Obama mopped up the floor today while engaging the GOP in a Q&A session, watch it for yourself.  Enough already with the GOP, we have no jobs because of the previous administration, we have the problems we have now because of Bush and a GOP congress, now it is time for the GOP to move over and let some new ideas and policies take our nation back on track.

So, let us now sit back and watch how Obama takes on the GOP and shows them why they are in the minority:

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Josh is a high school senior and he is volunteering to write articles for our blog. You will be amazed at the talent this young man has, and I am most pleased to post his very first article:

Obama on Right Track for Teen Pregnancy Prevention

President Obama is considering cutting teen abstinence programs and replacing them with pregnancy prevention programs. Obama stated that he did not see the abstinence programs making a dramatic difference in the sexual behavior of teens. Obama is proposing to delete 100 million dollars worth of current teen abstinence programs and would redirect some of the money to a teen pregnancy initiative. This would include funds for comprehensive sex education programs. The goal of these programs is to reduce teenage pregnancy.

As a teenage guy, I agree with what Obama is trying to do. From my experiences, abstinence programs don’t really work. Most teenagers, like me, consider listening to these abstinence presentations as a waste of time. Because a lot of teens have already had sex, It would be better to focus these presentations and programs on pregnancy prevention tips so that the risk of teenage pregnancy is reduced. Since a lot of teens are going to have sex regardless of what people say, they might as well be equipped with tools to prevent them or their partner from getting pregnant.

Josh, high school senior

Obama hits it out of the park with this ad, and while McCain goes from "the fundamentals are strong" to "I meant the workers were strong" (actually worse considering that the workers in our nation have seen their wages stagnate over the last eight years) to god knows what today, Obama has this new ad up:

Obama gave a great speech today, and in this speech he noted the actions he has taken as a Senator to stop this financial meltdown. While Obama was trying to get legislation passed that would halt the fraud in the financial system, McCain was voting against these bills, as well as ignoring the entire issue. McCain's solution? Form a commission now.

McCain put up an ad today stating that Palin rejected the bridge to nowhere....only problem? That is a lie (look at previous posts for the story). What is really sad, and telling, is that the ONLY thing McCain can offer America is just that lies, corruption and more of the same.

Here is the ad that Obama has out today:

What is striking about the following video is the voice of these folks, people who are sick of the politics of the GOP, sick of what we saw last night from the GOP, and this morning I am reading and seeing more and more Americans who were so turned off by what the GOP did last night. America wants someone to be a leader who will work for all of us, who will do all they can to change what is now the standard in the GOP, hate filled rhetoric that has no substance.

Watch for yourself:

The video keeps pouring in, and across the board there is no doubt that history was made yesterday. What is even more clear is that the McCain campaign has underestimated Obama and their attempt at a response was not only weak, pundits are saying the McCain camp was basically speechless.

Watch it for yourself:

Before you view this video you need to know a few things about the person speaking:

To understand the significance, you've got to know a bit about who Castellanos is -- a longtime, street-fighting Republican political consultant with a reputation that compares to Lee Atwater's in terms hard-edged political warfare. I believe he's also informally working with the McCain campaign this cycle, as a sort of outside advisor.

Chuck Todd said below he thought Obama's speech had left the McCain camp speechless. My own take was that the tone of the statement from the McCain campaign was like someone who'd had the wind knocked out of them.

In that context, Castellanos' response was very telling. He made no attempt to put the speech in any positive context for McCain. Midway through this clip he sounds like an Obama surrogate. And he concludes by saying that "whoever didn't get picked for Republican VP today may be a lucky Republican."

There are no words that can describe that which Obama achieved tonight, and even Chris Matthews, pundit, cynic, could not stop from exclaiming, "I am inspired."

Our next President of the United States, Barack Obama:

From the very roots that bind us, who Obama is as presented by the DNC:

Here is Obama's newest campaign ad:



And the response from the McCain camp? " In the Senate, Barack Obama has voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time." And as Crooks and Liars reminds us, the McCain camp wants you to believe that Obama is the most liberal Senator in congress while at the same time stating half his votes are "lockstep" with Bush.

McCain has done nothing but lie, yes lie, about Obama's tax plan. Newsweek has stated that McCain's ads are :

" a pattern of misrepresentation by the McCain campaign about his opponent's tax proposals."

And now the Obama campaign has come out with a great video that points out the truth, and McCain's lies, line, by line, word by word.

Spread this video, and when someone sends you an email that says Obama will raise your taxes, send them the video and spread the truth.

Recently Barack Obama included amongst his suggestions for reducing our dependance on foreign oil that people do smart things like, well, conserve and, um, drive more efficiently. Apparently he shared with us all that keeping your tires properly inflated actually saves you gas.

And with gas over $4 /gallon, why wouldn't we all be interested in the small, personal steps we can take to reduce our use and save money...not just the bigger policy changes that will be called for?

The RNC, however, thought it was worth mocking by providing an Obama tire gauge with every donation.

Of course the down side of their knee-jerk mockery is the fact that...no, not just that it portrays the Republican candidate for President of the United States as a juvenile "I am rubber, youa re glue" kind of guy...but that they're mocking the truth.

Check out this Time article that support's Obama's contention that small personal acts can, in fact, save as much oil as new proposed drilling would produce.

EarthFirst has a nice recap, and a video of Obama's response here.

I am just...upset...sorry, I cannot think of a better word, that this is what we've come to at the highest levels of the political process. Stupid, immature, lame mockery...not to mention inaccurate...instead of substantive discussion.

Gah! Bah! Grr.

This is exactly what we need to do, go after the lies that McCain is telling, and at the same time promote the positives of our candidate, Obama. Those who are running the Obama campaign "get" how to do ads, and this one clearly is top notch and makes McCain's lame attempts look even worse then they are.

Spread this ad far and wide folks, it is a keeper:

Today Obama held a town hall meeting in Missouri, and he hit a home run with his take on the economy. For instance, today and yesterday the stock market went up almost 500 points, but at the same time we read about Mervyns filing for bankruptcy, Bennigans Steak House closes all of its stores, GM cutting salaries, Starbucks posting its first quarterly loss and the list goes on.

Over the last eight years our middle class has been struggling, and now we are hurting more then ever before, electing McCain will destroy what little middle class we have left, and we just can't let that happen.

Watch Obama nail the economic issues that face us today:

Over and over you will hear how this election is "too close to call," and a "toss-up." You are also hearing and reading the pundits claim that something is wrong because Obama isn't ahead by 20 or more points. Well, the fact of the matter is that Obama is doing very well in the polling, but that should not allow us here in CA to sit back and assume that this election is in the bag.

First of all, here is a great article on the upcoming election, which analyzes the political territory:

While no election outcome is guaranteed and McCain's prospects could improve over the next three and a half months, virtually all of the evidence that we have reviewed--historical patterns, structural features of this election cycle, and national and state polls conducted over the last several months--point to a comfortable Obama/Democratic party victory in November. Trumpeting this race as a toss-up, almost certain to produce another nail-biter finish, distorts the evidence and does a disservice to readers and viewers who rely upon such punditry. Again, maybe conditions will change in McCain's favor, and if they do, they should also be accurately described by the media. But current data do not justify calling this election a toss-up.

On a personal note, as I watched Obama speak overseas yesterday the contrast of an Obama presidency versus Bush/McCain could not be more clear. When Bush goes overseas he is met with protests, he does not speak in front of crowds, rather he is only able to address small gatherings of hand picked individuals (actually that is the same as when he is here).

Contrast that image with the flag waving, American cheering crowd that showed up to greet Obama. The choice is clear for us as Americans, to once again become a beacon of light in the world by electing Obama as our president, or to continue the erosion of our place in the world by electing McCain.

Do all you can to help elect Obama, there are opportunities for you to help register voters, make calls to swing states and if possible send a small donation to our Democratic nominee. Together we can, and we will, remove the tarnish of the last eight years.

John McCain thinks that Social Security is a disgrace, and he is going to fix it, just like Bush has fixed so many of our problems. Did I hear a gasp out there ; )

Here is what McBush stated yesterday:

Under the present setup, because we've mortgaged our children's futures, you will not have Social Security benefits that present-day retirees have unless we fix it. And Americans have got to understand that. Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that's a disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace, and it's gotta be fixed.

Of course he also favors privatization (guess he doesn't watch the stock market),

Without privatization, I don't see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits. [CSPAN, 11/18/2004]

And then he states, today, that all things are on the table to fix Social Security, except "all things on the table" must mean something I do not understand because in the same interview, a few minutes later he takes things off the table:

During an interview with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) contradicted himself in a matter of minutes regarding Social Security. When asked how he would "fix Social Security," McCain first said, "You've got to say look, everything is on the table." But then, minutes later, when asked if he favored "raising the cap," McCain said, "No." He then criticized Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) for previously saying that raising the cap is "one possible option."

Of course McCain most likely hasn't seen this article on Social Security:

The warnings have rumbled for decades: Just wait till the baby boomers retire. If you think there are strains on Social Security and Medicare now, brace yourselves for the implosion as the boomers start heading out to pasture. With the first of that generation now doing just that, we should be seeing the dust cloud soon, right?

Actually, if you've bought into the following myths about the bust the baby boom is supposed to usher in, you may be surprised

The article goes on to state the myths as well as the reality of what the situation really is, maybe McCain can take a few minutes on his weekend (he doesn't "campaign" on the weekend) and read a bit on the real issues with Social Security.

Time to education McBush on the state of the union, and work all the harder to elect Obama.

Obama is hitting the airwaves, and he hit a home run in my opinion. Here is the new ad that is airing in what used to be considered GOP strongholds:



Where is the aid airing? Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia.

If you haven't yet sent a donation to Obama, please take a moment to do so now, and it does not matter how much you send, $5, 10, whatever you can will help us to win the White House and save our nation.

Here is Hillary's Op-Ed in today's NY Daily News: Why I Continue To Run

And I recommend TalkLeft as a good blog to read covering the Clinton campaign from a rational perspective, particularly this post.

And I linked to a great post by Erica Barnett that cites dozens of examples of media misogyny in this post on my personal blog.

Finally, Morra Aarons-Mele over at BlogHer has written a couple of great posts lately about how everyone seems much freer to talk about sexism now that they've counted Hillary out and about how some Obama supporters are making the strategic error of being so vicious they are turning off not only Hillary supporters, but those that aren't as rabidly pro-Obama as they are. In my digerati-laden world I can tell you this last one is true. In the rarified halls of twitter, for example, Obama supporters who are normally rational geeks are behaving like schoolyard bullies.

If/When Clinton loses it will be by a slim margin and after having accomplished some pretty amazing vote tallies in some pretty important states.

I have to agree with the folks who are very worried about the Obama camp under-valuing that and underestimating the passion of Clinton supporters. Everyone talks about the risk of alienating Obama voters should the nomination somehow manage to land in Clinton's lap.

We should also be talking about the risk of alienating Clinton voters should anyone act too dismissive of what she and her supporters accomplished.

I truly believe that most Democrats who turned out for the primaries will, in the end, turn out in the general election and stay Democratic. Especially once they get to know McCain a little better, and as more than that old guy with a sense of humor who goes on the Daily Show.

But why risk it? Eyes on the prize, people. As Hillary says in her Op-ed:

But no matter what happens in this primary, I am committed to unifying this party. Ultimately, what Sen. Obama and I share is so much greater than our differences. And I know that if we come together, as a party and a people, there is no challenge we cannot meet, no barrier we cannot break and no dream we cannot realize.

Can't believe I forgot to post this here last week.

Starting 9 months ago my company, BlogHer, worked with our community of thousands of (mostly) women bloggers to develop a series of non-partisan, policy questions that wanted every presidential candidate to answer if they wanted to earn our votes. We called it the BlogHer Voter Manifesto.

And for 6 months, none of them bit.

We were offering to give them the questions in advance, hell they're public on our web site. We were offering to send a BlogHer rep from their own side of the aisle to do the interview and ask the questions. We were offering to show up wherever and whenever the candidates preferred.

Not a bite.

Some of them offered spouses. Or asked us to promote their online site sections for women. We got a little discouraged, but we asked our community...well, would that be enough. Should we stop there. The community overwhelmingly said "wouldn't mind hearing from spouses, but we definitely do NOT want you to stop badgering the candidates to answer our questions."

So, we didn't. we kept reminding the ever-dwindling number of candidates that our community now reaches over 9 million unique visitors a month. That's a lot. By anyone's measure.

Finally, and amazingly, the Obama campaign agreed, and one week ago today we posted the video of that one-on-one video of a BlogHer political editor interviewing Obama in Roseburg, Oregon.

You can also check it out directly here:



Power to the people! It was bloggers of every ideological stripe, and most of them NOT political bloggers and political junkies, who helped shape these questions.

Some have said the questions are too simple, not visionary enough. But I think it's a pretty clear indication that regular people just want to know what the candidates are going to DO about what they say they believe in,

We hope McCain and Clinton will soon follow.

In the meantime we also did get an exclusive audio itnerview with McCain campaign chair (and former HP CEO) Carly Fiorina, which you can listen to here.

Obama gave a speech yesterday, a speech that us already being noted as historical.

View the speech here:

People are just a bit too squeamish about "negative" campaigning and "attack" ads for my taste Seriously, I think everyone needs to get a grip.

I forget now if it was on Twitter, or on BlogHer, or on someone's own blog, but I recently saw a discussion where someone was incensed over what she perceived to be Hillary Clinton's negative campaigning.

And we all know there are lots of discussions going on about how Hillary should drop out because it will just perpetuate all of this fighting between the Democrats instead of focusing on the real issue of beating John McCain.

I myself have been extremely annoyed by the rather arrogant and, I think, subtly sexist tone Obama is taking every chance he gets.

But when I think more about it I really have to say: we all need to check our overreactions at the door and ask ourselves: Exactly what horrible, terrible, vicious attacking are we talking about?

That "phone call at 3AM" Hillary ad that has some people so steamed? Harmless. Doesn't say a word about her opponent. Harps on her experience as she's been doing for months and months.

Obama's comments about Hillary getting "desperate" and lashing out when she's "feeling down". Ok, I agree with Jon Stewart, seems like he'd be a dickish boyfriend, but this is an old political put-down...think Ronald Reagan and "There You Go Again."

Both of them having their staffs get worked up in a lather over comments from various opposing campaign workers and supporters? Getting campaign workers and supporters to step down, resign, back off, apologize?

I don't know. They're both doing it. And none of it, frankly, seems incredibly awful.

It's OK for Hillary to question Obama's experience, and for her to imply that he's all hat, no cattle. All inspiration, no perspiration. Even if you think it sounds a bit patronizing. Yes, I do think she'd be taking the same tack with anyone else who was 15 years her junior and had a similar resume.

It's OK for Obama to question Hillary's electability, "establishment" position and reputation as a polarizing figure. Even if you think he's basically spouting Republican talking points. He'd be talking about change no matter who he was running against.

I actually do not buy the media talking point that this race has been or is getting ever-more nasty. It actually hasn't...at least as far as I've paid attention. And for all you political junkies out there who are obsessed with every single detail of this race: I may pay less attention than you do, but I pay closer attention than about 99% of the electorate. So I'm betting that if I haven't noticed any actual egregious nastiness, then most other voters haven't either.

We don't need to perpetuate this Republican and Mainstream Media talking point that having Obama and Hillary continue to run is bad for the Democrats. I don't buy it.

We do need to stop expecting this to be a tea party and let the candidates make their damn case.

So, let me have it. What are the examples of campaigning that you think are incredibly nasty? Educate me.

Cross-posted at my personal blog