McCain in Defiance

. . .Um, as in the town. Not the emotional mode. Although I can see the ease in making that assumption.



John McCain appeared before a crowd of 6,000 adoring fans commandeered students in the nearby community of Defiance, Ohio today. As it turns out, not only was "Joe the Plumber" a no-show for the campaign event, but more than 4,000 students were bused in from schools in the area. The entire 2,500-student Defiance School District was in attendance in addition to at least three other schools from neighboring districts, one of which sent 14 buses. I guess I just automatically assumed that J Sid would be opposed to "busing". Go figure.

I gotta say, as a parent, I'd be after the head of the supe of my school district if my kids had been "schooled into" a political event w/o my prior knowledge AND approval.

Barack Obama: Closing Arguments

Part One


Part Two


Part Three


Part Four

They Walk Among Us

These are your friends and neighbors. . .we have work to do, peeps:

Breakfast in Ohio

The Obama's and Bidens enjoy breakfast at the Yankee Kitchen Family Restaurant in Boardman,Ohio:

"Punch" - What John McCain Doesn't want You to Know in Ohio

The Obama campaign promised late last week that they would keep attacking John McCain and his campaign manager for their ties to a company merger that could lead to thousands of job losses in Ohio. And today they followed through on that threat.

Their new ad, titled "Punch," focuses on the testimonies of Ohio DHL workers who could lose their jobs should the company send their shipping practice to UPS:

Obama holds solid lead in Ohio

Barack Obama continues to hold a solid advantage over John McCain in Ohio, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling. His lead in the state is 48-40, similar to the 50-39 edge he showed in PPP’s June poll.



Obama trails McCain 46-42 among white voters, but his 91-6 advantage with African Americans gives him the overall lead. “Right now Barack Obama is in a pretty good position in Ohio,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “His standing with black voters is not surprising, but he is also doing unusually well with white voters in the state.

Whether he can sustain that level of support or not will probably determine if he can take this state.” The results show a significant gender gap, with Obama leading by 20 points among women but trailing by seven with men. Obama leads in all age groups except senior citizens.

The PPP poll also spells trouble for GOP Governor George Voinovich in his fight for re-election:

Another "battleground" state bites the dust. . .

Ohio Guv's a cornholer

Sometimes. . .our neighbors to the east scare me:

"There's a new game in town: cornhole.

And Gov. Ted Strickland has let it be known he will soon hold a cornhole tournament to raise money for his campaign, with regional competitions around Ohio, including one in North Canton.

Strickland, who admits liking cornhole but also says he's no ringer, will be at each event."

As it turns out,THIS version of cornhole is a bean bag-tossing game that's popular on campuses and at tailgate parties. Whew.

Obama has large lead in Ohio

Via: Public Policy Polling - Hat Tip: Robert Rouse at Left of Centrist

Raleigh, N.C. June 16,2008 – Barack Obama kicks off the general election with a 50-39 lead over John McCain in Ohio, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling.
It’s a significant change from PPP’s most recent previous Ohio survey, conducted in
March, which found Obama trailing McCain 49-41 during the heart of the Jeremiah
Wright controversy.

Obama leads by equal margins among men and women, and has a four point lead with white voters while also holding a dominant 75-21 advantage with African Americans. The survey also found that Hillary Clinton could help him if she was on the ticket in Ohio. 19% of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for Obama if he was her VP choice, while 15% said they would be less likely to support him.

“Barack Obama appears to be enjoying a strong unity bounce in Ohio,” said Dean
Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “He begins the general election campaign in a strong position in the state, and Ohio is one place where putting Senator Clinton on the ticket seems likely to give him a boost.”

Results from the earlier March survey showed quite a different outcome in the Buckeye State:

Raleigh, N.C. March 19, 2008 – In possible general election match ups in Ohio Hillary Clinton shows a slight lead over John McCain while McCain has a larger advantage over Barack Obama, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling. Clinton leads McCain 45-44 in the state, while McCain has a 49-41 advantage over Obama.

Obama leads McCain in Ohio, California

A new SUSA poll shows Barack Obama with a 9 point lead over John McCain in the swing state of Ohio. You know, one of those hard working white folks states that only Hillary Clinton can carry. . .

Click the image below to view larger:


And in the Golden State:

If the general election were held today, likely voters in California would favor Obama over McCain by 17 points (54% to 37%). Since March (49% to 40%), Obama’s lead over McCain has increased 8 points.

Obama has strong support among Democrats (81%) and majority support among independents (55%),while McCain enjoys strong support among Republicans (73%). Obama leads McCain among both men and women. Half of whites and 69 percent of Latinos say they would vote for Obama over McCain.

Obama leads McCain by a double-digit margin among likely voters with annual household incomes less than $40,000 (55% to 35%), $40,000 to $80,000 (55% to 36%), and $80,000 or more (53% to 37%).

Blame Canada?

More accurate to blame Hillary:

Last week, the Conservative Canadian government interfered in the Democratic primary process by misrepresenting a communication between Obama economic advisor Austin Goolsby and a low-level Canadian official concerning Obama's position on NAFTA.

This CBC video report posted below reveals the Canadian government's mis-statement, and how John McCain and Hillary Clinton repeated that lie in nearly identical language - as though Hillary was running to be McCain's vice-president.

Paul Loeb reports:

As the Ohio primary approached, Obama was steadily closing what a month earlier had been a 20-point lead in the polls. He pointed out that the NAFTA trade agreement was a centerpiece of Bill Clinton's term and that it cost massive numbers of industrial jobs. Instead of creating a trade-fueled boom, NAFTA helped hollow out America's industrial base, with over 200,000 manufacturing jobs disappearing in Ohio alone since the 2000 election. Even Republicans I talked with while calling the state just before the primary made clear that they thought it was a disaster.

Given these sentiments, Hillary chose not to defend her husband's actions, but instead claimed Obama was distorting her position because she'd privately opposed the agreement at the time, had "long been a critic" and now similarly supported stronger labor and environmental standards. Echoing her reinvention on the Iraq War, these claims were flat-out nonsense. As David Sirota points out, she'd praised NAFTA repeatedly in public settings from the time of its inception, even praising corporations for mounting "a very effective business effort" on behalf of its passage. And as Obama highlighted their contrasting positions and approaches on this and other issues, he was gaining in the polls.

Then, on Feb 27, the Canadian network CTV reported that even as Obama was publicly attacking Bill's role in NAFTA, and arguing for a drastic overhaul, he'd had key economic advisor Austin Goolsby arrange a meeting with the Canadian ambassador where Goolsby reassured them that this was all just "political positioning," pandering for campaign trail. The likely source of the anonymous Valerie Plame-style leak was Ian Brodie, Chief of Staff, to a key Bush ally, right-wing Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and the US media jumped all over it as proof of Obama's hypocrisy. The Canadian embassy denied the story and Obama also said it was false. A follow-up March 3rd leak then sent a supposed memo summarizing the meeting to the major US media outlets, quoting Goolsby as saying Obama's statements were more "political positioning than the clear articulation of policy plans." Clinton made the controversy a centerpiece of her home stretch speeches and ads, saying "You come to Ohio and you both give speeches that are very critical of NAFTA and you send out misleading and false information about my position regarding NAFTA and then we find out that your chief economic advisor has gone to a foreign government and basically done the old wink wink, don't pay any attention this is just political rhetoric." She even ran a radio ad that misleadingly presenting itself as a news story, which concluded, "As Senator Obama was telling one story to Ohio, his campaign was telling a very different story to Canada."

John McCain similarly attacked Obama for the presumed contradiction in his stand, saying "I don't think it's appropriate to go to Ohio and tell people one thing while your aide is calling the Canadian Ambassador and telling him something else. I certainly don't think that's straight talk." The week before, key Clinton ally, Machinist's Union head Tom Buffenbarger used recycled language from ads the right-wing Club For Growth ran against Howard Dean by dismissing Obama supporters as "latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies." He now attacked Obama again by saying, "Working families cannot trust a candidate who telegraphs his real position to a foreign government and then dissembles in a nationally televised debate."

These attacks unquestionably made a difference. They flipped voter perceptions on an issue where Obama should have had a key advantage. In 1994, union, environmental, and social justice activists were so angry at Clinton's staking all his political chips to pass NAFTA that many sat out that critical election, helping lead to Gingrich's win. Now Clinton ended up getting a majority the 55 percent of Ohio voters who expressed a sense "that trade takes jobs away," a majority of those worried about their family's economic situation, and a majority of union members, whom Obama won in his recent victories. She won a 10 percent plurality in a state where Ohioans overwhelmingly picked the economy as the top issue. And she won overwhelmingly with late-breaking voters, the opposite of practically all of Obama's other campaigns. Most important, by casting doubt on Obama's integrity, the cornerstone of his campaign, they made him seem like just another hack politician who'd say anything to win. This gave the supposed scandal a probable impact in Texas and Rhode Island as well, even though NAFTA was less of a central issue there.

Indeed, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff, Ian Brodie, was heard to say "Someone from (Hillary) Clinton's campaign is telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt. . . That someone called us and told us not to worry." In other words, the quote was flipped - from Clinton camp to Obama - and used to defeat him in a state where he likely would have won. Karl Rove must be very proud of Mrs. Clinton. . .

Hillary mocks Obama during campaign rally

Resorts to Karl Rove style attacks:

Hillary Clinton, with her campaign on its last legs after suffering a string of defeats to Obama, has made the decision to go negative in an attempt to halt his momentum. On Saturday, she also accused Obama's campaign of using negative tactics "right out of Karl Rove's playbook" in mailers that misrepresent her positions on NAFTA and healthcare. The Obama mailings have been in ciculation since Super Tuesday, and she just NOW suddenly has an issue with them?

In their debate last week, Hillary Clinton proclaimed "how proud she was to be standing on the same stage with Barack Obama". Apparently that love fest has ended, and the wounded Clinton is resorting to the same Rovian style tactics that she's accused Obama of - in this case, attacking your opponent's strengths.

Hillary Losing Hispanic Vote

¡Sí podemos! ¡Obama para el presidente!

Hillary Clinton was finally declared the winner of the New Mexico primary yesterday, after a nine day nightmare of hand counting 17,000 provisional votes in the state. For all of the trouble she picked up ONE additional delegate - I guess that may have been cheaper than Mitt Romney's!

And, much like Julie Rudiani, Hill is placing all of her eggs into one basket - the OH, TX, PA trifecta in a few weeks- as her final stand. How fitting that the Alamo is located in one of those states! Oddly enough, she may suffer the same fate as those brave defenders of yesteryear, AND from the very same folks - the Mexicans.

See, Hillary received the majority of hispanic votes in the earlier primary contests. That percentage has steadily declined, however, and was NOT improved by her firing of a top campaign official who happened to be hispanic herself. I can't speak for Pennsylvania, but I'm pretty damned sure that Texas has a large Mexican population and Ohio shares Indiana's growing hispanic populace due to a need for cheap farm labor.

On top of that, a friend sent me the following this afternoon - " Our Hispanic Voices Supports Barack Obama". Here's their video:



Oh, and they added the following message:

Findlay Flood - The Epic YouTube Film

A group of kids filmed their escape from the floodwaters in Findlay, Ohio. Here is their story:

Part I - The Escape


Part II - The Streets


Part III - Hope


Part IV - Bail Out


Part V - Trouble With the Transport


Part VI - Selfish Mr.Smith