Wow! Thank you for saying what needed to be said, Theda.

Sign me up.

Yes. Thank you Theda.

I just posted similar points here and here.

Thanks. As I have said before, the bottom line is Obadiah (TPM spell check correction for 'obama') has not shown why 'the hands that built.....can now build.....' need Obama to build anything.

It must be shown that under McCain the lobbyists will rule and America will continue to be looted, lied to, and the economy will continue to sink.

Given the choice, many 'undecided' lunchpail types would just as soon build new stuff under an old and 'honorable war hero' (who is white) than a rockstar black with a funny name.

Adding to my own post, I don't really think this afternoon's Obama conference call will work, with Susan Rice and Richard Clarke calling McCain reckless. This theme needs to be in a larger across the board critique and push back -- especially one using his own words to show how hot-triggered he was in the original plunge into Iraq. But don't start a push back with a metaphorically weak point, during a week when Russia is a bete noir for attacking Georgia (which has good ties to the U.S. media). Start with points that bespeak strength first, and don't have experts deliver them. Have political leaders do it.

Theda Skocpol for VP. It's not too late!!

Great stuff, Theda. I swear (or affirm, actually) that I didn't read you before I posted mine. This fight-back can't just be left to surrogates. Obama's a better speaker than any of them will be--any.

I think Obama needs to change the direction of his attack. Don't take the battle to McCain, take it to the Republicans -- make THAT the focus. Attacking McCain personally is a no-win. He is viewed as a war hero and a likeable guy. Nobody's going to change that paradigm in a couple of months.

Obama needs to make the narrative that this is a choice between him and the party that brought you the catastrophe the United States is suffering today.

He needs to be asking the "are you better off today that yesterday?" question over and over. REMIND people what McCain's party has wrought, NOT what McCain has done personally. He's seen as a candidate who has bucked the party, so that dog won't hunt.

what a major league disappointment this Obama campaign has become. Kerry redux. In fairness to Kerry, the attacks on Obama are not anything compared to the swift boat attacks on Kerry. The McCain camp will not even need the heavy-duty stuff. McCain supports the worst president in history, weds himself to an incredibly unpopular war, supports the economic policies that are impoverishing the middle class, flips repeatedly on every issue, has character issues a mile long and the Obama camp is on the defensive every day. The Democratic Party, aka "Wimps 'R Us".

Obama is running a classical Democratic campaign.
The Democrats are only placeholders until we can find something better (a third party that will replace it).
They have run Congress so poorly that maybe it wasn't such a good idea for them to become (care of Lieberman) the majority Party in both houses.
The need for a third party has not been so great since the 1850's.
Since Obama is a Dem, I expected this poor campaign, and I expect it to get worse.If he wins, it will be in spite of his Party, not because of it. And if he loses, the only good that could possibly come of it would be that it will end the Democratic party as we know it.

I'm honestly dumfounded by the Democrats' collective refusal to use words like "lie" to describe deliberate falsehoods and "liar' to describe those who lie.

Obama’s problem is that his responses to McCain are cerebral, not visceral. The average American voter is ill-informed and apathetic. Because it takes far more than a single election cycle or a 30 second ad to educate a voter it is far more effective to appeal to their raw emotion than to reason. Republicans have recognized and exploited this basic fact of American politics for a generation.

If Obama wants to win this thing, he needs to stop saying McCain is a Bush clone or that he favors tax cuts for the rich and start selling the story that McCain is a borderline-senile, cranky old son-of-a-bitch who thinks he’s better than the rest of us.

It ain't bean bag!

I agree completely. Have we learned nothing in the last 2 elections? Obama needs to run a campaign that is the polar opposite of Kerry 04.

If he picks Bayh, it will be a disaster of epic proportions.

Bring on a fighter like Clark, or even Hillary. Actually, Hillary is looking a lot more appealing these days.

It is almost like the Obama campaign is trying to win the approval of a hand full of media pundits. When they don't give their approval (as in the Clark dust up) they drop their heads, sulk away and try something else. It is just time for Obama to realize that it is better to be respected than liked. The media types aren't going to like him anyway. Punch McCain in the nose. If he gets up, punch him again.

The other day I say a wonderful memo from the Obama camp outlining McCain's weakness on womens issues. He could win the election if he just hits McCain and kept hitting him on his anti-woman positions. I saw a wonderful memo but no follow up. No comment in the press. Nothing. Just a damn memo outlining exactly how to hit McCain.

The same on national security. McCain is a hothead of the first order. Obama's surrogates have said so this afternoon. I bet by tomorrow morning that approach will fall by the wayside as some pundit says it is unfair to McCain or some other person on the Obama campaign wimps out.

The story for the next two months should be about McCain's weaknesses. The story should be unrelenting.

I hope the Obama campaign reads this (and other intelligent criticism) and puts its recommendations into action, including selecting Hillary as VP (never thought I'd say it).

If Obama wants to continue to produce change and be seen as reaching across the aisle, I think Chuck Hagel would be a great VP choice. Hagel is an veteran who bucked his party, and criticized the war when it was VERY unpopular in his party to do so.
He has loads of foreign policy experience, and he's a forceful speaker.

Bless you for making your point very clearly to the Obama Camp. It's so damned frightening to watch hopelessly as McSame gains in the polls when he should be way behind. For America's sake, Mr. Obama, heed the warnings before it's too late! You CANNOT REASON with emotional Americans. Hit McShame in the gut, and DO NOT LET UP!

Agreed. Who pays attention to the surrogates' conference calls anyway?

O is not a wimp. He is tough but he is a finesse player, like his basketball game. But I do think that he has to adjust to the opponent's game because they got his number now.

He needs to grind it out and put him on his heels.

Amen to everything. If you knew me, you'd know how incredible this next statement is, but I even agree that it might be time to make Hillary the VP. Things do change. (And, like they say: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.)

OK... to be fair... As someone has pointed out several times. McCain does seem to have a ceiling. He is throwing quite a lot of money around and advertising heavily and yet it's still close. Maybe Obama's campaign really is holding their fire, their cash, their rough and tumble smack-backs until after the convention and VP pick. Fine. I hope those folks are right. This, however, doesn't negate everything Theda, Todd, and Josh (and a few of us readers, to be a bit conceited here. ;^}) have said. The VFW speech was weak, there should already be hard hitting ads about McCains duplicity, etc... Not later, now!

Yes, Theda, it's way past time for them to wake up.

I think they are just getting started! I have learned throughout this campaign not to underestimate this guy. Every time I think he got it wrong, he comes out smelling like a rose. The combination of Rev Wright and taking on the Clintons would have decimated most politicians. But, he is still standing. I suspect a lot more is coming soon.

Great Post!

If only someone from the Obama campaign could read your post.

That's exactly how many of us feel.

Hoping for Biden as VP but it will probably be Bayh who isn't really a fighter.

At this point I don't have much hope for a fighting VP choice.

The situation is close to dire. At this point I'm sorry I didn't invest my time and money in Hillary. What's going on in Chicago?

Obama’s opponent is NOT McCain right now. Obama’s real opponent is Obama. The problem with Obama is his arrogant thinking that he has the CREDIBILITY as a Democratic Party Leader. The primary electorate who voted for him overlooked his major weaknesses. First of all, he should accept that. Moreover, he doesn’t have any credibility to attack McCain because of his lack of presence in the National or State political scene in the last several years. Even his VP (like Biden, Nunn , Hillary) candidates may have credibility attacking McCain not him. Obama wasted almost two months of precious time with a ton of campaign money. With his ton of campaign money, he could have orchestrated several monologue type solo prime-time national town hall meetings (like Hillary’s Hallmark Channel town-hall meeting) to explain each of his public policy positions (Health Care/Economy & taxes/Foreign Policy/Iraq war etc) in a very substantive manner. Also, Obama could have used the friendly MSM to write positive things about his town-hall meetings. By presenting this way, the UNDECIDED ELECTORATE would have taken him seriously as a substantive leader. Since this was not done, the celebrity ads by McCain camp worked. It is already too late. Obama cannot do this in Denver convention. Right after convention, instead of big rallies and inspiring speeches, he should immediately conduct these kinds of solo National Town Hall Meetings in the prime time in NBC/CBS/ABC. This should be done before the first presidential debate and the World Series. Otherwise the game is over.

(Bill Clinton conducted these kinds of solo town hall meetings in 1992 and impressed lot of people like me with his substantive knowledge in Economy. His substantive explanation of Volcker/Carter’s fiasco in raising interest rates during 1976-80 recession time was hailed by the press and the electorate. At that time he was a small state governor and the electorate doesn’t know him either.)

I am glad you write this post. I have written on the campaign website myself, perhaps, they would feel the same sense of urgency that we felt.

This is no primary season any longer. Obama needs to step up his game and go after McCain real hard. McCain's new radio Ad is brutal and i am surprise Obama didn’t use the same language first. The Ad basically accused Obama of taxing our children to pay for his spending.

What is Ploufe thinking, especially after a brilliant primary campaign? The only plausible - though hardly reasonable - explanation is that he wants Obama going into the fall election season as the underdog. Meanwhile Obama is squandering the excitement of a lot of the young people who got him where he is, including me.

The campaign strategy should be simple: Let Obama be Obama.

McCain, a war hero who was held prisoner by the Vietnamese for over 5 years, has a lifetime of foreign policy experience, not including the over 5 years the war hero spent as a POW in Vietnam. John McCain, former POW and war hero, also happens to be a war hero who was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese for over 5 years.

McCain is a war hero, do you hear me????

McCain was a POW. He doesn’t like talking about it.

More surrogates

More attacks

Repeat similar lines of attack ad nauseum until they stick. A few times is not enough. Call McCain "hothead" or "cheater" every day until November.

And excoriate the SOB at the convention. Rip into him. Not just feel good stuff. Last time in 2004, it was all feel good and the GOP's was nothing but negative attacks. They got the bounce we didn't

OBAMA!

McCain said the solution to our financial woes is to...get a second job!

Dude, replay that over and over again! We're americans! We hate working our EXISTING jobs, let alone ANOTHER job. He's a rich man telling us to GET A SECOND JOB.

This is great. As if getting the right strategy up the flag poll is the most effective move to make. You're all smart people here. Take that passion to your neighbor's doorstep. Influence your sphere, that's how this works.

Ground game isn't worth a bucket of warm spit without a MESSAGE. (And I don't mean vague handwaving about hope.)

c

The problem with the Obama campaign is they refuse to seek help. Since getting the nomination many party elders and third parties have complained about the Obama campaign Chicago inner circle. Here's the problem: the Obama campaign got too confident about their November prospects not realizing McCain is an acquired(stale and sour) but acquired.

Without reading this post. Was it a bunch of whining about what Obama isn't doing with the magic formula for what he should be doing followed by a bunch of "RIGHT ON!", "YOU SAID IT!" and other such nonsense.

So-called "progressives" are the most limp-spined, chicken-little, Pollyannish cowards around.

I like how Obama is running his campaign. Weeks of McCain's negative attacks and Obama is STILL winning. Now we're seeing the beginnings of Obama's classy assault. But you all want him to be as big a douche as McCain in doing it.

Pathetic.

Although the situation is concerning but it is NOT dire.

Hello it is August BEFORE the Democratic convention.

Now if Obama was BEHIND in October than the situation would be considered dire.

Like a lot of other people I couldn't agree more. I've posted as much. But hold on to your hats. He's going to pick Bayh and that should seal the deal for McCain.

Amen! I am so tired of bad news on this campaign, I think Obama really needs to shake things up with the VP nomination. A fighter, absolutely. But a big name. I'm to the point where I think it has to be Gore, Clinton, or maybe Warner. I never thought I'd say Clinton, either...

Hmmm...? Maybe Barack needs a Hillary in New Hampshire moment!

J/K

Sure hope this little tid bit from Taegen Goddard gets more attention:

Bonus Quote of the Day
"Ma'am, let me say that I don't disagree with anything you said."

-- John McCain, responding to a woman in a town hall meeting earlier today, who concluded her comments with the line "if we don't re-enact the draft, I don't think we'll have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell."

What tell the rich find out John McCain wants to send their sons and daughters to war!

St. Augustine said that hope has two beautiful daughters: anger and courage. O needs to show all three: hope, courage, AND anger.

Offshore L-48 drilling would add 0.2 million barrels per day (Mb/d) to global oil supply in 2030. This compares to today's global volume of 86 MB/d (US consumption about 20 Mb/d and imports of about 12 Mb/d). This is a trivial distraction, not an energy policy.

The US Energy Information Administration says:

"For the lower 48 OCS, annual crude oil production in 2030 is projected to be 7 percent higher—2.4 million barrels per day in the OCS access case compared with 2.2 million barrels per day in the reference case."

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html

How do I send this to the campaign and Rachel Maddow (the only commentator who is actually intrested in facts AFAIK.

I hope the Obama campaign reads Professor Skocpco's piece because it is really right on target, and the most concise diagnosis and prescription I've read yet. And from an academic no less!
Thank you professor!

Americans have held their noses and voted for known liars, crooks, panderers, hypocrites and imbeciles ... but they will not vote for a perceived wimp.

I don't know why Democrats are so petrified of fighting dirty ... the voters actually respect it when you do. Voters know McCain is running a negative campaign. He's getting a bump in the polls not only despite it, but because of it. Undecided voters know Obama is smart and they know he's a great orator, but they don't know if he has any balls. I'm an Obama suppoter, and I don't even know.

Josh Marshall, ten months ago:

For months I've been quietly hoping that Barack Obama would at least make a race of it with Hillary Clinton. So I was more than a little disappointed when all the metrics of conventional wisdom (in the wise and foolish senses) started showing Hillary leaving Obama in the dust and becoming the dominant frontrunner and presumptive nominee. . . .

Obama isn't so much running for the nomination in the sense of reaching out and taking it. He's trying to show us how marvelous he is (and this isn't snark, he's really pretty marvelous) so that Democratic voters will recognize it and give him the nomination.

But that's not how it works in this country. I don't know if it really works otherwise anywhere else. But you have to really want it, come out and say it, take it. I thought about qualities that describe what is at issue. 'Toughness' seems to bound up in meta-national security mumbojumbo. 'Ruthlessness' sounds too, well, ruthless. You have to want it enough that you reach out and take it. Which isn't always pretty and admirable. But that's what it takes.

Obama knows what he's doing. He's patient, shrewd, and he's shown over and over in his political career he's willing to play rope-a-dope. Watch the man work.

Your post caught a lot of what I'm feeling, Theda. How about this for defining McCain?

"Does John McCain really think he's going to chase bin Laden to the gates of hell? In 2003, George W. Bush forgot who wore the uniform, too. Bush got a great photo-op on an aircraft carrier. Our brave soldiers are still paying for his lack of leadership judgment. Real Presidents lead. Soldiers fight. It's time for a President who knows the difference."

Or this (delivered by Jim Webb):
"Real soldiers don't go around bragging about what they did in the last war--or what they're gonna do in the next one."

I remember receiving this same "These guys know what they're doing" and "It's only August" lecture in August 2004, when Kerry was just taking a Swiftboat beating with a smile.

I'm with you.
If the Obama campaign doesn't show some street fight during and immediately after the convention, my next Obama installment is going to MoveOn with the same note. Fight hard, fight dirty, fight long. Cut these liars off at the knees, and then piss on their heads, because they just don't understand anything more subtle.

How is this constant barrage of millions of people saying the same thing not making its way deep into Chicago? I'm from Illinois and even I'll admit to feeling as if the footing has gotten a little shaky the past few weeks.

The monologue from Network looms overhead:

I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is: 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get MAD! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. (shouting) You've got to say, 'I'm a human being, god-dammit! My life has value!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!...You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!'

Good grief. I haven't seen this much handwringing in ages... or was it 2004? Egads, sometimes it's tough to be a Democrat. Can you only imagine an angry, spewing Obama out there on the trail? Egads, he's an angry Black man! RUNNN AWAYYY!!!

Calm down, people. Maybe you all need one of John McCain's Ambiens to help you sleep?

Anyhoo, flame away...

...it might be time to turn to Hillary. She is at least a fighter, and this election really matters to a lot more than you and her.

Professor, you are saying many of the same things I was telling my friends in early spring to explain why I was not jumping on the Obama bandwagon with them. It seemed to me that the great lesson of the 2000 and 2004 elections was that to beat Republicans, the candidate needs to be willing to take them on directly, even to the point of being seen as disrespectful or even rude. (Jim Webb had his moments of being criticized for that in the race against George Allen, but that's what he needed to do.)

Hillary Clinton was not my first choice in the primary, but it was obvious that she was the one most willing to fight for the nomination, and I just could not see that Obama was willing to dirty his hands in a political fight. What that translates to for voters is, "If he's not willing to fight for himself, how can I think he will fight for me?"

Granted, a cool head is a significant asset, and something greatly to be desired in a political leader, but there is such a thing as being too cool and too cerebral. That's a good part of what sunk Dukakis's bid for the presidency. The question in one of the debates about whether he would support the death penalty if his wife were raped and murdered was grossly unfair, certainly, but his cool and cerebral response to it, while logically consistent with his political past, came across as weirdly cold. Better he should have fired back in anger at the moderator for asking such a loaded question, which could then have been followed by the answer his prep team had prepared in anticipation of a "Willie Horton" question, an answer that included an expression of empathy for crime victims and noted that members of his own family had been victims of violent crime. That would have seemed far more human.

People want coolness in a president, but they also want to see passion and compassion, and they are suspicious of candidates that do not display it.

God bless Theda but when was the last time one of your posts got 150 comments w/in the first few hours?

Have to ask - Am I being manipulated?

What are the two stories that the media are covering 24/7 and which have Obamans near apoplexy???

1. VP selection
2. Obama's slide in the polls

Rope-a-dope's only a part of it....maybe all just coincidence

Next Friday morning we'll either be fired up and ready to go or not

The root of all this goes back to the primary, where Obama chose to knife Hillary in the back by implying that she was a racist and all sorts of other nasty things.

He got away with that because it was a DEMOCRATIC primary and the kids just love to find "racism" behind ever curtain and Obama exploited that peculiarity.

The rest of us found that tactic shameful.

Now he is here.

He cannot play the race card now because it won't work with the general electorate. In fact it would hurt him.

McCain is constantly implying that Obama is not as patriotic as he should be, that he is more interested in winning than doing positive things for America, etc...all of which subliminally play on the fact that he is black and many whites secretly believe that to be true about blacks in general.

It is so stealthy that nobody can really say that McCain is a racist since attacking Obama's patriotism is only subliminally associated with his being Black.

Honestly, if it were any white person facing McCain, would the "not sufficiently patriotic" card play as well? Could McCain for example have used it against Hillary. I doubt it because it is not remotely plausible to the American Zeitgeist to impugn Hillary with a lack of patriotism and this--at least in part--because she is white.

Some of us saw this vulnerability from the start. But we were smeared as racist ourselves.

Now we are here.

The reason why I think Obama needs to pick Hillary is precisely because he knifed her in the back in the primaries and thus alienated a significant portion of Democrats who saw it.

If he picks Hillary, he will atone for the sin he committed in the primaries.

To all you Obamanoids: you can deny all I said above and think that this is not an issue in this campaign but it is.

I am on my way to sign up with the Obama Campaign as a volunteer. But the deep rift that Obama caused in the Democratic body politic is not going to go away by ignoring that it is there and neither Biden nor Sibelius will solve that problem.

Nova Voter makes good points. It is a marathon. I am confident Axelrod et al have a real strategy. And the ground game can help in close contests.

But as a Red Sox fan, I know that Papelbon does us no good when we let the other team build up a lead going into late innings. And I am quite sure about the atmospherics of toughness in presidential politics. It is not so much that Obama has to be negative as that he has to convey mastery and power -- in a combative context. When he counterpunches, he should do it with short, active statements and always characterize why his approach is better for America than McCain's. He should cut really short the praise for McCain.

Whining about how his motives are good (he "loves his country") and begging McCain to play nice convey weakness not strength. No one will have enough of a lead to need a closer if he plays the middle innings that way. And Democrats need to see that August is middle innings. Impessions are laid down that matter later.

What is worse, Obama does tend to check out into meta-professorialisms. Too often, he appears to be analyzing voters rather than speaking directly to them (he did that today in VA) -- or analyzing an issue rather than articulating a value-perspective (as he did with the beginning of life question at Saddleback). He also gets disdainfully withdrawn when unexpected bad things get done to him. Remember his awful performance in the Pennsylvania debate. When the commentators and Clinton got nasty, he literally wilted and looked like he needed to be somewhere else. He lost that primary by too big a margin -- and, sadly, he lost a lot of the tough contests after February.

I cannot tell what they are thinking in Chicago, but I worry they believe their primary-type approaches will work in a very different battle context. Pulling punches and playing cautious to last out a win made sense in an intra-party battle. But will it work in this general election against a party/McCain camp that is pulling out every stop to win any way they can?

Obama promised us a gun for a knife -- and I want him to show in his manner of acting each step of the way that he can deliver on that promise.

Well, get out there and voice these things to your neighbors and friends. It's kind of pointless preaching to the choir on blogs. Most people don't read them, or if they do they read blogs that are consistent with their views--not much to learn there.

TOTALLY AGREE...........EXCEPT FOR "and I never expected to believe this -- it might be time to turn to Hillary. She is at least a fighter."

IF OBAMA LOSES THE ELECTION, YOU CAN SQUARELY BLAME IT ON HILLARY, BILL AND THEIR PUMA HUSSEIN HATERS/SUPPORTERS..... If Obambi can't control Hillary at the Convention (with prominent speaking roles for her and Bill, a roll call vote from Hillary delegates; and a video introduction by their close friends from Hollywood, the Bloodworths, what is it going to be like when Obambi is POTUS and if the unfortunate were to happen to Obama (but gleefully applauded by the PUMA supporters), Hillary then becoming POTUS...

YOU MADE SOME VERY COGNANT AND ASTUTE OBSERVATIONS about Obambi's lack of "fighting" words BUT Hillary's base of support comes mostly from a generation of older voters who think nothing of it to be prejudice or at least, racial in their preferences. Many say even if Hillary was put on the ticket as V.P., they still would NOT vote for "Hussein" Obama.

Obambi boxed himself in when he alluded to the suggestion that his (earlier) campaign would be above the fray, it would be a new kind of politics of taking the "high road" to the White House. But reality has now set in (by the way of polls and attack ads)......Obambi will have to go "negative" because IT DOES work and that's how you CAN win, no matter how much and how often the public claims they dislike negative campaigning.

Great piece, obama needs to stop honoring john mccain due to mccain feels like i won't let this black kid beat me. obama needs to expose mccain for what he is a liar plain and simple.

as for hillary, he does not need her on the ticket to win even now. the polls are controlled by the republicans, but you need to watch the movement on the ground and how all the new people supporting him and knows the importance of winning this race.the media is controlling this race also watch the negative ads that are run 3/4 times in an hour on cnn,msmbc & how the media always talk up hillary as if he's weak that is part of the karl rove strategy & he needs her to win BS. it's a mind game being played on everyone. the republicans want to have hillary so they can finish her off when bill was impeached. he will lose of he picks her. obama does not receive positive reporting after careful examination the pundits talk about mccain as if he's god & back him 100% & his crap is sweep under the rug look what happen at saddleback. obama has real plans and with the help of the republicans and media have shot down every idea- when asked which plan is better mcccain or obam the key word "neither " due to mccain has no plans, bu to take us to more wars & reinstate the draft. this country is overstretched now.mccain is neocon who lives for taken over countries less fortunate than us mccains game plan is to run on being a POW who suffered and feels he's entitled to be president and resent the fact he has to run against a black man. just like hillary.
the pundits or so called "experts" down play or try to discredit his plans as "foolish" . which are very good . the rebuttal from Paris" to mccain on energy was obama's plan if anyone listen to his speeches you would realize the connection. she was endorsing obama without saying so out right.if hillary want party unity as she claims she does not need to be made VP all she has to do pull out her bag of tricks and attack mccain for the liar and phoney he is, perhaps she can't due to she's a pathological liar hersef.
i have all the confidence that obama will come out as winner it is destined.

I can't believe all these scared posts. Never doubt when a winner has a plan. That is the best way to sabotage his winning. Thanks, Theda, Josh, andrew, bluebell and fogu and to all those who think Obama should do this that and the other. I hope he does NOT lsiten to you. I am almost afraid that he will choose HRC because the blogs have scared him into doing it. The woman could not even manage her own campaign, how do you think she is going to manage the country with her grating voice and her smug smile. She is fighting for WHAT???????????????????? A fighter, they called her and od so now. What does she need fighting for????? Nobody is PAYING attention to the election and the media knows it and yet they play their mischief along with their PUMA cohorts. People are toooooooooooooooooooo busy watching the olympics. Mccain ahs gotten away with a lot because OF THE MEDIA and will not get away with it after the dem convention. do you think the obama people are not wondering what HRC will pull at the convention? No. She is no angel and I am certain she has something up her sleeve. why was her brother meeting with carlaFiorini, huh? Let him have the party behind him 100% and then he will go on the offense when THE TIME WILL BE RIGHT AND THE COUNTRY WILL BE FOCUSING ON THE ELECTIONS!!!!! Theda- these ar things you should know even if your readers don't.

Thank you, chuck DC, thank you.

Brilliant post!

Theda,

You're dead on with all your comments as all of us who have been howling to high heaven in hopes the Obama people would not repeat the obvious blunders that Kerry and Gore and Dukakis all made in their losses to inferior and less popular opponents. None of what you are saying is new. None of what you are saying is nuanced or difficult to understand. Millions of Democrats have been awake during these past elections and we all agree on what it's going to take to win.

It's as plain as day and as well known as the Happy Birthday song that Americans won't vote for a pussy for President. Yet that is what the Democrats portray themselves as to the American people. They want to appear "Presidential" and they want to appeal to all the "right" people and apparently they want these things more than they do the Presidency. Obama has looked weak and ineffective all summer long while that doddering old fool of a war-monger has spit in his face and pissed on his shoes over and over. Obama's response has been consistently flaccid. He thinks he is coming off as "above it all" when he's actually coming off like a woos who isn't man enough to defend himself or his positions. Americans can't respect someone like that and many won't vote for someone like that. After all, they think to themselves, if he won't defend himself, will he be man enough to defend the country?

The smug, self-satisfied, and oh-so-self-absorbed Obama campaign is so blinded by the brilliance of their narrow primary victory over the Clinton forces they have convinced themselves that they will create victory where the others failed to do so even though they're using the same tired and ineffective approach. Do you, or any of us believe these people will listen to the screams of millions of Democrats who are telling them "Fight! Fight! Fight! Stand up for yourself and fight!"? I don't think they will and there isn't the slightest indication that they will.

They aren't listening and won't listen because they convinced themselves that all their marketing BS about hope, and birpartisanship and how Obama was going to "transcend" politics, etc... is actually true even though we who have closely followed Presidential elections and politics generally know it is not true and indeed is nothing but unadulterated bullshit.

The question is not what should they do that they haven't been doing. We know what they need to do and you've articulated it very well. The question is how in the name of God do we get those dumbasses running Obama's campaign and Obama himself to wake up to the fact that they are going to lose if they don't fight those Republican pricks and fight them with every ounce of strength they've got? Frankly, I don't know if it can be done. If they are like the other losing Democratic campaigns, they will figure it out about two weeks out from the election and then it will be too late. If someone can figure out how to get the attention of those fools and impress upon them that they are recreating the same losing scenario as last time then God bless them! Till then, all the rest of us can do is scream out to them: FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! WHEN THEY HIT YOU ONCE---HIT THEM BACK TWICE AND HARDER!!!!!!

Anyone see today's Zogby poll?

McCain *up* -- yeah, fucking *up* -- by 5.

Vacation or no vacation, Olympics (quit watching -- you're supporting consolidated media and a country that's committing genocide, and yes, I'd not watch any games held here, either) or no Olympics, Obama'd better do something.

And is anyone really comfortable with any sort of an Obama lead going into Election Day? Do you think White Hilljack American Male *isn't* going to get nervous about pulling a lever for a Black man?

Please.

Obama needs to hammer away at the economy, the mortgage crisis, his ability to relate to other world leaders, the war, education, and jobs. McCain has admitted the economy is his weak point, Obama must state what he knows and why he can do better. Remind voters that the wealthy benefit from Bush/McCain policies and McCain is the one that has money. How many houses does one family need? We all know what it takes to care for one apartment or home, who takes care of the McCain homes? Cindy? (Elitist) Show voters and homeowners (and renters too) that are losing their houses because of the mortgage debacle.
Reiterate that, regardless of the surge, this war should never have begun and tell the voters about his good judgment before the war started. Over 4000 dead and countless wounded. Bring up the Walter Reed hospital disaster again and that our veterans are still not getting the care they need. Where was McCain, a veteran himself during all this? What has he done for veterans?
Explain to voters that there is a direct correlation between socio-economic status and academic success. When citizens have good jobs and can offer their children enrichment in addition to what schools offer, success in schools follows. The economy, jobs and education are very closely related and this is what voters can connect with so they are more willing to vote.
Obama must define his priorities and make a plan to get the economy moving. This is what the average voter can relate too. Otherwise, they buy into the patriotism B.S.

To all here who are complaining: get off the computer, have a big Obama house meeting and YOU tell your friends and neighbors this stuff about McCain. Sheesh. It's about US, not Obama.

WAY TO GO......I'M A LIFE LONG DEMOCRAT...A LONG LIFE AT THAT......NO-ONE HAS EVER BEEN ELECTED TO OFFICE HEAPING PRAISE ON THEIR OPPONENT..UNLESS DONE WITH SCATHING SARCASM....OBAMA SEEMS TO BE INCAPABLE OF THAT....HIS 'SWEET' PLATIUDES WILL NOT GET THE JOB DONE..I WAS AND STILL AM A HILLARY SUPPORTER....THE 'OPERA' WITH THE REV.WARREN WAS THE DUMBEST THING I HAVE EVER LISTENED TO....IN A WAY, OBAMA WAS EXTREMELY BRAVE TO EVEN VENTURE INTO THAT 'LIONS DEN'..KNOWING FULL WELL HE WAS FACING A CROWD OF HOSTILE MCCAIN SUPPORTERS//WHEN HAS MCCAIN EVER FACED A COMPARABLE GROUP? MCCAIN, LIKE BUSH , IS BASICLY A COWARD; AFRAID TO GO WHERE HE IS NOT ASSURED OF A FREINDLY AUDIENCE..

Yes, I agree, we need more fight in the campaign; time for knives out. And I also agree we needed a fighter in the VP slot. I was really angry with Hillary during the primary, but I would happily back her as VP. She is smart and an agressive campaigner.

Are today's developments making you a little happier, Theda?

They are me.

Barack- when you strike, you are to strike hard.
7 homes- not enough!!!! McCain gives us so much to work with. We are losing the battle but there is time to win the 'war' - pun intended

Notice how the Obamanoids are busy rehearsing the "it is all Hillary's fault" in case Obama loses.

They were never mature enough to run an election.

They never got past the "Hillary is a bitch", "Obama is The One". They are stuck there now, incapable of casting a critical eye on Obama when to do so might do him some good.

For God's sake you people in the Obama campaign. Wake up!!

From Theda's lips to God's ears

Just a few thoughts for those of you who think the election takes place next week. It doesn't. And if you research the gallup Polls of the past 7 or 8 elections in late August and compare them to the final results, let me assure most of you that you are needlessly causing yourselves unnecessary stress and anguish.

1. McCain has been pouring tens of millions of dollars into the national campaign - and yet his average poll number remains stuck at 42%. Does that not tell you anything?

2. McCain will be hamstrung by his decision to accept public funds - while Obama will have probably DOUBLE McCains available funds for campaign financing from September 1 - November 3. Why fight for votes now - when the matter little? Fight for them when people are paing attention - from Convention day forward.

3. McCain is a lousy debater - and comes off far poorer than Obama in televised image. And his poor grasp of facts and legendary temper can be exploited by Obama far more easily than can scripted and edited appearances.

4. McCain has played his highest trump cards at a time when most people are not paying attention. Obama has not deviated from his stated intention to run a clean campaign. But once the campaign starts in earnest, Obama can go negative WITH JUSTIFICATION - claiming it is a reaction to his opponent's decision. Obama is saving his biggest and most damaging ammunition for September and October - not wasting it during Summer doldrums (when no one is paying much attention anyway).

5. The GOP convention kicks off on LABOR DAY - a day when NO ONE is interested in speeches. And school also opens the first week in September - another diversion that they apparently did not think of. IN short - scheduling their convention for the week of labor Day may have repurcussions they have not considered.

In short - calm down and let the man do his job - a job he appears to be handling well, given that he still leads almost every national poll (and with even higher margins when 3rd party candidates are included). If he is still wimpy and non-confrontational by October - THEN it may be time to worry.

But not yet.

It is now time to start questioning McCain's war record, demanding the release of his service files, including the over 22 filmed and taped propaganda statements he made for the North Vietnamese.

I'm hoping that his VP pick will bring the fight to the republicans. I hope that it will be Jim Webb. He would be the perfect "sparring" partner and mouthpiece for Obama. He isn't afraid to say what needs to be said. He can go toe to toe with grandpa on the military issues, knows foreign policy and has the respect of the Republicans. A perfect choice, IF he'll take it. fingers crossed.

If you have your own business and looking for other sources to getting startup capital for your business, then Federal Grants for Business is exactly what you need to apply to get more money.

Hair Connoisseurs is not like any other Central Florida hair salon because it offers an a la carte of service and an experience like no other.

Use this page to your friend told you. I am constantly followed. To receive more information about this topic the following internet sites can follow.
Bedava film izle
video tube

porno

Use this page to your friend told you. I am constantly followed. To receive more information about this topic the following internet sites can follow.
mp3 indir
Arkadaş Arıyorum

this king of people can pot many informative topics . so that i cn catch in tpm . have a great day to me ever.anyway thanks for posting here..
guided motorcycle tours

You are absolutely right, I should have notified the Community sooner, I am still new and learning who to go to for what and it seemed like the problem was fixed for a while…..but will do my best to inform you sooner for any future issues. Thanks for your support computer repair

another kind of stuff by describing the pics and thier wonderfull content . all the things are up to the mark...destination weddings in st thomas

keep posting this kind of post in this site .day by day increasing the clarity and popularity of the site . Bästa tandblekningen