Safe link to Jammie Wearing Fool.

Note they don't endorse this perception, of course. But they do note it.

Posted by: Ace at 10:22 AM | Comments (44)
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I like that Steele is saying this. It's only an issue if we force it to be an issue -- the media, of course, has no desire to whoop up on Harry Reid.

But there is a problem. Harry Reid was already basically unelectable. This makes it all the worse. What is going to happen, I fear, is that he will step aside, and that means there's a chance a charismatic, appealing candidate without so much baggage will replace him.

The Democrats do this when they're in big trouble. I can't believe that the New Jersey courts allowed a swap of Lautenberg for scandal-rocked Torricelli in the closing moments of the Senate campaign, what, four years ago? Six?

And now Chris Dodd has stepped aside in favor of the most popular politician in Connecticut.

I hope Harry Reid gets a little good news. I want him on the ballot.

Posted by: Ace at 09:19 AM | Comments (74)
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A bit late -- seems like the Patriots-Ravens game is almost already over.

Oh My: The Ravens are taking them apart.

Patriots-haters might want to watch. So far, this is a disaster for New England.

Posted by: Ace at 09:14 AM | Comments (88)
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Centerpiece of the segment? An interview with Palin-basher Steve Schmidt.

EdwardR. writes:

Palin simply did not have enough time to prepare for running for the VP slot. Up until the last moment, McCain wanted to pick Lieberman and Palin was his last second choice. She got by her debate on charisma alone.

If Palin had 3-4 months to seriously prepare, her interviews would have been SO much better and would have aced out the main argument against her, that she didnt have the intellect to be VP or POTUS.

I have always said that. I always ask the question, "Name me a vice presidential nominee who was not either a 1) sitting Senator (who knows federal issues because it's his day-to-day job or 2) someone who had just run for President (and lost) and therefore had gone through the Obama six-months-of-briefing-books process. Note that this process, too, allows a candidate to make a lot of mistakes early, when the cameras aren't rolling very much or at least no one's paying much attention. After several months of this errors are corrected, and the candidate seems like he knows what he's talking about.

Yeah -- but he didn't six months before.

I asked David Freddoso this question, and he actually had an answer: Dick Cheney. Fine, good answer, I have since modified the question. But obviously that still makes my basic point: Cheney was a fixture in DC for all of his life in one capacity or another.

There's a reason governors who haven't been running for president for a year are never nominated to be VP -- it's not their day-to-day job, and they have absolutely zero prep time to bone up on this stuff.

Strangely enough, while the media always covered for Obama's lapses, they never did let anyone know that Palin was the only pure governor (that is, no running for president) nominated for VP since, well, I don't know when.

Game Change: Palin disputes the account in the book:

Her spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, said in a statement: "The Governor's descriptions of these events are found in her book, 'Going Rogue.' Her descriptions are accurate. She was there. These reporters were not."

The statement was provided to CBS's "60 Minutes,” which includes material about the former Alaska governor in a segment about “Game Change.” Correspondent Anderson Cooper interviewed Steve Schmidt, top strategist on the McCain-Palin campaign, who said a campaign aide preparing her for the debate with Joe Biden “told us the debate was going to be a debacle of historic and epic proportions.”

“She was not focused ... not engaged,” Schmidt told Cooper. “She was not really participating in the prep.” Schmidt confronted Palin and, he said, “She said, ‘You know, I think that's right.’”

Even if that is true, it's also true (I think) that Palin was feeling by this point she was being badly served by her preppers, who fed her a lot of talking points that weren't really he. Further, she beat Joe Biden in that debate, so.... I don't know. Assuming she wasn't fully into the prep-stuff, she was right: A less rehearsed, more natural performance served her well.

Posted by: Ace at 08:50 AM | Comments (120)
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What would be the proper equivalent of last night's rare double flaming skull sighting? A Helen Thomas nude pictorial?

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Democrat Martha Coakley, buoyed by her durable statewide popularity, enjoys a solid, 15-percentage-point lead over Republican rival Scott Brown as the race for US Senate enters the homestretch, according to a new Boston Globe poll of likely voters.

Half of voters surveyed said they would pick Coakley, the attorney general, if the election were held today, compared with 35 percent who would pick Brown. Nine percent were undecided, and a third candidate in the race, independent Joseph L. Kennedy, received 5 percent.

PPP who put out last night's poll showing Brown ahead by 1 point says the Globe poll started 5 days before thiers and things might be changing fast. That's a little more Hope in Change than I'm comfortable with.

Philip Klein of the American Spectator says the Globe poll sampled far fewer independents than PPP but acknowledges PPP might be underestimating Democratic turnout.

Me? I want to believe PPP but it's Massachusetts. Even if 15 is the number, that's a hell of a lot closer than I thought it would be. Still, special elections are notoriously hard to predict given no reliable turnout model so I'd say it's still possible Brown can pull it off but...it's Massachusetts.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:25 AM | Comments (55)
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Hello, hello all M&Ms. Welcome to the weekend so pull up a stool and let's get started.

Survivorman vs. Bear Grylls Update: Bear Grylls Strikes Back With a Guano Water Enema
Okay Bear goes where Survivorman probably wouldn't. And probably wouldn't have to. So always be sure and carry some rubber tubing with you. Just in case.

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:25 PM | Comments (715)
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So says DrewM on Twitter. The excerpt in New York magazine is about John and Elizabeth Edwards.

Commenters keep mentioning "that quote." Not sure if this is it, but it's the best one I found so far. Brumberger, a camapaign aide, has already warned Edwards twice that his affair with Rielle Hunter was becoming increasingly obvious and notorious:

A few days later, in October, Brumberger flew from New York to Chicago to join Edwards for a trip to China. “Hey, I need to talk to you,” Edwards said abruptly when they met in the terminal at O’Hare. They walked together to the airline’s premium lounge, where Edwards had reserved a private meeting room for their conversation. “Sit,” Edwards said—and then tore into Brumberger.

Stuff from the road is getting back to people, and itÂ’s obviously you whoÂ’s doing it, Edwards said angrily. You didnÂ’t recognize who you work for. You donÂ’t work for Nick and Peter. You work for me. I trusted you like a son, but you broke my trust. I canÂ’t have you around me anymore. YouÂ’re not coming to China, and youÂ’re never working for me again.

Brumberger’s heart sank. “I’m sorry you feel that way,” he said. “I always thought my goal in all of this was to do everything I could to help you become the next president of the United States.”

“Why didn’t you come to me?” Edwards asked.

“I did come to you! I came to you in Ohio. I called you after Labor Day! I tried!”

“No,” Edwards said. “Why didn’t you come to me like a fucking man and tell me to stop fucking her?”

Posted by: Ace at 05:13 PM | Comments (258)
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But remember the state is hugely Democratic.

Also there: Brown vows he'll be the 41st vote to save America from socialism.

Great stuff.

Posted by: Ace at 04:54 PM | Comments (151)
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Wow.

Buoyed by a huge advantage with independents and relative disinterest from Democratic voters in the state, Republican Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 48-47.

...-Republicans are considerably more enthusiastic about turning out to vote than Democrats are. 66% of GOP voters say they are 'very excited' about casting their votes, while only 48% of Democrats express that sentiment- and that's among the Democrats who are planning to vote in contrast to the many who are apparently not planning to do so at this point.

-Brown has eye popping numbers with independents, sporting a 70/16 favorability rating with them and holding a 63-31 lead in the horse race with Coakley. Health care may be hurting Democratic fortunes with that group, as only 27% of independents express support for Obama's plan with 59% opposed.

PPP chunked the NY 23 race (but that was a carzy deal) but did well in NJ and VA. They are generally aligned with Democrats so this is news.

Harry Reid emails to say, "She's very articulate for a chick, I don't understand why she isn't doing better."

Yeah, the double skull is intentional by Ace.

Posted by: DrewM at 03:09 PM | Comments (333)
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Third or fourth hand via Ted Kennedy (drink!) via an anonymous friend of Kennedy's via journalists. Still, if true, it's just jaw-dropping:

[A]s Hillary bungled Caroline, BillÂ’s handling of Ted was even worse. The day after Iowa, he phoned Kennedy and pressed for an endorsement, making the case for his wife. But Bill then went on, belittling Obama in a manner that deeply offended Kennedy. Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said, A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.

This is, like the Reid quote posted below, from Jon Heliemann and Mark Halperin's new book, Game Change. I don't normally read books on politics (excepting the ones readers have thrown my way), but if this thing is as juicy as it sounds, I might just have to get it.

More: Now, I'm mostly sure that Clinton didn't mean it the way it sounds. But if a Republican former president had said this there would be riots. The DNC would be making ads already.

Comment of the Day Last 60 Seconds or So:

20 What else is in this book?

I hope those guys don't know me.

Posted by: SlaveDog at January 09, 2010 04:30 PM (W+E+o)

Heh.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 12:17 PM | Comments (286)
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