Barack Obama’s speech promoting faith-based programs yesterday in Zanesville, Ohio.
** OIL IN THE REAL WORLD. You know, I am recalling some folks who said oil would go down right away in price, and so on. Meanwhile, in the real world, crude oil broke two more all-time records today on the verge of the long 4th of July weekend, in which AAA says fewer than ever families will venture forth in their cars for holiday weekends. Oil broke the $144 per barrel barrier in intraday trading, shooting up to $144.13 per barrel. And it settled at a record closing price, a whopping $143.57 per barrel. I’d better gas up, well, now, before my friend the local service station owner raises his price tomorrow …
** MY NEW PODCAST. The road ahead.
** R.N.C. TO START ATTACK ADS ON OBAMA. The Republican National Committee is going up with attack ads on Barack Obama this coming weekend in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. All states in which Obama has leads, of one size or another. Quite a mistake for Obama to forego public financing and decide not to give up his fundraising advantage …
** SCHMIDT TAKING CONTROL. Steve Schmidt, a very familiar figure to NWN readers who ran Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election campaign and serves as senior advisor to John McCain, is taking over much of the day-to-day management of the McCain campaign. As I reported earlier, the very capable Schmidt had been travelling with McCain but left his side to go to campaign headquarters to take on more of an operational role there. Campaign manager Rick Davis will remain with a key strategic role.
It will be interesting to see if this improves the relative incoherence of the McCain campaign, about which I have been writing for weeks, or if the incoherence is actually dictated by the strategic situation.
** FROM COLORADO TO CARTAGENA. What an interesting choice. Is this the moment for John McCain to venture to Latin America, extolling the virtues of free trade while frontrunner Barack Obama is in Middle America talking about faith, patriotism, and economic insecurity in a region which, rightly or wrongly, views trade deals like NAFTA as a principal cause of its problems?
** WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama is in Colorado Springs, Colorado for a speech on his plan for national service. He will visit NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) at Cheyenne Mountain. He has a fundraiser in the home town of the U.S. Air Force Academy and the Rev. James Dobson tonight.
John McCain is in Cartagena, Colombia. He is promoting free trade and examining the drug trade and the country’s security concerns.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger tours the fire scene near Big Sur with FEMA Administrator David Paulison this morning and discusses the situation. With the Sierra snowpack notably reduced, California is in a near drought situation, which naturally makes wildfires more prevalent. Schwarzenegger has asked local communities to avoid 4th of July firecrackers, but has not banned them. The chronic state budget deficit is at an impasse, with legislative leaders of both parties deadlocked amidst no progress.
** TV AD WARS: CHANGING MCCAIN V. WORKING OBAMA. It’s John McCain who is the candidate of change in the latest round of the TV ad wars, changing to his third campaign slogan in less than four weeks. Barack Obama shows more consistency, as in consistently emphasizing work over welfare in his battleground states message. From my other blog.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti.
While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND U.S. ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. After crashing through the $143 per barrel barrier Monday, crude oil is trading in the $142 to $143 per barrel range, on concern about a potential Israeli military strike on Iran and reports of a mysterious supply drop in the US. But gas at my station is down a nickel.
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72 Comments
Capitol Boy:I like Barack’s speech on faith. I know some netrootsers are upset about it. But that’s one of his great strengths, that he can talk about religion without being weird about it on either side.
Jul 2, 2008 - 9:39 am Jonas Blane:McCain is in Colombia. I’m missing something, I guess.
Jul 2, 2008 - 9:41 am Brasky:“He is promoting free trade and examining the drug trade and the country’s security concerns.”
I doubt that most Americans are happy with the current state of free trade or Columbia’s efforts to fight drug trafficking. So his choice is to highlight those things?
I don’t get it. Why isn’t this guy going to swing states? Obama found a way to go to a swing state AND highlight national defense.
McCain is lost.
Jul 2, 2008 - 9:54 am Jonas Blane:Another good Obama speech. I don’t mind the religion stuff. Does McCain still try to give speeches?
Jul 2, 2008 - 9:56 am Len:I didn’t know voters were worrying about Colombia and Mexico.
Jul 2, 2008 - 9:59 am Brasky:“Does McCain still try to give speeches?”
Sure, he goes to Houston to talk about the environment and Colombia to talk about free trade. Makes perfect sense to me…
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:03 am Jack Aubrey:Steve Schmidt’s taking over for McCain. He’s good.
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:18 am Ann:lol
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:19 am Ann:I meant lol to Brasky, not Schmidt.
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:21 am carole w:I am waiting for a Webb story…please make it a good one.
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:25 am Brasky:“SCHMIDT TAKING CONTROL”
Can I look forward to new slogans and positions on key issues? Honestly, I can’t keep track now.
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:36 am Bill Bradley:We’ll see.
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:41 am Bill Bradley:I believe Mr. Webb will be discussed on an upcoming national holiday …
>carole w:
I am waiting for a Webb story…please make it a good one.
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:42 am Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 10:25 am
Obviously.
>Ann:
I meant lol to Brasky, not Schmidt.
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:43 am Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 10:21 am
Thanks.
>Ann:
lol
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:45 am Paul Burton:Jul 2, 2008 - 10:19 am
McCain wants to prop up the right wing paramilitary death squads who are responsible for more murders in Colombia than the leftist guerillas. And of course McCain has no problem with the murder of union leaders in Colombia who oppose the ‘free trade’ deals, since he hates unions. From Wash. Office on Latin America re: 2007 murder of Dairo Torres, “a leader of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. Reports from the ground indicate that this murder was committed through tacit collaboration between the Águilas Negras paramilitary group operating in the Antioquia Department, and the Colombian public security forces based in and around the town of San José de Apartadó. Meanwhile, threats against members of the San José de Apartadó peace community continue…”
Jul 2, 2008 - 10:56 am carole w:http://www.wola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=viewp&id=528&Itemid=8
Good, gives me something else to enjoy on the 4th.
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:04 am Ann:You sound like the twisted offspring of a righty wingnut. lol
ul Burton:
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:28 am Bill Bradley:McCain wants to prop up the right wing paramilitary death squads who are responsible for more murders in Colombia than the leftist guerillas. And of course McCain has no problem with the murder of union leaders in Colombia who oppose the ‘free trade’ deals, since he
Indeed.
>Jack Aubrey:
Steve Schmidt’s taking over for McCain. He’s good.
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:35 am Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 10:18 am
Obama should go to Berkeley and talk about his plan to launch special forces raids in Pakistan …
>Brasky:
“Does McCain still try to give speeches?”
Sure, he goes to Houston to talk about the environment and Colombia to talk about free trade. Makes perfect sense to me…
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:36 am Dana:Jul 2, 2008 - 10:03 am
“It will be interesting to see if this improves the relative incoherence of the McCain campaign, about which I have been writing for weeks, or if the incoherence is actually dictated by the strategic situation.”
Very interesting point. And the Republican party itself seems to be in some disarray. Folks like Norquist and Dodson are reacting to their seeming fading influence. A lot of this goes back to Bush and the widespread perception (except with the true believers) that his is a failing Presidency and it is devalueing many of the core Republican issues, plus the party is handcuffed to Bush’s very unpopular war.
But I do think Obama has troubles with image. As Mr. Evanier notes McCain creates an impression of being a regular joe who bends an elbow at the local bar and shots the breeze with the fellas. Evanier complains that it isn’t an accurate impression, but I don’t think Evanier is fair in basicallying saying McCain is out of touch with common folk. Frankly most electeds exist in a bubble.
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_06_30.html#015471
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:36 am Bill Bradley:Mexico could actually become a very major problem.
I’ll have more about that this summer.
>Len:
I didn’t know voters were worrying about Colombia and Mexico.
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:37 am Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 9:59 am
It is a bit curious.
>Brasky:
“He is promoting free trade and examining the drug trade and the country’s security concerns.”
I doubt that most Americans are happy with the current state of free trade or Columbia’s efforts to fight drug trafficking. So his choice is to highlight those things?
I don’t get it. Why isn’t this guy going to swing states? Obama found a way to go to a swing state AND highlight national defense.
McCain is lost.
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:38 am Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 9:54 am
You’re not alone.
>Jonas Blane:
McCain is in Colombia. I’m missing something, I guess.
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:38 am Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 9:41 am
The hyperpartisan left is going to have to practice the tolerance it preaches.
>Capitol Boy:
I like Barack’s speech on faith. I know some netrootsers are upset about it. But that’s one of his great strengths, that he can talk about religion without being weird about it on either side.
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:39 am Brasky:Jul 2, 2008 - 9:39 am
“The hyperpartisan left is going to have to practice the tolerance it preaches.”
Yes!
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:47 am Bill Bradley:Indeed.
Jul 2, 2008 - 11:49 am Capitol Boy:He’s not running against Phil Angelides this time.
** SCHMIDT TAKING CONTROL. Steve Schmidt, a very familiar figure to NWN readers who ran Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election campaign and serves as senior advisor to John McCain, is taking over much of the day-to-day management of the McCain campaign. As I reported earlier, the very capable Schmidt had been travelling with McCain but left his side to go to campaign headquarters to take on more of an operational role there. Campaign manager Rick Davis will remain with a key strategic role.
It will be interesting to see if this improves the relative incoherence of the McCain campaign, about which I have been writing for weeks, or if the incoherence is actually dictated by the strategic situation.
Jul 2, 2008 - 12:16 pm Paul Burton:Is Ann a real person? Why does she defend McCain and his dictator friends in Colombia? Just because she is ignorant about how our tax dollars support murder in Colombia doesn’t mean I am a ‘wing nut’? what is a ‘wing nut’ anyway and how is such a vapid and overused term relevant to real political discourse? Union members are being killed in Colombia by death squads tied to the government there that Bush and McCain support. Apparently that qualifies McCain as a foreign policy expert.
From AFL-CIO:
McCain’s Colombia Trade Policy Hurts Workers Here and Abroad
McCain plans to meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. In his meeting, McCain should ask Uribe what he is doing about finding the killers of the more than 2,500 trade union members who have been murdered in Colombia since 1986, including 39 murdered in 2007 and another 24 killed so far in 2008 — at a rate of more than one a week. Because, so far, the Colombian government has obtained convictions in only a handful of cases and has done little to stop the bloodshed or guarantee worker and human rights in the country. While meeting with Uribe, McCain should tell him the United States will not reward murder by granting Colombia a trade deal.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/07/01/mccains-colombia-trade-policy-hurts-workers-here-and-abroad/
Jul 2, 2008 - 12:27 pm Ann:Do you ever have anything that isn’t a kneejerk, angry, lefty cliche, Paul Burton?
I think you’re an Eliza program.
lol
Jul 2, 2008 - 1:32 pm Dana:Paul, are we only entitled to your opinion? This is the sort of attitude that helped the far left become disconnected from the mainstream and irrelevant.
Jul 2, 2008 - 2:00 pm Chris M:Paul’s heated rhetoric aside, this site should recognize that Columbia has problems with extremists both left AND right.
Apparently, a key fundraiser for McCain has direct ties to paramilitaries there:
http://tinyurl.com/5mebyd
And that shouldn’t be shocking (nor should it necessarily reflect poorly upon McCain himself). American governments and corporations have had connections, direct or indirect, with authoritarian rulers and paramiliatary forces in Latin American for a century or more:
http://tinyurl.com/n28ak
Jul 2, 2008 - 2:05 pm Ann:That’s what I’m saying.
Jul 2, 2008 - 2:06 pm Chris M:Ann, thanks!! VBG — I know you were addressing Dana ;-).
Jul 2, 2008 - 2:12 pm Ann:I was answering Dana and agree with Chris.
Jul 2, 2008 - 2:13 pm Ann:I hate the lag.
Jul 2, 2008 - 2:14 pm Brasky:“R.N.C. TO START ATTACK ADS ON OBAMA.”
I’ve got a tv attack ad for Obama — run a loop of that bell that plays at the pump (ding, ding, ding) and a picture of the pump sale rolling forward. Run that for about 5 seconds then say “Americans can’t afford more of the same.” 5 more seconds of dinging and “I approve this ad”.
Let’s get it on.
Jul 2, 2008 - 2:48 pm Capitol Boy:The Republicans have no answers because they are part of every problem.
Jul 2, 2008 - 2:50 pm Hap Hazard:Brasky, that sounds like an ad that McCain could run as well…
Jul 2, 2008 - 2:59 pm Chris M:For the Reeps sake, those ads better be good and do their work quickly because…
The US News & WR article linked below confirms what I’ve been thinking for some time– namely, that Obama’s forthcoming overseas trips, while inherently risky, offer him a tremendous opportunity to showcase himself as presidential, as a prospective world leader. I could easily see residents in those places, stirred by a global media aching for a change in US government, getting a serious case of Obamafever and actually lining streets to see and cheer him. It could be memorable.
http://tinyurl.com/6fn5yg
Jul 2, 2008 - 3:01 pm Brasky:“Brasky, that sounds like an ad that McCain could run as well…”
Obama doesn’t suffer from the Bush albatross. And McCain has been getting closer and closer to Bush on so many issues, putting daylight between the two is going to be tough.
Based on policy positions and not politics, he could run that ad. Based on politics, I’d dare him to run that ad.
BTW, every time I type “albatross”, I think of John Cleese.
Jul 2, 2008 - 3:28 pm Dana:And meanwhile Bush continues bringing up domestic drilling as a panacea for the gas price spike. I am almost convinced he actually believes it. Which is sort of scary, if you think about it.
Jul 2, 2008 - 4:15 pm Hap Hazard:Based on policy positions and not politics, he could run that ad. Based on politics, I’d dare him to run that ad. — Agree.
BTW, every time I type “albatross”, I think of John Cleese. — This Bush association is just a flesh wound.
Jul 2, 2008 - 4:37 pm Brasky:“This Bush association is just a flesh wound.”
LOL
Jul 2, 2008 - 4:45 pm Capitol Boy:Hah!
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:07 pm Ann:lol
“It’s just a flesh wound.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:16 pm Bill Bradley:Indeed. What would we do without Monty Python?
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:24 pm Bill Bradley:Yep.
>Brasky:
“This Bush association is just a flesh wound.”
LOL
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:24 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 4:45 pm
Nice one, Hap.
>Hap Hazard:
Based on policy positions and not politics, he could run that ad. Based on politics, I’d dare him to run that ad. — Agree.
BTW, every time I type “albatross”, I think of John Cleese. — This Bush association is just a flesh wound.
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:25 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 4:37 pm
It’s simply not serious.
>Dana:
And meanwhile Bush continues bringing up domestic drilling as a panacea for the gas price spike. I am almost convinced he actually believes it. Which is sort of scary, if you think about it.
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:26 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 4:15 pm
I think McCain has more fundamental problems than who is running his campaign.
>Brasky:
“Brasky, that sounds like an ad that McCain could run as well…”
Obama doesn’t suffer from the Bush albatross. And McCain has been getting closer and closer to Bush on so many issues, putting daylight between the two is going to be tough.
Based on policy positions and not politics, he could run that ad. Based on politics, I’d dare him to run that ad.
BTW, every time I type “albatross”, I think of John Cleese.
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:27 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 3:28 pm
It’s a big opportunity for Obama, given what the polls show about him around the world.
Of course, he has no experience in foreign policy, from any reasonable presidential standpoint. He’s all about the future …
>Chris M:
For the Reeps sake, those ads better be good and do their work quickly because…
The US News & WR article linked below confirms what I’ve been thinking for some time– namely, that Obama’s forthcoming overseas trips, while inherently risky, offer him a tremendous opportunity to showcase himself as presidential, as a prospective world leader. I could easily see residents in those places, stirred by a global media aching for a change in US government, getting a serious case of Obamafever and actually lining streets to see and cheer him. It could be memorable.
http://tinyurl.com/6fn5yg
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:28 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 3:01 pm
Aside from the fact that McCain has been mostly down the line with the Bush energy policies, you are entirely right …
>Hap Hazard:
Brasky, that sounds like an ad that McCain could run as well…
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:29 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 2:59 pm
Incidentally, if you look at the McCain advertising, you will see that they have the absolutely cheapest gas pump in America …
>Brasky:
“R.N.C. TO START ATTACK ADS ON OBAMA.”
I’ve got a tv attack ad for Obama — run a loop of that bell that plays at the pump (ding, ding, ding) and a picture of the pump sale rolling forward. Run that for about 5 seconds then say “Americans can’t afford more of the same.” 5 more seconds of dinging and “I approve this ad”.
Let’s get it on.
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:30 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 2, 2008 - 2:48 pm
… When some OC Register column asked Mac what gas cost the last time he pumped it, he cited the Secret Service and said he didn’t know.
As readers here know, he avoided getting a Secret Service detail until a couple of months ago.
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:31 pm Bill Bradley:Man, I have been missing out. The foreign interests I’ve worked with in the past have been low/no-paying opposition parties rather than those big Republican-aligned dictatorships.
This frakking site is malfunctioning again. I’m responding to a Chris post 4 or 5 hours ago.
>
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:34 pm Brasky:“I think McCain has more fundamental problems than who is running his campaign.”
“It will be interesting to see if this improves the relative incoherence of the McCain campaign…”
Agreed.
Partisanship aside, the arc of the McCain campaign is fascinating. It’s starting to have some parallels to Clinton ‘08 as far as dysfunction and Schwarzenegger ‘05 in terms of tone-deafness.
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:35 pm Bill Bradley:No. He isn’t.
>Capitol Boy:
He’s not running against Phil Angelides this time.
** SCHMIDT TAKING CONTROL. Steve Schmidt, a very familiar figure to NWN readers who ran Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election campaign and serves as senior advisor to John McCain, is taking over much of the day-to-day management of the McCain campaign. As I reported earlier, the very capable Schmidt had been travelling with McCain but left his side to go to campaign headquarters to take on more of an operational role there. Campaign manager Rick Davis will remain with a key strategic role.
It will be interesting to see if this improves the relative incoherence of the McCain campaign, about which I have been writing for weeks, or if the incoherence is actually dictated by the strategic situation.
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:35 pm Brasky:Jul 2, 2008 - 12:16 pm
“… When some OC Register column asked Mac what gas cost the last time he pumped it, he cited the Secret Service and said he didn’t know.”
Holy crap! I’d have that at the top of my daily briefing - gas price, milk price, bread price and corn flake price (US avg and wherever it is in the states he’s visiting). Number of foreclosures and one-year decline in housing prices would be good too.
We’re experiencing the highest period of energy/food inflation I can remember in the past three decades — you can’t afford to look like you’re living in bubble.
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:40 pm Bill Bradley:Yes, well.
I’ve been monitoring the price of gas in the week since I bought it by, you know, LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW.
Jul 2, 2008 - 5:47 pm Brasky:Maybe he was confused because the prices were in pesos…
I’m getting a Bush checkout stand vibe from this.
Jul 2, 2008 - 6:08 pm richard locicero:Someone above mentioned that Obama had a problem since McCain was seen as a “regular Guy” to lift a brew with at the local. Sorry but a poll (Gallup?) asked that periennial silly question - “Who would you like to have at your 4 July picnic?” and the majority went with Barack. Devastating quote: “Having mcCain would be like going to the retirement home!”
Jul 2, 2008 - 6:19 pm Bill Bradley:Interesting. Sounds like a cherrypicked quote, however, Richard. But Obama is a cool guy. To the extent he makes himself seem approachable, he accentuates that.
Jul 2, 2008 - 7:00 pm Bill Bradley:The price of gas is the single most important and talked about economic number for the average American.
To not know what it is is rather telling.
Because unlike milk, you can look out the window as you ride along and see what it is. Like everybody else does …
>Brasky:
Maybe he was confused because the prices were in pesos…
I’m getting a Bush checkout stand vibe from this.
Jul 2, 2008 - 7:02 pm Dana:Jul 2, 2008 - 6:08 pm
Guilty.
Well, image is a tricky thing. Perceptions don’t have to be tied to reality. I don’t think it is fatal for Obama, and his ads seem aimed at addressing it. Which is smart.
>richard locicero:
Someone above mentioned that Obama had a problem since McCain was seen as a “regular Guy” to lift a brew with at the local. Sorry but a poll (Gallup?) asked that periennial silly question - “Who would you like to have at your 4 July picnic?” and the majority went with Barack. Devastating quote: “Having mcCain would be like going to the retirement home!”
Jul 2, 2008 - 8:07 pm Sam Loomis:Is there any proof one way or the other whether speculators are really a significant component in the oil price? The Saudis say so, but they have a good reason to lie and blame somebody else.
Bill Bradley:
Jul 3, 2008 - 7:11 am Jonas Blane:The price of gas is the single most important and talked about economic number for the average American.
What video today?
Jul 3, 2008 - 7:35 am Bill Bradley:We’ll see, on this 4th of July weekend.
Jul 3, 2008 - 8:00 am Bill Bradley:Yes.
>Sam Loomis:
Is there any proof one way or the other whether speculators are really a significant component in the oil price? The Saudis say so, but they have a good reason to lie and blame somebody else.
Bill Bradley:
Jul 3, 2008 - 8:01 am Bill Bradley:The price of gas is the single most important and talked about economic number for the average American.
Jul 3, 2008 - 7:11 am
Of what?
>Dana:
Guilty.
Jul 3, 2008 - 8:02 am Dana:I was the “someone” Richard was referring to in re Obama and image.
Jul 3, 2008 - 9:06 am Bill Bradley:Incidentally, NWN passed 66,000 comments sometime in the past week.
Jul 9, 2008 - 10:09 am