That's Not Vetting We Can Believe In
Gov. Palin on the Iraq War (just out from Philip Gourevitch The New Yorker)
"I'm a mom, and my son is going to get deployed in September, and we better have a real clear plan for this war. And it better not have to do with oil and dependence on foreign energy."
On Obama's strength in Alaska ...
"Something's kind of changing here in Alaska, too, for being such a red state on the Presidential level. Obama's doing just fine in polls up here, which is kind of wigging people out, because they're saying, 'This hasn't happened for decades that in polls the D' "--the Democratic candidate--" 'is doing just fine.' To me, that's indicative, too. It's the no-more-status-quo, it's change."
--Josh Marshall
Holy Self-Parody Watch
Tom Gross, writing at National Review Online ...
Critics are already trying to damn Sarah Palin for her perceived lack of foreign-policy experience, but what they are not allowing for is something more important -- that she has the right basic attitudes and sense of priorities. She understands that aggression has to be resisted and commitments have to be honored.
--Josh Marshall
Ready On Day One?
A little Freudian slip on the RNC website. Here are the top two feature stories:
--Will Thomas
Palin's Uncouth Radio Appearance
Short version: Shock jocks trashed. Palin laughed. Papers shouted gaffe.
Seriously though, it's just never in good taste for an elected official to laugh along when someone calls her cancer-surviving political foe "a cancer" and "a b****."
Late Update: No love lost here. Says the aggrieved party (who is a fellow Republican, as well as State Senate President) on Palin's nomination:
"She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"
Even Later Update: Reader BP points out that those same shock jocks hosted a "baby shower" fundraiser for Palin only two weeks ago.
--Will Thomas
Silver Lining
Two advantages that haven't been mentioned about Palin:
1) Cash. The McCain campaign says they've pulled in $7 million since the announcement.
2) Shock. The pick caught everyone by surprise, including the Obama camp:
Mr. Obama's advisers said that compared with the mountains of data they had gathered on Mr. Pawlenty and Mr. Romney, they had far less information on Ms. Palin. Their dossier consisted of a thin document based mainly on her run for governor and newspaper clips about an investigation into whether she was involved in pressing a top state law enforcement official to dismiss her sister's former husband from the state police. And, they said, given her short time in high office, there is relatively little video of her readily available.
--Will Thomas
To the (Beer) Manor Born
Cindy McCain is offended.
"I'm offended by Barack Obama saying that about my husband," said McCain's wife Cindy. When asked if Obama went too far in his criticism of McCain, Cindy responded, "I do. I do. I really do."
This is the one who says you can't get around Arizona without a small plane.
--Josh Marshall
Ted Stevens: He's Worse Than The Ruskies!
Lindsey Graham: If Palin can handle Ted Stevens, she can handle Russia. Plus, Graham even finds time to accidentally bash Bush's foreign policy chops.
--Will Thomas
Good Call
McCain official: "I think we're going to have to examine our tag line, 'dangerously inexperienced.'"
--Will Thomas
Election Central Saturday Roundup
More fun stuff from Sarah Palin: She denies that global warming is man-made. That and other political news in today's Election Central Saturday Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
The Counter-Attack Campaign, Redux
Several readers have pointed out this last line from the NYT's analysis piece on Palin:
"In a way, McCain has set a trap on the experience argument," said Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996, "because if they start picking on her on experience, it's going to backfire with women."
The merit of this argument aside, I think that this points to a general strategy that the McCain camp will adopt for the next few weeks. Palin will become a foil through which to attack Obama: if she's inexperienced then so is he, if she has corruption problems then so does he, if he attacks her then he's attacking women. And of course, every fault of his will be made to look worse than hers, because he wants to be President (it's still a big step from the 2-slot to number 1). It will take some line blurring and fudging, but I expect the McCain camp to try to re-couch its personal attacks on Obama as self-righteous defenses of Palin.
Meanwhile, reader SC dissents from earlier:
I don't agree that the Democrats should focus on Palin's inexperience - at least not directly. (For one thing, it keeps Obama's "inexperience" in the discussion as well.) I would instead focus first on McCain's judgement and priorities - the argument practically writes itself: "Barack Obama selected one of the most qualified people available for the job of vice-president; John McCain picked one of the least qualified. Who really puts country ahead of politics?"
The argument is a straight-forward one. Presumably, the McCain camp is working to make sure the distinction gets lost in the soundbytes.
--Will Thomas
Meanwhile, In The War On Terror
Apparently, we're still at war with Al-Qaeda:
Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Bush's advisers assert that many Americans may have forgotten that. So they want Congress to say so and "acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans."......The language recalls a resolution, known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed by Congress on Sept. 14, 2001. It authorized the president to "use all necessary and appropriate force" against those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks to prevent future strikes. That authorization, still in effect, was initially viewed by many members of Congress who voted for it as the go-ahead for the administration to invade Afghanistan and overthrow the Taliban, which had given sanctuary to Mr. bin Laden.
But the military authorization became the secret legal basis for some of the administration's most controversial legal tactics, including the wiretapping program, and that still gnaws at some members of Congress.
Because nothing captures America's attention like overly broad Congressional proclamations.
--Will Thomas
What Goes Around
Karl Rove, prescient as always:
"I think [Obama's] going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice," Rove said. "He's going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he's going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He's not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president."Rove singled out Virginia governor Tim Kaine, also a Face The Nation guest, as an example of such a pick.
"With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years, he's been able but undistinguished," Rove said. "I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America."
Presumably this still holds true? (For comparison, Palin was mayor of a town that is not one of the ten largest in Alaska.)
Watch:
(Hat tip: Steve B)
--Will Thomas
How The Obama Camp Should Respond
So, how should the Obama campaign handle the Palin selection, and what is a rather obvious play/pander for suburban women who supported Hillary Clinton?
I think they should go easy on her for the next several days -- give the public some time for this all to sink in. Then really go after her, and do it in style.
It is practically certain that on the night of Palin's speech on Wednesday, we will be treated to her repeating her praise of Hillary Clinton, and the talk about how women still have a chance to break the glass ceiling. This will be accompanied by the bizarre sight of the Republican convention cheering for Hillary Clinton, all in line with the gimmick.
And the Obama campaign should be prepared. Just as John McCain bought his ad time for right after Obama's speech last night, they should get their own for right after Palin.
And here's the ad: A one-minute spot featuring Hillary Clinton herself, talking to the camera and laying into Palin on the issues, her complete lack of qualifications, and the temerity of the McCain campaign to think they could get away with this. Then she urges anyone watching who might have supported her to get out there and support Barack Obama.
Then it closes simply with Obama walking on to the set to shake Hillary's hand: "I'm Barack Obama, and I approved this message."
--Eric Kleefeld
"Let's Make Sure We Have a Plan Here"
Audio of Gov. Palin talking about the Iraq War in an interview from two weeks ago ...
--Josh Marshall
Echoes of Harriet
David Frum: "It's a wild gamble, undertaken by our oldest ever first-time candidate for president in hopes of changing the board of this election campaign. Maybe it will work. But maybe (and at least as likely) it will reinforce a theme that I'd be pounding home if I were the Obama campaign: that it's John McCain for all his white hair who represents the risky choice, while it is Barack Obama who offers cautious, steady, predictable governance."
--Josh Marshall
Timing Is Everything
Seems that earlier this week, Stephen Branchflower, the investigator heading up the state probe into Gov. Sarah Palin sent an email to others involved in the investigation, telling them that it was time to schedule a deposition of the governor.
--Josh Marshall
On The Job Training
McCain advisor Charlie Black on questions about Sarah Palin's foreign policy competence. "She's going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long."
I get bravado. But is that a reassuring way to put it?
--Josh Marshall
Uh-Oh
The Post's James Grimaldi got an exclusive interview with Walter Monegan, the canned Alaska Public Safety Commissioner at the center of Palin trooper-gate scandal. And he basically says Palin is lying in her assertion that while some of her aides contacting Monegan about firing her brother-in-law, that she herself did not.
The key passage ...
Monegan, 57, a respected former chief of the Anchorage Police Department, said in an interview with The Washington Post's James V. Grimaldi on Friday that the governor repeatedly brought up the topic of her ex-brother-in-law, Michael Wooten, after Monegan became the state's commissioner of public safety in December 2006. Palin's husband, Todd, met with Monegan and presented a dossier of information about Wooten, who was going through a bitter custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly. Monegan also said Sarah Palin sent him e-mails on the subject, but Monegan declined to disclose them, saying he planned to give them to a legislative investigator looking into the matter.Palin initially denied that she or anyone in her administration had ever pressured Monegan to fire the trooper, but this summer acknowledged more than a half a dozen contacts over the matter, including one phone call from a Palin administration official to a state police lieutenant. The call was recorded and was released by Palin's office this month. Todd Palin told a television reporter in Alaska that he did meet with Monegan, but said he was just "informing" Monegan about the issue, not exerting pressure.
"She never directly asked me to fire him," Monegan said.
The wiggle-room here, as you can see, is what it means to 'pressure' as opposed to 'inform'. But look at how Palin described what happened (from an August 14th article in the ADN) ...
Palin, who has previously said her administration didn't exert pressure to get rid of trooper Mike Wooten, also disclosed that members of her staff had made about two dozen contacts with public safety officials about the trooper."I do now have to tell Alaskans that such pressure could have been perceived to exist although I have only now become aware of it," Palin said.
...
The majority of the calls came from Palin's chief of staff at the time, Mike Tibbles, according to information gathered by the state attorney general's office. Attorney General Talis Colberg and Palin's husband, Todd, also contacted Monegan about the trooper.
Palin said she'd only known about some of the contacts and never asked anyone on her staff to get in touch with state public safety officials about Wooten.
"Many of these inquiries were completely appropriate. However, the serial nature of the contacts could be perceived as some kind of pressure, presumably at my direction," she said.
Okay, so first Palin claims there was no pressure. Then she learns of these calls. And while many of them are entirely appropriate, some are not. And she can see that the "serial nature of the contacts could be perceived as some kind of pressure, presumably at my direction."
And yet, according to Monegan, she herself was doing exactly the same thing she later professed to be so shocked that others were doing. So how credible is it that she wasn't directing her staff to pressure Monegan when she was doing the same thing herself? And what difference does it even make? It seems quite clear that all of this emanated from Pallin and that she was actively in it. So she abused her power as governor and then almost certainly lied about her involvement. Why did McCain pick her?
--Josh Marshall
Right On Time
At TPMMuckraker we've been on the Palin/Trooper-gate story for a while. And we've just reported that the investigation by the state legislature is scheduled to report its findings in the first couple days of November.
This is a perilous story for Palin and McCain. I flagged some of the details earlier in the day. But this is the kind of story, the kind of investigation, where it is highly unlikely that Palin hasn't made public false statements about her involvement in what happened. I think that's generous. As always in cases like this, the question is whether anyone can prove it. There are a couple investigations -- one under the auspices of the state legislature and another of the state Attorney General, which she either supported or 'requested'. That latter investigation already surfaced taped phone calls that forced Palin walk back her original denials and admit that her aides had pressed for the firings, just without her knowledge.
Using the power of the government to settle scores with estranged relatives or associates is far from unprecedented. There are probably several similar investigations going on in other states as we speak. But I doubt very much that they were prepared for the heat of full bore national media scrutiny on this one. And in this case you not only the underlying act, which is sleazy, but the high probability that Palin is lying about her role.
Late Update: And special bonus: after the firing that got her administration into trouble, Palin replaced him with another guy who'd recently been hit with a credible sexual harassment accusation. Palin later admitted that she knew about the complaint in advance but denied that she knew of the letter of reprimand he'd received.
He lasted two weeks on the job.
--Josh Marshall
Echoes of Bush
I mentioned earlier that Gov. Palin is in the thick of her own very Bush era scandal over her attempts to have her ex-brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, using her clout as governor. Now we've learned she's invoked the Alaska version of executive privilege to withhold emails dealing with the case. Our report on the latest on the case will be coming up shortly.
--Josh Marshall
Playing Defense
McCain campaign, GOP significantly expanding ad buy into once-safe red states.
--Greg Sargent
Ruth Rosen takes a look at Sarah Palin's group (she's a prominent member) Feminists for Life.
--Josh Marshall
Leave No Self-Parody Behind
Fournier's take on Palin: "Analysis: Palin's age, inexperience rival Obama's"
--Josh Marshall
Considered Judgment
I noted below that Palin comes in with bubbling scandal in her home state. And with her choice, McCain, with one stroke, undercuts the best argument of his campaign: Obama's purported lack of experience for the job. But there's another part of this. Andrew Sullivan captures it ...
One more thing: this was a bit of a F-U pick, a personal, totally idiosyncratic, gut-level, aggressive piece of opportunism. Yes he can! And yes, it does underline his maverick, out-of-the-box brand. It makes me like his empathy for gutsy young women, even former beauty queens (is there footage of her contest out there?). But it also makes me less comfortable with the idea of him as commander in chief. It seems a less steady choice than Biden.
Along with experience, the intertwined claim of superior judgment has been McCain's central argument for his candidacy. I've heard dozens of prominent Republicans making this argument over recent weeks. I'd be very curious to hear their off the record thoughts on McCain's job at this moment.
What does this say about John McCain's judgment? Steadiness in key decision-making moments?
--Josh Marshall
Scrubbed
Ad featuring scandal-plagued Ted Stevens endorsing Sarah Palin for governor in 2006 mysteriously vanishes from her campaign Web site.
--Greg Sargent
Palin: A Scandal We Can Believe In!
As mentioned earlier, Gov. Palin is embroiled in her own trooper-gate scandal up in Alaska. In short, she's accused of using her pull as governor to get her ex-brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. The brother-in-law is embroiled in an ugly divorce and custody with Palin's sister. And after his boss wouldn't fire the brother-in-law, she fired the boss. Palin originally insisted there was nothing to the story. More recently, she was forced to admit the one of her top deputies had pushed to get the guy fired.
Here's one our recent reports on the story. And we'll be bringing you an updated report shortly.
Here's the local TV news report ...
--Josh Marshall
Fox: Alaska is Next to Russia!
Yes she does have foreign policy experience, says Fox's Steve Doocy. Alaska is right next to Russia!!!
--Josh Marshall
Palin's the One
So now we've learned that Sarah Palin is McCain's choice for vice presidential nominee. I have to say, it's a daring pick but I think a very weak one. I'm perfectly happy with it. Palin is in the midst of a reasonably serious scandal in her home state. Her brother-in-law is a state trooper who is in the midst of an ugly custody battle with her sister. And she's accused of getting the state police to fire him. Recently she was forced to admit that one of her aides had done this, though she insists she didn't know.
Next, John McCain's central and best argument in this campaign is that Barack Obama simply lacks the experience to be President of the United States. And now John McCain, who is a cancer survivor who turns 72 years old today, is picking a vice presidential nominee who has been governor of a small state for less than two years and prior to that was mayor of a town with roughly one-twenty-seventh of the constituents that Barack Obama represented when he was a state senator in Illinois.
Whatever you think of Barack Obama's qualifications to be President, Palin is manifestly less qualified. And that undermines the central premise of McCain's campaign.
--Josh Marshall
Punctuation We Can Believe In!
From the McCain Store ...
(ed.note: Special 'Is Our Children Learning' edition.)
Late Update: The McCain folks appear to have corrected the punctuation.
--Josh Marshall
Knocking Down Other Possibilities
Seems pretty clear now that John McCain is about to pick an outside the box contender for veep. At least if it's true, as now appears to be confirmed that it's not Pawlenty or Romney. Earlier in the week we picked up a supposedly good tip that Colin Powell was being actively vetted. The rumor got mentioned on CNN as well. But Powell's spokesperson told us definitively it wasn't true.
Late Update: ABC seems to have it confirmed that Sarah Palin is still in Alaska. And that's a long plane ride unless they're going to go supersonic from Achorage to Dayton.
Later Update: On second thought, the ABC report strikes me as soft.
--Josh Marshall
Election Central Morning Roundup
John McCain's running mate will be announced today -- and it isn't Romney or Pawlenty. That and other political news in today's Election Central Morning Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
Where It Started
I'd forgotten writing this. But TPM Reader MU just sent me this post I wrote on July 28th, 2004, describing watching Barack Obama's keynote address from the convention floor.
--Josh Marshall
Strong Stuff
This is the last reaction clip we're going to post tonight. It's Alex Castellanos' response on CNN. 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."
In case, you're tuning in late, here's my initial reaction.
--Josh Marshall
Chuck Todd: McCain Camp Speechless
Todd's referring to this statement put out by the McCain campaign.
--Josh Marshall
Initial Thoughts
I thought this was a very strong speech. About exactly what was needed. It was a strong speech. He made the case for himself; he laid out clear policy goals; and he aggressively set forth the stakes of the campaign. He made the case against John McCain while not attacking his character -- which makes a clear contrast with McCain's aggressively personal, denigrating campaign strategy.
I've heard a few people say that he seemed to hold back from giving the soaring speech he might have given. But I suspect that was intentional and I think a good decision. Meta-themes and tonality form the deeper structure of political communication. And the aim of this speech was not eloquence but strength.
I've said myself that Obama's campaign needs to be more aggressive. They need to hold the initiative, and attack, attack, attack. But attacking doesn't mean bludgeoning -- at least not necessarily. It means making the case and defining the argument. Not running a campaign by reacting -- well or not -- to your opponent's attacks. As Paul Begala said in our interview with him a couple days ago, it's not about rapid response but rapid attack. Personally I might prefer an even more aggressive tack from Obama's surrogates. But I think here Obama himself had the balance just right.
I also think he made the right decision to directly (and, in the case of the 'celeb' meme, explicitly) confront the smears, particularly the attacks on Obama's Americanness and patriotism. The tone didn't strike me as defensive or outraged (which is a different side of defensiveness) but more one of what I might call assertive contempt.
At the end of the day, a convention is the most orchestrated -- you might say, the most contrived -- event of modern political theater. So the moments after its conclusions can give a very illusory impression. But taken that impression on its own merits, for this moment, John McCain looks very, very small. Both in stature and as a person.
Taken as a whole, each day in progression, successive speeches hitting different notes and building in sequence, this convention was very strong.
Meanwhile, the AP hops back on the tire swing.
TPMtv reports live from on the ground at Invesco Field after the speech:
--Josh Marshall
Live Barack Blogging
Though I may just want to watch ...
And we're off ...
10:18 PM ... Watching how the background actually looks, the Greek temple nonsense seems awfully silly.
10:23 PM ... I think -- not just in the speech but in the lead-up over the course of the afternoon -- the impression of this event, holding it in a stadium, is one of a mass event, an open event, a popular event, not one of grandiosity as many of the critics claimed. (I would structure that sentence better; but I'm trying to listen to what he's saying at the same time.)
10:26 PM ... "It's time for them to own their failure."
10:42 PM ... "John McCain stands alone." Very good on framing (sigh, hate the phrase) the debate over Iraq in which everything is trending toward Obama's position.
10:47 PM ... An echo of the 2004 keynote that put him here.
10:50 PM ... I think he's doing a good job inoculating against next week's attacks (and responding to the earlier ones) without appearing defensive or reactive.
--Josh Marshall
What Might Have Been
It's easy to remember that had a full vote count taken place down in Florida, we might be in the final months of the Gore administration. A lot of what ifs. And in this tear in Al Gore's speech, he tells us what would have been different -- it was a passage in the speech that clearly came from a deep well within ...
Click here to view the whole speech.
--Josh Marshall
Still Hope
If you're bummed about not getting a ticket to watch the Obama speech at the Invesco Center, you'll be happy to know they're still giving away tickets for John McCain's veep announcement tomorrow at the aptly-named 12,000 seat Nutter Center.
--Josh Marshall
What Say You?
Okay, while we're waiting for the main event, how about a parlor game we can believe in? Given the options, which McCain veep choice should Dems be rooting for?
TPM Reader KB writes in: "Whom to root for? Pawlenty or Romney? I know that Romney can be easily mocked, but he seems more crisp on the attack. Would be nice to avoid that and go with the nothingburger Pawlenty. Plus, if Romeny gets passed over Rove and K-Lo will be heartbroken, and Halperin's sources would have been wrong. Honestly, I'm torn."
My answer was Romney. As much as Pawlenty strikes me as a wet mop, folks in Minnesota say he's deceptively lame. Better a pol than he looks. On the other hand, Mitt comes prepackaged with aggressive anti-McCain quotes; he's a complete freak; and he also has twenty houses. A fringe benefit is he's laid off a significant portion of the electorate. Of course, if we really want to dream, we can hope for Lieberman. But of those two, I'd say Romney.
What say you?
Late Update: Intrade seems to have little doubt it's Pawlenty.
In honor of Tim's possible coronation, here's our famed Tim Pawlenty, wake me when he's done, clip reel ...
--Josh Marshall
What About the Balloons?
It just occurred to me: Can you have the traditional final convention night balloon drop at an outdoor venue?
Late Update: Seems we have an answer -- jmm.
--David Kurtz
Worst Line of the Convention
Rep. John Salazar (D-CO): "I've been a farmer all my life and when I look out on this crowd I see a silo of hope."
--David Kurtz
Emergency Room Paradise Update
Jon Cohn has continued to follow the saga of John Goodman, the McCain health care policy advisor, who has said that the ability to go to an emergency room is as good as having health insurance.
First, the McCain camp denied that Goodman was an advisor. Then, after being confronted with evidence to the contrary, they went on to issue what amounts to a non-denial denial and a repudiation of Goodman's emergency room statement. Here's the statement to Cohn in its entirety ...
Mr. Goodman volunteered his advice to the campaign in the past. However, his philosophy on health care--and especially on the urgency of the problems faced by 45 million uninsured American's--are clearly out of step with John McCain. Earlier this summer the campaign informed Mr. Goodman that his advice was not required and requested that he not identify himself as being associated with the campaign in any way, including as a volunteer. John McCain could not disagree more strongly with Mr. Goodman. John McCain believes that addressing the problem of the nation's uninsured is one of our most pressing national priorities. That's why the McCain health plan will, for the first time, bring health coverage within reach of every American.
Count me as highly skeptical. He's repeatedly been cited as an advisor. And as I said below, I don't think that citation gets put on a WSJ editorial without the campaign's consent, tacit or explicit. Also note that according to Jason Roberson, a business reporter for the Dallas Morning News, Goodman told the DMN that "he helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy."
Clearly, the McCain campaign wants this guy thrown overboard ASAP. But the sketchy nature of the McCain campaign's denial makes it clear that he was an advisor of some sort. And the citation in the WSJ, again, makes the denial highly dubious. More significantly, as Cohn notes in his reporting, the idea that Goodman's views are not in line with McCain's policy proposals is just not true to anyone who is well-versed in health care policy. They're actually right in line. As Jon notes, the problem is that Goodman stated explicitly what is implicit in McCain's plan, and that of other health care policy proposals that define the 'problem' in the health care debate as people having too much insurance coverage.
And what about Goodman saying he helped write the policy? Was he lying? Let's have a bit more on that.
--Josh Marshall
Let's Get The Show on the Road
Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls the convention to order. Most of the delegates have taken their seats on the field now. The stadium is filling up.
If it wasn't obvious yet from the banal observations of this post, this is mostly a long afternoon of waiting for the main event.
I really don't envy the TV guys who have to fill all this airtime.
Late Update: No Bruce Springsteen and no Bon Jovi. They'd been reported to be among the performers slated for the evening. Instead we have Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, will.i.am, and Michael McDonald. This is devastating news for TPMtv's Ben Craw.
--David Kurtz
Stickin!
TPM reporters score prime Invesco field press seats, pledge to die before relinquishing them.
--Josh Marshall
McSame Agonistes
Times to report Bush and sidekick haven't spoken since May.
Hmmm, wonder who would leak to the Times that McCain and Bush aren't chummy anymore? Have to put on my thinking cap for that one.
(ed.note: Alternative title for this post "Exile in Sidekickville".)
--Josh Marshall
Invesco Insanity
Ben Craw and I just arrived at Invesco Field in Denver, site of tonight's acceptance speech by Barack Obama. We were lucky enough to have grabbed the last couple of seats available in the press box.
An hour before the day's official convention schedule kicks off -- and six hours before Obama is scheduled to speak -- a scattering of people are already in their seats above the field. Delegates are filing in. They are seated on the field itself. It's a bright, sunny, not-too-warm day here, but that's a long time to be baking in the sun.
I hate to even comment on the set prepared for Obama for his speech. The ridiculous right wing meme that the set is a Greek temple to Obama is too mindless to deserve comment. The set looks like nothing so much as the East Colonnade of the White House.
The demand for press access to this event is so great that we're apprehensive about losing our seats here in the press box. We have seats available in the stadium itself as well as some access to the field itself.
We'll be bringing you reports as we are able, including video as the day unfolds.
--David Kurtz
Victim Complex
Karl Rove: Hurricanes like Katrina and Gustav just won't give us Republicans a break.
--Greg Sargent
Not Your Advisor? Please.
We've yet to have the McCain campaign return our calls about campaign advisor John Goodman's suggestion that everyone in the USA actually does have health care insurance in the form of access to emergency rooms where no one in need of immediate medical care can be turned away. But they're now telling TNR's Jon Cohn that he's actually not a McCain advisor.
Really?
Needless to say, we did some looking around before we put up our feature story.
On August 18th, the Dallas Morning News referred to Goodman as "a health policy adviser to McCain's campaign." Yesterday, on the 27th, they referred to Goodman as a McCain advisor "who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy."
Policy wonks can sometimes puff themselves up by giving people the impression they are advisors. Or a paper can get it wrong. But much more telling is the July 30th OpEd Goodman wrote (sub.req.) in the Wall Street Journal in which he is identified as "an unpaid adviser to the McCain campaign."
Given the Journal's role as the forum of record for statements of Republican campaigns and Republican policy wonks, there's simply no way that representation did not have the McCain campaign's sign-off.
I'm still curious to know more about what role he played in crafting McCain's health care plan. As the Journal states, he is an unpaid advisor rather than a member of the campaign staff. And I have no doubt they now don't want him as a named advisor. On that I don't need convincing. But I'm afraid, just saying he's not an advisor won't cut it. Absent some good explanation of why he has repeatedly been identified in the press as a McCain advisor, he and his claims about emergency rooms as de facto health care insurance are all theirs.
Late Update: My old friend Jon Cohn doesn't like getting fibbed to by the McCain camp. Jon got in touch with the reporter from the DMN who has the goods.
--Josh Marshall
Surrogate POW-POW-POW
New South Carolina GOP ad focuses exclusively on McCain's POW past as response to criticism of number-of-houses flub.
--Greg Sargent
Dog Town U.S.A.
Life expectancy has to be higher here in Denver. Everyone is lean and fit and looks like they just finished mountain biking, are on their way to yoga class, and might end the day with a run.
The other striking thing about the city is the number of dogs. There must be a city ordinance requiring all residents to own at least one dog. I'm not talking roving bands of stray dogs here, just everyone on the street with a leash in hand, and dogs that look very accustomed to hanging out in coffee shops, chilling in the shade of sidewalk cafes, and in general being part of the life of the city.
--David Kurtz
Katrina's Little Brother
MSNBC just noted that with Gustav likely to hit the Gulf Coast next week this could be a "split-screen convention" for the Republicans.
A Gulf Coast hurricane disrupting the GOP's messaging during convention week -- three years after Katrina hit (the anniversary is tomorrow) -- the irony would be enough to make my head explode.
--David Kurtz
TPMtv: Obama's Big Night
We recap Day 3 in Denver and look ahead to what is likely to be complete chaos tonight for Obama's acceptance speech at 75,000-seat Invesco Field:
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
This is our last TPMtv episode from Denver so it's a good time to ask you for your feedback. Today's show was shot using our standard camera and upload process, but for much of the week, as I hope you've seen, we've been experimenting with using a camera phone and streaming video live or almost live via qik.com. We want to know how you liked those videos: Was the low resolution annoying? Did the speed and immediacy of the videos make up for the lower video quality? Was the content of the videos themselves what you were looking for?
We're very excited about the potential for this new technology and what it allows us to do, so we're very interested in hearing from you about this week's experiment -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.
--David Kurtz
McCain Advisor: Insurance? Just Go To the Emergency Room
Why is TPM paying all that money for our TPM group health plan? It turns out everyone in America has insurance automatically, according to John McCain health care policy advisor. All you have to do is show up at the local emergency room for your coverage ...
From the Dallas Morning News ...
But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American - even illegal aliens - as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.
"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."
--Josh Marshall
More Kerry
Interesting addendum to the Kerry speech story. I hear on good authority that he wrote the whole thing himself.
--Josh Marshall
Pick the Scab
TPM Reader RT has an idea ...
They will get him hot under the collar precisely because they are his friends, because they are not getting over the top or into the gutter, because they know full well what they are talking about when they talk about his transformation. And because he knows they're right in everything they're saying about him.
--Josh Marshall