White House and then agree to let the debates go on as planned. This does seem to be a game of political chicken. Obama so far has indicated he's not going to blink. Neither has the Commission. And neither has the University of Mississippi. Will McCain?
*** McCain’s economic and Palin problems : Here’s a political reason why McCain called to postpone the debate and essentially ask for a timeout in the campaign: The latest NBC/WSJ poll -- which has Obama leading overall by just two points, 48%-46% (Obama's up five among very high interest voters) -- shows Obama with a 12-point advantage over McCain in handling the economy. And a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll -- which also has Obama up two among registered voters and four among likelies -- finds Obama with a 14-point edge on the economy. In addition, Palin, who two weeks ago was seen as a shot in the arm for McCain, has now potentially turned into a liability. Per the NBC/WSJ poll, 49% say she’s unqualified to be president if the need arises, versus just 40% who say she’s qualified. (By comparison, 64% say Biden is qualified.) NBC/WSJ co-pollster Peter Hart (D) says that when you add that to concerns about McCain’s age (44% say they worry about McCain being able to serve for four years), that becomes a “lethal” problem for the McCain campaign. We've regularly asked a question in our poll about who is the riskier choice for president, Obama or McCain. Not surprisingly Obama has been viewed as the riskier choice by about 10-15 points. Has McCain now inserted his own risk into the campaign when you combine age and Palin's experience? By the way, one in four McCain-Palin voters believe she does not have the experience to be president.
*** Obama’s Indie problem : The NBC/WSJ poll, however, also shows that Obama has an indie problem. McCain leads him here by 14 points, up six from earlier this month. Moreover, Obama has just a 39%-35% fav/unfav among independents, which is down considerably from his 48%-36% overall favorability score. And while voters say they identify with Obama’s values and background by a 50%-44% margin, those numbers are essentially reversed among independents. Hart says that if Obama ends up losing the presidential election, you can attribute it to the indie problem -- particularly the values and background question. Just to let you know that these independents in the poll don’t lean Republican, they prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress by 14 points (43%-29%).
*** McCain’s need for speed : McCain was always seen as having a good chance at appealing to indies, and with anger and frustration at the government and other institutions at an all-time high, it's possible McCain's benefiting from his "I'm mad as hell" attitude about government. CW says the more optimistic candidate usually wins election, but with a country tired of hearing all of the optimistic talk they got about the economy from the Bush Administration over the last four years, it may be they are looking for not just a straight-talking candidate, but one who channels their frustration. McCain's best political moments in his career are when he shows indignation. As Peggy Noonan said today on “Morning Joe,” McCain's got two speeds, 0 and 60. And while calm, cool, collected isn't McCain, like a good fighter pilot, McCain has the need for speed and for needing to always be dealing with a crisis. Lucky for him, there appear to be a lot of crises ahead for the next president.
*** Versus Obama’s cool: That said, don't miss yet ANOTHER very important number in the NBC/WSJ poll: A majority of voters agree that Obama could handle a military crisis well as president. Could it be his calm, cool demeanor that's been on display these last 10 days on the economy has helped on the leadership front overall when compared to McCain? Something to watch for in future polls. The New York Times’ Gail Collins put it well this morning: “This election is turning into a Goldilocks story. One candidate’s too hot, and one’s too cool.
*** Tied in Michigan : The latest TODAY Show/NBC/Mason-Dixon poll shows McCain and Obama tied at 46% each in the battleground state of Michigan. Per Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker, McCain is leading in the traditionally GOP regions of Western and Northern Michigan -- but is also holding his own in the Detroit suburbs (Oakland County, Macomb County, and western Wayne County), which is cutting into Obama’s margin in the Detroit Metro region. To win, Obama needs to run up a big margin in the Detroit Metro area, which means performing well in those suburbs. That said, a new CNN/Time poll has Obama up by five in Michigan among registered voters (51%-44%), and a new EPIC/MRA poll has Obama up 10 (48%-38%).
*** On the trail : McCain speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, then travels to Washington to meet with President Bush. Obama remains in Florida for debate prep, but addresses the Clinton Global Initiative via satellite and then heads to DC to meet with Bush and congressional leaders. Palin attends the Clinton Global Initiative. And Biden is in Pennsylvania, stumping in Greensburg and Wilkes-Barre.
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The Washington Post’s Dan Balz says McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign and seek to postpone Friday’s debate “may be among the biggest of his political life. The Republican presidential nominee is hoping that his abrupt decision … will be seen as the kind of country-first, bipartisan leadership he believes Americans want. What he risks, if things don't go as he hopes, is a judgment by voters that his move was a reckless act by an impetuous and struggling politician that hardened partisan lines in Washington at just the wrong moment and complicated efforts to deal with the biggest financial crisis in more than half a century.”
The New York Times writes that McCain’s “decision seeking to postpone the first debate was yet another unpredictable, daring step taken by his campaign over the last month: its selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential candidate shook up the race in late August, and days later the campaign stripped down the first day of the Republican National Convention because of the threat of Hurricane Gustav. In the midst of the confusion, officials with the Commission on Presidential Debates said that they were moving forward with the debate and that talks with the McCain campaign throughout the day had not persuaded them on Mr. McCain’s position. ‘We believe the public will be well served by having all of the debates go forward as scheduled,’ the commission said.”
The Boston Globe calls McCain's move in asking for the debate to be delayed "a high-wire political gambit." "McCain's move was another extraordinary twist in a race full of extraordinary twists. It reflects not only the deep concerns of Republican and Democratic leaders about the grave state of the economy, but also the shifting dynamics in a presidential contest that polls suggest has swung in Obama's favor. Voters' focus on the Wall Street crisis and the economy -- long an advantage for Obama -- has helped give him an edge this week nationally and in key battleground states."
The Los Angeles Times: "McCain's decision to up the ante was an audacious gambit to show leadership in a time of crisis. It drew the same kind of attention McCain received when he picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate and, earlier, when he retooled himself as an ally of oil drilling as gas prices soared."
CONTINUED >>
The Boston Globe: "While Bush's remarks were addressed to the American people, his immediate target was 435 US representatives and 100 senators, including many members of his own party who have responded with skepticism or outright anger to his call for what many have called a massive bailout of Wall Street.” More: “A vote could come within days. Bush, a staunch believer in free markets, acknowledged that he was going against his own philosophy in urging a massive government intervention in the financial industry. But he said the situation had grown so dire, and the banking regulations so outdated, that he had no choice."
The New York Times: “Mr. Bush’s televised address, and his extraordinary offer to bring together Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, and Senator John McCain, the Republican, just weeks before the election underscored a growing sense of urgency on the part of the administration that Congress must act to avert an economic collapse. It was the first time in Mr. Bush’s presidency that he delivered a prime-time speech devoted exclusively to the economy. It came at a time when deep public unease about shaky financial markets and the demise of Wall Street icons such as Lehman Brothers has been coupled with skepticism and anger directed at a government bailout that could become the most expensive in American history.”
More: “Mr. Bush used his speech to signal that he was willing to address lawmakers’ concerns, including fears that tax dollars will be used to pay Wall Street executives and that the plan would put too much authority in the hands of the Treasury secretary without sufficient oversight. ‘Any rescue plan should also be designed to ensure that taxpayers are protected,’ Mr. Bush said. ‘It should welcome the participation of financial institutions, large and small. It should make certain that failed executives do not receive a windfall from your tax dollars. It should establish a bipartisan board to oversee the plan’s implementation. And it should be enacted as soon as possible.’”
Obama spokesman Bill Burton issued this statement. “While Sen. Obama believed that the Administration’s initial proposal was flawed and unacceptable to the American taxpayer, he was heartened tonight that the President seemed to be moving in the direction of the principles that Sen. Obama outlined over the last week, including limits on CEO pay, independent oversight, and taxpayer protection. He was also encouraged that the President suggested strengthening an outdated regulatory structure that led to this crisis, something that Senator Obama specifically proposed last March.”
Unless we missed it, we didn’t see a statement from McCain or his campaign regarding Bush’s speech.
Per the Los Angeles Times , "Democrats had been waiting for Bush to speak out more prominently for the bailout plan and to demand that GOP lawmakers support it. They have argued that they should not have to take the political risk of passing the wildly unpopular measure without Republicans joining in, especially since they blame lax oversight by the administration and GOP advocacy of deregulation for causing the crisis."
New numbers from CNN/Time/Opinion Research show Obama up 51% to 45% among registered voters in Colorado, up from a 5-point deficit for the Illinois senator last month. The Democratic nominee bests McCain in Michigan by 51% to 44% percent among registered voters. And in Pennsylvania, he jumped to a nine point lead, 52% to McCain's 43%.
With Obama posting widened leads in notable battleground states, Politico's Mike Allen writes that "State by state, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill). is showing signs of breaking open a presidential race that looked deadlocked through much of September… This is the first time that one of the candidates has dominated state polls in the most closely contested battlegrounds."
COLORADO: Independent groups are shoveling money into Colorado's contested Senate race at an unprecedented rate. "Leave out the party committee spending, and independent groups allied to the GOP have spent $10.4 million in Colorado, while just $2.6 million in New Hampshire and $2.4 million in Minnesota, the two runners-up, data provided by Democratic media buyers show. (Attack groups supporting Democrats, by comparison, have spent $3.4 million in Colorado, $1.6 million in Minnesota, and $1.2 million in New Hampshire.)"
CONTINUED >>
"One former Fannie Mae executive downplayed the McCain connection in the decision to retain Davis' firm. 'Rick's broader experience as a GOP operative is what drew people to hire him,' said William R. Maloni, Fannie Mae's former chief lobbyist and a Democrat. McCain wasn't on the banking committee and wasn't particularly influential on such issues, he noted. 'The McCain relationship was icing on the cake.'"
The AP’s headline: "Who's running Alaska with Palin on stump?" Apparently, the McCain campaign. "The McCain campaign is speaking for the Alaska state government these days, especially when it wants to ensure that nothing embarrassing about Gov. Sarah Palin emerges before Election Day… Even Palin's lieutenant governor, Sean Parnell, said keeping in touch has been difficult. And since hackers broke into Palin's Yahoo e-mail account last week, he said, it has dropped off entirely… In Palin's absence, messages left with the governor's office are usually returned by the McCain campaign. A recent request for information was answered by a governor's spokesman with a sad smile and a shake of the head. Even a message left on the cell phone of a hometown friend of Palin was returned by a McCain campaign staffer."
"A grainy YouTube video surfaced Wednesday showing Sarah Palin being blessed in her hometown church three years ago by a Kenyan pastor who prayed for her protection from 'witchcraft' as she prepared to seek higher office. The video shows Palin standing before Bishop Thomas Muthee in the pulpit of the Wasilla Assembly of God church, holding her hands open as he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from 'every form of witchcraft.' 'Come on, talk to God about this woman. We declare, save her from Satan,' Muthee said as two attendants placed their hands on Palin's shoulders. 'Make her way my God. Bring finances her way even for the campaign in the name of Jesus. ... Use her to turn this nation the other way around.'"
"Palin said Wednesday that the United States could be headed for another Great Depression if Congress doesn't act on the financial crisis. Palin made the comment in an interview with 'CBS Evening News' anchor Katie Couric while visiting New York to meet foreign leaders for the first time in her political career. As Palin sought to establish her credentials in world affairs, first lady Laura Bush said Palin lacked sufficient foreign policy experience but was 'a quick study.' Recent surveys have shown that Palin's popularity, while still strong, has begun to fade."
Don’t miss this exchange between Couric and Palin…
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Chuck Todd
From NBC's Mark Murray Obama has just a two-point lead in the new NBC/WSJ poll, Democrats have a 13-point edge on the generic congressional ballot.
Fifty percent of registered voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress, versus 37 percent who want a GOP-controlled one. In August, Democrats held an 11-point advantage on this question.
From NBC's Carrie Dann Virginia-based firm Smart Media, which conducts media buying around the country for the McCain campaign, sent out this urgent memo this afternoon addressed to "All National Managers."
The ad buyer adds that stations will likely have problems trying to stop ads from running tonight, and some may not be able to get off the air by tomorrow.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Adam Aigner-Treworgy McCain campaign put out a statement saying, in part, "Senator Obama phoned Senator McCain at 8:30 am this morning but did not reach him. The topic of Senator Obama’s call to Senator McCain was never discussed. Senator McCain was meeting with economic advisers and talking to leaders in Congress throughout the day prior to calling Senator Obama. "
Yet, McCain wasn't all "meeting with economic advisers and talking to leaders in Congress throughout the day prior to calling Senator Obama."
McCain also met with the moneyed former Clinton fundraiser Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild , who recently threw her support to McCain.
From NBC's John Talty Some new battleground polls from CNN/Time . Obama leads in Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania and, according to this poll, is actually close in West Virginia.Colorado : Obama 51, McCain 47Michigan : Obama 51, McCain 46Montana : McCain 54, Obama 43Pennsylvania : Obama 53, McCain 44West Virginia : McCain 50, Obama 46
From NBC's Mark Murray According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll , Obama leads McCain , 48-46 percent, which is virtually unchanged from our poll released after the political conventions, when Obama was ahead by one point, 47-46 percent.
This two-point Obama lead is a much different result than what we saw in another recent poll, which had the Illinois Democrat up by a larger margin. The McCain campaign argued today that Democratic respondents outweighed Republican ones by 16 points in that poll’s sample. By comparison, the NBC/Journal poll has Democrats leading in party identification by just seven points.
Note *** UPDATE *** Cillizza , the Washington Post's polling director responds "that the actual party ID numbers among likely voters had Democrats plus six points. It was only when people who offer no original party ID were asked whether they leaned one direction or the other that the number jumped to Democrats +16."
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
McCain's call for a delay of the debate until a deal on the bailout was done, Obama said he thought the debate should go on and that it was more important than ever for the candidates to present themselves to the American people and talk about where they want to take the country.
Video: Sen. Barack Obama agreed with John McCain on the need to work together to rescue the finance industry, but says he's not halting his campaign, and would like to go ahead with the presidential debate. Henry Paulson and was available to go anywhere he could be helpful. He also said his sense was that it would be important for both he and McCain to be present to vote on the bill.
Obama added that a president is expected do be able to "multi task" -- that a president is going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time and can't do only one thing and suspend everything else.
He said his staff and McCain's were still discussing a joint statement saying there should be a bipartisan solution to bailout. And he said the economic stimulus and changes to bankruptcy laws should not be stuffed into the bailout legislation.
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
Charlie Rangel (D-NY).
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
McCain's announcement.Barney Frank told a group of reporters outside the House chamber:
"It's the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys."
From NBC's David Gregory
Obama source -- He will appear soon to say debate should go on .. perhaps the subject matter can be augmented to include discussion of the economy, but a president should be able to multi-task. McCain's standing in the polls.
It's clear from speaking to Obama advisers they consider this a ploy by McCain to try to assert that he's putting country first. One adviser said, the time to do that was long before a few days before a debate.
From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
From the Chancellor's Office, University of Mississippi :"At present, the University has received no notification of any change in the timing or venue of the debate.
"We have been notified by the Commission on Presidential Debates that we are proceeding as scheduled.
"We will keep you posted as information becomes available."
And the debates commission said the debate would go on: "The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is moving forward with its plan for the first presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS this Friday, September 26. The plans for this forum have been underway for more than a year and a half. The CPD's mission is to provide a forum in which the American public has an opportunity to hear the leading candidates for the president of the United States debate the critical issues facing the nation. We believe the public will be well served by having all of the debates go forward as scheduled."
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Hours before his rival's call to postpone Friday's presidential debate in light of bailout rancor on Capitol Hill, Obama called McCain' s populist bona fides into question at a rally in the Tampa Bay, FL area.
John McCain decided in the last few days to begin talking tough on CEO pay, Obama told a crowd of about 11,000 people filling a baseball stadium, going on to challenge the Arizona Republican's stance on tax cuts and so-called "golden parachutes" for corporate executives.
"He [McCain] is suddenly a hard-charging populist," Obama said. "That's all well and good, but I sure wish he was talking the same way over a year ago, when I introduced a bill that would've helped stop some of the multi-million-dollar bonus packages that CEOs grab on their way out the door, because he opposed that idea."
The senator said McCain had not joined him when he "blew the whistle" on the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who tried to walk away with "golden parachutes" when they were fired.
"I sure wish he felt the same outrage about CEO pay when his top economic advisor – who he calls a 'role model' – walked away with a $42 million paypackage after being fired from Hewlett Packard," Obama went on, repeating a new line of attack he's begun to use in recent days. "I sure wish he would change his current plan to give the average Fortune 500 CEO a $700- a $700,000 tax cut at a time when millions of Americans are struggling to pay their bills."
Obama's campaign has increasingly tried to cast him as a man of the people who will be a champion for the middle class class and McCain as a man who is out of touch and beholden to lobbyists, corporate interests and the wealthy.
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Domenico Montanaro McCain called for Friday's first presidential debate to be postponed, according to prepared remarks released by the campaign. The dates for the debates were set more than 10 months ago by the Commission on Presidential Debates, on Nov. 19, 2007.
From a Senior McCain source:Obama before he made the statement and told him he was going to suspend his campaign and move back to DC until the economic crisis has been figured out.
Video: Sen. John McCain announces he is suspending his presidential campaign and returning to Washington D.C. to work on finance reform, and asks Barack Obama to reschedule their first presidential debate. *** UPDATE 2 ***
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
McCain’s judgment to be Commander-in-Chief and demonstrate his own expertise on foreign affairs, Biden said the Arizona senator has been “dangerously wrong” on many of the critical issues facing America in the world today.
Biden also stated emphatically that the man at the top of the Democratic ticket, Obama , “is ready to be Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is absolutely clear, it is absolutely clear to me that we need a candidate that has the judgment and the vision to renew the promise of America not only here at home but around the world,” he said. “I know. I don't guess. I know who that candidate is. That candidate is Barack Obama.”
Today’s event was meant to be the second of two “framing” speeches by the vice-presidential nominee making a clearer contrast between Obama and McCain on domestic and international policy. And to make the case on the latter, Biden spoke for 40 minutes on a range of challenges abroad, from the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism, to the threat posed by Iran and a “resurgent Russia.”
*** UPDATE ***
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion plan to bail out troubled financial firms, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, the rest of which comes out at 6:30 pm ET.
Thirty-three percent disapprove of the plan. By comparison, 31 percent approve of it; 28 percent have no opinion.
This is the context for President Bush's speech tonight on the economy at 9:00 pm ET.
From NBC's Mark Murray
Forty-nine percent say that Palin is unqualified to be president if the need arises, compared with 40 percent who say she's qualified.
By contrast, 64 percent believe Biden is qualified to be president, versus just 21 percent who disagree.
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro McCain campaign took issue with the ABC/Washington Post poll which shows Obama up by 9. The reasoning, delivered by McCain pollster Bill McInturff (formerly the Republican half of the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll), was one of Party ID.
Those identifying as Democrats in the ABC/Washington Post poll outweighed Republican by 16 points, a wider-than-usual number, McInturff said.
“It’s way different than what other pollsters are showing,” McInturff said, citing many polls showing about a four-to-nine point Democratic Party ID advantage.
In the last NBC/WSJ survey (Sept. 6-8), there was an eight-point spread, 44% Democratic, 36% Republican. In August, the difference was nine points, 43% Dem, 34% Republican.
“I don’t think these results are indicative of what’s happening in the campaign,” McInturff said, calling the ABC/Washington Post poll an “outlier” and “unusual.”
*** UPDATE *** ABC Polling Director Gary Langer offers his explanation : "The reality is that partisan affiliation in our poll is just about where it’s been all year -- and just about where McInturff himself said it might end up on Election Day. What matters is whether you’re looking at 'unleaned' or 'leaned' party identification, and whether that’s among registered or likely voters. The most relevant number for this discussion is unleaned party ID among likely voters -- 37-30 percent Democratic to Republican in our poll. As it happens that’s precisely where McInturff said the election could turn out: the Republicans, he said, 'could be down 6 to 8.'
"McInturff’s focus was on a different number -- leaned party ID, not unleaned, and among registered voters, not likely voters. We have a 16-point, 54-38 percent Democratic advantage there, which he said was “an unusual outlier.” In fact, rather than an outlier, that almost exactly matches our average for this number all year, 52-38 percent."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Luke Russert Obama.
Video: NBC’s Luke Russert goes to the University of Virginia to find out how the students there plan on voting this election. John McCain from UVA, and plenty of smart kids go to Virginia Tech or George Mason and they, too, could end up being big Obama voters.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann All eyes on Congress : Who knew that in the week preceding the first presidential debate -- on the subject of foreign policy! -- that Congress would be dominating and driving the political debate. Obviously, the bailout politics are tricky. The leadership of both parties in Congress seems ready to sign off on the Paulson/Bernanke bailout plan, but the rank-and-file want to extract something from the Administration and Wall Street. Moreover, congressional Democrats fear being the party of the bailout. (If 100-plus House Republicans come out against the bailout, does that make it harder for the Dem leadership to keep their troops in line?) Is there going to be a magic number Nancy Pelosi tells John Boehner and the White House that the GOP needs to get this done by the weekend? And what about the presidential candidates? How much power does McCain have in this? If he comes out against the bailout, he probably can kill it or radically alter it. But then the Republicans own the alternative, right? What a mess. Meanwhile, without fanfare, congressional Dems are allowing the oil-drilling moratorium to expire. Cave, baby, cave. Rural Democrats in tough House races are breathing a sigh of relief this morning.
Video: NBC Political Director Chuck Todd gives his first read on McCain campaign manager Rick Davis' connection to Freddie Mac and looks at a new NBC poll in Virginia. Here’s your Obama bounce, part II? The latest Washington Post/ABC poll has Obama with a clear nine-point lead nationally over McCain, 52%-43% -- fueled by the current concerns about the economy. “More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face. He also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street, and as a result, there has been a rise in his overall support.” In addition, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg survey has Obama leading McCain 47%-35% among registered voters on the question of who would do a better job handling the economic troubles. Heads up: The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal comes out tonight at 6:30 pm ET. Will it match these numbers or show something else? By the way, what moves numbers more in the polls -- voters changing their minds or the number of Democrats vs. Republicans that are included in the sample? You know the answer.
*** Don’t throw stones if you live in a glass house : Are the McCain folks now re-thinking their hit last week tying Fannie Mae’s Frank Raines and Jim Johnson to Obama? The New York Times reports that Freddie Mac paid the firm that carries the name of McCain campaign manager Rick Davis $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month. The McCain camp tells First Read that Davis left his firm and stopped taking salary from it in 2006, and that Davis was never a lobbyist for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. But here are the facts: Davis’ name remains attached to the firm; he continues to have an equity stake in it (though equity stakes on consulting firms are sometimes worthless; then again, the firm could market Rick's name); and it now appears that McCain misspoke when he told John Harwood of CNBC and the New York Times that Davis had no involvement with either Fannie or Freddie in the past several years. The good news for the McCain campaign is that Davis didn’t seem to influence McCain, given that the Arizona senator co-sponsored legislation to regulate Fannie and Freddie. The bad news: They no longer can legitimately tie those institutions to Obama without being called out for hypocrisy. This has always been the risk for McCain when he chose to have two of Washington's more well-known power players -- Davis and Charlie Black -- at the top of his campaign pyramid. Their status in DC can undermine McCain's anti-Washington message, on which he’s now betting the house. Lucky for the campaign, McCain's brand is better established than Davis or Black. And neither campaign is clean on the Washington insider stuff.
*** Virginia is for lovers of a close race : The latest TODAY Show/NBC/Mason-Dixon poll has McCain ahead by three points in Virginia, 47%-44%. To see the difference between winning and losing in the Old Dominion, check out these numbers in the poll: Obama wins Northern Virginia by a 55%-37% margin, while McCain wins the crucial Hampton Roads area by 48%-44%. But in the recent Washington Post/ABC survey, which had Obama leading in Virginia by three points among likely voters, Obama was at 59% in Northern Virginia and was up 50%-45% in Hampton Roads. This tells you that if Obama does get to 60% in NoVa, he just might win the state even if he loses every other region. But Hampton Roads may very well be the ballgame in the state. By the way, it’s worth noting in the TODAY/NBC/Mason-Dixon poll that 58% of undecided voters in the presidential contest are backing Democratic Senate candidate Mark Warner, who leads Republican Jim Gilmore 61%-28% in the poll. Can Obama reel in more of those Warner voters? Will Warner risk alienating any of those wavering presidential Democrats by using his political capital to campaign heavily for Obama in places where Obama isn't doing well by Warner is?
*** Below the radar : While Wall Street’s troubles and the debate over the size and scope of a bailout are dominating the national headlines and cable TV, the campaigns are still doing plenty state-by-state basis that’s below the radar. For instance, the Obama camp went up with a TV ad in Michigan hitting McCain on his family’s 13 cars (three of which are foreign owned), and it also is airing a Social Security attack on McCain in West Palm Beach, FL. Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is making political hay out of Biden’s gaffe on clean coal in coal-producing battlegrounds like Virginia. And sticking with the “under-the-radar" theme, the New York Times sent a reporter to Michigan and he noticed a lot of suburban cable attack ads that even use Rev. Wright against Obama.
*** A tale of two VPs : Speaking of that Biden gaffe on clean coal -- saying that the Obama-Biden ticket opposes it when Obama has a clear record supporting it -- the last 48 hours haven’t been kind to the Delaware Democrat. We found out that he criticized an Obama campaign ad; he said that people watched FDR on TV during the Great Depression (when the television hadn’t even been invented yet); and Obama even seemed to rebuke his running mate for initially opposing the AIG bailout. Meanwhile, Palin is getting plenty of negative attention for restricting media access to an innocent camera spray of her meeting yesterday with Karzai of Afghanistan. In way, Biden and Palin represent two extremes: One gives way too much access and commits gaffes in the process, while the other gives almost no access at all, which opens her up to suggestions that she might not be ready for prime time. While it appears the Obama campaign is attempting to restrict some access to Biden, there's no evidence the McCain campaign wants to open up things at all with Palin.
*** Obama ramping up his ad spending : Here’s one other thing worth pointing out today: Liberal-leaning Talking Points Memo reports that Obama’s overall ad spending has increased 50% in the past two weeks, while McCain’s has remained steady. “In the week ending Sept. 21, Obama spent $9.4 million on TV ads in roughly 15 states, up from $6.5 million in the week that ended two weeks ago, Evan Tracey, who tracks national ad buys for the Campaign Media Analysis Group, tells me. Tracey's analysis is based on fresh data he obtained [yesterday] afternoon. Obama's increased spending -- which has gone up at the rate of over 20% per week over the past three weeks -- is largely fueled by boosts in spending in Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, according to Tracey.” More: “In contrast to Obama's ratcheted up spending, his data shows, McCain's outlay has held steady at around $7.5 million in roughly a dozen states -- a number that Obama's expenditures have now surpassed.” And something's up in Indiana -- lots of evidence that a Republican ad buy in the Hoosier state is coming, either from the McCain campaign, the RNC independent expenditure, or the RNC-McCain joint committee.On the trail : In New York, McCain meets with the leaders of Georgia and Ukraine, chats with Bono, tapes an interview with Letterman, and then visits with India’s prime minister. Obama, in between debate preparation, holds a rally in Dunedin, FL. Palin joins McCain to meet with the leaders of Georgia and Ukraine, Bono and India’s prime minister, and she also visits separately with Iraqi President Talabani and Pakistan President Zardari. Biden stumps in Cincinnati, OH and Jeffersonville, IN. And Michelle Obama is in Pennsylvania, stopping in Allentown and Philadelphia.
Countdown to the first presidential debate: 2 daysClick here to sign up for First Read emails .
The new Washington Post/ABC poll : “Turmoil in the financial industry and growing pessimism about the economy have altered the shape of the presidential race, giving Democratic nominee Barack Obama the first clear lead of the general-election campaign over Republican John McCain… More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face. He also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street, and as a result, there has been a rise in his overall support.”
“The poll found that, among likely voters, Obama now leads McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. Two weeks ago, in the days immediately following the Republican National Convention, the race was essentially even, with McCain at 49 percent and Obama at 47 percent.”
The Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll : “Asked which candidate could do a better job of handling the financial crisis as president next year, 48% of registered voters named Obama and 35% named McCain.”
More: “Most Americans don't believe the government has responsibility for bailing out financial firms with taxpayer money, a core part of the rescue plan Congress is considering to halt the near-meltdown of the nation's financial markets.”
CONTINUED >>
Al Sharpton is hitting the road on a bus tour for voter registration. His goal -- to register an “estimated 9.5 million unregistered blacks nationally. The campaign is targeting Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Florida, North Carolina and Michigan, possibly pivotal states in the contest between Obama, a Democrat who would be the first black U.S. president, and Republican John McCain."Sun-Times' Sweet looks at the big money that Team Obama sent to battleground states last month. pouring into Planned Parenthood from donors galvanized against Sarah Palin. "A three-week-old Internet campaign is asking abortion-rights activists to send donations to Planned Parenthood in honor of the Alaska governor. The origin of the campaign is unknown and Planned Parenthood officials insist it is not their doing." More: "Katie Groke Ellis, field manager for the Planned Parenthood of the Rockies Action Fund, predicts that the five-state chapter of the group alone could draw $100,000 in donations."
COLORADO : Per the Denver Post : "Colorado Republicans have nearly a 30,000-voter edge in requests for mail-in ballots, but strategists on both sides of the aisle say that may not be enough to overcome the Democrats' historically strong get-out-the-vote efforts on Election Day. The GOP, whose overall voter-registration advantage over Democrats has plummeted 60 percent since the last presidential election, usually excels at racking up early votes. That effort counterbalances the Democrats' Election Day mobilization and the unpredictability of those registered as unaffiliated -- a third of the electorate."
CONTINUED >>
The New York Times front-page article on Rick Davis: “One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement. The disclosure undercuts a remark by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.”
“Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the two people said.”
After tire gauges and styrofoam oil barrels, here’s the latest... Democrats pile on McCain and Bermuda offering traveling press a "John McCain Bermuda Survival Kit: A Care Package From His Favorite Tax Haven," with a "A John McCain-Greetings from Bermuda Postcard," a John McCain-Greetings from Bermuda snow globe," a McRum cake, and a flash drive with a copy of the campaign ad hitting McCain on the subject.
"Some residents of a northwestern New Jersey town received fliers last weekend that criticized the prospect of Democrat Barack Obama becoming the first black president. One national watchdog group said it may be the first distribution of racist fliers during the campaign… They are signed by the League of American Patriots, a white supremacist group with an address in Butler, N.J., about 45 minutes from Roxbury.
The Boston Globe called Palin's appearance at the U.N. "a crash course in diplomacy." And it highlights: "[T]he carefully orchestrated visits also highlighted the degree to which John McCain's presidential campaign will go to shield the first-term Alaska governor from the press."Maureen Dowd lampoons Palin meeting yesterday with Henry Kissinger. “How the mighty 85-year-old Henry the K has fallen from his days chasing Jill St. John and running the world to his hour briefing of a 44-year-old Wasilla hockey mom who may end up running the world.”AP : "Palin meets her first world leaders in New York." New York Post does what it does best... it has photos of Todd Palin in Central Park with the kids and puts it on the cover: "Daddy day care."
How bad is the GOP brand in Washington State?A candidate won't even list himself as Republican on the ballot ... "Washington state Democrats sued a state official Tuesday to get a Republican listed on the ballot, arguing a candidate is obscuring his party identity by ballot language that says he 'prefers GOP party.' The candidate, Dino Rossi, is facing a rematch this November with Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, who beat him by 133 votes four years ago after three counts and a court challenge."
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones CLEARWATER, Fla. -- In his strongest language to date regarding the hotly-debated plan to rescue America's financial system, Obama called on President Bush to be more flexible about changes to the proposal and warned Wall Street CEOs against being selfish about the terms of the bailout.
“Yesterday, the President said that Congress should pass this proposal to ease the crisis on Wall Street without significant changes or improvements,” the Illinois senator told reporters, arguing that everyone has a stake in solving the crisis to protect the jobs and the life savings of millions. “Given that fact, the President’s stubborn inflexibility is both unacceptable and disturbingly familiar. This is not the time for my-way-or-the-highway intransigence from anybody involved.”
In a roughly 20-minute press conference here Tuesday at the hotel where he is set to spend the rest of the week preparing for Friday’s debate, the Democratic nominee said power over $700 billion in taxpayer money should not be placed in the hands of one person without adequate oversight. Obama suggested an independent, bipartisan board be set up to “provide oversight and accountability at every step of the way”. And he noted he was pleased that in testimony on Capitol Hill this morning Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson appeared to be softening his position on the oversight matter.
Obama said the country was being “tested by a very serious crisis” and he committed to returning to the Senate to vote on the bill if it appears that the vote will be close. He repeated and expanded on some of the other principles he has said must be part of the legislation, including providing a mechanism for taxpayers to benefit from any future profits as Wall Street recovers - -for instance through a Financial Stability Fee on the entire financial services industry that would repay any losses to the American people; help for families that are struggling to stay in their homes and protections against rewarding the “bad behavior” of Wall Street CEOs.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Just how big is the proposed Wall Street bailout? Let's look at how it compares to some other numbers...$700 billion: proposed Wall St. bailout$695.4 billion: GDP of Taiwan. If the bailout were a country it would be the 21st largest GDP, larger than most nations.$653 billion: cost of Iraq war (so far)$515.4 billion: proposed 2009 Pentagon budget $315 billion: McCain's nuclear energy plan $295 billion: amount Pentagon overspent original budgets by. $150 billion: Obama's energy plan $50-$65 billion: Obama's health care plan, per year $59.2 billion: proposed 2009 U.S. education budget $10 billion: McCain health care proposals, per year $38 million: Hank Paulson's post-2004 salary as Chairman, CEO of Goldman Sachs 16.1 million: number of median Ohio household incomes ($43,371 as of 2004) that would add up to the bailout -- or about THREE Ohios.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this post incorrectly listed where on the GDP list the bailout would be. It's actually higher.]
From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy and Mike Memoli McCain’s first press conference today since August 13, his campaign is pushing a very different talking point -- the Obama -Biden campaign’s alleged opposition to clean coal.
After receiving the endorsement of the International Union of Operating Engineers’ Local 18 in Strongsville this morning, McCain gave a brief statement to the media, saying that clean coal would be a large part of his job-creation agenda. He then pointed to an exchange that Biden had with a questioner last week in Ohio, which is now making the rounds in the form of a YouTube video . When asked why he is supporting clean coal when “wind and solar are flourishing” in Ohio, Biden said that his ticket wasn’t supporting increased use of coal.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
NEW YORK – The McCain -Palin campaign tried to prevent reporters and television producers from viewing the vice presidential nominee's meetings with world leaders during the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday.The five television networks protested, threatening not to shoot video of the meeting at all unless an editorial presence was allowed into the meeting.
The campaign relented, and a CNN pool producer was permitted to view the beginning of Palin's meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the first of the day. CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Carrie Dann
A new Obama ad up in Michigan today hits McCain not just on the number of cars he and his wife own, but the three foreign autos in their fleet. The spot pits that fact, first reported this weekend by NEWSWEEK , against a September 8th clip in which the GOP nominee tells a Denver television station that he’s “bought American literally all of my life.”
NEWSWEEK reported Saturday that the McCains have 13 cars on the books, including a 2005 Volkswagen convertible, a 2001 Honda, and a Lexus driven by wife Cindy. None of the three foreign cars are registered to the Arizona senator (Two are in his wife’s name and one – the Lexus – is registered to her family’s business. Only one of the thirteen cars – a Cadillac CTS from 2004 – is under McCain’s name.)
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Obama has his own complications in battleground states, but is this McCain's toughest hurdle the more voters associate him with Bush ?
Video: NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd explains how recent economic events factor into changes in recent polling and campaign strategy in Florida. Bush Battleground Approval -- Quinnipiac/WashingtonPost.com
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann Sunshine on Obama’s shoulders : If you want to know why Obama is doing his debate prep today in -- of all places -- Tampa, FL, look no further than the latest TODAY Show/NBC/Mason-Dixon poll, which has Obama up in the Sunshine State by two points, 47%-45%. Yet inside those numbers, Obama leads McCain in the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, and Polk counties) by a 49%-43% margin. Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker says the key to winning Florida statewide is usually through Tampa Bay, and Obama’s six-point lead in the area explains why he’s ahead in this poll. Moreover, outside of Nevada, there is probably not another state that has been hurt more by the housing and credit crunch, and that may be benefiting Obama right now. Also potentially troublesome for McCain in this must-win GOP state, he leads by just six among Hispanics (49%-43%), which in Florida is made up of a majority of Cubans. (If Obama does pick off younger Cubans, he may close the overall gap thanks to his large lead among non-Cuban Hispanics in the I-4 corridor.) Also, McCain's four-point lead among seniors (48%-44%) is not as big as he needs it to be to offset the electorate-changing demographics among blacks and young voters. So Obama's decision to prep for Friday's debate in Florida is turning into a smart play, huh? Any extra day in Florida might pay off…
Video: NBC political director Chuck Todd breaks down the latest poll numbers from the battleground state of Florida, which is attracting particular attention from the presidential candidates Here’s your Obama bounce : Florida isn’t the only state looking good for Obama after the political winds shifted last week. In Virginia, he’s up by three points among likely voters (49%-46%) and six points among registered ones (50%-44%), according to a new Washington Post/ABC survey . Also, a new round of Wall Street Journal/WashingtonPost.com/Quinnipiac polling shows Obama leading among likelies in Colorado (49%-45%), Michigan (48%-44%), Minnesota (47%-45%), and Wisconsin (49%-42%). The lone piece of good battleground news for McCain comes from New Hampshire, where the latest University of New Hampshire poll has the Arizona senator up by two points (47%-45%).
*** The growing South vs. the shrinking North : What's going on here? Why is Obama seeming to make gains in some of the big growth states (see FL, NC, and VA), but McCain is making progress -- or at least keeping it close -- in the shrinking population states (NH, WI, PA, and MI)? The growing states have electorates that tune in later and the swing voters in those states may also be more sensitive to the current economy issue. Take Florida, for instance: The state's economy was built not just on tourism but homebuilding. As for McCain's improvement in the North and Industrial Midwest? The Republican base was really underperforming in many of those shrinking population states. Also, Obama's ability to change the electorates in those states is much more limited than in places like Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida.
*** I’m Joe Biden, and I don’t approve that message : You knew this was coming, right? Biden told CBS that he didn’t approve of the Obama ad that questioned McCain’s computer literacy. "I thought that was terrible by the way… If I had anything to do with it, we would have never done it," he said. Republicans made q 
