Above: on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, today.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Above: part 1. Clips from the rest of the hour after the jump.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Last night the Tennessee junior Senator was at NewsChannel9 doing a satellite interview with Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business Channel. After that interview was done, he remarked at how Cavuto repeatedly interrupted him (darn media), so I promised to let him finish all answers to my questions.

Among other things, Corker talked of:

1. enthusiasm about Obama he’s seen around the world - he says many in the former Soviet satellites are agog at the American transition of power on display, not to mention McCain’s concession speech,

2. his pooh-poohing of the current president’s penchant for improper profligacy & its potential for prevalent penury, &

3. the positive power of prospective pragmatic politics.

I’m sorry if you can’t hear my questions very well; I was not miked up.

What do you think of his comments? Please post your own!

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His 1st post-election interview.

Watch it here.

Read the transcript here (part 1), here, (part 2), & here (part 3).

Some highlights:

“I’ve been spending a lot of time reading Lincoln. There is a wisdom there and a humility about his approach to government, even before he was president, that I just find very helpful. “

Kroft: Have you been reading anything about the Depression? Anything about FDR?

And whether it’s coming from FDR or it’s coming from Ronald Reagan, if the idea is right for the times then we’re gonna apply it. And things that don’t work we’re gonna get rid of.”

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“I’ve been sleeping like a baby,” the GOP candidate said on The Tonight Show Tuesday. “I sleep two hours, wake up and cry. Sleep two hours, wake up and cry.”

Watch the appearance here.

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Above: Part 1.

The remaining parts after the jump.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: in Danville, Virginia yesterday.

After the jump: Biden gives an interview to a ‘hostile’ local TV anchor…watch an ad Biden is running for his current Delaware Senate seat…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Is this interviewer biased against the Democratic candidate?

Watch her earlier interview with McCain & decide for yourself.

Click here for a viewpoint that says yes, the interviewer was unfairly biased.

Click here for a viewpoint that says no, the interviewer wasn’t unfairly biased.

Still Campaigning for His DE Senate Seat

What happens to the seat if Biden heads to the White House? Click here for the answer.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

TODAY’S EPISODE: Will McCain Do the Wright Thing?…On the Stump in the Granite State…An Interview with Don Imus…His Biggest Weakness…On the Stump in Pennsylvania

Cavalry Apparently Not Coming: Not Doing the Wright Thing

From Politico:

For the GOP, the cavalry apparently isn’t coming.

Republicans attuned to conservative third-party efforts say that with less than two weeks to go until Election Day, the prospects for any 11th-hour, anti-Obama ad campaigns are highly unlikely.

Many in the party, including inside the McCain campaign, have held out hope that a deep-pocketed benefactor would emerge to bankroll ads in the campaign’s final days — spots that might, for example, resurrect the most incendiary clips from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

But thanks largely to lack of passion for McCain within the conservative base, diminished hopes that he can win and a sharp decline in the stock market that has badly pinched donors’ pockets, veteran Republican operatives say it appears almost certain that what could be the most damaging line of attack against the Democratic nominee will be left on the shelf.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In New Hampshire Today

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - John McCain returns today to the state whose primary he won in 2000 and again earlier this year.
Recent polls have shown Barack Obama with a lead no smaller than 7 percentage points in New Hampshire. That has prompted speculation McCain may have to surrender the state’s four electoral votes and focus elsewhere if he hopes to cobble together the 270 needed to become president.
A senior adviser is having none of it. Mark Salter says McCain is visiting New Hampshire because, in his words, “we get a charge out of it. We think we’re competitive there. They get it.”
New Hampshire was the only state to vote for Democrat John Kerry in 2004 after going for Republican George W. Bush in 2000.

Interview with Don Imus

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - John McCain says some polls may show his opponent is ahead, but he says indicators show his campaign is “coming up.”
McCain spoke this morning on the “Imus in the Morning” radio show. He admits he may be an underdog candidate, but says Barack Obama’s lead appears to be within the margin of error.
Overall, the Arizona senator tells Imus he feels “very confident” and says his campaign is “doing fine.” He says they’ll continue working hard and “having fun.” McCain says that goes for running mate Sarah Palin too.
He says, “We understand what a tough battle we have and she understands it better than anybody.”
McCain is campaigning today in New Hampshire, before heading to Ohio for two rallies with Palin. Next stops will include Florida, where Obama also is ahead in the polls.

Here’s a link to the audio of the Imus interview.

His Biggest Weakness

Palin, according to a new NBC poll.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: in Bensalem, Pennsylvania yesterday.

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TODAY’S EPISODE: An interview on CNN…How Palin channels her inner John Edwards…

CNN Interview

A ‘Marie Antoinette’ Moment

John Edwards was mocked for the “$400 haircut” story. So it’s understandable that Palin (& the enabling RNC) deserve a little ribbing for this story in Politico today:

“The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

This is more spent on clothes & makeup in the past month than the average American family spends on its wardrobe over the course of 80 years.

As Marc Ambinder points out, the heat from this story will likely be generated more by Republicans than Democrats:

There is already an attempt to blame the media — as in, the liberal media would have looked askance at Palin if she wasn’t clad in Neiman Marcus, but this won’t wash. Republicans, RNC donors and at least one RNC staff member have e-mailed me tonight to share their utter (and not-for-attribution) disgust at the expenditures.

Oh, & by the way - that Palin makeup figure? Half as much as spent on makeup for John McCain.

What do you think?

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[above: with his maternal grandparents]

Today’s Episode: Rushing home to visit his grandmother…more on who his grandmother is…attacking McCain on healthcare in a new ad…making economic proposals in Florida…debating the meaning of the Colin Powell endorsement..a stump speech in Florida

Rushing Home to See ‘Toot’

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Barack Obama is canceling nearly all his campaign events Thursday and Friday to visit his gravely ill grandmother in Hawaii.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs says Madelyn Dunham “has always been one of the most important people” in Obama’s life. She turns 86 Sunday.
Obama says Dunham taught him values “straight from the Kansas heartland.”
Obama recognized his grandmother when he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination. In that speech, he said she taught him about hard work and that she was the one “who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself” so he could have a better life.
On Friday, Michelle Obama will sub for her husband at campaign rallies in Ohio.

Read Obama’s grandmother’s Wikipedia page here.

Conservative blogger (& Obama supporter) Andrew Sullivan says:

“Toot” was a formative figure - she brought him up with her husband during some critical years. Her death would be the death of his last parent. Reading about her again tonight, you can see where Obama’s personal social conservatism comes from. There’s a lot more Kansas in Obama than most people on the right seem to think.

New Ad: “Erratic”

Laying Out Economic Proposals

Read prepared remarks he made today at an economic summit in Lake Worth, Florida here. Or watch those remarks below:

Above: An interview on the Today show that aired this morning in which he talks about the Powell endorsement.

FURTHER READING ON THE POWELL ENDORSEMENT:

“The Power of Powell’s Rebuke” - Eugene Robinson, the Washington Post

“Powell’s Lame Case for Obama” - Rich Lowry, the National Review

Why Liberals Should Be Queasy about the Powell Endorsement - Ken Silverstein, Harpers

Below: Obama stumping in Tampa, Florida yesterday

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Above: former Secretary of State Colin Powell announces he’s endorsing Barack Obama.

This is the only endorsement left this year that has any chance of making a difference with voters.

More from Powell outside the NBC Studios.

EARLIER ON VOTE08:

“MR. UNDECIDED” - September 16th

“ZOGBY: POWELL WOULD BOOST OBAMA’S CHANCES” - July 18th

“COMPUTER SAYS IDEAL VP FOR BOTH DEMS & GOP IS THE SAME GUY” - July 1st

“POWELL HINTS AT OBAMA ENDORSEMENT” - June 13th

“OBAMA’S VICE-PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH” - June 11th (in which we hint Powell might be a good Obama VP)

“COLIN POWELL ON BARACK OBAMA” - April 10th (check this clip out if nothing else)

What do you think?

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Endorsed by the Reform Party & NASCAR legend Richard Petty.

Click here to view the embedded video.

McCain returned to the David Letterman show last night. This after he cancelled an appearance last month. McCain encountered air traffic gridlock in Philly yesterday & rented a helicopter to make sure he reached the Letterman show on time.

Like Obama, McCain cracked wise at the Al Smith Memorial Dinner last night:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Joe the Plumber in New McCain Ad

Latest GA Poll Has McCain Up By 6

Read about it here.

The same poll has Saxby Chambliss leading by 2.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Post-Debate Ad Rips the Incumbent

On NewsChannel9.com’s main page: a new web poll that asks “who would make a better president?”

Go vote!

His Best Debate Moment

Joan Venocchi:

“McCain had at least one good line last night: “Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush you should’ve run four years ago.” But one good line isn’t a lifeline.

BUT

The Arizona senator finally mentioned Bill Ayers and ACORN to his opponent’s face. But he can’t link Obama to Ayers and domestic terrorism, or to the controversial community group called Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, as tightly as Obama can link McCain to Bush. And that remains one of Obama’s biggest advantages in this race.”

What the Right Thought

John Podhoretz:

“The general feeling on the right side of the blogosphere is that this was McCain’s best debate and he did himself a lot of good. I think people on the Right were so relieved that the debate finally turned to matters of ideological and partisan moment — abortion, ACORN, Ayers, trade, spending — that, perhaps for the first time in his political career, they graded him on a curve. The problem, in my view, is that the shorthand in which McCain spoke about these matters made them comprehensible only to those of us who are already schooled in them. In almost every case, Obama answered McCain’s shorthand with longhand — with detailed, even long-winded answers that gave the distinct impression he was more in command of the details of these charges than the man who was trying to go after him on them.

We’re not the audience for these debates. Undecided voters are, and undecided voters are, or so studies tell us, often astonishingly ill-informed. You can only bring up new issues if you’re able pithily to explain the context and meaning of them. It is not a rap on McCain to say he’s not good at it; he doesn’t want to bother with the introduction. But in a setting like that, the introduction is what matters, far more than the attack.”

As a person whose “day job” consists of constantly attempting to make complex stories “clear & easy to understand,” I completely agree with this assessment.

Daniel Larison at the American Conservative (essential read):

“There is a basic rule in any competition, and elections are no different. If you assume that all you really need do is show up and wait for the other side to fail, you will lose and probably quite embarrassingly at that. McCain never made the case for himself, because he assumed that he would be the default winner once the public decided Obama was unprepared. Whether or not Obama is unprepared by some standards is not the point. Relative to McCain, he has shown himself to be fairly masterful while his opponent blunders and lurches. Despite having every advantage in the political conditions this year, Obama has not taken those advantages for granted nearly as much as he could have done. The post-nomination pandering and position-switching, all of which now seems to have been quite unnecessary, were part of a steady, cautious effort to appear cautious and steady, which gave calls for undefined change a reassuring rather than an unsettling quality and negated McCain’s efforts to portray him as reckless and unready.”

&

“Perhaps most remarkable about the attempt to potray Obama as a lightweight celebrity is how true of McCain that description now seems to be.”

Above: McCain speaks on Fox News today.

RNC Ad Says Obama’s Not Ready

But: isn’t this also an argument against Sarah Palin?

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

The Tennessee Senator & [former Chattanooga mayor] was at the NewsChannel9 studios Tuesday morning for a satellite interview with the Fox Business Channel; we interviewed him briefly after that, & though I was not the “main interviewer,” I did manage to get some questions in.

In your conversation with Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne back in May, you warned your party against making personal attacks against the Democratic presidential nominee, saying it actually hurt your 2006 Senate campaign. Do you still stand by that warning?

SENATOR CORKER: What I was warning against is these third-party groups that get involved, & they think they’re assisting you, OK? In our case it was the Republican National Committee that ran ads at the end of our race, uh, quote “trying to help us.” & instead over a 6-day period, they knocked us down by 10 points. & what I was saying is, that, you know, that in these campaigns you need to ask your friends not to run any kind of negative ads about your opponent, because they have unintended consequences. If the campaign itself wants to draw distinctions, I think that’s something the campaign should do, but again, these 3rd-party groups can do things that just totally adversely affect your campaign. It’s one of the results of McCain-Feingold. & I think it’s just totally out of control. I think certainly Tennessee’s not a battleground state, OK? & we’re not seeing a lot of ads here - it’d be a total waste of money in the state. But I’m sure that in the other states like Ohio & places that are battleground states, they’re having all kinds of 3rd-party ads run in those states, that have by the way all kinds of unintended consequences. & so, what I talked about to E.J. Dionne, & what I’ve talked about to others is the fact that these 3rd-party ads can be very detrimental.

Is free-market fundamentalism dead?

SENATOR CORKER: No, not at all. Look, you know, if you think about what happens every day in our banking system, the Federal Reserve opens the window if you will, & banks in essence put up collateral, & receive monies from the Fed, & so, every day there’s intervention, if you will, there’s a coordinated effort from central banks to keep our financial systems operating. This is a very exacerbated situation where excesses occurred, I don’t think people understood that there was potentially $55 trillion dollars of these derivatives that were getting ready to bring the system down. What we need to do is implement what happened properly & then come back in January & put in place reforms. I think most people understand there needs to be appropriate regulation. There was not appropriate regulation as it relates to these derivatives. I think we’ll get that straightened out over the course of this next year. I do not think that ‘free-market fundamentalism’ if you will is gone at all, I think we’ve always had it, whether it’s the airline industry, the fact that we have the F-A-A that coordinates people landing, there’s always a certain amount of government involvement. Hopefully it stays limited & as an advocate of limited government I certainly want to see that be the case. But today we had a very exacerbated problem that to me needed to be solved, our whole way of doing business was gonna come down. As you know I’ve supported that & have been very involved in negotiating taxpayer protections & oversight if you will that have come into play in this case & then I hope we can move very quickly away from this active involvement towards a regulatory regime that keeps this from happening again. But great question. Thank you.

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Fighting the Mob Mentality

Quote of the day. I hope it’s not too late to heed this advice [Update: Never mind]:

“John Weaver, McCain’s former top strategist, said top Republicans have a responsibility to temper this behavior.

“People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, the differences with Sen. Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared to Sen. McCain,” Weaver said. “And from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive.”

“Sen. Obama is a classic liberal with an outdated economic agenda. We should take that agenda on in a robust manner. As a party we should not and must not stand by as the small amount of haters in our society question whether he is as American as the rest of us. Shame on them and shame on us if we allow this to take hold.””

Joe Klein:

“…we are on the edge of some real serious craziness here and it would be nice if McCain did the right thing and told his more bloodthirsty supporters to go home and take a cold shower. But McCain hasn’t done the right thing all year. His campaign is appalling, as the New York Times editorial board said today–and more, it is a national disgrace.”

FURTHER READING: “the Unthinkable,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates

After the jump: McCain’s plan for 401(K)s… an interview with Charles Gibson of ABC…a new Ayers ad…a McCain aide brings up Obama’s drug use…McCain loses ground with working class voters…a new web ad tying Obama & ACORN.

McCain Proposes Suspending Mandatory Stock Sales

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) - John McCain is proposing a plan that would suspend mandatory sale of stocks in retirement funds.
McCain said Friday that his economic plan would spare investors who have to start selling off their retirement accounts at age 70 and a half. As the economy struggles and Wall Street plunges, the value of these accounts have tanked.
McCain says investors shouldn’t have to sell their accounts as the economy is at the lowest point in years. He says the investment rules should be suspended until the stock market recovers.

Read a speech he gave in Wisconsin today here.

Above: an interview with ABC’s Charles Gibson.\

Below: A new McCain ad featuring that oldie-but-goodie, William Ayers.. again.

Ross Douthat:

“Imagine you’re an undecided voter, turning on the news tonight. You hear about the enormous plunge Wall Street took today. You hear about the U.S. government taking ownership stakes in American banks. You hear about a global economic crisis. You hear about the Great Depression.

Then the subject turns to the Presidential race - and if the news channel behaves the way the McCain campaign clearly hopes it will, the first thing you’ll see is a short feature on how John McCain has cut a new anti-Obama ad featuring Ayers, Ayers and more Ayers. It’s possible that this inspires you to think: Man, that terrorist-sympathizing Obama can’t be trusted in an economic crisis. In that case, Steve Schmidt…& sundry others are political masterminds, and I am a plain fool.

But I don’t think I’m a fool. I think McCain looks, to our hypothetical undecided, utterly disconnected from what’s happening in the world, and the details of the Ayers connection, however troubling they might be in another context, blur away into a broader impression of a flailing, desperate, out-of-touch candidate. At this point, the McCain camp seems to be taking its cues more from the liberal caricature of past conservative campaigns - that they’ve all been fundamentally unserious exercises in culture-war button-pushing - than from the campaigns themselves.”

McCain Aide Blows Hard about Obama’s Youthful Drug Use

NEW YORK (AP) - One of John McCain’s campaign co-chairs is calling Barack Obama “a guy of the street” — while raising the issue of Obama’s teenage drug use.
Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating made the remarks on comedian Dennis Miller’s radio show yesterday while talking about Obama’s record. He calls that record “very extreme” and says Obama ought to be more forthcoming about his past. Keating says Obama should admit he was “way to the left,” “used cocaine” and “voted liberally,” before moving to the political center.
In his memoir “Dreams From My Father,” Obama describes experimenting with marijuana, cocaine and alcohol as a teenager, saying he’d been headed toward becoming a “junkie” before straightening himself out.
McCain aides say Keating had not been asked to bring up Obama’s past drug use and hadn’t cleared his comments with the campaign.

Which Republican, by my reckoning, will not be eager to make this kind of argument?

Zach Wamp. Read why here.

Losing Ground with the Working Class

KITTANNING, Pa. (AP) - John McCain appears to be losing ground with white-working class voters.
Polls show people are moving away from McCain over fears their personal finances could farther deteriorate with him as president. Many are belatedly coming around to Barack Obama who is seen as a leader who cares more about the working class.
In early September, McCain had a 26-point advantage among white voters without a college degree who were likely to vote. By late September, the advantage had dropped to 7 points.
In Pennsylvania, a recent Quinnipiac University poll showed Obama with a double-digit lead over McCain, compared with a close race after the political conventions.
One 64-year-old, lifelong Pennsylvania Republican says it’s not a fondness for Obama, but a dislike of McCain and the way the country is. Ruth Ann Michel says “Republicans need to change.”

New McCain Web Ad: ACORN

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Above: Obama in Indianapolis today.

Below: Obama interviewed by Charles Gibson of ABC News:

Guess who’s back: Oprah Winfrey says she’s going to headline a fundraiser this weekend in Chicago.

EARLIER ON VOTE08: Two posts that show how Oprah’s endorsement of Obama earlier this year may have helped him, but certainly didn’t help her.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Above: John McCain on ABC’s ‘This Week’ (a program on which former House Speaker Newt Gingrich likened Chattanooga & its gas shortage to “a third world country“)

Below: Barack Obama on “Face the Nation,” in 2 parts:

Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.

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Please pay close attention to the last 45 seconds of this clip.

So how do you think she did?

Watch the interview & let me know what you think!

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bill Clinton speaks for the first time on the current financial situation.

Watch, & let me know what you think!

FURTHER READING: The New York Times takes a look at an increased interest in how the ladies of ‘the View’ are covering politics.

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In case you missed it last night, this is pretty essential viewing for engaged voters.

The full clips of the interviews haven’t been ‘YouTubed’ - I hope to have them posted here later today.

But until then, click here to watch the full segments.

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch above & let me know what you think.

By the way, Sean Hannity is a not a journalist.

Did you not know that?

He’s a conservative commentator.

He said as much last year after defending his appearance at a fundraiser for Rudy Giuliani.

Palin’s next interview is with “journalist” Katie Couric.

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I’m pretty speechless here.

As you can see, Fox News’ Greta van Sustern seems to be fixated on a certain phrase..

My fingers are crossed that the Sean Hannity interview of Sarah Palin (yes, we’ll post the clips here when they’re available) will not be this bad.

By the way, re: that Hannity interview, I’m willing to bet anyone $10 that one of the questions he asks will be:

“Why do you think people on the left hate you so much?”

What do you think?

Post from: The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08