What Happened to the Automakers Bailout?

Remember when the U.S. financial services sector was in its darkest hour?  My Lord, Congress, the President, Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke and candidates for county commissioner all called for a bailout – nearly a trillion dollars worth.  Inside of a week Barney Frank and Chris Dodd marshalled the troops on Capitol Hill and we had ourselves a big bill.  Even being defeated in the House on its first go-round couldn’t stop the $700 billion love offering to the likes of Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.

Our government – Democrats, Republicans – executive and legislative branch – fell over themselves to deliver for Wall Street.  John McCain even suspended his presidential campaign for about 12 hours.

The Wall Street/Main Street construct has been used so much as to become trite.  Well, here goes another one.  Washington, Main Street needs some help now.  It’s called keeping the Big Three U.S. automakers solvent in the worst economy since the 1930s. 

Forget about the entitled UAW-represented autoworker for a moment and think about that machine shop you drive by on your way to work every day.  Think for a moment about the truck driver living next door.  Ask yourself what’s going to happen to your cousin Bob who works at the Chevy dealership and his 75 co-workers. Read more

Video: John McCain Concession Speech, November 4, 2008

Transcript: John McCain Concession Speech, November 4, 2008

(Source: Fox News)

JOHN MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

(APPLAUSE)

My friends, we have — we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.

A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him.

(BOOING)

Please.

To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving. Read more

Final Reason I’m Voting for Obama – 3 of 3 – John McCain

I can remember during the Republican primaries in 1999 – 2000 thinking that John McCain is a Republican I would consider voting for. He distinguished himself by rejecting party dogma on a few important issues. He set himself apart as an independent operator who talked straight and seemed like he would put the needs of his country first and the special interests and big business last in line. Finally, he rejected the right wing of the Republican Party’s efforts to divide America over issues of faith and morality.

That was then, this is now. Read more

Ohio: Latest Election News Update – PM – November 3

From Ohio’s Major Newspapers

• Biden makes one last plea to Ohioans - Toledo Blade
• Coal becomes burning issue at end of campaign - Columbus Dispatch
• Final Ohio Poll puts Obama as likely winner - The Plain Dealer
• Hundreds endure long lines at Lucas County voting center - Toledo Blade
• Early voters nearly a third of expected total: Officials - Akron Beacon Journal
• Palin starts final day of campaigning in Lakewood – The Plain Dealer
• Long waits during final day of early voting - Dayton Daily News
• Officials confident we won’t see goofs like in ‘04 - Columbus Dispatch
• What local bloggers are saying about the election - The Plain Dealer
• Potential pitfalls on election day - Columbus Dispatch
• Dems feel good heading into Tuesday – Columbus Dispatch
• Final list of Ohio House targeted races - Columbus Dispatch

• Crowds flock to Obama – Columbus Dispatch
• McCain: Momentum “Here” – Columbus Dispatch

• New Voters: Blue Tint – Columbus Dispatch
• Late night for early voters – Columbus Dispatch
• Kilroy, Stivers still sprinting - Columbus Dispatch
• Joe the Plumber sign of the times – Toledo Blade

Ohio Sunday Papers & Election News Updates – November 2 – PM

Columbus Dispatch 

Obama maintains lead in last Dispatch Poll

Dispatch Poll methodology

Click for Full Graphic

• Candidates can’t seem to stay out of Ohio
• Election Day lines should move faster
• Voter Guide: Nation Awaits Ohio’s Choice
• Obama draws 60,000 to Statehouse on Sunday
• Biden blasts McCain for name calling
• Op-Ed, Jonathan Riskind: Traditional GOP Ground Not Looking as Stable
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: Checks on ‘Joe the Plumber’ Out of Bounds

The Plain Dealer

• Obama and The Boss after Browns Game; Palin draws fewer in Canton
• Palin to Ohio: Do You Share Our Commitment?
• Endorsing faith – Not politcians
• Ohio’s out-of-state absentee voters could affect election
• Op-Ed, Connie Schultz: Intimidation can’t silence the voice of the people
• Op-Ed, Thomas Suddes: Ohioans mustn’t fall for payday lenders stealth campaign

Dayton Daily News

• Ohio still the political heartland
• Obama adviser visits rural areas
• McCain makes two day trip to Ohio
• Obama stirs crowd of 60k in Columbus

2 ½ Days: News Coverage of the Election from Ohio | November 1

Columbus Dispatch

• Long lines – yes; longer hours – maybe
  
• GOP gets earful for answers on survey
  
• Mailers are making the TV ads look lame
  
• Boehner demands monitors at polls
  
• GOP volunteers steer up votes
  
• Paper ballot must be offered if poll is busy
  
• Biden, Clinton visit Southern Ohio
  
• Governator stumps for McCain
  
• Worker who checked on ‘Joe’ speaks
  

The Plain Dealer

• McCain predicts comeback victory; Obama advisers skeptical
  
• Multiple absentee ballots sent to some Ohio voters
  
• Op-Ed, Joe Frolik: Election Day Primer
  
• Op-Ed, Kevin O’Brien: Obama a Socialist
  

(Editor’s Note: Op-Ed, Pelikan: Kevin O’Brien is a douche bag)

Youngstown Vindicator

• Most at YSU couldn’t see or hear McCain
  

Dayton Daily News

• Biden derides McCain in Kettering
  
• Boehner’s name-calling desperate: Obama Aide
  
• McCain keeps up attacks on Obama
  

Akron Beacon Journal

• Race to finish in search of votes
• Voters make up minds to try something new
• Editorial: Plumbing for Answers
• Editorial: Lying about his record
• Op-Ed, Steve Hoffman: Why wait for Tuesday? Here’s the deal …

Cincinnati Enquirer

• CT man voted here
  
• Political fliers at churches slammed
  
• Down to the wire, Obama, Palin coming
  

Toledo Blade

• MI woman heads south to door knock
  
• Bus tour rolls into Bowling Green
  
• Boehner appears in Perrysburg
  
• ‘Terminator’ Rallies McCain Faithful
  
• Biden denounces Bush legacy in Lima
  
• Op-Ed, Reg Henry: We’re all runners in this race

From the It Ain’t Over Department

Right-wing headline writer Matt Drudge is reporting tonight that Zogby one-day polling on Friday has McCain back within the margin of error in his race against Obama. From the Drudge Report:

ZOGBY SATURDAY: Republican John McCain has pulled back within the margin of error… McCain outpolled Obama 48% to 47% in Friday, one day, polling. He is beginning to cut into Obama’s lead among independents, is now leading among blue collar voters, has strengthened his lead among investors and among men, and is walloping Obama among NASCAR voters. Joe the Plumber may get his license after all…

Things have felt a little heady lately if you’re an Obama supporter in a state like Ohio.  Democratic organization, mirroring Obama’s own efficiently run campaign, is at a level many of us have never seen.  In conservative Indiana – which went for Bush in 2004 by 21 points – Obama may win.  Zogby’s poll is national, but remember we’re in 50 state contests.  Zogby’s polling is a reminder that we can’t let up until the last polls close on the West Coast on November 4.

Pour it On!

Campaign stays hot in Ohio: 2008 Elections Coverage by Ohio’s Major Dailies

Columbus Dispatch

• McCain camp sees gap tightening in battleground states
  
• Clinton talks up Obama in Youngstown
  
• In So. Ohio Hillary says Nation needs Obama
  
• Obama army blankets Ohio
  
• Editorial: Sex, Lies and Gifts
  
• The Arnold heading to Columbus
  
• GOP says sorry to House Democrat
  
• Obama likes Clinton vet to serve as CoS
  

Cleveland Plain Dealer

• Clinton, Strickland stump for Obama
  
• McCain ends bus trip with muscle
  
• Springsteen campaigns for Obama this weekend in Cleveland
  
• McCain’s third stop leaves open field
  
• McCain gives shout out to ‘Joe the Plumber’ relatives
  

Dayton Daily News

• Election Board to probe Husted’s Residency
  
• Boehner calls Obama barnyard name
  
• Biden calls McCain Bush’s Sidekick in Kettering
  
• McCain, ‘Joe the Plumber’ draw crowds across Ohio
  
• Judge throws out suit to take Obama off Ohio ballots

When the Far Left Needs to Just Shut Up

Why can’t we just continue to let the McCain campaign, the RNC and assorted Right-Wingers make asses of themselves throwing around words like Marxist and Socialist, faking beatings by Obama supporters, race baiting at rallies and talking about things like ACORN?  They simply further marginalize themselves day by day – now hour by hour - on the way to Election Day.

Well, here come the Lefties.  I don’t mean the Keynsian economics lefties or the folks who believe health care is a right.  I’m talking about the straight-up emotionally unstable idiots who tilt to our side and feel the compulsion to say some crazy shit right before the election.  Just like when every time I hear blowhards like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity speak the crazy talk and hang it on the Republican Party, my Republican friends here the Erica Jongs of the world say something stupid and they doubt Democrats.  I read about Jong’s incendiary remarks to an Italian media outlet earlier today.  Here’s what Jong said:

“The record shows that voting machines in America are rigged.” 

“My friends Ken Follett and Susan Cheever are extremely worried. Naomi Wolf calls me every day. Yesterday, Jane Fonda sent me an email to tell me that she cried all night and can’t cure her ailing back for all the stress that has reduces her to a bundle of nerves.”

“My back is also suffering from spasms, so much so that I had to see an acupuncturist and get prescriptions for Valium.”

“After having stolen the last two elections, the Republican Mafia…”

“If Obama loses it will spark the second American Civil War. Blood will run in the streets, believe me. And it’s not a coincidence that President Bush recalled soldiers from Iraq for Dick Cheney to lead against American citizens in the streets.”

“Bush has transformed America into a police state, from torture to the imprisonment of reporters, to the Patriot Act.”

The Second American Civil War?  “Blood will run in the streets …?”  Good Lord, give me a break.  I talked last week about Ashley Todd’s antics being irresponsible and reprehensible.  I have to say the same thing for Jong, although I might agree with her on some issues such as the Patriot Act and the Bush Administration’s legalization of torture – the new family value.

Jong’s words are just as irresponsible as Todd’s carving a backwards “B” into her own gourd.  There is a tinge of racism in her words with “Civil War” and “blood will run in the streets.” 

This race is still tight.  Barack Obama has stayed on message for nearly two years and we’re still running too close to call in too many places.  The few undecideds or those wavering need to understand that most Obama supporters are in it for the change in economic and energy policies, the hope that this man who would be president will finally deliver on the Clinton promise to put people first over special interests. 

Crazy talk doesn’t help us get there.

Ohio Politics and Elections Coverage: Five Days to Election Day

Recent Coverage by the Columbus Dispatch

• Clinton boosts Obama with Ohio appearances
  
• Obama dips but still has comfortable lead
  
• Down in polls, McCain tells Ohio crowd he’s coming back

• Feds won’t make Brunner reveal voter mismatches
• Schwarzenegger says McCain in uphill battle
• Palin revs up Chillicothe
• Local pastors emphasize duty to vote
• Agency head defends ‘Joe’ searches
  

Recent Coverage by Cleveland Plain Dealer

• Day of the Plumber
  
• FAQ on Casino question
  
• ‘Joe the Plumber’ joins McCain roadshow in Sandusky
  
• Secy State cancels cross-checking of Ohio’s voters
  
• McCain in Defiance, Ohio reverts to name calling
  

Recent Coverage by Toledo Blade

• McCain tells Defiance crowd he’ll cut taxes
  
• Rush Limbaugh blasts Kaptur
  
• Palin joins ‘Joe’ in Bowling Green
  
• Ohio elections chief: Scrap voter database
  

Recent Coverage by Dayton Daily News

• Ben Stiller ‘Rocks the Vote’ at UD
• Judge to rule Friday on Ohio man’s attempt to kick Obama off Ohio ballot
• Payday Lending pays over $3 million for signatures
• Joe the Plumber hires Nashville publicity team

Eight Days: Ohio Politics and Elections News A.M. Update

Columbus Dispatch

• Early Vote very Democratic
• McCain asking Ohioans for help

I know something about Lancaster and Fairfield County. If John McCain is spending an evening with the Republican faithful there, this close to the election, his campaign either sucks or he’s in trouble. You shouldn’t have to excite people who would vote for Atilla the Hun if he had an “R” after his name.

• Palin returning to Ohio on Wednesday

Cleveland Plain Dealer

• Ohio candidates build up war chests
• Cuyahoga County vote counting likely to be slow
• Obama outspending McCain 2 to 1 on Tube
• Over 203,000 have voted early in NE Ohio
• Editorial: Election Day Etiquette

Just When I Start to Like The Arnold …

According to WOSU this a.m. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California is going to help McCain and Co. pull a play out of the Bush 2004 playbook – appear in Columbus, probably this Friday, with John McCain. The Los Angeles Times confirms. I wonder if Sarah Palin will be there. According to a website called the California Chronicle, the Governator’s endorsement of Palin is less than ringing.

What’s to like about Arnold? Mainly it is his forward thinking on energy policy and the promise of investing in a “green” economy. From afar, California appears to be years ahead of the rest of the country in the laws, policy and investment which will help the U.S. kick the foreign oil habit and clean up the environment. At times, it’s seemed downright refreshing to imagine Schwarzenegger as somewhat of a – well – maverick in Republican circles.

If Schwarzenegger cares about fostering the moderate or even progressive reputation he’s earned on some issues, appearing with McCain, a politician with policies rooted in the 1980s, seems a bit counter intuitive.

Video: John McCain on Meet the Press | October 26 | 10 Days to Election

Transcript: John McCain on Meet the Press | October 26 | Ten Days to Election

(Source: NBC’s Meet the Press)

MR. TOM BROKAW:  Our issues this Sunday:  With just nine days to go, polls show Obama widening his lead over McCain while the Republican vice presidential nominee comes under increased criticism.  What will be McCain’s final message to undecided voters?  We’ll ask the candidate himself.  For the first time in nine months, our exclusive guest, Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain returns to MEET THE PRESS.

Then, insights and analysis on the presidential battleground states and the battle for congressional control, including a filibuster-proof U.S. Senate. Our political roundtable weighs in:  Charlie Cook, political analyst for the National Journal, editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report; Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News correspondent traveling with the McCain campaign; and Chuck Todd, political director of NBC News.

But first, we’re live here in Waterloo, Iowa, with the Republican nominee for president, John McCain.

Senator, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS. Read more

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