More ugliness from the PA GOP:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Pennsylvania Republicans are disavowing an e-mail sent to Jewish voters that likens a vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to events that led up to the Holocaust.

"Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008," the e-mail reads. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake. Let's not make a similar one this year!"

A copy of the e-mail, provided by Democratic officials, says it was "Paid for by the Republican Federal Committee of PA - Victory 2008."

It warns "Fellow Jewish Voters" of the danger of a second Holocaust due to the threats to Israel from its neighbors and touts Republican presidential candidate John McCain's qualifications over those of Obama.

State GOP officials disavowed the e-mail and said the strategist who helped draft it had been fired.

Read the entire article here.

The photographer who took the photos of Ashley Todd's self-inflicted injuries, only gave copies of the digital photos to the Pittsburgh police, and to her employers, the College Republicans.

This means there is no way the College Republicans and the McCain campaign was not involved in pushing this story, because Matt Drudge was up with the photo before the Pittsburgh Press even had access to them.

Here's the quote from today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (emphasis mine):

Mr. (Dan) Garcia took the widely published picture of Ms. Todd with her injuries. He said he took several photographs with a digital camera to document what had happened. He said he only gave copies of the photos to police and Ms. Todd's employer, the College Republicans. One photo appeared on The Drudge Report on Thursday, setting off a storm of media attention.

Here, then, is the direct link between the College Republicans working for the McCain campaign and the story that the McCain campaign was pushing through it's regional communications director, Peter Feldman, to the Pittsburgh media outlets.

As far as I know, no one had the Ashley Todd photos up before Matt Drudge, and no one would have had them if the College Republicans had been pushing them forward. I've seen no mention that Pittsburgh Police Department was releasing them, as we know that they hadn't released any of the information specific to the Obama and McCain aspects of the case.

The McCain campaign needs to be called on their lies concerning their actions pushing this race-bating hoax.

Here's an interesting comment from reader "journeyman" at Daily Kos:

I live in central NJ and I periodically listen to AM 1210, a station devoted mostly to right-wing nutcase talk shows, to see what the other side is up to.  The other day I got in my car and went for a short drive to a nearby park to get some downtime.  It was early afternoon.  I cannot be sure of the exact time, but I think it was about 3:30.  Sean Hannity was on and after playing a montage of Obama's speeches highlighting nothing but the word "change" over and over again in order to make him look vacuous, Hannity talked about "developments in campaign from the Pittsburgh area."  There was something unsettling and gleeful about his tone of voice and I remembered thinking "uh-oh.  What are they going to pull now?"

Next he went on to discuss a McCain-Palin rally at Beaver High School in Beaver, PA, and I thought "that's it?  That's all they have?"  Then I got to the park, turned Hannity off and went for a short walk, thinking no more about it until I heard about this story.

However, if both my memory and my hunch are accurate, Sean Hannity knew this was coming at about 3:30 on Thursday.  If there was no official report from the Pittsburgh police by that time, it is a pretty good indication that he had gotten this from a contact in the McCain camp.  I'm guessing he was not alone in getting this inside info.

Big surprise, huh? McCain has gotten a little more fired up on the campaign trail, especially in Colorado this weekend, which seems to be due in part to the loss of discipline among his own staff. There's a good article up in the UK press today, and the interesting part is below. From the UK's Telegraph: "John McCain loses temper with defeatist aides as he vows to fight to the last":

A friend told The Sunday Telegraph that the message of defiance was one he had already delivered in private to his senior staff. There have even been reports that more than one of his aides last week began making inquiries about private sector jobs after the election, a clear signal that they expect to lose and a dramatic breach of etiquette in the dying days of a campaign.

The friend, who often travels with Mr McCain, said the candidate lost his temper: "There were raised voices. John's whole life has been about the fight. He won't tolerate those who won't fight. He showed his irritation at some of the pessimism in typical John style."

It was a measure of Mr McCain's weakness that a week before the election he was campaigning in Colorado, what was once a Republican state but now shows Mr Obama with a firm lead. On Saturday he was heading to New Mexico, another Western state that is slipping away.

I already diaried the story about senior staff sending out resumes here:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/astral66/2008/10/senior-mccain-advisors-sending.php

Enjoy your steaming hot cup of Saturday morning schadenfreude!

Update - The picture that is emerging: After Ashley Todd called her friend at 8:56pm and then called 911 a half-hour later on Wednesday evening to report her story to the police, the story then made its way through her personal connections to the College Republicans. By Thursday morning or mid-day the McCain campaign was notified.

The crucial bit of information centers around the campaign pushing the story to the Pittsburgh media. Those initial Pittsburgh reports included the lines about McCain and Palin having already called Todd and expressing their concern for her well-being. This indicates that a McCain strategy had been formed, that the lines about "B is for Barack" and the attacker saying the things about the McCain sticker and that Todd would "be a Barack supporter now" are all part of a formed statement that was being pushed to the Pittsburgh television and print media by 4pm on Thursday.

The other crucial bit of chronology here is that once the Pittsburgh press was convinced to run with the story line that the McCain campaign was pushing, the McCain camp could then point to the Pittsburgh TV and news website reports as substantiated material that they could then present to the Drudge Report, Fox News, and perhaps the other mainstream media outlets like CNN, ABC, etc. Its the classic "plant a story in the press, then point to the press as giving legitimacy to the story" tactic.

Is the picture becoming clearer yet?

Brian Williams covered this somewhat last night. Video up on the Jed Report:

Now, thanks to Brian Williams, we know that once it was off the ground, McCain-land continued spreading the hoax to reporters, fueling the attention it got by publicizing phone calls from both McCain and Palin to the so-called victim.

updated 1:37pm, Saturday

*******

Interesting. Tonight on Keith Olbermann's Countdown on MSNBC, Keith made the following statement:

Tonight McCain spokesman Brian Rogers denied the campaign gave out those quotes, telling Countdown, "They came from the police and were attributed to the McCain camp because of sloppy reporting." An account that does not explain why two television stations both quoted the McCain campaign, or the fact that one of them, KDKA Pittsburgh, specifically followed the McCain quotes with the line, quote, "Police, however, have not confirmed that." And tonight Countdown asked the reporter from the other station, WPXI, to check his notes. He says he got those quotes first, 4:08 pm yesterday, from McCain's Pennsylvania communications director.

So before the police released any information, the McCain campaign was pushing this story to the Pittsburgh press. The story also appeared on Drudge Report around this time, and we all know that Drudge has his own source inside the McCain campaign.

Wasn't there also mention of McCain and Palin calling the "victim" late that afternoon? Wouldn't this, too, be before the story was pushed to the press? The details, this statement is from the Pittsburgh Tribune, are vague:

A McCain campaign spokesman initially said the senator called Todd and her family when the incident was first reported. And the Obama campaign released a comment Thursday sending "our thoughts and prayers."

The Obama-Biden campaign declined to comment yesterday. Calls to McCain-Palin spokesman Peter Feldman were not immediately returned.

This statement is from the WTAE-TV Pittsburgh report, that was originally posted to their website at 4:03pm on Thursday the 23rd, and has since been updated:

"The McCain campaign is aware of the incident involving one of its volunteers. Out of respect, the campaign won't be commenting. The campaign also confirms that Senator McCain and Governor Palin have both spoken to the woman," the McCain-Palin statement said.

So was this story relayed by Ashley Todd to her College Republicans friends and supervisors, who then sent the story up to the regional campaign manager, Peter Feldman? He appears to be the point man for then pushing the "details" of the story to the press, and possibly to Drudge Report and Fox, who then ran with it all night into this morning?

Police have no evidence Todd's friends were in on the Bloomfield attack story.

"I don't trust anything she told me," Garcia said.

Garcia said he met Todd among Republican circles in College Station. They were not close friends but had been virtual friends on the Internet site Facebook. Traveling around New York and Pennsylvania to campaign for the McCain-Palin ticket, she had spent the previous Friday and Saturday nights at his house, but Garcia said he had not seen her since then.

Todd called Garcia's cell phone at 8:56 p.m. Wednesday and asked if she could come over. When she arrived, Garcia thought the etched "B" looked like it could have come from the pin of a campaign button.

Garcia said he accepted her story, partly because Todd told him that she was a student at Texas A&M, where he had graduated in May. It was important, he said, to get out the message to other alumni and Republicans.

A Texas A&M official said Todd has never been a student at the school.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune story, Todd doesn't sound like a very reliable source:

Todd has a history of making up stories, said Dustan Costine, chairman of the Robertson County, Texas, Republican Party. He and Todd volunteered together on the failed presidential campaign of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a Green Tree native. Costine said Todd told supporters there that her car was vandalized because it had the candidate's stickers on it. He provided an e-mail from Todd in which she said her car tires had been slashed.

Costine said Todd had talked of running for Texas governor in 2006 as a write-in candidate. She said she had been undergoing treatment for cancer, had lost her hair and often wore a wig. Still, he said, she constantly smoked.

Todd, of course, is not the main issue anymore. Lots of questions remain, but central to all of this is the contradiction of the Pittsburgh reporters who claim they heard it first from the McCain people. If that's the case, the McCain camp is guilty of pushing this false, race-baiting story.

 A PDF copy of the police report can be read here:

http://www.wpxi.com/download/2008/1024/17795915.pdf 

Meanwhile, back in Real America :

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin met with an independent investigator Friday to testify about allegations she abused her powers during a long-running personnel controversy that has now distracted from her Republican vice presidential campaign.

Palin waved but did not speak to reporters when she arrived at a Missouri hotel for her deposition, scheduled to last two hours before a lawyer from the Alaska Personnel Board. The board is investigating whether Palin abused her powers by firing her public safety commissioner.

The commissioner claims he was dismissed because he refused to fire Palin's former brother-in-law, a state trooper involved in a messy divorce with Palin's sister. The scandal, known as "Troopergate," took on national significance after John McCain selected Palin as his running mate.

"She's been looking forward to this day," Palin's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said Friday. "She would like to tell her story and she'd like people to know the truth."

Yeah. Right.

The gift that keeps on giving:

The national committee of the College Republicans went into damage control mode Friday afternoon after a college-aged McCain volunteer confessed to fabricating her claim that a black assailant had carved a "B" into her face after mugging her.

"When Ms. Todd initially contacted us claiming to have been attacked, our first reaction was obviously to be concerned for her safety," said College Republicans communications director Ashley Barbera. "We are as upset as anyone to learn of her deceit. Ashley must take full responsibility for her actions."

On Thursday, the conservative website Hot Air described discussions with both Charlie Smith and Ethan Eilon, the National Chair and Executive Director of the group, in which both attested to the validity of the widely distributed photo of an injured Todd, and affirmed that the image came from her.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/24/ashley-todd-college-repub_n_137639.html

Favorite quote from the Hot Air website coverage:

Some people are already saying "hoax"; I think that's unlikely (but still possible).  Thanks to the local news report, we know the attack occurred.  Not too many young women would scar their faces just to create a political hoax.  As for the reversed/upside-down B, all I can tell you is that I got this from a source close to Ashley, who assured me that she wanted to go public (it was also on her Twitter page) and that the photo came directly from her.

Emphasis mine. Well, now we know of at least one. After reading the postings at Hot Air, it is apparent that a lot of people out there desperately wanted this story to be true. A sad state of affairs. 

As many of you are already aware, the Obama campaign has a great new website up called "Under the Radar" (http://radar.barackobama.com/) where people can report negative direct mail, door hangers, robocalls and push polling. The site features an interactive map that displays where these tactics are in use:

What I find so telling about this map is that it reveals which states the McCain campaign is making its last stand in: Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico in the West, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and Ohio in the Midwest, and Maine, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida in the East.

I know that for those of you who follow this closely, that this is not big news, but for someone like me, who is aided greatly by visuals, this single map gives a clearer picture of the McCain strategy in its final days. 

One well-connected Republican in the private sector was shocked to get calls and resumes in the past few days from what he said were senior McCain aides - a breach of custom for even the worst-off campaigns.

This is just one of the lines from a searing look at the complete disarray the McCain campaign is currenlty in. Here's a bit more:

"The cake is baked," agreed a former McCain strategist. "We're entering the finger-pointing and positioning-for-history part of the campaign. It's every man for himself now."

A circular firing squad is among the most familiar political rituals of a campaign when things aren't going well. But it is rare for campaign aides to be so openly participating in it well before Election Day.

From the post at Politico.com: Blame game: GOP forms circular firing squad

This is hilarious!

Love the chorus, you betcha!

Yesterday I noticed on the Al Jazeera website that the speaker of Iran's parliament, Ali Larijani, had said, "We are leaning more in favour of Barack Obama because he is more flexible and rational [than rival John McCain], even though we know American policy will not change that much," an endorsement that would most likely end up in the same category as the Hamas and al-Qaida "endorsements" of Obama and McCain. You can see my post on it here:

Next Spin Cycle: Iran 'Prefers' Obama Presidency

I've been watching the story with interest, primarily because I wanted to see how long it would take for it to enter into the campaign. The US press still hasn't picked up on it, as far as I can tell, but it has hit the British press now, and there is currently a story up at the UK's top online news site, The Guardian:

A top Iranian official has said Barack Obama is the favoured candidate of Tehran, calling him more "rational" than John McCain in remarks that could be used against the Democratic US presidential hopeful.

Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, told reporters yesterday his government was "leaning more in favour of Barack Obama because he is more flexible and rational, even though we know American policy [towards Iran] will not change that much".

Larijani, an ally of Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the supreme Iranian leader, served until last year as his country's chief negotiator in talks to dismantle Tehran's nuclear programme. With the Iranian election looming next year, he is considered a potential opponent of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The author goes on to point out the potential attack line for the McCain campaign:

Larijani's remarks could provide ammunition for the McCain campaign to attack Obama before Americans go to the polls on November 4.

Republicans often condemn Obama for signalling he would conduct diplomacy with Iran without setting conditions in advance. The notion that Tehran prefers the Democrat could bolster McCain's case for tough talk against the regime.

One counterpoint that can be made, though, is that Bush, McCain and the Republicans have singled out Ahmadinejad as the embodiment of evil, and that this line endorsing Obama was made by Ahmadinejad's rival in parliament.

It will be interesting to see where this goes, if it goes anywhere at all.

Here's a photo of Larijani, the possible replacement for Ahmadinejad in next year's elections:

After getting kicked off the John McCain airplane, Joe Klein scores a big interview with Obama. In it, Obama discuss his instincts and his ability to make spot decisions to deal with unexpected events, such as the Rev. Wright affair:

[BO] Well, during the course of this campaign probably our response to those Reverend Wright videos had to be a spot decision, because frankly it was unanticipated and I hadn't seen those
incendiary videos before. The decision to make it big as opposed to make it small.

[Q] To make the [Philadelphia] speech.

[BO] To write a speech in two days and deliver it at a time when there was a singular focus on the topic I think is an example of having to make decision based on what in my gut would make sense.

[Q] What was your gut telling you?

[BO] My gut was telling me that this was a teachable moment and that if I tried to do the usual political damage control instead of talking to the American people like an adult--like they were adults and could understand the complexities of race that I would be not only doing damage to the campaign but missing an important opportunity for leadership.

On McCain "suspending" his campaign:

[Q] When people were saying to you that day that McCain suspending, he's going to seem above the fray and I know that some people felt that way, you didn't go with that.

[BO] I didn't believe it. I have to tell you, one of the benefit s of running this 22 month gauntlet is that you have been through some ups and you have been through some downs. And you start realizing that what seems important or clever or in need of some dramatic moment a lot of times just needs reflection and care. And I think that was an example of where my style at least worked. There are going to be some times where I think I won't have that luxury of thinking through all the angles. Obviously I wasn't President at the time which influenced my decision. I did not control all the levers of power. And I think that the one thing I have become pretty confident about is being able to tap into the smartest people on any subject and to draw together a lot of contrary or contradictory perspectives. And push people's arguments against each other, ask the right questions and figure out at a least a framework for solving problems.

The interview in lenghty and goes into detail on Obama's thoughts about Iraq and General Petraeus, energy policy, and taxes, as well as an interesting segment on how are agriculture system is based on cheap oil. It's a great read and can be found at:

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/10/the_full_obama_interview.html 

John McCain has long claimed conservative and one-time presidential candidate (he lost to LBJ in 1964) Barry Goldwater as one of his idols. Turns out that Goldwater's Arizona-dwelling grandchildren don't care much for McCain/Palin, or the current state of the GOP:

Being Barry Goldwater's granddaughter and living in Arizona, one would assume that I would be voting for our state's senator, John McCain. I am still struck by certain 'dyed in the wool' Republicans who are on the fence this election, as it seems like a no-brainer to me.

Myself, along with my siblings and a few cousins, will not be supporting the Republican presidential candidates this year. We believe strongly in what our grandfather stood for: honesty, integrity, and personal freedom, free from political maneuvering and fear tactics. I learned a lot about my grandfather while producing the documentary, Mr. Conservative Goldwater on Goldwater. Our generation of Goldwaters expects government to provide for constitutional protections. We reject the constant intrusion into our personal lives, along with other crucial policy issues of the McCain/Palin ticket.

My grandfather (Paka) would never suggest denying a woman's right to choose. My grandmother co-founded Planned Parenthood in Arizona in the 1930's, a cause my grandfather supported. I'm not sure about how he would feel about marriage rights based on same-sex orientation. I think he would feel that love and respect for ones privacy is what matters most and not the intolerance and poor judgment displayed by McCain over the years. Paka respected our civil liberties and passed on the message that that we should conduct our lives standing up for the basic freedoms we hold so dear.

CC Goldwater goes on for a few more paragraphs and it's well worth reading the entire article here.

Here we go again. First we had the "Hamas Favors Obama" story a few months ago, which the McCain campaign spun as a "terrorists love Obama" smear. This week we had the "Al Queda Endorses McCain" story, which the McCain campaign has desperately tried to present as a "reverse psychology because the terrorists love Obama" response.

And now we have Iran announcing that it would prefer to see an Obama presidency:

Tehran would prefer Barack Obama to be elected as the next US president in the November 4 poll, Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament, has said.

"We are leaning more in favour of Barack Obama because he is more flexible and rational [than rival John McCain], even though we know American policy will not change that much," he said during a visit to Bahrain on Wednesday.

How to deal with Iran and the crisis over its nuclear programme has been one of the central foreign policy issues in the US election.

Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, has spoken about holding talks with the Iranian leadership "without precondition", a stance which has been ridiculed by McCain, his Republican rival.

Anyone want to guess how the McCain camp will try to spin this one? Yeah...I think we already know.

This just up at US News and World report:

Voter displeasure with the war and economy, coupled with Sen. Barack Obama's popularity, has the House GOP running for cover. Even though polls have shown that Americans don't like congressional Democrats any more, a new internal GOP tally of House races suggests a Democratic route that could keep the Republicans in the minority for decades. A document provided to Washington Whispers from a House GOP official shows that they could lose a net 34 seats. That means the Democrats would have a 270-165 advantage in the 111th Congress. In the Senate, Republicans expect to lose also but to keep up to 44 seats, ensuring their ability to stage a filibuster.

The document provided to Whispers is no gag: It comes from one of the key House GOP vote counters. The source called it a "death list." The tally shows several different ratings of 66 House Republicans in difficult races or open seats held by retiring Republicans.

To see the entire list, go to:

GOP "Death List" Predicts Democratic Blowout in the House

At a campaign stop today in Findlay, Ohio, Sarah Palin introduced her new nickname for Obama, "Barack the Wealth Spreader":

 Palin told supporters at a rally Wednesday at the University of Findlay - not far from the northwest Ohio home of Joe the Plumber - that she and McCain want to cut taxes and let people decide what to do with their money.

She reiterated her view that Democrat Obama's recent remark to the Holland, Ohio, plumber sounded like socialism to her. Answering a question about his tax proposals, Obama told plumber Joe Wurzelbacher, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Palin asked the crowd: "Are there any Joe the Plumbers in the house?" Drawing loud cheers, she added, "It doesn't sound like you're supporting Barack the wealth spreader."

This seems like a very strange mode of attack, and I can't imagine it's going to come across as painting Obama in any kind of negative light. With millions of people unemployed, millions more having lost millions in their 401k account, who wouldn't want the next president to spread some wealth?

And again with the "socialist" line? Hey Sarah, I've got a new name for you:

"McCain/Palin: the Manure Spreaders."

This just in:

Several Senate offices have received bomb threats this afternoon, but the offices have not been evacuated and Capitol Police are investigating the threats.

Capitol Police just sent out this alert to Senate offices, and seem to be downplaying the level of the threat:

"Several offices have received a bomb threat by phone and email. The United States Capitol Police are actively investigating. There is no need for staff to take any precautions at this point. If your office receives a threat please take note of the time, caller I.D., and wording."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/

Radar reports that the NY Times received an envelope today containing a "white granular substance," which brought investigators to the scene, just like in the days when news organizations received letters containing anthrax (or some substance made to resemble anthrax).

Here's the staff memo:

At about 11:30 a.m. today an employee on the 13th floor of our headquarters building in New York opened an envelope addressed to The New York Times. A white granular substance was in the envelope. The New York City police were called and are now on site investigating. The 41st Street side of the lobby is closed but people are able to get in and out of the building. We will keep you updated on any developments.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/

And now MSNBC is reporting four armed men on a Western Kentucky University campus:

Western Kentucky University is under lock-down after the threat of a gunman on school grounds.

Kentucky State Police, Bowling Green Police, and WKU Police have evacuated South Campus.

Bowling Green Police have confirmed to 27 NEWSFIRST that shots were fired on the South Campus. They also confirm that they also have reports of shots fired on WKU's main campus at Pearce Ford Tower.

Western Kentucky University officials sent out a text alert saying armed men have been reported at WKU's South Campus.

I think the answer would have to be: Not as clueless as her handlers. Seriously, does anyone in the McCain/Palin campaign have any awareness of their own surroundings? I guess you can buy $150,000 worth of lipstick, but that doesn't include having the sense as to how to use it. (clue: what animal is on this silk scarf?)

correction - I guess it only costs $13,000 for lipstick:

McCain's September payments of $8,672.55 to "American Idol" make-up artist Tifanie White, who has also worked on the reality dance show "So You Think You Can Dance," are a drop in the bucket on the campaign's beautification front compared to the GOP vice presidential nominee.

The Sleuth has learned that Palin's high-paid traveling make-up artist is Amy Strozzi, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work as head of makeup on "So You Think You Can Dance." Strozzi was paid $13,200 by the McCain-Palin campaign last month alone, according to the campaign's latest financial disclosure report filed this week.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/22/palins-makeup-artist-even_n_136858.html

Hot on the $150,000 heels of Sarah Palin is this reminder of our guy's thrift:

Callie Shell on her photo:

"Senator Obama was doing press interviews by telephone in a holding room between events. Sometime later as he was getting ready to begin his event, he asked me if I was photographing his shoes. When I said yes, he told me that he had already had them resoled once since he entered the race a year earlier. Providence, R.I., 3/1/2008."

 

update: the Adlai Stevenson photoby William M. Gallagher 1952 (Pulitzer Prize, 1953) 

Another one crosses over:

The first Republican woman State Senator in Wisconsin history announced on Tuesday that she would be supporting Barack Obama, in part because of the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign and, specifically, the use of "dishonorable" anti-Obama robocalls.

"All of us should be extremely wary of the half truths and outright untruths that have been spread by the recent negative campaigning and shameful automated phone calls," said Barbara Lorman of Fort Atkinson. "While my admiration for Senator Obama has grown with his positive approach to addressing the challenges facing our nation, my disappointment with the McCain campaigned has deepened. The negative tactics are inappropriate, downright dishonorable and have no place in the State of Wisconsin."

***

The fact that she is a lifelong Republican -- she left the Senate in 1994 and, until recently, was the longest woman serving senator in Wisconsin history -- now crossing party lines is also of interest.

"I'm a lifelong Republican, but Senator Obama is the right leader for our country and will deliver the change we need," Lorman said in a statement released by the state's Democratic Party. "After taking a careful look at the qualities of both McCain and Obama and who would be best for our country, I found that Senator Obama's ability to bridge the partisan divide to work toward solid solutions that will get our nation back on the right track meant he is the right choice this November."

Shades of Ghandi's non-violent protest? Tienaman Square? Or just plain jack-assery?

A group of protesters in Grand Junction, CO, attempted to block Palin's motorcade yesterday.

The local newspaper, the Grand Junction Sentinel, had this to report:

Grand Junction police are investigating an incident in which Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin's motorcade was momentarily blocked at 12th Street and North Avenue on Monday evening.

Police made no arrests immediately but have video that they will use in a criminal investigation, Deputy Chief Troy Smith said.

No injuries were reported.

***

"It was very dangerous what (the protesters) did," Smith said. Two officers laid down their motorcycles "in an action to save these guys from injury."

The incident endangered the protesters, as well as the officers, one of whom stumbled and fell back into the path of the motorcade, Smith said.

The officer got out of the way without injury, he said.

The incident took place next to Mesa State College, home of the Mesa State Mavericks.

This was just announced on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Olbermann just read a campaign announcement that Obama's grandmother, 86-year-old Madelyn Dunham, was just released from the hospital and has been in deteriorating health.

From Politico.com: 

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Barack Obama will leave the campaign trail Thursday to travel to Hawaii to see his 86-year-old grandmother, who has fallen ill, spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday.

"In the last few weeks her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious," Gibbs told reporters aboard Obama's campaign plane.

The change of plans means Obama will scrap scheduled rallies Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa, and Madison, Wisc. He will instead head to Indianapolis, Ind., for a morning event, leave for Hawaii and return to the campaign trail Saturday.

Josh discusses this on the front page and links to the New Yorker article, but here is the complete statement by Adelman:

Why so, since my views align a lot more with McCain's than with Obama's? And since I truly dread the notion of a Democratic president, Democratic House, and hugely Democratic Senate?

Primarily for two reasons, those of temperament and of judgment.

When the economic crisis broke, I found John McCain bouncing all over the place. In those first few crisis days, he was impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird. Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I've concluded that that's no way a president can act under pressure.

Second is judgment. The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.

That decision showed appalling lack of judgment. Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office--I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency. But that selection contradicted McCain's main two, and best two, themes for his campaign--Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick.

I sure hope Obama is more open, centrist, sensible--dare I say, Clintonesque--than his liberal record indicates, than his cooperation with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid portends. If not, I will be even more startled by my vote than I am now.

Wow. Powell was one thing, but this is the most damning indictment I've seen from someone so far on the right. All I can say is, I'm looking forward to the next right-wing denouncement that comes out.

A last note: I think that Obama is much more moderate than people have been suggesting.

Just in from the Huffington Post and (p)Rick Davis:

John McCain's campaign manager says he is reconsidering using Barack Obama's relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright as a campaign issue during the election's closing weeks.

In an appearance on conservative Hugh Hewitt's radio program, Davis said that circumstances had changed since John McCain initially and unilaterally took Obama's former pastor off the table. The Arizona Republican, Davis argued, had been jilted by the remarks of Rep. John Lewis, who compared recent GOP crowds to segregationist George Wallace's rallies. And, as such, the campaign was going to "rethink" what was in and out of political bounds.

"Look, John McCain has told us a long time ago before this campaign ever got started, back in May, I think, that from his perspective, he was not going to have his campaign actively involved in using Jeremiah Wright as a wedge in this campaign," he said late last week. "Now since then, I must say, when Congressman Lewis calls John McCain and Sarah Palin and his entire group of supporters, fifty million people strong around this country, that we're all racists and we should be compared to George Wallace and the kind of horrible segregation and evil and horrible politics that was played at that time, you know, that you've got to rethink all these things. And so I think we're in the process of looking at how we're going to close this campaign. We've got 19 days, and we're taking serious all these issues."

 read the entire article here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/20/rick-davis-were-rethinkin_n_136173.html

update: Oy...looks like they have another card up their sleeve, the drug card:

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/rudy_pushes_for_probe_of_obama.php

This is a must-see clip, wherein Mika has her father, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, on Morning Joe to discuss the Powell endorsement of Obama. It is so refreshing to hear another smart, experienced, elder statesman weigh in on why Obama is the vastly preferred candidate:

Just call him "Zbig the Scar Slayer." Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski just destroyed Joe Scarborough on his own show and left him speechless and lying bloody on the ground. Scarborough had been ranting and raving for most of the previous segment with Pat Buchanan, belittling the Powell endorsement because of the Iraq War of all things and beating up Obama's Press guy, Robert Gibbs (again) ad nauseum about how Obama had lied and broken his word on public financing and how they were buying the election and how Sarah Palin with all her years as Mayor of Wasilla (please!) and Governor was more qualified to be President than Barack Obama and he was nothing more than a Community Organizer, and a State legislator with one year in the Senate and blah, blah, blah.

 A few minutes before they went to the break, Mika announced that Lawrence O'Donnell had arrived in the studio, so that was a good sign. But when I saw the 80 year-old Dr. Brzezinski   pull himself up onto that stage, I knew Joe was in for all he could handle and more. Of course I wasn't disappointed. When Joe was stupid enough to ask about the lack of experience of Barack Obama, Brzezinski countered beautifully, making the intellectual argument for Barack Obama sound like lyric poetry. He made the case for Barack's intellect, temperament and good judgment over the unpredictable volatility of John McCain. (I'll have the video as soon as it's available.)

 Brzezinski points out that Powell's endorsement shows that Obama's administration will be a bi-partisan administration, as it must be. He says one has only to look at what Obama has accomplished in this historic campaign and the millions of people he has inspired at this time in history when our nation is mired in this deep and dangerous crisis.  He is a transformative figure. Besides, look at the guys who made the worst foreign policy decisions in our lifetimes, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney. They had thirty years of "foreign policy experience." Look what they got us into. Give me Barack Obama's wisdom any day.

If there is one video clip you take time out for today, the wisdom of Brzezinski should be it.