Hey, remember when Mort Kondracke mentioned to Madeleine Albright there was this crazy left-wing rumor that Bush had bin Ladin on ice and would trot him out just before the 2004 election? And rather than saying "How absurd!" she instead nodded gravely and said, "I've heard that too"?

She hereby denounces the Renegade Demon Bush until the Heavens fall to the earth.

"All of a sudden this man gets up and says, 'How long will you blame the previous administration for all of your problems?'" Albright recounted. "I said, 'Forever.'"

The story prompted laughter and applause from the crowd.

And why shouldn't it. And why shouldn't it.

Posted by: Ace at 03:28 PM | Comments (81)
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I'd hit that.

Posted by: Ace at 02:05 PM | Comments (432)
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I tried to best allah's headline and failed.

Precisely what a confused, senile old idiot might be able to accomplish in Tampa is unclear to me. Allah notes the enduring media myth of Biden's supposed Gift of the Blarney in attracting blue-collar white support; I cannot fathom how such a myth became fashionable in the media. Except that they figure Biden is dumb, crude, and racist, and in their eyes so are blue-collar people, so.

Did you know that Biden actually comes from wealth? He did. I didn't know that. But yeah, he was born of privilege:

he was born to privilege yet had to grow up middle-class because of his fatherÂ’s disastrous business decisions (though in his own telling, it often sounds like life for young Joe was Dickensian; it wasnÂ’t).

The Republicans, meanwhile, promise payback at the later Democratic convention:

I think it’s pretty common among parties to play with each other’s conventions, and we’ll have a pretty big presence in Charlotte as well,” [RNC chief Reince] Priebus said. “The nice thing about going first is that whatever they do to us, we can do ten times over to them.”

Does that mean that Romney may counter-program the Democratic convention in Charlotte next month? Priebus replied “You never know where we are going to be.”

“I’m a big believer in: if they punch us, we put on the brass knuckles and punch back,” he added.

Posted by: Ace at 01:01 PM | Comments (428)
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Michigan?

47.66% - 43.88%.

Oh, and Scott Brown has gone ahead of Would-Be Senator Squanto.

PPPÂ’s newest poll on the Massachusetts Senate race finds Scott Brown opening up a 5 point lead, 49-44. This is the first time Brown has led in one of our polls since June of 2011. Our last poll, in June of this year, found a tie and the two before that had modest leads for Elizabeth Warren.

Scott Walker, Paul Ryan Both Being Deployed to Michigan. Via Tasker in the comments.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:17 PM | Comments (317)
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Real?

Check.

Spectacular?

Check.

“I am new enough on the national political scene
that I serve as a blank screen on which
people of vastly different political stripes
project their own views.”
-- Barack H. Obama, The Audacity of Hope

Photo of the year? I think so.

Posted by: Ace at 11:54 AM | Comments (227)
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Alternate media headline:

Report: Racist Paul Ryan Sexually Exploited & Then Discarded African-American Girl In College

Noting a CNN report of a 2005 Ryan statement, the black blog The Root (I think it's a black blog; not really sure) ponders what this says about Paul Ryan, and concludes he's probably a racist anyway.

Certainly, having a relationship with someone of a different race does not automatically make someone more racially sensitive and enlightened. Throughout his lifetime, Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina financially and emotionally supported the daughter he fathered with an underage black servant. In addition to paying for her education, he was also known to play the part of proud parent by visiting her college campus and make inquiries to faculty about her educational progress.

Yet at the same time he was doing this in private, he was publicly advancing policies that would have rendered his daughter's education virtually useless. If those policies had succeeded, she and her children, with whom he also maintained a relationship, would have remained second-class citizens. Does this mean that Thurmond's relationship with his daughter was not genuine? From her recollections regarding the lengths he went to in order to remain a part of her life, I doubt it.

So then, how could he genuinely care for his black daughter and promote policies that would harm African Americans, and therefore harm her? Research has shown that those who hold stereotypes about a particular group of people are unlikely to have those stereotypes altered merely by encountering someone who defies that stereotype. Instead, they are likely to view the individual defying said stereotype as an exception. In other words, it is possible to have a black friend, Asian friend, Hispanic friend or Muslim friend or wife and still exhibit prejudice toward that group. The friend or wife is simply viewed as the exception who is not like the others.

For the record: No, I am not calling Ryan a racist. I am saying, however, that if you want to know where a politician's heart lies when it comes to a particular community, it may be best to look at that person's policies -- such as his or her record on civil rights -- rather than personal relationships.

I stumbled across Stormfront weighing in on the "issue."

First comment. Very first comment, following the story link:

He's more of a Jew then we realised.

That's by someone calling himself "The Zodiac," I guess after the notorious serial killer.

Well-played, The Zodiac. Very well played. "Race-mixing Volk-traitor" was where I expected you to go, but that's a bit obvious, a bit 1979, isn't it? So you went to "More of a Jew than we realised."

British spelling.

That's funny enough, but then came the large-font all-caps:

THERE YOU HAVE IT STORMFRONTERS, DON'T VOTE FOR THE ANTI-WHITE ROMNEY / RYAN TEAM.

Now, first I thought that guy with the Jew comment was being sort of original. It turns out, not so much. A lot of people unexpectedly played the Jew Wildcard:

Thumbs down Re: Paul Ryan has a Black ex girlfriend.
Expect all the apologists and "conservatives" to glory in this - "makes him all the more electable," they will croon!!!

...

Unreal...

Default Re: Paul Ryan has a Black ex girlfriend.
It would be nice to live in a country where at least one of the candidates wasn't a kosher-stamped butt-boy of Israel.

But sadly that time is long past.

...
Wouldn't expect anything less from the Jew loving puppets in the gov

Where are they getting this from? Oh, right: "The Jew is using the black man as muscle, leaving you defenseless." They're fans of The Blues Brothers.

So, anyway, there's a balanced presentation of opinions on both sides of this "issue."

Update: A commenter informs me that The Root is run by Henry Louis Gates, Obama's friend from "The cop acted stupidly" episode.

Posted by: Ace at 11:25 AM | Comments (475)
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Audio at the link.

This is what Todd Akin needs to understand. And that's what he needs to president foremost in his mind. What I think Mr. Akin should try to realize here as he makes his decision is that all of these things that he truly cares about will be much easier to make happen if we win the Senate and the White House and hold the House this November. He must put the nation and its future ahead of everything else that he's considering. And I hope he comes to the right conclusion.

Rush also made comments about the perils of talking only with people who agree with you, which leads to an unwarranted belief in untrue things.

Not to depress everyone but you know the bad part? When people, who are currently in a dream-world had have not done the most basic math, realize we can't win the Senate due to Akin, and therefore repealing ObamaCare is not on the ballot in November.

What does that do to enthusiasm? I'll tell you what it's done to mine: It's killed it.

Posted by: Ace at 10:17 AM | Comments (439)
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Congratulations to Senator McCaskill on securing herself a second term.

Do your part morons, and donate money to every OTHER viable candidate in a contested senate race. If he is too stupid to see an R+9 poll for what it is, he isn't worth your money.
MONTANA- Rehberg
WISCONSIN- Thompson
NORTH DAKOTA- Berg
FLORIDA- Mack
VIRGINIA- Allen
OHIO- Mandel
NEW MEXICO- Wilson
and lets not forget Scott Brown of Massachusetts, facing his own fight.

*updated* Slu also suggested we don't abandon Summers in MAINE, so send him a few bucks too.

No point in getting angry over a blown seat. It is time to focus on the ones we haven't ruined. We need 51.

As of right now, we lead in WI, MT, NE and Brown looks like he will hold MA barely, putting us at 49 seats. North Dakota has become oddly contested, Virginia and Florida are tossups, and Ohio, New Mexico are semi-realistic hail marys. Do your part.

A disclaimer: if Akin somehow wins without any real money or support besides his core 24% approvers in Missouri, more power to him. But we have bigger fish to fry, so the sooner we get over his goofiness and focus on races we will win, the better. I am 50/50 on the Senate right now, that could improve dramatically if Allen, Berg and Mack's numbers start to climb.

Posted by: CAC at 09:33 AM | Comments (407)
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Coming tomorrow from Marquette University for Wisconsin, I will cover it when it breaks. Wisconsin is a critical state this year, both for President and the Senate race. I feel Romney has a slight edge in the state right now, especially after the massive Republican GOTV efforts we saw in June and a polling shift in the number of people ID'ing as Republican (including the exit polling at that time which showed Obama head).

If there was another possibly partisan poll I could source right now for the state, I would. But sadly, none today. At least no firms worth our time or focus.

(Consider this a "good news?" thread as a break from Akin)
Delicious tears of lefties from the recall below more...

Posted by: CAC at 09:02 AM | Comments (175)
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Since PPP decided it can't help itself, I've done you all a service.
I went through their ridiculous R+9 sample and ONLY changed the D/R/I proportions to match previous elections, and an even turnout.
With R+9, PPP's headline screams Akin up by 1. It is an obvious, sick ploy to get this delusional Bio101 flunkie to stay in and cost us a seat.

Here are the real numbers:
If turnout in November matches 2008 (it won't):
McCaskill 49.25% Akin 39% (this is a D+6 turnout model)

If turnout in November is even, an incredible feat for the GOP considering heavy turnout in St Louis and Kansas City during an election year:
McCaskill 47% Akin 40%.

If turnout in November matches the best we have ever seen in the state (R+3 during 2010):
McCaskill 45% Akin 41%.

McCaskill is a dead duck if we dump Akin. The other candidates from the primary were crushing her up and down. To trail her by four in a best-case scenario is inexcusable at this point.

The fact that PPP had to triple the best R margin ever just to get Akin over McCaskill screams agenda polling, but they will never admit to that, so I'm calling them out on it, and it's time for you to spread the word. PPP's "Akin still leads" poll is garbage, the approval rating for Akin with this huge R spread is a God-awful 24%, and McCaskill hasn't cut one rape ad yet.

Akin.
Must.
Go.

Posted by: CAC at 07:15 AM | Comments (726)
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