No, this is the beauty of McCain's duplicity: he says he'll return to the debates only if an impasse is broken on the congressional support for the bailout plan. And, of course, everyone is reporting today that support for a revised bailout plan is pretty much in place and that the administration has caved on all the main issues raised by the Dems. So McCain will return to the debates and will proclaim he can do so because the impasse was resolved!!

Doe he not see that we're on to his shit??? He really thinks the press will not notice?? He's SUCH a phoney!!

Posted at September 24, 2008 6:24 PM in response to Obama Avoids Getting A GOP Bitch-Slapping

The more the Dems in Congress proclaim this the shameless stunt that it is, the less Obama has to say it. And that furthers Obama's aim: to stay on the high road while everyone else points out the shit.

And I'm REALLY glad the presidential debates commission members, or whoever the heck they are, are refusing to cancel Friday's affair. Those folks see what everyone else sees....

Posted at September 24, 2008 6:09 PM in response to Obama Avoids Getting A GOP Bitch-Slapping

This was meant for fogu2...

Yikes, but I sure wish this messaging system was like that of Kos...so much easier to follow.

Posted at September 23, 2008 7:32 PM in response to Obama Dramatically Ramping Up Overall Ad Spending; Now Outgunning McCain

Your quotation has absolutely nothing to do with Obama - or even McCain, for that matter. I'm not going to bother responding to you anymore, as your arguments are vapid.

Posted at September 23, 2008 7:31 PM in response to Obama Dramatically Ramping Up Overall Ad Spending; Now Outgunning McCain

Nice try. So succinct, so seemingly conclusive. But, sadly, quite overstated!

McCain has drowned the airwaves, too, but his ads - and his message - don't seem to be overtaking Obama's. We feel for you...

Posted at September 23, 2008 7:28 PM in response to Obama Dramatically Ramping Up Overall Ad Spending; Now Outgunning McCain

I'm so glad he's pushing on the pedal. I, along with numerous others, am sending money to do so and am glad to see he's honing in on states, for the most part, that were red. PA is of concern, as it's so close (though it was close going in for Gore and Kerry, too), but those of us near the border will keep working over there as hard as we can...

Posted at September 23, 2008 6:58 PM in response to Obama Dramatically Ramping Up Overall Ad Spending; Now Outgunning McCain

I looked you up, OldSarg, and something about you doesn't seem right. But that's OK. We'll indulge your ravings for what they are: ravings.

Posted at September 13, 2008 9:57 PM in response to Explain to me please

But you've not been clued in to the fact that Anericans are currently divided 50-50 between Obama and McCain. So apparently half of the country would completely dispute your claims.

Furthermore, those of us who strongly support Obama feel that government officials shouldn't be using their power with subordinates to "take care of" family and friends. Maybe to you that's perfectly OK, though I suspect you'd be among the first to bitch and moan if your own governor was doing such a thing...

And we happen to think the Obamas are a helluva sight more normal than McCain and Palin, who have no problems being seen as liars. There's something strange about that, really, really strange and abnormal.

Sorry, but your arguments don't impress me whatsoever.

Posted at September 13, 2008 7:48 PM in response to Explain to me please

I saw an ad recently - I'll try to find the link - that showed the video clip of Palin in her Bush Doctrine moose-in-the-headlights moment contrasted with an older video of McCain who was asked his opinion of the Bush Doctrine and who didn't hesitate to answer the question - because he KNEW what that doctrine was.

I couldn't agree with you more about the dangers of a lazy media: that Palin, for instance, isn't boned up on the federal scene and that this is a serious concern about her candidacy and must be kept in the headlines. I, too, worry that the bar seems set so low that our VPs and Ps are asked by some to only know what WE, "the people" -know. That's a freakin' scary thought! Folks who specialize in federal governmental administration are supposed to know more about federal administrative issues than we, who specialize in local real estate or bartending or whatever....hello!

In any case, the only answer I have to your rhetorical question about the overall ethics of media is that we can't win by sitting back and wringing hands. We must continue to lobby them with our letters to the editor and our phone calls to their desks and our diaries here on TPM and other sites. Thanks to this kind of lobbying, folks on "The View" have already taken issue to McCain himself and so have many other prominent news writers and columnists, despite this Washington Post story you cite.

The media is not an invisible translator of facts and figures...it's an interpreter and distributor of its own interpretations, and our task must be to keep influencing their outcomes. The sooner we resign ourselves to this, the less time we'll waste worrying - and the more effective we'll become.

Posted at September 13, 2008 7:32 PM in response to Explain to me please

Even the polls are now bringing McCain back down to size. Keep your eyes and ears open, dear. The public is getting wind of McCain's lies and his focus on the insignificant instead of on the economy, and Palin's interview with Gibson didn't turn out quite the way the GOP had hoped. Obama's already started his post-911 pounding, thank goodness, and the Clintons are back on the road...

Just keep sending money for more ads. It's all good.

Posted at September 13, 2008 7:00 AM in response to Obama Promises "Bare Knuckle Fight"