Redstate

Posted at 8:46pm on May 15, 2008 And Now a Word for Folks Who Use the Word "McAmnesty" On a Regular Basis.

By Leon H Wolf

You know the guy who's likely to win the Democratic Presidential Nomination? He's planning some action on immigration if he wins the election. You know what he's planning to do? If you guessed "build a really big wall and deport lots of people," you're so, so very close to being correct:

Barack Obama is easily winning the African American vote, but to woo Latinos, where he is running 3-to-1 behind rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, he is taking a giant risk: spotlighting his support for the red-hot issue of granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

It's a huge issue for Latinos, who want them. It's also a huge issue for the general electorate, which most vehemently does not. Obama's stand could come back to haunt him not only in a general election, but with other voters in states such as California, where driver's licenses for illegal immigrants helped undo former Gov. Gray Davis.

* * *

"Barack Obama has not backed down" on driver's licenses for undocumented people, said Federico Peña, a former Clinton administration Cabinet member and Denver mayor now supporting Obama. "I think when the Latino community hears Barack's position on such an important and controversial issue, they'll understand that his heart and his intellect is with Latino community."

You know, I understand that McCain is not acceptable to you on this issue. I get that. But the decision to not vote does not occur in a vacuum - if McCain does not win, someone else will. And he's got plans you're probably not going to like.

Posted in Immigration | McCain | Obamafiles — Comments (19)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:25pm on May 11, 2008 More Lies And Distortion From The Obama Campaign

Chapter 4

By California Yankee

In yet another New York Times advocacy "article" for Obama, this one trying to explain away the fact that the terrorist group Hamas prefers Obama for president, Susan E. Rice, an Obama foreign policy adviser tells a whopper.

Incredibly, Rice had the audacity to claim that Obama isn't "willing to meet “unconditionally” with Mr. Ahmadinejad:

Mr. McCain and his surrogates have repeatedly stated that Mr. Obama would be willing to meet “unconditionally” with Mr. Ahmadinejad. But Dr. Rice said that this was not the case for Iran or any other so-called “rogue” state.

This is simply a bald face lie.

At the CNN/YouTube Democrat debate last July, Obama was asked if he would be willing to meet, without precondition, during the first year of his administration with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. Obama's answer was simple and direct, "I would." That's much different from the fabrication put forth by Rice.

Read on.

Posted in 2008 | McCain | Obama — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:52pm on May 10, 2008 The McCain Campaign & Media Bias: A Hopeful Sign.

By Martin A. Knight

Mark Salter's double barrel response to Senator Obama's oh-so-subtle shot at John McCain's age (very nicely brought to our attention by Soren here) is interesting for another thing - it brought up the behavior of Barack Obama's most important supporting demographic.

Senator Obama is hopeful that the media will continue to form a protective barrier around him, declaring serious limits to the questions, discussion and debate in this race.

Senator Obama has good reason to think this plan will succeed, as serious journalists have written of the need for 'de-tox' to cure 'swooning' over Senator Obama, and others have admitted to losing their objectivity while with him on the campaign trail ...

Maybe I'm reading too much into this and this would be the last time and therefore insignificant - but if I'm not mistaken, I believe this is the first time any Republican Presidential candidate in recent history has even just made mention of the Press clearly favoring one (the Democrat) candidate and slanting the coverage just so to get him over the finish line.

The media's infatuation with Obama is remarkably blatant - in many cases, e.g. Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, it's practically R-rated - and it's just about noticeable by the mushy middle both teams need to win.

If Salter's press release can be taken as indicative of a future course of action, the McCain campaign may just have found a way to solidify his standing with the conservative base and also make it more likely that he will get elected this fall.

If McCain, until recently liberal journalism's favorite Republican, decides to, and then successfully makes the conduct of the media an issue in this election, the potential fallout of it could be very ... interesting. In a good way.

Posted in Archived | McCain | Media Bias | Obama | swooning press — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:20am on May 8, 2008 How McCain Can Win

Win The Argument

By Martin A. Knight

Victor David Hanson makes a good point here about the upcoming Presidential election; John McCain cannot beat Barack Obama by trying to blur the differences between himself and the likely Democratic nominee in a bid to win over the mushy middle.

... conservatives should reach out with conservative principles better framed and presented, rather than change the message for the perceived advantage of the hour.

What the Republicans need is not an abandonment of conservative principles, but a smarter, more articulate defense of even more conservativism, not less.

My shorter interpretation of what VDH is saying we need is this; BETTER MARKETING.

The fact is Conservative turnout in 2006 was virtually unchanged from 2004 in 2006 so blaming our booting from majority status on the 1-2% of the base that sat on their hands ON 11/7/2006 is being willfully blind. We lost because we lost swing voters (the "center") in massive numbers (70D-30R, if I recall correctly) from an essentially even 50D-50R split in the two years from 2004 to 2006. And from all indications, we still have a long way to go before we can claw our way back to narrowing it to 60D-40R later this fall.

The first step to doing that, over the long and short term, is recognizing the fact that swing voters are primarily won through the marketing, rhetoric, stagecraft, image management, Press coverage, etc. The presentation and the public persona of the candidate (including the baggage of the popular perception of the candidate's party) matters a lot more with the average "middle" voter than his/her policy positions.

It's not exactly the most flattering picture of the part of the electorate that generally gets to decide who ends up giving the concession (or in the case of Democrats - filing suit in the nearest friendly Court) or victory speech on Election Day, but there it is.

The thing to remember though, is that this is no sign of stupidity, it's a sign of disinterest.

Amongst these people are numbered some of America's smartest men and women in every field of endeavor. They are registered as Republicans, Democrats as well as Independents - what they generally have in common is that they just do not actively think of or pay anything beyond passive attention to politics until maybe a week or two before Election Day. Then everything they've absorbed over the whole cycle combines with what they're hearing at the moment - from their own subjective gut reactions to poll reports telling them who their neighbors are voting for to the disbelieving arch of the reporter's eyebrow to October Surprises - and then they go out and vote.

Posted in 2008 | 2008 | how to win | McCain | Obama — Comments (84)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:28pm on May 7, 2008 Winning Isn't Losing

And Politics Ain't Bean Bag

By krempasky

Early in my career, I had the opportunity to work for giants of the conservative movement. First Morton Blackwell, then Richard Viguerie. Both, in their own way, have been absolutely instrumental to the successes conservatives have seen over the past 40 years.

I'm not giving away any state secrets in pointing out that Richard and Morton have very different styles. They're both builders, but when it comes to the art of coalition politics - there's no question in my mind that the advice Morton gives to conservatives (and Republicans) ought to plastered on a lot of walls here at RedState.

15. Don't treat good guys like you treat bad guys.

We get the joke: center-right moderates and conservatives have used each other as punching bags for a long, long time - and we don't presume to settle that particular rift here at RedState. To try would be laughable.

But we DO expect folks to keep your eyes on the prize: stopping the most liberal candidate we've seen in a generation from winning the White House. Make no mistake, Obama isn't "new" or "revolutionary." He's a talented speaker, but he's not a serious leader prepared for dangerous times. This is a guy who called for a worldwide ban on fissile materials, for crying out loud.

More important, when you find yourself getting torqued at the squish who doesn't think campaign finance reform is near-treason or the neanderthal conservative that would rather focus on Terry Schiavo than fixing the immigration problem...take a deep breath. Put down the keyboard. Go get a drink.

So two final requests: stop throwing rocks at folks who ought to be your friends at least some of the time, and if someone calls you a name or beats you up a bit - good grief, grow a thicker skin. Politics ain't beanbag.

Posted in McCain | Miscellanea | Obama | redstate — Comments (60)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:34pm on May 4, 2008 MI Morning Update: MHRNA Dinner Huge Success - Truth Women's GOP Club Spreading the Word - McCain in Michigan!

By saul anuzis

184 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

MRNHA DINNER…we ended yesterday evening in Detroit at the Michigan Republican National Hispanic Assembly dinner. Republican volunteers and activist had a tent set up at the Cinco de Mayo festival at Clark Park located in Mexican town Detroit.

Dinner guests included Congressman Joe Knollenberg, Senator Mark Jensen and Representative John Stakoe among many others. Congratulations to David and Manny for a job well done! Hispanic Republicans are growing!

Posted in McCain | MHRNA | Michigan Republican Party | Republicans | Saul Anuzis | Sojouner Truth — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:05pm on Apr. 30, 2008 "McCain has been told to knock it off."

By Mark Kilmer

So says Bob Novak in his weekly newsletter, Evans-Novak Political Report:

McCain has yet to show that he understands the role of a presidential nominee. He still sometimes acts like a back-bench senator, as when he ordered the North Carolina Republican Party to take an ad off the air (a request that ought to have been made by Republican National Chairman Mike Duncan). McCain has been told to knock it off.

Posted in Archived | McCain | North Carolina GOP — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:20pm on Apr. 28, 2008 RE: NC GOP Ad - McCain Was Wrong. Very Wrong.

By Martin A. Knight

I don't like having to write this because John McCain still has my vote.

But just because John McCain is our nominee does not mean that he is above error or that we should not make noise about it when he does something so thoroughly bone-headed as to hand the Democratic Party and their media arm the perfect cover (himself) to recast any further mention of Obama's entirely voluntary 20 year association with a hate-mongering conspiracy-theory-promoting joke of a "pastor" as a "racist" attack.

As it is, the Democrats' National Party Organ was only too eager to go along with it. It's now on the way to being part of this election's narrative; 2008's very own "Willie Horton" moment, a contrived episode the Left would cite forever as Republicans winning based on "hate".

The assertion that Mr. Obama is "just too extreme for North Carolina" is a clear bid to stir bigotry in a Southern state ...

Of course, it goes without saying that for the elitist latte-sipping blistering idiots that comprise most of the nation's editorial boards, whites, especially Southern whites, will always and forever be just a hair's breadth away from donning sheets, burning crosses and going on lynching parties in black neighborhoods - all they need is just to see a black man on their television screens.

Posted in ad | Archived | maverick | McCain | media hound | nc gop — Comments (34) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:20pm on Apr. 26, 2008 Financing the General Election

How Big a Financial Disadvantage Will McCain Face?

By Brad Smith

Many Republicans have been worried that John McCain's decision to finance his general campaign by taking the federal subsidy, and thus subjecting himself to a mandatory spending cap, will leave McCain badly outspent in the fall, especially if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee. Of course, we need to recognize that McCain probably didn't have a choice - it's not at all clear that he could raise more money in voluntary, private contributions than government is willing to give him. That said, how bad will he be outspent...

More after the jump.

Posted in campagin finance | FEC | McCain | public funding — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:19pm on Apr. 21, 2008 Obama With Iran

"Realistic Idealism" Vs. "Aggressive Personal Diplomacy."

By California Yankee

I have a slightly different take on the Iranians preference for Obama than does my esteemed colleague Dan McLaughlin.

Time magazine's Scott MacLeod reports that Sergei Barseghian, a columnist for the Iranian reformist newspaper Etemad Meli (National Confidence), notes that in Farsi, the words Oo ba ma would translate as "He's with us."

Iranians are following the American presidential race. In part, because they wish to be rid of President Bush, who branded Iran part of an "Axis of Evil," and because they are taken in by Obama's false hope. According to MacLeod, Iranians favor Obama's hope rhetoric and see a President Obama repairing the U.S.-Iranian relationship:

It's not only the policy expectations that account for Obama's popularity: his Third World ethnic background and the Muslim faith of his father's Kenyan family — even his middle name, Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and a revered figure in the Shi'ite Islam practiced in Iran — offer points of affinity that some analysts believe could give Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the political cover to make a gesture of reconciliation to the country long decried in Tehran as "the Great Satan."

But it's Obama's declared willingness to engage in "aggressive personal diplomacy" with the Iranian leadership that has generated the most interest among senior officials in Tehran, since this would mark a sea-change in Washington's approach. "Obama is a man of engagement, a man of negotiations," one Iranian official told TIME. Amir Mohebbian, an analyst close to Iranian conservative politicians, argues that "the mentality of Iranian decision makers is ready for that." He adds: "I think that the coming of Obama — maybe, maybe — helps to solve this problem, but it needs bravery, from both sides."

MacLeod, fails to mention that the U.S./Iran "30-year Cold War" is the result of Iran's seizure of the U.S. embassy and the subsequent holding of 52 U.S. diplomats hostage for 444 days -- the remainder of Jimmy Carter's presidency. Like Carter's failure to free the hostages, Obama's proposed "aggressive personal diplomacy" will also be seen as a sign of weakness that will only encourage this state sponsor of terrorism.

Read on there is more.

Posted in 2008 | 2008 Presidential Campaign | Iran | McCain | Obama — Comments (20)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:12pm on Apr. 15, 2008 McCain Adviser Holtz-Eakin Gives a Teleconference

More on McCain’s Economic Proposals

By blackhedd

I just attended a press call given by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Senator McCain’s senior adviser for economic policy. He was there to take questions from the press, to clarify some important statements that the Senator made in Pittsburgh.

Doug didn’t really have too much to add to what McCain said. The headlines are: a proposal to eliminate the 18-cent-per-gallon federal tax on gasoline for several months this summer; support for proposals to improve student-loan availability this fall in the face of the continuing credit crisis; support for a quite complex program that would facilitate private workouts of distressed mortgages; and some clear statements on tax and fiscal policy.

The important takeaway from the McCain campaign is that Washington does not have a revenue problem, as the current tax system has no trouble taking 19% of GDP out of the economy. Rather, we have a spending problem.

Much has been made of McCain’s statements in favor of a two-track income tax system, but Doug clarified that the Senator has yet to espouse a specific proposal. The general drift is that he wants to enact a simplified (presumably flatter) tax system that individuals can choose, at their option, when paying their taxes. Again, no further details.

The most important points were made in terms of spending and revenue reductions. The Senator hopes to enact about $195 billion (by my count) in annual revenue reductions through a variety of means (including changes in the corporate tax rate, and “base-broadeners” like eliminating what is often called “corporate welfare"). And the revenue cuts would be balanced by equal-sized cuts in discretionary spending, including earmarks. Pretty good stuff, and a pretty good start.

On taxes, Doug stated that McCain intends to scrap the alternative-minimum tax altogether, not just patch it as the Democrats have been doing. Good idea.

He also stressed repeatedly that we have no need to increase taxes. The combination of spending cuts and revenue reductions will be revenue neutral.

-Francis Cianfrocca (“blackhedd”)

Posted in Douglas Holtz-Eakin | Economic Policy | Economy | McCain — Comments (35)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:35pm on Apr. 15, 2008 The Press Will Now Drown Obama to Save the Democrats

By Erick

It sounds like Obama is the one who is bitter. Dana Milbank, assisting in the liberal meme creation that the media loves McCain so they can then textually rape him in October, has this delightful piece that makes for fun reading today.

John McCain and Barack Obama both appeared before the nation's newspaper editors yesterday. The putative Republican presidential nominee was given a box of doughnuts and a standing ovation. The likely Democratic nominee was likened to a terrorist.

At a luncheon for the editors hosted by the Associated Press, AP Chairman Dean Singleton quizzed Obama about whether he would send more troops to Afghanistan, where "Obama bin Laden is still at large?"

"I think that was Osama bin Laden," the candidate answered.

"If I did that, I'm so sorry!" Singleton said.

"This," Obama told the editors, is "part of the exercise that I've been going through over the last 15 months."

Bitter, are we?

What's so funny about this is the contrast in the two men. McCain relishes getting a box of Dunkin' Donuts as a gift. "With Sprinkles!" he said. Obama made the editors go through metal detectors to see him -- something McCain doesn't do. And instead of Dunkin' Donuts, it's wine and roses -- so much for being a man of the people. Of course, we tossed that lie last week when he echoed Karl Marx to a group of millionaire trust-funders in a ritzy section of San Francisco.

Obama can't smile when punched. His inexperience is showing. For a week he's been trying to change the message by talking about what he said. Big mistake. He's only perpetuating the story and the headlines. It makes for great press for everyone else.

The humorous bit of this is that the press, who love Obama, now realize they have to drown him with ink -- like cutting off a leg to save a body. It's the only way now, they see, to save their party. They are going to have to sacrifice Obama for the Democrats to take the White House. Their hopes for change are gone. Obama has made himself no longer viable a contender for the elusive middle class independent voters who both sides need. Already on the decline in Pennsylvania, look for North Carolina to shift too.

Hillary Clinton is smart to hang in there.

Posted in 2008 | liberal media bias | McCain | Obama | Obamafiles — Comments (47)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:45pm on Mar. 28, 2008 McCain advisor to quit when Obama secures Dem nomination

He's got a crush and I think he should leave McCain's campaign now.

By Mark Kilmer

Last February, John McCain media advisor Mark McKinnon, a former Democrat, told his boss that he would quit the campaign if Obama were the Dem nominee.

"I would simply be uncomfortable being in a campaign that would be inevitably attacking Barack Obama," said McCain adviser Mark McKinnon in an interview with NPR's "All Things Considered." "I think it would be uncomfortable for me, and I think it would be bad for the McCain campaign."

McKinnon, who was a Democrat before serving as President Bush's ad maker in 2000 and 2004, said that he plans to be behind McCain "100 percent" no matter who the Democratic nominee is.

He's got a crush on Obama, according to this campaign's parlance. And he's not behind John McCain 100 percent, because if he were, he wouldn't go soft now or quit the campaign if Obama is the Dem nominee. Perhaps he is behind McCain 75 percent or 51 percent. Or perhaps it is a non-intenger.

In an interview published today at the National Journal, McKinnon reiterates his crush… on Obama to interviewer Linda Douglass.

Read On…

Posted in 2008 | McCain | McKinnon | Obama — Comments (15)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:47pm on Mar. 24, 2008 Ba, Ba, Bombed, Bombed by Iran

By absentee

Speaking with the BBC about yesterday's attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad, General Petraeus called Iran out.

"The rockets that were launched at the Green Zone yesterday, for example... were Iranian-provided, Iranian-made rockets," he said. Fifteen Iraqi civilians were killed in the attack.

As noted by Jeff, when Senator McCain mentioned the Iran link it was heralded as a gaffe. The gaffe, of course, was in incorrecting himself.

(Via Gateway Pundit)