The Respectfully Republican Conversation

"And so the only way they figure they’re going to win this election is if they make you scared of me. So what they’re saying is, ‘Well, we know we’re not very good but you can’t risk electing Obama. You know, he’s new, he’s... doesn’t look like the other presidents on the currency, you know, he’s got a, he’s got a funny name.'

Rosemary---I find it odd that of all the media Jake Tapper frum ABC's political punch was the only one to call Obama on the carpet for this.

Of all the things that infuriate me about this election the insinuation that anyone who does not agree with Obama is a racist I find the most reprehensible--that people might actually disagree with his positions,  lack of experience,  and questions about his judgement dosen't matter.

Who's playing the race card?

Here is an excerpt from the article -the whole article is here:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/did-obama-accus.html

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Did Obama Accuse McCain of Running a Racist, Xenophobic Campaign?

"There's a lot of racist xenophobic crap out there. But not only has McCain not peddled any of it, he's condemned it.

Back in February, McCain apologized for some questionable comments made by a local radio host. In April, he condemned the North Carolina Republican Party's ad featuring images of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

With one possible exception, I've never seen McCain or those under his control playing the race card or making fun of Obama's name -- or even mentioning Obama's full name, for that matter!

(The one exception was in March when McCain suspended a low-level campaign staffer for sending out to a small group of friends a link to a video that attempts to tie Obama not only to Wright but to the black power movement, rappers Public Enemy and Malcolm X.)

While I have no doubt there will be a bunch more racist, xenophobic, and other ignorant drek coming our way courtesy of the Internet and perhaps the occasional cable news network, it's important to determine where it's coming from. Is it from a specific campaign or party? A third-party group? A third-party group with direct ties to establishment figures? This all matters.

I've seen racism in campaigns before -- I've seen it against Obama in this campaign (more from Democrats than Republicans, at this point, I might add) and I've seen it against McCain in South Carolina in 2000, when his adopted Bangladeshi daughter Bridget was alleged, by the charming friends and allies of then-Gov. George W. Bush, to have been a McCain love-child with an African-American woman.

What I have not seen is it come from McCain or his campaign in such a way to merit the language Obama used today. Pretty inflammatory."

- jpt

Rosemary, I'm in Medicare and can't rememember the exact fee, but as I remember it's about $88 a month, or about $1,000 a year for Medicare premium. This is taken directly out of my Social Security payments.  In addition, if you're in regular Medicare you pay 20% of your bills--believe this is the rule.  This would have been a problem for me, as my bills were well over $100,000 in the first year, so I would have paid between $20,000 and $30,000 for my treatment aside from what Medicare would have picked up. Also, another problem with regular Medicare is there are many doctors who don't accept it.  I'm lucky as I found an excellent private insurance plan that is run by Medicare--Oxford.  I have a $2000 a year deductible, pay $15 a visit to primary care and $30 to a specialist. This is in addition to the $1,000 I pay in premiums. It works very well for me, although I can't use it out of state, so in Maine I have to pay the full bill for any treatment.  Luckily, doctors in Maine don't charge what they do in New York.  The Democrats are not in favor of these private plans, one area where I don't agree, although I do see their point, as the private plans are reimbursed at about 17% more than providers through straight Medicare.  So, yes, we do pay.

I just logged on and I'm listening to C-Span.  Well, nuttins gonna get done this month,

Now, Leahy's on....ranting about something that this administration is arrogant...not above the law....Carl Rove....wire tapping...HELL!  I don't know.  Why can't they get on with what's important.  Leahy HATES Bush. 

I think I should never watch C-Span again!

Now, on to Susie's post ".....Inevidently, Now"

Shirley

The ad is very effective in that everyone is talking about it, and it's also difficult for Obama to counter.  What can he say about it, beyond "I'm no Paris Hilton." Obama is famous and what the ad does is acknowledge this but it also asks the viewer to question "why."  It does this very effectively by showing two women who are also famous but for reasons that thinking people also ask, "why?"  American is a country that worships celebrity. 

Where I think the ad is particularly effective is that it shows Obama's celebrity in front of a European crowd (not an American one), which also works in a negative way, as Americans hate to admit that Europeans might know more than they do. An ad to be effective has to inplant an idea in the mind of the viewer.  I suspect that in the future every time there's a question of Obama as celebrity, many will think of this ad, which has gotten huge publicity by the cable channels, and whether they are aware or not, they'll also think of the message the ad is sending.  I think it works exactly as it was meant to.  So from a Madison Avenue perspective, it's a good ad.

I think the Paris Hilton/Britney Spears ad is brilliant.  Let's point out that Obama is the "biggest celebrity in the world" and equate him to two other really famous celebrities - two who just happen to be totally vacuous and famous for no good reason.  Then let's ask, "but is he ready to lead?"  It becomes a little hard to think of Obama as being ready to be president when he's put into the same camp as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, isn't it?  Then let's rattle off some of his recent positions that seem a bit illogical and non-beneficial to the American people (new taxes, no offshore drilling despite the oil prices) and show cheering European crowds. It's great!

Here's a article with a bunch of quotes from the McCain camp explaining the logic behind the ad:  http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/30/mccain.ad/index.html#cnnSTCVideo  

It's good to see that pretty much all of the press is now discussing whether Obama played the race card with his comments about McCain trying to scare voters by saying that Obama "doesn't look like those other presidents".  Tonight there were even some commentators on MSNBC who said that Obama crossed the line.  Obama apparently said the same thing during three different speeches on one day this week and it's all on video, so he can't deny that he said it (his usual tactic when he says something stupid/inconsistent/inflammatory/etc.) but now his campaign is complaining that McCain is talking about something this insignificant when there are real issues to discuss.  Well, duh, Obama accused McCain himself (not the McCain campaign or the Republican party or the 527s) of bringing race into the campaign, so McCain is defending himself.  Good for him for doing that.  Good for him for making this an issue and making everyone aware of what Obama said.  For someone who is supposed to be so smart, Obama really isn't so bright, is he?  We can only hope that he keeps this up.

Anne and Beesie, I get it now.  LOL 

Rosemary, do you really expect the liberal press to pick up ANYTHING negative about Obama's statement..not giving the surge credit.  That would be giving McCain credit because McCain has wanted this for a very long time.  AND, OBAMA VOTED AGAINST IT!  That would be Obama  admitting that for ONCE he, the savior of the world (and you know the savior can't be wrong) was wrong. 

Don't you just love Obama's new energy saving policy....keep your tires inflated and your tuned. LOL

Shirley

Shirley,

All I know is he turned down the Town Hall meetings.  I haven't heard a word about when the debates will be.  Usually closer to election day. 

I can tell you the latest dig from Obama.  He's saying that McCain is only willing to talk about Brittany Spears and not the issues.  Funny, this coming from a man who doesn't want to do Town Hall meetings with him.  I guess they hope we pay no attention to what's going on so they can lie at will.

There was discussion last night on MSNBC questioning whether the McCain ad could be equated with the ads done against Harold Ford.  The answer was a resounding "No".  And this from the most pro-Obama of the cable networks.  So yes, the NYTs seem have lost their mind(s), at least temporarily.

The McCain ad is certainly trying to equate Obama with a "bubble-headed, publicity-seeking celebrity" - the NYTs has that right - but there is nothing racially tinged about it.  The Harold Ford ads were quite different, with sexual innuendo and implications of inter-racial dating, which certainly could play into racism.  Here's the NYT's assessment of that ad from when it first came out:  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/us/politics/26tennessee.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

As for why I said "temporarily", here's an article from the NYTs today.  It's somewhat more balanced.

McCain Camp Says Obama Is Playing ‘Race Card' By Michael Cooper and Michael Powell Published: August 1, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. - Senator John McCain's campaign accused Senator Barack Obama on Thursday of playing "the race card," citing his remarks that Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out that he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

The exchange injected racial politics front and center into the general election campaign for the first time, after it became a subtext in the primary between Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

It came as the McCain campaign was intensifying its attacks, trying to throw its Democratic opponent off course before the conventions.

"Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck," Mr. McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, charged in a statement with which Mr. McCain later said he agreed. "It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

In leveling the charge, Mr. Davis was referring to comments that Mr. Obama made Wednesday in Missouri when he reacted to the increasingly negative tone and negative advertisements from the McCain campaign, including one that likens Mr. Obama's celebrity status to that of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

"So nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face, so what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," Mr. Obama said in Springfield, Mo., echoing earlier remarks. "You know, he's not patriotic enough. He's got a funny name. You know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He's risky. That's essentially the argument they're making."

With his rejoinder about playing "the race card," Mr. Davis effectively assured that race would once again become an unavoidable issue as voters face an election in which, for the first time, one of the major parties' nominees is African-American.

And with its criticism, the McCain campaign was ensuring that Mr. Obama's race - he is the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas - would again be a factor in coverage of the presidential race. On Thursday, it took the spotlight from Mr. Obama when he had sought to attack Mr. McCain on energy issues.

The tactic could cut both ways: it might tap into the qualms some white, working-class voters in crucial swing states may have about a black candidate, or it could ricochet back against the McCain campaign, which has been accused even by some fellow Republicans of engaging in overly negative campaigning in recent days.

The remarks put Mr. Obama's campaign, which has tried to keep him from being pigeonholed or defined by race, in a delicate position. He did not address the matter himself on Thursday, and his campaign gingerly tried to tamp down the issue, saying he did not believe that Mr. McCain had tried to use race as an issue.

"This is a race about big challenges - a slumping economy, a broken foreign policy and an energy crisis for everyone but the oil companies," said Robert Gibbs, a campaign spokesman. "Barack Obama in no way believes that the McCain campaign is using race as an issue, but he does believe they're using the same old low-road politics to distract voters from the real issues in this campaign. And those are the issues he'll continue to talk about."

The sparring over race thrust an unpredictable element into the campaign. Contests have often been influenced by racial imagery, whether stark, like the Willie Horton advertisements run against Michael S. Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race, or subtle.

In the 2006 Senate race in Tennessee, Republicans ran an advertisement against a black candidate, the Democrat Harold E. Ford Jr., that featured a white woman saying, with a wink, "Harold, call me." Some have drawn parallels between that commercial and the McCain campaign's advertisement juxtaposing Ms. Spears and Ms. Hilton with Mr. Obama.

Mr. McCain addressed Mr. Davis's "race card" comments later Thursday. "I agree with it, and I'm disappointed that Senator Obama would say the things he's saying," Mr. McCain said aboard his campaign bus in Racine, Wis., according to The Associated Press.

Mr. Davis's comments came as the McCain campaign has adopted a far more aggressive, negative posture toward Mr. Obama in recent days, trying to define him as arrogant, out of touch and unprepared for the presidency. But until this week, the McCain campaign had not invoked race.

Mr. Obama has been the victim of some racist and racially tinged attacks this year, particularly during the primaries.

Underground e-mail campaigns have spread the false rumor that he is Muslim and questioned his patriotism by falsely charging that he does not put his hand over his heart when the Pledge of Allegiance is recited. A button spotted outside the Texas Republican convention asked, "If Obama Is President ... Will We Still Call It the White House?"

But Mr. McCain has condemned racist campaigning and has denounced Republican groups that tried to make an issue of inflammatory statements made by Mr. Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., and one of his own supporters who referred to Mr. Obama as "Barack Hussein Obama" at a McCain rally.

Mr. Obama has been more explicit about the role of race in attacks against him in the past, but he is rarely specific about who is behind them. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run," he said in June. "They're going to try to make you afraid of me. ‘He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?' "

Steve Schmidt, who runs the day-to-day operations of the McCain campaign, said the campaign had been moved to issue the statement in part because it saw the damage done during the Democratic primary when Obama supporters made accusations that former President Bill Clinton had been racially insensitive, or worse.

"The McCain campaign was compelled to respond to this outrageous attack because we will not allow John McCain to be smeared by Senator Obama as a racist for offering legitimate criticism," he said. "We have waited for months with a sick feeling knowing this moment would come because we watched it incur with President Clinton. Say whatever you want about President Clinton, his record on this issue is above reproach."

In the Democratic primary campaign, Mr. Obama's supporters at several occasions accused the Clinton campaign of using racially charged tactics, particularly after Mr. Clinton equated Mr. Obama's victory in the South Carolina primary with the Rev. Jesse Jackson's victory in the nominating contest there in 1988. Mr. Clinton himself then complained in a radio interview in April that the Obama campaign had "played the race card on me."

Howard Wolfson, who was the communications director of the Clinton campaign, said, "The McCain campaign has obviously been watching our primary very closely and recognized how damaging it had been to be tagged with the charge of race baiting."

I hope this gets some coverage but that's probably just wishful thinking--

Its still going on.........

From Powerline

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August 1, 2008
House Republicans Refuse To Go Home

The House of Representatives adjourned earlier today, but approximately 40 Republicans refused to leave the chamber. Instead, the are calling on Nancy Pelosi to bring the House back into session to vote on Republicans' proposals to lower the cost of energy by increasing domestic supplies. Congressional Quarterly has a report:

    Republicans want Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call the House back into session to vote on the GOP’s energy plan, which seeks an end to a long-standing moratorium on drilling along the outer continental shelf and also seeks to boost conservation and research on alternative energy sources.

    “Bring the Congress back. Let’s have a real up or down vote,” Minority Leader John A. Boehner said after coming into the chamber from a press conference.

    “The American people expect Congress to represent the will of the American people,” The Ohio Republican added, to the cheers of the group.

    The event started before noon and looked like it could go on for some time. After awhile, the Republicans got the bright lights turned back on and got the sound system operating. They dragged big flip charts to make their points about energy.

    Adam H. Putnam, R-Fla., said “This band of brothers here is staying late to make a point to the American people: We want to work,” he said. The Republicans in the chamber then clapped and chanted “Work, work, work.’’

Pelosi tried to minimize the publicity the Republicans will get by ordering the House gallery to be locked and the lights and microphones to be turned off, but Republicans got the equipment working again and escorted tourists onto the floor to witness their effort. Mike Pence says the group of Republican Congressmen is "prepared to stay here as long as we can."

Democrats in Congress haven't figured out how to deal with the explosive issue of rising energy costs. Pelosi, in particular, has a problem because if the Republicans' American Energy Act were brought to the House floor for a vote, it would pass with a bipartisan majority. Hence Pelosi's determination not to allow the House to vote on the Republican bill.

This morning, a group of House Republicans delivered a letter to Pelosi requesting that she call the House back into session to deal with the energy issue.

Will the Republicans be able to get traction with the voters? I think so, if the voters find out what is going on in Washington. Today's stunt may help to get the word out.

The one day I don't turn on CSPAN thinking they all went home and all the fun begins. 

I didn't see the entire ad.  I found it on YouTube.  I had to laugh.  McCain still has humor!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nVQaHpOnO8

I was just listen to Fox and they said that this was a gimmick and that if it were the dems doing this IT WOULD BE in/on the news.  They don't want to give any publicity to the repubs.  The press knows about it.

Did you write down the numbers?  I'd call them.  They are ARROGANT!  Don't forget, Pelosi is trying to save the planet. 

Shirley

Linda, it sounds like you had a wonderful time.  No NOTHING to keep you informed?  No TV?  My dh can't live without a TV.  He has to watch every sport that comes on.  If that doesn't work he watches some older shows.  If that doesn't work he watches the Food Network.  LOL  The poor guy can't live without a TV.

As far as me....forget the hiking and biking.  That's up my gypsy kids' alley.

The Library sounds awesome.  That must be something to see.  However, with gas so high we'll never be going anywhere.  The dems are on vacation.  They don't care what the American people want.  Pelosi the person who was not going to be divisive....HAHA!  She knows what will happen if she brings the energy bill up for a vote...SHE AND HARRY WILL LOSE!

Getting out of town and away from all the chaos of what's going on in this country was probably a very good thing. 

Good to have you back. 

Shirley

Shirley,

I have the number for Reid, 202-224-3542.  As I think a little more on the subject of the republicans protest, I'm pretty annoyed that Pelosi turned the lights off on them.  I don't think that would be her right to do so.  If it were the other way around, who could give the command to turn the lights off on the Dems? I think she overstepped her position.  What else is new?

Linda --

Glad you were able to get away.  Sorry about your Mom.  I lost my Mom five years ago at the time of my diagnosis.  I was was her caretaker for twenty years.--To say that I have many unresolved issues as a result of that dynamic is an understatement.  It's been difficult moving past it but I'm doing much better. Mother/Daughter relationships- very complicated.

Gallup today is showing Obama and McCain in a dead heat.

I see that Obama's stance on not drilling was costing him poll numbers in Florida, so he's shifting positions or is he?  You need to be a lawyer to decipher his finely nuanced positions.

CNN is reporting this gobbaly gook today.

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"My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Obama told The Palm Beach Post early into a two-day swing through Florida.

But on Saturday morning, Obama said this "wasn't really a new position."

"I made a general point about the fact that we need to provide the American people some relief and that there has been constructive conversations between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate on this issue," he said during a press conference in Cape Canaveral.

"What I will not do, and this has always been my position, is to support a plan that suggests this drilling is the answer to our energy problems," Obama added.

"If we've got a plan on the table that I think meets the goals that America has to set and there are some things in there that I don't like, then obviously that's something that I would consider because that's the nature of how we govern in a democracy."

The senator from Illinois has spoken out against offshore drilling since Sen. John McCain in June proposed striking down the federal moratorium banning offshore oil and gas drilling to help alleviate high gas prices.

    "When I'm president, I intend to keep in place the moratorium here in Florida and around the country that prevents oil companies from drilling off Florida's coasts," Obama told reporters in Jacksonville in late June. "That's how we can protect our coastline and still make the investments that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and bring down gas prices for good."

Even as recently as Thursday, Obama refused to cede any ground, calling McCain's proposal "a strategy designed to get politicians through an election." 

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Shirley--

Was it you that asked about the Presidential debates.-----This article from AP  lists the dates.

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Obama backs away from McCain's debate challenge

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer 16 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday backed away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of joint appearances before the political conventions, agreeing only to the standard three debates in the fall.

In May, when a McCain adviser proposed a series of pre-convention appearances at town hall meetings, Obama said, "I think that's a great idea." In summer stumping on the campaign trail, McCain has often noted that Obama had not followed through and joined him in any events.

On Saturday, in a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said the short period between the last political convention and the first proposed debate made it likely that the commission-sponsored debates would be the only ones in the fall.

"We've committed to the three debates on the table," campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Saturday in an interview. "It's likely they will be the three appearances by the candidates this fall."

Asked by The Associated Press if that meant Obama would not agree to any other debates, Psaki said, "We're not saying that." She said the McCain campaign had rejected Obama's proposal for two joint town hall meetings.

The McCain campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The first debate planned by the commission is set for Sept. 26 in Oxford, Miss., three weeks after the Republican National Convention concludes Sept. 4. The Democratic convention is scheduled for Aug. 25-28.

The other presidential debates are set for Oct. 7 and Oct. 15 and the vice presidential debate for Oct. 2.

A day after Obama clinched the Democratic nomination in early June, McCain challenged Obama to a series of 10 town hall meetings with voters in the months leading up to the conventions. The candidates' campaigns began negotiations, telling reporters that they agreed in spirit to the joint appearances.

When the idea first came up from the McCain campaign that May, Obama was still battling Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Obama said then: "Obviously, we would have to think through the logistics on that, but ... if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain, that's something that I am going to welcome."

In June, Plouffe had suggested Obama-McCain meetings more along the lines of the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates. In 1858, during Abraham Lincoln's Senate campaign against Stephen Douglas, the candidates met seven times across Illinois. One spoke for an hour, the other for an hour and a half, and the first was allowed a half-hour rebuttal.

Plouffe said Saturday that Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois will be Obama's representative in further discussions with the commission.

The Commission on Presidential Debates, established in 1987, sponsors and produces debates featuring the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the major parties. The nonprofit and nonpartisan organization has sponsored all the presidential debates since 1988.

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Associated Press writer Mike Glover in Orlando, Fla., contributed to this report.