Creeping Towards A Denunciation Of Bill Ayers

Barack Obama took what might have been the first baby step towards renouncing and denouncing Bill Ayers, who worked with Obama on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge for several years in addition to their widely-publicized stint together on the board of the Woods Fund of Chicago:

Making a token appearance today in veteran-heavy West Virginia, Obama will say this at a rally:

One of the saddest episodes in our history was the degree to which returning vets from Vietnam were shunned, demonized and neglected by some because they served in an unpopular war. Too many of those who opposed the war in Vietnam chose to blame not only the leaders who ordered the mission, but the young men who simply answered their country’s call. Four decades later, the sting of that injustice is a wound that has never fully healed, and one that should never be repeated.

I'll take a chance and generously suggest that even though he specifically referred to "returning vets", Obama would not consider an attempt to bomb active duty officers as consistent with supporting the troops.  Let's cut to Salon for background on Bill Ayers' Weathermen:

Three Weathermen had blown themselves up while building a bomb in a Greenwich Village townhouse, no more than a mile from where Rudd is sitting today. To the group's everlasting shame, that bomb was intended for an officers' dance at Fort Dix, N.J., where it presumably could have killed not only military personnel but their civilian dates and whoever else might have been in the building.

Obama was heroically wearing a flag pin as well, but not in a gimmicky or pandering way - today, it was just his heartfelt desire to wear his patriotism on his sleeve, or lapel, anyway; on another day, he will no doubt offer a more nuanced expression of his patriotism through word and deed.

SPITTING ON VETS:  Don't even ask.  Let me set the stage by quoting fantasist Paul Krugman:

On the other hand, we should bear in mind that many people believe things about Vietnam that never happened, like demonstrators spitting on returning soldiers.

Uh huh.  Given the long back story and eventual resolution, I would say that Krugman serves as a useful example of a lefty believing what he wants to believe, aided and abetted by left-wing academic bias: the original notion that spat-upon veterans was a myth was coined by a Prof. Jerry Lembcke, a former Vietnam war protester intent on rehabilitating the image of war protesters in the  run-up to Desert Storm.   

And for a bit of perspective, let's note that Lembcke also argued that Vietnam post-traumatic stress disorder was a media construct from the late 70's intended to discredit protesting anti-war veterans, despite John Kerry's 1973 anti-war testimony about suicidal, drug-addled, unemployed vets intended to discredit the Pentagon war effort.  The grinding of Lembcke's axe is audible across the years (but not to Krugman).

 

Comments

[JB]

Obama is shameless.

[sylvia]

Yes I really can't stand him anymore. At first I thought he was okay, seemed like a nice guy. But more and more I think he's a leftist phony, could even be dangerous. Could be pushed forward and supported by Hugo Chavez's network for all we know. It's no wonder his campaign was so much more organized, considering how much more money he raised online, which to me is a little suspect. I mean what do we really know about him anyway. I'm sorry Hillary didn't win the spot - and I don't even like Hillary that much.

[Syl]

Hey, let's not worry about the flag pin so much. Obama loves America. It's just the American people he has a problem with.

[JB]

Obama loves America like OJ loved Nicole.

[Pagar]

Again From Larry Johnson, Article

"Nine out of Ten Terrorists Love Them Some Obama"

"If I pitched Hollywood on a movie about a Democratic Presidential candidate who received public support from people considered to be terrorists while most of the electorate is worried about the “Global War on Terror,” I would be laughed out of the studio. “Too farfetched.” “Not believable.” Leave it to Barack Obama to bring the ridiculous and absurd to life."

Actually I can find no information whatsoever on any terrorist who is opposed to Obama being president.

[SAM]

Watching older voters fall for Obama is akin to watching the hot babe fall for a total douche bag. And I suppose watching younger voters fall for Obama is akin to watching your child fall for someone who's completely wrong for that child.

How can you shake some sense into them?

[clarice]

It's only a matter of time until Michelle looks up and sees the writing on the undercarriage of the Obama for President bus herself.

[Neo]

After Obama's debate response that included a (explicit) questioning of the patriotism of those who he saw wearing the US flag lapel pin, it gives one pause to question his patriotism as he makes an obvious effort to pander.

Did his lapel pin have 50 or 57 states ?

[Jane]

The latest defense of Bill Ayers is that he never intend to kill anyone, and in fact sent out warnings before every hit. I guess in that world it was the dead person's fault.

So how big a margin for the RW today? And do we even care?

[Soylent Red]

Gooooood Morning Jane. And all you others.

I predict a 15 pt win. I also predict that we will start hearing why it doesn't matter about an hour after polls open.

[JB]

I predict bitterness in the Obama camp come morning.

[BumperStickerist]

-
Wounds this, wounds that .. a "wound that never heals" ... at this rate I half expect that sometime after the Convention Barack Obama to manifest the stigmata.

Which, come to think of it, would increase His appeal to Catholics and Evangelicals.

-

[Jane]

At this point I expect him to disband American at his first opportunity, because we are too flawed to continue on. And I expect the nutroots to cheer him on.

[JB]

If the wound never heals, revenge is the only purpose of "change."

[michaelt]

I'd respect him more if he just never wore a flag pin.

I didn't say "a lot," just "more."

[fdcol63]

I'm sure Obama loves America, and that he and Michelle simply want to change America into the kind of country they think America should be.

But I'm also sure that I don't want to live in that new kind of America, nor do I want to condemn my children to live in it.

People like Obama, who want to change America into a socialistic and pacifistic version of Europe, have all kinds of options if they're not happy here. They can move to Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, or many other places.

Unfortunately, those of us who believe that America is indeed exceptional and who are content with America as it currenly exists, despite all our faults, have no such options.

We face this question in 2008, as we do in every election:

Do we allow ourselves to become just another country like the rest of the world, or do we commit ourselves to preserving the America that we believe is exceptional?

[bio mom]

I'm afraid that the country is determined to elect this elitist socialist that no person is allowed to criticize lest they be called racist. This African/American (?is he really one?) must be allowed to become president to heal the country's past sins, like Christ did by dying on the cross. Creepy beyond belief. Jimmy Carter didn't do the damage that a President Obama will. We are all in deep doodoo.

[sbw]

Conservatism is misrepresented as something that looks backwards, as if trying to save what was, whether worthwhile or not.

Conservatism tries to recognize from experience what principles are worth living by today and tomorrow. Interestingly, that is the core of classical liberalism, too.

With both classical liberalism and conservatism to choose from, one wonders why American liberals insist on the unreachable free lunch of governmental paternalism.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

Do you think that Axelrod has copyright to Nobody Left to Disown yet? I certainly would if I were in his place.

[clarice]

You've missed a great calling as a literary agent,Rick. It's a swell idea.

[Pagar]

William Ayers is not just Obama's problem. William Ayers is America's Problem

"Ayers’s influence on what is taught in the nation’s public schools is likely to grow in the future. Last month, he was elected vice president for curriculum of the 25,000-member American Educational Research Association (AERA), the nation’s largest organization of education-school professors and researchers. Ayers won the election handily, and there is no doubt that his fellow education professors knew whom they were voting for. In the short biographical statement distributed to prospective voters beforehand, Ayers listed among his scholarly books Fugitive Days, an unapologetic memoir about his ten years in the Weather Underground. The book includes dramatic accounts of how he bombed the Pentagon and other public buildings."

"AERA already does a great deal to advance the social-justice teaching agenda in the nation’s schools and has established a Social Justice Division with its own executive director. With Bill Ayers now part of the organization’s national leadership, you can be sure that it will encourage even more funding and support for research on how teachers can promote left-wing ideology in the nation’s classrooms—and correspondingly less support for research on such mundane subjects as the best methods for teaching underprivileged children to read."

"The radicalization of universities is virtually complete thanks to tenure for far left professors and the war against conservatives in the academy. Now the revolution in secondary and primary schools is well underway and we can expect the "Ayers Method" to be the preferred way to indoctrinate the young into radical liberal politics."

William Ayers will be responsible for indoctrinating all American children into radical liberal politics: unlike a US President, who can be checkmated by the Congress and the Courts, William Ayers will have no one controlling what he and his radical friends teach America's Children. American needs to enjoy that we have a "A Denunciation Of Bill Ayers"

[Danube of Thought]

"...many people believe things about Vietnam that never happened..."

Like Christmas in Cambodia. Like the first Kerry purple heart. Like receiving intense automatic weapons fire from both banks of the Bay Hap River for 5,000 meters, with not a single round striking the boat or anyone in it.

[fdcol63]

Instead of asking why "they" - Muslims and others throughout the world - hate us, we need to be asking ourselves why our own children dislike and distrust their own country so much.

Ayers and his ilk in academia, the teachers' unions, and Hollyweird, THAT's why.

[JB]

Can Obama handle the locomotive that will come at him post-convention?

I don't see it. Here is his fundamental problem with the muddle -- he simply does not handle criticism well. He comes off condescending, thin-skinned, a prima donna.

Issues and ideology aside, I don't think it's going to register as well as McCain's reserve. Americans demand some semblance of grace under fire from their leaders, he doesn't have it.

[glenda waggoner]

Is it possible Hill&Bill will have their loyal loonies(Plame,Johnson,McAuliffe,Brock,Carville)bring Obamameister down, believing McCain will only serve 1 term-and make way for the
Greatest Government Provided for Woman to finally get back her government housing?
It's no longer charming that she believes she is all-knowing-And what in the world will the media attack machine do in Dec.08-we'll have Softball w Chris Matthews, Witty
Washington with Wolfie, Count on Obama,Black things considered on NPR, and..
Sunday's (required) with Jeremiah

[James]

The night of my first graduate school departmental orientation party, I said I was a newly returned veteran. A chill swept over our part of the room. Someone said "You don't belong here you fascist. We'll get rid of you!"

Four semesters later, I had a MA in history and credentials to teach in community college. I was completing my first nine hours toward a PHD when a job counselor told a Navy friend he should hide his military service from potential employers. I checked and someone told me the same. I dropped out to farm.

Those folks hide behind "support the troops" because political correctness demands it. Most academics are Code Pink with better manners and more expensive wardrobes.

[Chris]

Checked the weather in WV. To quote an old Robert Cray tune, The Forecast Calls for Pain for Obama.

Clarice,
Thanks for the heads-up on the Bizzyblog-Trumpet piece. Very interesting and nearly impossible to believe BO didn't have a lifetime subscription.

[clarice]

I'm sorry to hear that James, but it seems obvious that the left took over the liberal arts schools at most colleges in the late 60's and have worked hard to keep control over their sinecures thru hiring and tenure decisions that block conservatices. There is no other good explanation for the imbalance.

[Gmax]

Most academics are Code Pink with better manners and more expensive wardrobes.

 Well apparently the Gang of 88 at Duke did not get the memo.  I saw no better manners and dont know if wardrobes that include sneakers or birkenstocks with faded khakis or chinos really is more expensive than Medea's wardrobe either.  But you are correct about the Code Pink views.  One of the most rabid places on Earth is nearly any faculty lounge.

 

[Pagar]

""...many people believe things about Vietnam that never happened...""

One thing we know. Walter Cronkite was wrong, " Giap later told me that Tet had been a military defeat".
The War could have ended after the devastating losses the enemy took during the 68 Tet Offensive with a South Vietnam victory. Article

"Q: Was the American antiwar movement important to Hanoi's victory?
A: It was essential to our strategy. Support of the war from our rear was completely secure while the American rear was vulnerable."

We know the enemy knew in Vietnam and we know the enemy knows today that the American
left will support them. We know Walter Cronkite, Jane Fonda, John Kerry and their supporters were essential to the enemy winning in Vietnam. We can be sure the enemy today considers the American leftist anti-war crowd essential to their winning the current war.
We can be certain that our enemies consider the support of the American leftists essential to their efforts to defeat us in the future.

[James]

Thanks for the nice comments. A North Vietnamese official also said they won the war in American colleges. We did not lose the war. We forfeited when Democrats voted to stop sending aid to the South. Watergate's aftermath had so weakened Gerald Ford, he finally gave up.

History downplays our betrayal of people who trusted us and waited for promised helicopters which never came. Stories of boat people and hundreds of thousands who served time in re- education camps are heartrending. No amount of hand washing will remove blood from the anti -warriors' hands.

One can trace a connection with the way we left Vietnam and our current war with jihadists. Had we won or taken it to a stalemate, I suspect our history would have taken a different direction. If we lose this one, the aftermath of Vietnam will be a picnic in comparison.

[kim]

James, I agree that the last sentence of your 12:30 PM post is correct, but perhaps for a different reason than you mentioned. Those to whom we lost Vietnam were historically doomed, bound as they were to socialism; what of our opponents in this war? One might argue, as I and others have, that radical Islam is just as doomed by the enlightenment as Marxism is by the market, but it is sometimes cold comfort to so argue, when an extreme socialist nears the Presidency, and madrassahs proliferate, granted with found wealth.
==================================

[Jane]

James,

I bet you are a more successful farmer than any of those people are teachers.

[Neo]

Neutralized ...

The Texas megachurch pastor whose past comments about the Catholic Church have caused headaches for John McCain for over two months will issue an apology to Catholics later today, according a top Christian conservative. John Hagee, pastor of San Antonio's Cornerstone Church, will send a letter to Catholic League President William Donahue expressing "deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."

.. will Ayers follow suit ?

[Neo]

Neutralized ...

The Texas megachurch pastor whose past comments about the Catholic Church have caused headaches for John McCain for over two months will issue an apology to Catholics later today, according a top Christian conservative. John Hagee, pastor of San Antonio's Cornerstone Church, will send a letter to Catholic League President William Donahue expressing "deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."

.. will Ayers follow suit ?

[Neo]

Now, this might be called a distraction.

Wow. Different strokes for different folks.

[Jane]

Way way way off Topic:

Who on this planet cares which celebrity is Hillary or Obama's biggest supporter? And why must I see that poll every single day?

[RichatUF]

pager-

I always come back to it, but tracing the post-68 failures through the antecedents of two decades of french radical theory leads to fascism. Whenever BHO utters some Obamantion, like his Atlantic interview, it shows me that he can't hide the intellectual dna of his political program or that he really disagrees with the end results.

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

Jeff has a very cogent post up on the subject this morning.

I don't believe that living in Little BHO People's Republic of the United States would be much fun.

[Sara]

I skipped over reading this yesterday because I thought it was just another rant, but last night I took a look. Now I'm recommending everyone look.

Michelle Obama Suicide Watch

As to Obama, I want to know who is really pulling his strings? More and more it is becoming obvious that he is parroting information, most of it incorrect. So far, he has gotten away with it by blaming his staff, which brings up the question of how malleable he seems to be that he just says what they tell him to say. His rise in politics reminds me of the story of the music promoter who took a bet that he could take any 4 or 5 guys off the street and turn them into a #1 band. Sort of like what they did with the Monkeys.

[Gmax]

Goldstein nails it. Will McCain be smart enough to run a campaign that points this unfortunate set of circumstances out? I am certain that if the muddle knows what he has been steeped in, they will not vote for him. But its not certain that McCain will not confuse getting out the facts with playing nice with a fellow Senator.

[Sara]

Good Help is so Hard to Find

[vnjagvet]

Thanks for the link, Rick. It is not only cogent but puts BHO in historic, philosophic and political context as well as any article or post I've seen.

It clearly explains the seemingly strange demographics of BHO's supporters and BHO's almost romantic appeal to elite university and college grads of certain age and "the young".

I wonder what would have happened if RW had embraced her genuine lefty roots while she was the "inevitable" candidate.

[RichatUF]

GMax-

I agree, and thanks Rick for pointing it out. Regarding McCain, I'm not sure that his has the temperament or instincts to point out the sewer that is BHO's politics. Gingrich is running around already screaming the sky is falling if the GOP runs an "anti-Obama" campaign, but he seems to fail to understand that the media will make it such that any campaign strategy against Obama will be "anti-Obama", "racist", and "McCarthyist".

This is the problem with the media picking our candidates: "He who is fond of the people can be worried". With McCain so solicitous of the media's opinion of himself, he will go the extra mile to please them within the parameters of his own political philosophy (his CFR legistlation and his related problem of signing on to the media's environmental agenda). "He who is moral can be shamed". McCain uses to media to show how "moral" he is by his grandstanding on "pork barrel spending" and "corporate fatcats". When these credentials are questioned, he bends himself to various media positions and leads to his other problem. "He who is quick tempered can be insulted", which with the media all around him, can lead to embarrassing video and audio of him ranting and frame him as a bit unstable.

These are not the traits of a successful leader or of successful leadership. Hope I'm wrong.

[cathyf]

One might argue, as I and others have, that radical Islam is just as doomed by the enlightenment as Marxism is by the market, but it is sometimes cold comfort to so argue, when an extreme socialist nears the Presidency, and madrassahs proliferate, granted with found wealth.

Just in case anyone missed that when kim said it, I'm repeating it. It really is one of the more profound (and frightening) insights into what we face in our enemy.

In order to defeat islamofascism, will we have to invade and subjegate every islamic country with significant found wealth (oil, minerals, etc.) and forceably convert and/or impoverish every rich muslim? If we don't do that, will we have to commit genocide against Muslims? If those are really our only options, is our civilization really worth defending? If God has really left us with our only two choices being conversion to islam or committing monstrous evil, should we just convert and be done with it?

And, as we stare into the abyss, have you noticed how breathtakingly astonshingly unserious our left wing is?

[Gmax]

Honestly if those are the only choices, bring on the genocide. I did not start the war, but I can damn well finish it.

The British made pretty good use of pig skins for burial shrouds during Sir Lawrence's time. Perhaps as ridiculous as that sounds, if it works it should be employed.

[Barry]

Burried by menustrating women, facing away from mecca, with pig guts for a liner.

It is neither genocide nor evil to defend ones self. Where islam is concerned there are only three choices, kill them, be killed by them, or be enslaved by them. I shall choose the first.

[JM Hanes]

Pagar:

"William Ayers is not just Obama's problem. William Ayers is America's Problem"

I sure wish all the folks trying so hard to get some traction with the Weatherman angle of Ayers' story were dedicating more column width to what that Chicago connection says about Obama's approach to education in the here and now. I'm sure it will be enormously gratifying if Obama ever gets around to officially renouncing and denouncing Ayers, but don't we already know that script? To whit:

After understanding why misguided folks resort to violence in frustration, Obama's biography will make his own rejection of violence clear. Partisans may want us to focus on Ayers youthful indiscretions, but we Americans believe in second chances. Ayers may have made some remarks which (through no fault of his own!) were unfortunately published on Sept. 11, but we shouldn't let that distract us from the larger story here of a man redeeming his "radical past" by dedicating the rest of his life to education. That's the William Ayers that Obama knew and worked with in Chicago, since there is, of course, no higher calling in America than education reform....

Republicans can pick away at that narrative, but any subsequent mention of William Ayers will be dismissed by both Obama and a compliant press as mere noise from the attack machine, rendering both Ayers and by extension, the education agenda he personifies, effectively off limits. In that sense, I have a hard time not agreeing that focusing on Ayers' Weatherman history is, indeed, a distraction that actually threatens to derail any more critical confrontation on the substance of "teaching for social justice." You can work away at plugging Obama into world historical movements from now till November, and perhaps end up adding incrementally to Obama's left/liberal overhead, or his renunciation list, but most voters will never make a connection between 60's radicalism and the fact that their own little Johnny can't read and won't be getting any text books worth reading if he could. Thus will William Ayers have the last laugh, whether Obama wins the election or not.

[boris]

a distraction that actually threatens to derail any more critical confrontation on the substance of "teaching for social justice."

Okay. Then make that case. Us immoderate conservatives don't seem to get much traction against "social justice". Love to see how it's done.

[Rick Ballard]

"These are not the traits of a successful leader or of successful leadership."

Rich,

Agreed. He'll still beat BHO like a rented mule though. The press butt kissing for camera time have given McCain a bit more than just name recognition. He's already a complete "brand" - The Maverick and the press will not be able to "re"-brand him in the time remaining.

In the fight for the Muddle, The Maverick is going to take God-Damn-America Obama to the cleaners. BHO's Red core is icing - good for bringing some McCain rejectionists back to the fold but pitched a little too high for the sans-culottes to absorb. Wright is the main dish of the BHO brand, Ayers is just a garnish.

Red Witch would have been a lot tougher to beat than BHO, high negatives and all. That 4% increase in turnout among women is a helluva lot more significant than BHO pulling 90% in a demographic that was already at 90%. He'll get a little higher turnout among his core demos but it won't come close to the 4% edge RW was carrying among women.

[Gmax]

Not to mention the fall off among Hispanics, Jewish voters, and Catholics. But if the fraud machine can crank up to Philadelphia and Milwaukee levels in more places and there are enough latte sippin Volvo driving birkenstock wearin mad for Obama types, maybe it does not matter. You can infer which of those I likely believe.

[ParseThis]

McCain could do much more to force the Ayers matter to the forefront. He can come out in favor of Biblically-correct teaching, highlight the dangers of science and take a firm stand against wizardry, for starters.

[ParseThis]

Far from getting closer to a denunciation of Ayers, Obama's comments can be more accurately heard as a dogwhistle reminder to veterans of McCain's past betrayals, which are part of an ongoing pattern of neglect, and his unforgivable collusion with the enemy.

[boris]

Except McCain would be much more interested in how Ayers resonates with moderates and independents than the ultra Christian right.

That's why I'm actually interested in how to make that work. See from my POV making the connection between their "social justice" and bombs and bank robbing seems pretty important. The euphamism by itself isn't enough to alert most moderates and independents to the risk.

And that stuff on McCain is loony left bait, not gonna cut it with the indie mod group.

[centralcal]

Rick, I agree that Obama has pretty well branded himself, but his "brand" continues to get "new and improved." For example, Palestinians manning the phones for Obama. That is a "brand" enhancement that should interest Jewish voters.

[ParseThis]

Good luck with that, boris. When people hear Bernadine Dohrn say, "Kids are smoking dope. Making love. And loading guns." -- and realize that some of these these fools actually blew themselves up, moderates and independents are more likely to roll their eyes than adopt the earnestness of 60s grudge-holders. The McCain stuff, however, will resonate, and the Webb-Hagel GI Bill will be seen as social justice done right for the 21st century.

"There never was a fight better worth making..."

[boris]

GI bill helped me through college and after a Nam vet extension through grad school too. But then you are probably so much more in tune with moderates and vets than me. I used to consider myself a moderate about the time you were in diapers but I've completely forgot what its like.

I'm so out of it the stuff you write on the subject looks completely idiotic.

[JM Hanes]

boris:

Wow. If immoderate conservatives can't see how to make education an issue, we're in even more trouble than I thought. Here's a thought. Instead of alledging that Obama is burying the Annenburg Challenge on his website because he's hiding an Ayers connection -- and eliciting yet another transformational sound byte -- I suggest claiming that Obama is burying the Annenburg Challenge on his website because his only foray into education reform was a fiasco -- and then detailing the disaster in digestible form. The fact that the new improved Uniter couldn't even bridge the gap between reformers at the Challenge and reformers in local city government is just one of the freebies that challenging Obama on the Challenge has to offer. It looks equally bad, if he was simply a figurehead who didn't bother to be the change he was waiting for when the opportunity was staring him in the face.

For all the enthusiasm that bird dogging Obama associations generates in circles on the right, I think challenging his claimed accomplishments will be a lot more fruitful when it comes to influencing voters in any remotely useful numbers. Almost every "success" that anyone has bothered to examine so far has turned out to be vastly inflated, if not outright purloined from someone else. If anybody has tackled his actual achievements as a "community organizer," I sure haven't seen it. I'd be willing to bet we're talking really small, potentially risible, potatoes and a disturbing pattern of padding a thin, undistinguished, imaginary resume by taking credit where none is due for work that wasn't done.

In any case, I can lead you to water, but if it's just too darn hard to figure out how to drink it, I don't hold out much hope for Republicans at the polls.

[boris]

Wow yourself. I thought maybe you could 'splain sumthin is all.

Convincing the immoderates is not where I need the help. Just never seem to be able to make the case that mumbo jumbo on social justice in school instead of reading writing and arithmatic is a big deal. That ship sailed decades ago. I await more insight please.

[MikeS]

Obama does seem to gravitate to a certain kind of people. They are people who are either living on the edge or have actually stepped over the edge. Rezko operating on the edge of criminality. Ayers crossed over the edge into insurgency and has barely crossed back. Wright who jumped over the edge into racism and conspiricist lunacy.

Barack does seem to have an affinity for radicals.

[boris]

Perhaps if more than just us immoderate thumpers had been concerned about that drek in schools a long time ago the current pickle wouldn't be so dill.

[JM Hanes]

Rick:

"He's already a complete "brand" - The Maverick and the press will not be able to "re"-brand him in the time remaining."

I'm not so sure about that. Do you really want a Maverick with his finger on the button? A Maverick with anger management problems? As for that long list of bipartisan accomplishments, McCain was forced to work with Democrats because he couldn't even rally his own party. The wheels finally came off the straight talk express when he started courting the right and morphed into McBush. Now he's schmoozing left on climate change. It just doesn't take that long to go from Maverick to Panderbear in election years.

[Rick Ballard]

Gmax,

There are 65 prog plantations which provided 15% of the D vote (on a CD basis) in the '04 election. 55% of that 15% was concentrated in CA, NY and IL. Just 22% of that 15% is spread over the battleground states of FL, OH, IA, PA and WI.

The GOTV effort by both parties in '04 was such that '08 is likely to reflect a situation of strongly diminishing returns. There just ain't enough latte lappers extant to carry Red BHO over the finish line first.

Just something to reflect upon while sitting in a pickup in the parking lot in front of the gun club in the morning, bitterly clutching a Bible while awaiting the opening of the doors.

[Rick Ballard]

JMH,

He's not hurting himself with the lumpenproletariat whatsoever. He knows his target group, he's had their IQ and emotional triggers gauged well for many years and he plays them like a fiddle. Thoughtful indies have never been been part of his target group. How could they be?

Sure, he's a windsock. But he's been good enough to get this far and damn lucky the RW is so well hated even within her own party, that an empty suit such as BHO was able to beat her tactically in February.

I despise the Maverick brand but I despise prog slavers to a much greater degree. I've got my clothes pin - I'm ready for November.

[hit and run]

Exit polls in WV

By Gender
Male (48%)
Hillary 58% Obama 37%
Female (52%)
Hillary 70% and Obama 27%

Let's run the math.

Male = 58% of 48% = 27.8% for Hillary
Female = 70% of 52% = 36.4% for Hillary

Giving us 64.2% for Hillary

Male = 37% of 48% = 17.7% of all voters for Obama
Female = 27% of 52% = 14.0% of all voters for Obama

Gives us 31.7% for Obama

Hillary wins 64-32

But then again...

By Income
Less Than $100,000 (89%)
Hillary 66% Obama 31%
$100,000 or More (11%)
Hillary 51% Obama 45%

<$100,000 = 66% of 89% = 58.7% for Hillary
>$100,000 = 51% of 11% = 5.6% for Hillary

Giving us 64.3% for Hillary

<$100,000 = 31% of 89% = 27.6%
>$100,000 = 45% of 11% = 5.0%

Giving us 32.6% for Obama

Hillary wins 64-33

It's a 30+ point win for Hillary.

Well, if you trust the exit polls, no?

Oh and if you trust my math. Which is worse than trusting exit polls. Maybe I'll move upstairs and turn on the tube.

[Pagar]

For those who want to know more about Chicago politics and how it will affect who is elected President

"Curtain Time for Barack Obama - Part II"

"Curtain Time Part II will show that Obama was the inside guy in the Illinois senate as far as setting up the Health Facilities Planning Board to extort contributions from companies in exchange for the approval of applications to build medial facilities."

[JM Hanes]

boris:

I think we'd both be further down the education path in this election round, if the movers & shakers in the blogosphere spent half as much time heading that direction as they do milling around chewing on Ayers like cud. In many ways, the Ayers connection represents a unique opportunity to talk about the kind of educational bombs he's been planting, bombs that ultimately affect more Americans than the fire he was playing with as a Weatherman. Unfortunately, most of the reams of commentary produced so far only mention education in Ayer's job title and then tackle Obama as though he's the one who was a Weatherman. I, personally, find it depressing to listen to that kind of conflation when so much of it is coming from the same folks who are so quick to point out false equivalencies on the left. In fact, the casual nastiness and the conspiracy mongering tenor of the sniping from the right these days has begun to strike me as far too close to the DU model for comfort. YMMV, of course. A lot of other folks are clearly using a different brand of odometer than I am.

[Ann]

Hit,

Can you tell me the percentage of Republicans voting for Hillary? :)

Chrissy and Obey's head will explode after this speech.
She is never leaving. :P

[hit and run]

Ann - WV by party...Repub vote only 4% which doesn't get broken out by CNN.

And note that she wins the Independent vote by waaaay less than the Democratic vote.

You don't (let your surrogates) call people racist bigots to get them to vote for you.

Even if they are Democrats.

Vote by Party ID
Democrat (78%)
Clinton 68%
Obama 30%

Republican (4%)
Clinton N/A
Obama N/A

Independent (18%)
Clinton 53%
Obama40%

[Rick Ballard]

H & R,

If Pennsylvanians are bitter and clingy (according to the Arugala King), what would West Virginians be?

[hit and run]

Toothless

[Terry Gain]

Only the naive or stupid will be influenced by what Obama says now. He is 20 years too late on Wright and 25 years too late on Ayers. Giving him every benefit of the doubt he should have known enough to condemn Ayers when he (Obama) was 21. Instead he recently praised Ayers as a respected member of the community.

I judge Obama by what he does -including with whom he has associated- not just by what he says (which is hot air straight from his political heart).

[Ann]

Thanks, Hit.

Hillary did thank KKK Byrd. Tomorrow all the papers will continue to tell us that she only won because of all the racists in WVA. (However, they won't mention they are democrats.)

Waiting for Michelle's remarks. Quick, Someone lock her in a closet.

[Ann]

"Toothless" LOL

...and clinging to their banjos!

[hit and run]

Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine
Teardrops in my eye

[windansea]

Toothless

where's LATW?

beetlejuice

[Rick Ballard]

"where's LATW?"

Waiting for the talking points that say that almost cracking 30% of the Dem vote in a state with two Dem Senators is absolute proof that BHO is the only hope for real change to unified diversity.

He may be a while...

[clarice]

It sounded like a good idea at the time--putting our phone/tv and IT services with one provider..until we had an 18 hour outage and only the radio worked.
Well I rested for a change and that was good. Glad to see Hill trounced Obama.