First thoughts: Good news, great news

Posted: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:17 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: First Thoughts

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
*** Good news for Obama, great news for McCain: The latest NBC/WSJ poll, which shows Obama hanging on to one-point lead over McCain (47%-46%), actually contains some very good news for the Dem nominee. In it, Obama’s positive rating is at 53%, his highest number on this question; more voters than ever before believe he shares their background and values; and fewer voters than ever think he would be a risky choice for the presidency. “This is a person who is doing exactly what he needs to do to put himself in a position to win this election,” says co-pollster Peter Hart (D). The problem for Obama is that so is McCain -- primarily with his pick of Palin. In just one month, GOP excitement for McCain’s candidacy has nearly tripled to 34% (although that still trails the 55% Obama gets), and the number who thinks he would be an agent of change has increased from 21% to 35% (yet that’s dwarfed by Obama’s 52%). “The Palin factor is remarkable,” adds co-pollster Neil Newhouse (R). “She has clearly added an excitement factor. There is no question about that.” This is also worth pointing out from the poll: Obama and McCain have much higher favorability ratings at this time than Bush or Kerry did in 2004. The public seems satisfied with their choices and are comfortable with either as president. So, of course, it makes sense for both campaigns to get down and dirty, right? (See below.)

VIDEO: NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd discusses the new NBC/WSJ poll.

*** Obama’s Palin problem: Yet perhaps the most important thing Palin has done for McCain is help him attract women. In last month's NBC/WSJ poll, Obama was leading McCain by 14 points among female voters; now that lead is just four points. Moreover, Obama was up by 20 points in August among women ages 18-49; now McCain is ahead by three points. And last month, Obama held a one-point lead among white women; now McCain is up among them by 10 points. Yet according to Hart, what goes up sometimes must come down. Indeed, he points out that Walter Mondale received his best poll numbers in the 1984 presidential election after picking Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. But that bump proved to be fleeting. “The faster they rise, the steeper the descent,” he says. Palin is a bubble, a la a housing bubble or a stock bubble. It's going to burst; the question is when. And the McCain campaign needs to keep this going for as long as possible.

*** McCain’s Bush problem: While this poll is certainly great news for McCain, he still has this Achilles Heel: his association with President Bush. According to the poll, 74% believe McCain would closely follow Bush’s programs and policies. That’s virtually unchanged from August, when 77% said that of the GOP nominee. What’s more, while McCain’s change number has improved, he and Palin have decided to wage a battle on the change terrain, where Obama holds almost a 20-point lead over McCain (52%-35%). By the way, the NBC/WSJ poll was conducted of 860 registered voters from Sept. 6-8, and it has a margin of error of 3.3%. And the poll included some cellphone surveys (we found no significant difference in cell phone respondents as we have from landline respondents).

*** A different kind of political pork: Anyone else thinking that the McCain campaign -- who earlier this summer accused Obama of playing the race card -- is laughing at how easily they were able to bait some in the media to bite on this faux “lipstick on a pig” controversy? It's amazing the McCain campaign's ability right now to drive the talking point of the day (especially with Drudge and the tabloids), allowing them to win news cycle after news cycle. Any day the campaign is not about Bush, not about the economy, not about the fundamentals of this environment that make this an election favoring the Democrats is a good day for the McCain campaign. We'll see how easily the media takes the bait today on this McCain Web ad, which clearly distorts Obama’s line from yesterday. Conservative bloggers will pretend to be outraged and help drive this storyline today. Obama senior adviser Anita Dunn responded to the faux controversy with this statement: "Enough is enough. The Mc Cain campaign's attack … is a pathetic attempt to play the gender card about the use of a common analogy - the same analogy that Senator McCain himself used about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan just last year. This phony lecture on gender sensitivity is the height of cynicism and lays bare the increasingly dishonorable campaign John McCain has chosen to run." Will Dunn's statement have the same effect that the McCain campaign's "enough" statement had on Team Obama regarding race?

VIDEO: The McCain campaign is asking for an apology after Obama compared McCan's call for change to putting "lipstick on a pig." NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

*** On the trail: McCain and Palin hold a rally in Fairfax, VA before Palin heads back to Alaska, where she attends a “Welcome Home Rally” at 11:00 pm ET. Obama has an event in Norfolk, VA, flies to New York to tape Letterman, and then attends a Hispanic Congressional Caucus dinner in DC. And Biden raises money in Boston, campaigns in New Hampshire, and then hits another fundraiser in Holyoke, MA.

Countdown to the first presidential debate: 16 days
Countdown to the vice presidential debate: 22 days
Countdown to the second presidential debate 27 days
Countdown to the third presidential debate: 35 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 55 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 132 days

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Comments

http://twocanpete.blogspot.com/
The drones were just waiting for a reason to claim they were 'exicited' about McCain. The more they see of Sarah the Liar the less they'll be able to say how excited they are.

twocanpete (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:24 AM)

"You can put lipstick on a pig," he said to an outbreak of laughter, shouts and raucous
applause from his audience, clearly drawing a connection to Palin's joke.
Obama's camp also noted that McCain once used the same phrase to describe Hillary
Rodham Clinton's health care plan.
=================
The McCain ad:
Obama's one accomplishment?
Legislation to teach "comprehensive sex education" to kindergartners.
Learning about sex before learning to read?
=======
Now, tell me Chuck which is worse, the remarks by Obama and the subsequent demand for an apology from a fastidious McCain campaign, or the dishonorable, character assassination of McCain's lying ad? Obama should enver apologize for such petty remarks until McCain apologizes for disgraceful ad attacks. Enough of the double standard for those cry baby McCain folks.

Jim, NYC (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:24 AM)

I see our Republican friends are busily assembling the same old worn-out straw Democrat that they trot out for every election cycle. No matter that it bears no resemblance to our candidate or our Party. Hey, why let facts get in the way of a good story? That old tax and spend canard is looking particularly tattered this round, after eight years of Republican control of government. Republicans didn’t tax and spend; they just spent and spent, and passed the bill on to our children and grandchildren. What the heck is conservative about that?

And I wonder if you folks realize how badly you are dating yourselves with all this growling about socialism. I doubt many of our young people even know what you are talking about. If you want to label tax relief for workers earning less than $250,000 a year as socialism, I bet a lot of them will start thinking socialism doesn’t sound so bad.

If you want to talk about creeping socialism, let’s talk about taxpayers having to bail out Fannie and Freddie after the fat cats pulled out piles of money while running these formerly private institutions into the ground. And thanks to the Bush/McCain tax cuts, the pirates get to keep even more of the loot this time. Like the savings and loan crisis in the 80s and 90s (which McCain and Neil Bush were in up to their eyeballs) or the Enron debacle, Republicans lead the charge for de-regulation and their friends make out like bandits, while ordinary working people end up taking it in the shorts when it all falls apart.

Recycling these golden oldies from elections past can’t hide the fact that your Party has lost its way. You want to cry bloody murder at any suggestion we spend money to help our own people here at home, but somehow we have no problem throwing more than a trillion dollars at a military adventure overseas that had nothing whatever to do with national security. For no return. There’s nothing at all conservative about that. You rail about smaller, less intrusive government and then chip away at our privacy rights and civil liberties, while your religious right tries to impose their version of morality on the rest of us by force of law. Nothing the least bit conservative about that.

Sorry, Republicans. What you say you believe in and what your political leaders do once in office no longer match up. I doubt very much you will be able to keep enough dust in the air for the next two months to hide the fact. If you are a wage-earner making less than 250,000 dollars a year and you’re buying into this Obama-will-raise-your-taxes hogwash, congratulations on your new status. How does it feel to be a tool? The people pulling McCain’s strings could care less about you or the problems facing your family once you leave the voting booth. They will tell you anything they think might help them stay in power. Don’t be fooled.

jaycee, Ventura, CA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:24 AM)

Obama IS playing the republican game, they never discuss the issues, they focus on character and try to get people angry against the democrats (example, white women angry at obama) ... he needs to talk about the issues, talk about gas prices, about healthcare, about cost of living!

Dems are going down (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:24 AM)

CHUCKY ... CHUCKY ...... CHUCKY . ...... DEAD HEAT { in bold headlines on msnbc webpage } Please,

C'mon guys, you think the American people REALLY believe your nbc " FIX " poll.

Bye the way CHUCKY, thanks for letting us collect on a $500 bet. ....... the bet was NBC poll would show obama leading Mccain. ... thanks.

OUR NEXT BET IS, THIS NBC POLL WAS TAKEN AMONG THE obama STAFF AND THE MSNBC WORKERS. ......... I'm sure we'll collect on this bet too.

Stewart, Bethesda, MD (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:25 AM)

The only change McCain offers is a more extreme version of Bush policies, more cynicism, more partisanship, more time in Iraq, more unnecessary wars, more national debt, more unemployment, more bankruptcy, more redistribution of wealth to the rich.

The product that McCain, the anti-change candidate, is selling is FRAUD.

Gregory Peek, Birmingham, Alabama (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:26 AM)

"...Anyone else thinking that the McCain campaign -- who earlier this summer accused Obama of playing the race card -- is laughing at how easily they were able to bait some in the media to bite on this faux “lipstick on a pig” controversy? It's amazing the McCain campaign's ability right now to drive the talking point of the day..."

Amazing, really? FirstRead has become the shiny object mouthpiece du jour.

PS. I assure you, Palin does not 'attract' thinking women. Just those who act like sheep and follow the crowd. She is about as shallow as the gene pool from which she's emerged - lipstick and all.

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:26 AM)

More spin from FR. You on BHO's payroll?

FR Lover (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:26 AM)

Myth or Truth
Be republican because they protect the rich be democrat and be a sucker..

Myth or Truth
Voting republican and is sound fiscal bail out policy!

Myth or Truth
"Maverick" has more to do with the economy than you can afford..

Myth or Truth
"Reformer" means good changer..

Myth or Truth
Experimenting with society is a mindful of your needs

Myth or Truth
Cheaper is quality well spent..

Myth or Truth
Sounds good say it..voters need that.

Myth or Truth
Trickle to nowhere is good for me ..

Myth or Truth
Taxes trickle over from you to me

Myth or Truth
Trickle is a bridge for more..

Myth or Truth
Business won't screw you

Myth or Truth
The government would never lie

Myth or Truth
Politician have good things to say about you

Myth or Truth
Faith is getting what you want by praying for it will make it happen

Myth or Truth
The more we pray to together that means it will happen because we deserve it..

Myth or Truth
Good works is from small government

Myth or Truth
Faith in government makes you a leader

Myth or Truth
Military builds faith.

Myth or Truth
Being in prison builds faith.

Myth or Truth
Government makes sure your money is theirs

Myth or Truth
World economy is the boogie man

Myth or Truth
Americans are always the good guys

Myth or Truth
Foreigners are the bad guys..

Myth or Truth
Government would never do anything to stop you from succeeding

Myth or Truth
Your taxes are never fully paid until your dead

Myth or Truth
The next generation deserves our debts, it will make them stronger...

Food for thoughtful thinkers..
Thank You for Your Time ...

BJ, CA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:27 AM)

Gregory Peek, Birmingham, Alabama (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:28 AM)

You can put Lipstick on a Pig, but it's still a Pig! "Piggy" McCain and "Piggy" Palin think that they can put on some lipstick and say the GOP has been reborn but it's still the same old party of pigs with the same old failed policies and the same old liars. No amount of lipstick will ever change the GOP from being the party of pigs, the fat rich and greedy variety that need to have some of their fat trimmed with tax increases.

So funny that the Dumb and Dumber ticket can hurl the insults but can't take the return fire. If they can't take the heat of a presidential campaign then they surely can't stand up to the foreign leaders who will call them much worse.

Pretty sick that the Dumb and Dumber ticket puts up an ad supporting pedophiles. Instead of backing a bill that would help educate young children to avoid pedophiles the repugnant ones are attacking it. Why do the repugnant ones hate young children so much when they puke out so many? Why are the repugnant ones supporting pedophiles instead?

"Piggy" Palin excites the evangelical christian lunatic fringe, but then this braindead crowd is excited so easily when a candidate clings to religion and guns and advocates stealing from future generations for underserved tax cuts today.

Only Obama/Biden will protect young children against pedophiles!

Go Obama/Biden 08/12!

Eric, Salinas, CA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:28 AM)

"Enough is enough. The Mc Cain campaign's attack … is a pathetic attempt to play the gender card about the use of a common analogy
WOW this from the campaing team that Tar and fethered Bill Clinton about his Jessy Jackson comment.

Biased (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:29 AM)

Many in the News Media keep calling attention to the fact that the republicans have been keeping Sarah Palin sequesterd and not letting her talk to the press or even answer questions from the people. The reason is obvious -- the woman has no experience to be VP and she knows it. The Repubs are force feeding her brain and giving her a crash course on everything from foreign affairs to the economy and everything else she lied about knowing; But in reality -- she didn't have a clue. 'She said she is gonna shake up Washington' 'and then she runs into hiding to get a crash course from the right wing republicans. "Come out from hiding Sarah Palin, We the American people know whats going on. And we know how many lies you have already told in just one speech. You said you sold an airplane -->lie 'you said you fired your cook -->lie 'you said you were against the Bridge to Nowhere --lie ''your small town in Alaska needed a new sewage system, but instead you spent tax dollars on a new sports complex that was not needed and bled the tax payers dry. We have enough Washington republicans like you already, we don't need one more.

g`pa (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:29 AM)

The "news cycle of the day" contest is incredibly silly. That puts the media as the campaign judge, in that the media chooses what the media covers.

The media has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to discern important issues from campaign drama. And that may not be a correct statement - it arguably does discern a difference and favors campaign drama for coverage.

So advantage McCain, who is using tried and true Republican campaign tactics of personal smears and faux indignation over perceived slights from the other side, and even from the media itself. And the media continues to favor Republicans with coverage of the silly stuff.

If the daily news cycle wars actually impact who wins, this means the silly party actually has an advantage in its silliness, which leads to greater odds of silly executive administrations.

Now I understand how we have a $10 trillion debt, are still involved in a war we never should have started, continue in our failure to focus on the people who actually attacked us seven years ago, flounder around from one foreign policy misjudgment to another, etc.

This may be a case of us governed by clowns because the media loves covering clowns - they are much more interesting than actual mature adults.

Paul Miller, Woodbridge, VA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:30 AM)

LIARS! McCAIN CAMPAIGN ARE LIARS!!!

By now its been reinforced that the Republican party and John McCain cannot be trusted, are liars and will do ANYTHING to get elected.

John McCain has taken the lowest of his own traits and attributed them to Barack Obama. He knows himself well and therefore can attribute these traits knowingly. He only cares about himself and his ambition. And choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate only shows how dishonest and cynical he is.

The fact that McCain has to go to these lengths only tells you how desparate he knows he is.

Barack Obama is the most intelligent and sincere politician that we have had on our landscape for years. He will make a difference. His displays a deep understanding and love for this country that is unparalleled.

We cannot let the McCain campaign win this election. The Polls are close. The lies are vast. And many times folks do not do their research and find the truth. This year we must be vigilant and not let ourselves be corrupted by McCain, Palin and their viewpoints.

*****************************

By the way: This so called PORK BARREL EARMARKS that McCain talks about only amounts to 1% of the budget. Put it in the same barnyard as the gas holiday.

ALL LIES!!!!!!

Andrea, New York City (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:30 AM)

The Republicans are making it a race against Obama and Palin because the old guy (McCain) can't match Obama on intellect and articulation. Isn't she the VP? Boy I can't wait til the debates, Biden is gonna eat Palin alive and she will deserve every bit.

I believe in fairness, but when you start the attacks then you deserve what you get in the end.

MIA in Miami (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:30 AM)

When will the media stop being used? Is there a time when the media will stand up and call a lie a lie, call a cynical manipulation just that? Or does the media actually enjoy being led around by the Republican's giggling spinsters?

It's disheartening. There is no debate out there that the McCain campaign has given up on truth - there simply is an acceptance of that fact, and a seeming admiration for their ability to get away with it unchallenged.

If the media continues to aid and abet, they will be responsible for the continuing free-fall of American discourse and politics.

Shame, shame, shame...

Gary from Dallas (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:30 AM)

Concepts I'll Never Understand

Half lies and half truth...they balance out each other..

Your words are the truth until you get caught.
(but only a moron gets caught)

Take the money and call it “appropriation” not stealing.

Doing something with out finishing is better than doing nothing at all.

Doing nothing at all and saying that's not my job is a good thing.

Getting someone else to pay for things is the “American Way”

Losing builds character but winning is kick ass..

Buying friends is as good as having them

Talking about sex is better than doing it ..

Blocking your desires is your duty.

Having anxiety is fun

Constructive Anger

Bleeding Heart

Half Baked

Civilization..
.
The latter I put in there because I've never seen it in my life time
Thank You for your time reading this gloom and doom message ..

BJ, CA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:30 AM)

The repukes are as phony as $4 bill. This is pure madness and the more women learn about Palin the more they will run from her.

Lipstick on a PIG??? Heeelllooo, where is the heck was the outrage over McCain’s comments about Hillarycare?

Repukes have no comment…it only wrong when Demcorats do it. Give us a break!

I guess we will have to see how Palin’s (Queen of Fraud) does when she is sequestered for sometime. On the job training for Obama, I think not…if something happens to McCain is Palin….Mrs. OJT (On the Job Training) going to run this country? No sane person could conclude she can.

Karl Rove will run this nation again. People need to think about this before voting for McPalinThugs.

Michelle Zee (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:31 AM)

A different kind of political pork:
Did the Obama Campaign write this blurb?
seems to me it did.
And MSNBC is in overdrive to make sure Obamas misspeak is not a "Big Deal"

Biased (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:31 AM)

McCain using the EXACT same "lipstick on a pig" phrase when referring to one of Hillary's plans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR8IhMMhe8w

So was McCain being sexist? How is it that McCain can use this common phrase and everything is ok, but if Obama uses it it's "sexist"???

John McCain has no honor.

Mr Eko (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:31 AM)

Where the debunking of the Education ad? The ad is just salacious vicious and libelous! I'd sue

matthew (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:31 AM)

"It's amazing the McCain campaign's ability right now to drive the talking point of the day (especially with Drudge and the tabloids), allowing them to win news cycle after news cycle. Any day the campaign is not about Bush, not about the economy, not about the fundamentals of this environment that make this an election favoring the Democrats is a good day for the McCain campaign."

------------------------------------------------------

McCain is doing it just like bush did in 2004...
It's almost sickening, like america is addicted to being lied to.

Fool me once shame on you...

GP Chicago (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:31 AM)

I am sorry but I have to bring up the McCain campaigns comercial on Obama. I was online and had not even seen the thing when my 13 daughter came upstairs with almost a tear in her eye. She was shaken by this vial attack from the McCain camp. I think it is time for America to Wake Up. John McCain is not even a shell of the man he used to be. He has become a politrickster at it's worst. Sarah Palin seems like a nice decent person till you dig a little deeper. She has made very misleading statements about her work record and has blatantly lied to give herself the appearance of being a reformer. The McCain camp hopes Americans have the WWF mentality that good Bush or more effectionately Shrub elected twice.

Brian M. (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:32 AM)

Obama, can you throw a punch ?
NO MORE, MR NICE GUY

It's time to fight
You did a little fighting against Clinton
Time to do it again

DON'T BE A SISSY !
FIGHT !

You should have national commercials questioning McCains judgment on supporting the Iraq war.
Ever so often, show McCain's face with the ditty, 'Bomb, Bomb, Bomb..... Bomb. Bomb Iran'

Question his judgment !
What's the problem here ?
Mr Axelrod ? Mr Plouff ?
GET ON IT !!
Invite Democratic 527s to start advertising

TIME IS WASTING !

TIME TO MAN UP !

Obama / Biden '08
IT's time to FIGHT !

MSierra, SF (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:32 AM)

In the wise words of Paul Begala:

If John McCain and Sarah Palin were to say the moon was made of green cheese, we can be certain that Barack Obama and Joe Biden would pounce on it, and point out it's actually made of rock. And you just know the headline in the paper the next day would read: "CANDIDATES CLASH ON LUNAR LANDSCAPE."

Why doesn't somebody call Neil Armstrong? He's been there. Or go to the Smithsonian and open the glass case that contains a piece of the moon. The moon is a rock. That's a fact, Jack.

Facts are indeed stubborn things, but the McCain-Palin lies are more stubborn still.

In the face of demonstrable, provable, incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, McCain and Palin continue to assert that Gov. Palin opposed the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere." They do so in their speeches and ads, and their supporters say so on television until their pants are on fire. McCain and Palin also claim the Alaska governor opposes earmarks -- despite the fact that she's gotten her state so much pork she's at risk for trichinosis.

I was in the middle of a Neil Armstrong Moment when I was on CNN Tuesday morning. Rather than let McCain and Palin get away with their lie, anchor John Roberts played a videotape of Sarah Palin in a 2006 gubernatorial debate in which she endorsed the bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina Island saying, "I'm not going to stand in the way of progress that our congressional delegation and the position of strength that they have right now." Perhaps her supporters, noting Palin's support for banning books, teaching creationism and doubting global warming will argue that for her, calling the bridge "progress" was her way of saying she was against it.) But the Anchorage Daily News forecloses that option, reporting, "In September, 2006, Palin showed up in Ketchikan on her gubernatorial campaign and said the bridge was essential for the town's prosperity."

After the videotape ran, I said the media was at fault for letting Palin and McCain get away with "flat out lies." GOP strategist Alex Castellanos manfully tried to shine a cow patty, saying, "The amazing thing about Sarah Palin is when she became governor she actually stood up and said no."

Increasingly frustrated, I pointed out that just was not true, and the "debate" continued.

Most of political debate is subjective: who's more qualified, who's more compassionate, whose experience is more relevant, who has better ideas on health care or energy or global warming or the economy? There is no Objective Truth on those matters, and debate -- even when voices are sometimes raised -- can help voters decide who they agree with. On those matters of subjective judgment it's perfectly appropriate for the media to hold the coats of the candidates and let them fight it out.

But facts ought not be debatable. The media have an obligation to point out when a politician is lying about a matter of fact, but the right-wing attack machine has so cowed some of them you can almost hear them moo. Steve Schmidt, McCain's top dog, is a brilliant and audacious strategist. His candidate has had the most favorable press coverage of any politician of the last century -- fawning, adoring, sycophantic press coverage. And yet he is brutalizing the press, waterboarding them into pretending that whether Gov. Palin supported the "Bridge to Nowhere," or hired an Abramoff-connected lobbyist to secure massive earmarks are somehow debatable.

The real debate is over whether the media will be vigilant watchdogs, sounding the alarm when McCain and Palin lie, or fall back to the role they've played for most of McCain's career: lapdog.

American Voter (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:33 AM)

The Dems have LOST. Mark today as the day it was over
Obama has not come out OUTRAGED about the sex ed ad and he has let the GOP dominate.

God Help us when McSlime wins.
We will be in so many wars.
I am SICK

Nj (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:33 AM)

The media has gone overboard for the new celebrity candidate but as the newness wears off and the scandals keep mounting the public will see "Sinister" Sarah for the fraud and liar that she really is. Some of us see it already and we'll keep pointing out the sins of "Sinner" Sarah.

Obviously she's not ready to be a VP candidate as her male master has to keep her under wraps and away from the media. If she can't handle simple tv interviews then how does this clueless woman think she can deal with world leaders? Just think how she'd handle Muslim leaders who would look down upon her as some kind of abomination in their culture? Actually she's an abomination in ours as well.

Go Obama/Biden 08/12!

Eric, Salinas, CA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:33 AM)

Bottom line we are in decline as a nation

one candidate is promising change and then handing us a plan that is exactly the same.

one candidate is handing us new answers and new plans.

and one candidate has a campaign that sounds a whole heck of a lot like the cover ups that got us here and lying ...same team same tactics

get us off the road to the cliff.

dl, exeter, nh (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:34 AM)

Lipstick on a pig --- man, what a tin ear Obama has. So Barry, do you think that remark will help, or hurt with the women vote?

Democrats and liberals have been telling woman for years that they can do anything they want to do, and be anything they want to be. They've made women into victims by talking about glass ceilings and pay differential for similar jobs. Now Sarah Palin comes along, and the liberals have the long knives out for her. They ask 'How can she do this job (VP), she has a family to take care, a special needs child, and a teen pregnancy to deal with'. So now here's a woman that would be a heartbeat away from the most powerful job on earth, and according to liberals, she not up to the task. And she's not up to the task only because she's a woman.

Democrats and liberals thrive on failure. They thrive on victimhood. If Palin becomes VP and then becomes President, that takes the barriers down that liberals celebrate. And if that were to happen, what ever would we need liberals for anymore?

Debra Dade, Foxboro, MA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:34 AM)

Seems to me that John McCain is hiding behind Mrs. Palin's skirt. Every time someone challenges Mrs. Palin, the Republicans cry "Sexism." Personally, I think Mrs. Palin is a welcome addition to the contest. However, when are they going to take the training wheels off and let her campaign on her own? When doe she get to undergo the relentless grilling from the media ON HER OWN. What are they afraid of? We were told by this woman that she is a pitbull. But the behavior so far indicates she is unprepared, fragile, and can't stand the heat -- especially when compared to Hillary Clinton, as tough a fighter as there is.

Craig, Sterling, VA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:34 AM)

This Obama supporter was thrilled to see the NBC/WSJ poll. At the height of his convention bounce, McCain can only come within a point of Obama? That's great news. In a week, after the shiny new Palin object loses its luster, McCain will be 3-4 points behind again.

Yvonne (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:35 AM)

hahahaha....MSNBC is sooooo funny! You must have searched long and hard to find the "right sample" to put Obama ahead in this poll. What did you do....go to Oblerman and Matthews family labor day cookout to poll? Ha you guys are a joke.

Randy, Amherst mass (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:35 AM)

McCain needs to chill.

He himself used the "pig in lipstick" line about Hillary Clinton.

Anyone want to dredge up the "ape rape" joke he once told?

How about the joke about Janet Reno being Chelse Clinton's father that he told?

How about his pet name for his wife? (See You Next Tuesday!)

The feigned disgust is unbecoming, John!

Pete - Albany, NY (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:35 AM)

Firstread, Can we discuss ISSUES for a change?

McCain voted AGAINST Equal Pay for Women

McCain voted AGAINST Violence Against Women Act

McCain voted AGAINST Title X Womens Health Care Services

McCain voted AGAINST Children's Health Insurance Program-SCHIP

McCain voted AGAINST aid to Children of Domestic Violence

McCain voted AGAINST Emergency Funding for Victims of Hurricane Katrina

McCain voted AGAINST Funding Law Enforcement

McCain wants to bring back the DRAFT

McCain voted AGAINST GI Bill

McCain voted AGAINST Funding VA for Vets

McCain voted AGAINST Funding Military Equipment Shortages in Iraq

Palin AND her husband AND her kids BILLED the taxpayers of Alaska to pay for their family time ... boy that's cool huh

Palin continues to lie about the bridge. Palin SUPPORTED the bridge, TOOK THE MONEY for the bridge, KEPT THE MONEY for the bridge and SPENT THE MONEY for the bridge ... does that make her a liar?

I hope you post this ... but since it DOES talk about issues and actual voting records -- this post may be above your pay grade?

Max, Lexington, Kentucky (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:36 AM)

First Read - are you now the media wing of the Obama campaign? You talk a lot about the "distortions" put out by McCain, but spend very little time discussing all the problems with Obama.

Peter Principle (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:36 AM)

How is this poll adjusted to account for the sharp increase in the number of voters who identify themselves as Democrats versus the decline of voters who identify themselves as Republicans? Or are you all using the same methodology as the Gallup folks and making the percentages the same for both? I seriously question the validity of any polls at this point. You aren't accounting for newly registered voters (and I personally have registered over 1000 in my state as Democrats in the last few month) and I'm just one person out of hundreds registering voters for Obama in KS. Those people aren't counted and aren't figured into these kinds of samples. And every new voters I've registered has said they are definitely going to vote and are EXCITED about it. I've been telling them to early vote and giving them a handout as to where the early voting places are. I've had NO ONE tell me that they aren't sure if they are going to vote. I just think this sample is using the same flawed methodology as the USA Today, Gallup, etc that have come out in the last few weeks.

Suz in KS (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:36 AM)

Her bubble will burst as soon as the media quits paying more attention to the McCain daily spin and starts reporting the facts about their records.

Blake, Denver, Co (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:38 AM)

McCain is Bush, thats the narrative Obama is pushing day in and day out. But the problem is that Obama doesn't give much of an alternative. The government grew considerably under Bush. Now Obama wants to super-size the government even further. So who again is more like Bush?

Obama Is Bush (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:39 AM)

Not that Joe needs any baiting, but this AM was over the top. I turned to CNN---- What a difference. Come on guys get a grip. CNN showed McFraud using the same quote in a refence to Hillary. I don't give a flying F about either one of these clowns, neither are fit to lead.

Leni,Michigan (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:40 AM)

"how easily they were able to bait some in the media to bite on this faux “lipstick on a pig” controversy?"

MSNBC fell for it BIG TIME. How can you have a POLL asking if Obama went too far, with NO MENTION THAT MCCAIN ALSO SAID ABOUT HILLARY! This whole thing is just getting so ridiculous and the media is to blame! It's SICKENING!

Teri from Ohio (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:40 AM)

From Huff Post:

'Report: McCain Pushed Woman In A Wheêl Chair

On Sunday, McClatchy Newspapers published a story on Sen. John McCain's oft-discussed temper, detailing one incident in which McCain allegedly pushed a woman in a wheelchair.

According to McClatchy's report, in 1996, McCain was met in the Senate office halls by a group of family members of POW-MIAs who had been pressing him to pursue more information on their relatives.

Six people present have written statements describing what they saw. According to the accounts, McCain waved his hand to shoo away Jeannette Jenkins, whose cousin was last seen in South Vietnam in 1970, causing her to hit a wall.

As McCain continued walking, Jane Duke Gaylor, the mother of another missing serviceman, approached the senator. Gaylor, in a wheelchair equipped with portable oxygen, stretched her arms toward McCain.

"McCain stopped, glared at her, raised his left arm ready to strike her, composed himself and pushed the wheelchair away from him," according to Eleanor Apodaca, the sister of an Air Force captain missing since 1967.

McCain's staff wouldn't respond to requests for comment about specific incidents.

It's impossible now to determine whose recollection of these events is accurate. But Democrats clearly continue to see McCain's temperament as a potential electoral liability. Appearing on CNN's Late Edition on Sunday, Sen. Barbara Boxer argued that McCain's hot-streak is a legitimate campaign issue that should dissuade voters from electing him commander in chief....'

To say nothing of McCain's attack on 92 year old Sen Strom Thurmond

McCain's scuffle with +Rep (R-Az) Rick Renzi

Thad Cochran\e (R-Miss): ' "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine," Cochran said about McCain by phone. "He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."...'

'...1) Defending His Amnesty Bill, Sen. McCain Lost His Temper And “Screamed, ‘F*ck You!’ At Texas Sen. John Cornyn” (R-TX). “Presidential hopeful John McCain - who has been dogged for years by questions about his volcanic temper - erupted in an angry, profanity-laced tirade at a fellow Republican senator...' (Charles Hurt, “Raising McCain,” New York Post, 5/19/07)

'... Sen. McCain Repeatedly Called Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) An “A**hole”, Causing A Fellow GOP Senator To Say, “I Didn’t Want This Guy Anywhere Near A Trigger.” “Why can’t McCain win the votes of his own colleagues? To explain, a Republican senator tells this story: at a GOP meeting last fall, McCain erupted out of the blue at the respected Budget Committee chairman, Pete Domenici, saying, ‘Only an a–hole would put together a budget like this.’ Offended, Domenici stood up and gave a dignified, restrained speech about how in all his years in the Senate, through many heated debates, no one had ever called him that. Another senator might have taken the moment to check his temper. But McCain went on: ‘I wouldn’t call you an a–hole unless you really were an a–hole.’ The Republican senator witnessing the scene had considered supporting McCain for president, but changed his mind. ‘I decided,’ the senator told Newsweek, ‘I
didn’t want this guy anywhere near a trigger.’” (Evan Thomas, et al., “Senator Hothead,” Newsweek, 2/21/00)...'

MSierra, SF (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:40 AM)

Chuck: interesting for you to feign "outrage" at "the media" when the producers at MSNBC for Morning Joe and the show immediately following it were clearly using the story as a lead. Your editorials about "shiny metal objects" are spot on but they sound stunningly sanctimonious when your very channel is one of the culprits. Knowing you're getting played and allowing it to happen just makes it worse.

CA Voter (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:40 AM)

I have a question for you, media. Why do you take the bait? Why do you waste precious time bandying opinions back and forth about "lipstick on a pig?" Here is another old chestnut you might think about, because it is what you have been doing lately:

"Majoring in the minors!"

Media, where is your sense of responsibility for helping shape an intelligent political conversation? After all, it isn't news until you say it is, right?

In giving so-called news like this so much valuable air time, you are playing into the worst voyeuristic, gossip-y, destructive tactics of politics that truly attract the "base."

Our country is in trouble. Americans deserve so much better than this. Please use the next 55 news cycles to educate and inform us about things that matter and will affect all of us for years to come! Don't contribute to the further dumbing down and coarsening of America!

Gail, TN (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:40 AM)

Obama needs to stop digging himself further into a hole. The race is between him and McCain, stay focus. I don't think Obama was talking about Palin in regards to the lipstick comment but I have already heard some women talking about it and it's not good. They're adding the "sweetie" comment Obama called a woman reporter and the fact the he never attempted to vet Sen Clinton and wondering if he's just using a womens right to choose which he brings up a lot as a political scam to get women.

Desiree, New York (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:42 AM)

when palin said "the only difference between a soccer mom and a pitbull is lipstick" was she calling soccer moms and women in general b*tches cause after all pitbulls are dogs and moms are female so ergo a female dog is a b*tch. palin owes all women an apology.

jus askin (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:42 AM)

We need to talk about the Palin myths. The letting the Gov. Cook go but really just changed her title and had her continue cooking is slickness. She claimed she sold the Gov. Plane on E-Bay when truth told she sold it to a Republican backer at a $600,000.00 loss to the state. Her being for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it, yet still received the funding for it. I repeat again for Sen. Obama , If you put Lipstick on a Pig . It is still A Pig. Reform my behind. The Republicans are stooping to NEW LOWS this year.

Brian M De. (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:42 AM)

"Anyone else thinking that the McCain campaign -- who earlier this summer accused Obama of playing the race card -- is laughing at how easily they were able to bait some in the media to bite on this faux “lipstick on a pig” controversy?"

You mean like Morning Joe or your 9am hour host, or likely every host until your evening programming? Because they're all talking about it, almost as if it's the biggest news of the day. Meantime, I flip to CNN and I barely hear about it. Guess which channel I prefer in this situation? Seems like MSNBC was taken in by it...

Ken, Sterling, VA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:43 AM)

It's totally sickening. I actually did think that McCain would keep his word on running a positive campaign. I can only imagine how many other promises he'd bread if elected.

Dante, Philadelphia, PA (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:44 AM)

I was heartened when I watched a clip of a Good Morning America piece where the puff pastry reporter interviewed Palin's Alaskan girlfriends. Only one of the five of them would say she would actually vote for McCain/Palin. The other women, after testifying to Sarah's winning personality, either refused to say who they supported for President or said they hadn't made up their mind. The issues they cited where they disagreed with Palin, were abortion and the environment. I think Palin has all the appeal of a reality show star, but that's not enough to win her the Vice Presidency. McCain/Palin are following Bush policies to the letter, running a negative campaign, smearing their opponent, and earning the hatred of core Democrats. Its not a winning strategy, I really don't think so.

Amy B Portland, ME (Sent Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:44 AM)

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