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Washington Post: Obama Endorsed By Colin Powell (WP Video)

McCain Has Joe “The Plumber”.  Palin has “Ed. The Dairyman” and We Have “John The Jerk”!

Today At: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/

A Mother’s Promise

McCain ignores loss of Powell

Sen. John McCain roused a Westerville audience yesterday by drawing sharp economic differences with Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, but he did not mention a stunning endorsement of Obama by retired Gen. Colin Powell, a widely respected Republican.

In a 23-minute speech to an audience of 6,000 in the Rike Center at Otterbein College, McCain linked Obama to a socialistic agenda of wealth redistribution, but his message was overshadowed nationally by Powell's endorsement while appearing earlier yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press.

Powell, once viewed as a strong contender to become the first black presidential nominee, said that while he deeply respects McCain, Obama "is a transformational figure" who is right for the times to restore America's credibility around the world.

Secretary of state during President Bush's first term and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the presidency of Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, Powell said he was troubled by the narrow direction of the Republican Party and by McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

"Now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of vice president," Powell said.

He also condemned the negativity of the McCain campaign, particularly its robocalls in Ohio and other battleground states linking Obama with former domestic terrorist William Ayers.

"Sen. McCain says he's a washed-up old terrorist -- then why does he keep talking about him?" Powell asked.

"It's not what the American people are looking for," said Powell, 71. "And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Gov. Palin has indicated a further rightward shift."

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, McCain said he and Powell are longtime friends but that he wasn't surprised. McCain noted that he has been endorsed by four former secretaries of state -- Henry Kissinger, Howard Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Al Haig -- "and well over 200 retired Army generals and admirals."

Many supporters gathered for McCain's Westerville rally were surprised and upset by news of Powell's endorsement.

"I was very confused by it, and I thought that it was a mistake," said Linda Nikodem, 43, of Pataskala. "I always said that if (Powell) were running for president I would vote for him. I'm super-confused now."

Rachael Smith, 36, of Westerville, said, "It surprises me because, historically, (Powell) has been conservative, and, if you are conservative at your base on issues, I don't know what you would have in common with Obama politically."

Steve Heilman, 50, of Gahanna, said Powell's endorsement might go back to differences he had with the Bush administration in areas of foreign policy.

"I guess I'm not surprised because he had a little falling out with the Bush administration," Heilman said.

In his blog yesterday, conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh suggested Powell's endorsement was motivated by race, facetiously saying that he was searching for "all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed."

Attending the rally with his wife, Marvin Brady, 75, of Westerville, attributed Powell's support for Obama to race: "I feel like he's just going with color. If he went against his color, he would be scrutinized (by black Americans)."

On Meet the Press, Powell, who had donated the maximum $2,300 to McCain's campaign last year, said he was swayed to Obama over the past few months and that if his endorsement had been race based, "I could have done this six, eight, 10 months ago."

In Westerville, McCain stuck to the script of a speech he had delivered Saturday in North Carolina, focusing on the economy, while not mentioning the Powell endorsement or Ayers.

It marked the 17th day McCain has spent in Ohio since locking up the GOP nomination, including five days in central Ohio. The campaign announced that Palin will speak at 9 a.m. Wednesday at a rally at the University of Findlay.

"This is a dead-even race; we have a lot of work to do in the next 16 days," McCain said. "We need to win this state."

McCain said Obama's economic plan would redistribute wealth and not "grow our economy and create jobs and opportunities for all Americans. ... Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut, it's just another government giveaway."

jhallett@dispatch.com

Conservatives Insult Powell by Claiming His Endorsement "Racially Motivated"

This past Sunday, Colin Powell publicly announced his support for Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.  In less than 24 hours of the endorsement, some conservatives screamed foul and claimed Mr. Powell made his endorsement based on race and race alone.  Forget all the reasons that Mr. Powell clearly put forth during his Meet the Press appearance.  No, it couldn't be for any of those logical reasons.  No, in the minds of some conservatives, everything must be "racially motivated" if it involves more than one black person.  To them, we're incapable of intellectual thought.  Apparently, in their world, we just see brown skin and instantly say, "Me likes." 

Sadly, it is during moments like these when some conservatives prove that they are without intellectual sophistication when it comes to people of color and black people, in particular.  Why do I say this?  Because whenever a black person has an opinion or makes a decision that these conservatives do not like or agree with, they instantly go to the, "It must be because he/she is black" rationale.  This too simplistic answer is insulting on so many levels.  Clearly, those who keep regurgitating it reveal themselves to be people who do not see blacks as equal to themselves, in both humanity and intellect, but rather as a monolithic group, incapable of diverse opinion and experience.  

Here are just a few examples of the "endorsed him because he's black" nonsense coming from the Right:

RUSH LIMBAUGH:  "Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race...OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with." (Source)

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

Colin Powell Discusses His Endorsement of Barack Obama

Conservatives Insult Powell by Claiming His Endorsement "Racially Motivated"

PAT BUCHANAN (On Hardball with Chris Matthews)

GEORGE WILL (On This Week)

Obama: Powell could have a role in administration

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Colin Powell will have a role as a top presidential adviser in an Obama administration, the Democratic White House hopeful said Monday.

"He will have a role as one of my advisers," Barack Obama said on NBC's "Today" in an interview aired Monday, a day after Powell, a four-star general and President Bush's former secretary of state, endorsed him.

 Obama raises $150 million

"Whether he wants to take a formal role, whether that's a good fit for him, is something we'd have to discuss," Obama said.

VP candidate Palin introduces 'Ed the Dairyman'

Freddie Mac secretly paid a GOP consultant to kill regulatory legislation

WASHINGTON -- Freddie Mac secretly paid a Republican consulting firm $2 million to kill legislation that would have regulated and trimmed the mortgage finance giant and its sister company, Fannie Mae, three years before the government took control to prevent their collapse.

In the cross-hairs of the campaign carried out by DCI of Washington were Republican senators and a regulatory-overhaul bill sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. DCI's chief executive is Doug Goodyear, whom John McCain's campaign hired to manage the GOP convention in September.

Freddie Mac's payments to DCI began shortly after the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee sent Hagel's bill to the then GOP-run Senate on July 28, 2005. All GOP members of the committee supported it; all Democrats opposed it.

In the midst of DCI's yearlong effort, Hagel and 25 other Republican senators pleaded unsuccessfully with then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to allow a vote.

"If effective regulatory reform legislation ... is not enacted this year, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a whole," the senators wrote in a letter that proved prescient.

Unknown to the senators, DCI was undermining support for the bill in a campaign targeting 17 Republican senators in 13 states, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.

In the end, there was not enough GOP support for Hagel's bill to warrant bringing it up for a vote. The measure died at the end of the 109th Congress, in January 2007.

McCain, R-Ariz., was not a target of the DCI campaign. He signed Hagel's letter and three weeks later signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill.

By then, though, DCI's effort had gone on for nine months.

In recent days, McCain has said Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were "really the match that lit this fire" of the global credit crisis. McCain has accused Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama of taking advice from former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and failing to see that the companies were heading for a meltdown.

McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, or his lobbying firm has taken more than $2 million from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dating to 2000. In December, Freddie Mac contributed $250,000 to last month's GOP convention.

Obama has received $120,349 in political donations from employees of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, compared with McCain's $21,550.

The Republican senators targeted by DCI began hearing from prominent constituents and financial contributors, all urging the defeat of Hagel's bill because it might harm the housing boom.

Inside Freddie Mac in 2005, the few dozen people who knew what DCI was doing referred to the initiative as "the stealth lobbying campaign," according to three people familiar with it. They spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

Freddie Mac executive Hollis McLoughlin oversaw DCI's drive, the three people said.

"Hollis' goal was not to have any Freddie Mac fingerprints on this project, and DCI became the hidden hand behind the effort," one of the three people said.

Before 2004, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were Democratic strongholds. After 2004, Republicans ran their political operations. McLoughlin, who joined Freddie Mac in 2004 as chief of staff, has given $32,250 to Republican candidates over the years, including $2,800 to McCain, and has given none to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics.

On Friday night, Hagel's chief of staff, Mike Buttry, said Hagel's bill "was the last best chance to bring greater oversight and tighter regulation to Freddie and Fannie."

"It is outrageous that a congressionally chartered, government-sponsored enterprise would lobby against a member of Congress' bill that would strengthen the regulation and oversight of that institution," Buttry said in a statement. "America has paid an extremely high price for the reckless, and possibly criminal, actions of the leadership at Freddie and Fannie."

Nine of the 17 targeted Republican senators did not sign Hagel's letter: Mike DeWine of Ohio, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Kit Bond and Jim Talent of Missouri, Conrad Burns of Montana, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and George Allen of Virginia. Aside from the nine, 20 other Republican senators did not sign Hagel's letter.

McConnell's office said members of leadership do not sign letters to the leader. McConnell was majority whip at the time.

The eight targeted senators who did sign it included George V. Voinovich of Ohio.

On Thursday, Freddie Mac acknowledged that the company "did retain DCI to provide public affairs support at the state and local level." On Friday, DCI said in a statement that it complied with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations in representing Freddie Mac. Neither Freddie Mac nor DCI would say how much Goodyear's consulting firm was paid.

SNL Disaster: Sarah Palin Shoots Herself in the Foot

Seriously, what was the McCain-Palin Campaign thinking?

Sarah Palin joined SNL tonight and proved once again that McCain was unwise to have her on the ticket and even more unwise not to veto this appearance. In isolation, Palin's very brief moments were, in themselves the problem.

But consider what people tuning in experienced, especially her conservative base fans and any of the young people they hoped to attract to their failed campaign. SNL has long been Saturday Night Dead and without Tina Fey there was nothing worth seeing. Josh Brolin hosted, reporting thay playing W taught him that neither W, nor he should ever be president.

Then in sketches and Weekend Update viewers were reminded of the economic difficulty the country finds itself in and by now we know that the economy has done nothing but hurt John McCain. Thus, over and over, viewers were reminded of McCain's biggest problem, besides Sarah Palin.

Then, no viewer could be sure when Gov. Palin would appear thought might guess she'd appear on Weekend Update, but one watched all the awful bilge wondering if she might appear in a tasteless sketch. She didn't but millions of viewers were exposed to scores of fart jokes, a sketch about a guy who would shoot a ping pong ball from his rear end, and Palin being compared to Dan Quayle. No helping hand of any kind was extended to Palin.

Often these appearances help humanize the candidate, but we already know she is human and capable of error and has a sense of humor. But now we know better than before that her judgement and that of Sen. McCain is indefensible.

Cap that off with one of the most tough and incisive Obama ads of the campaign purchased midway though the program. I just shook my head and thought, man, the Obama campaign doesn't miss a trick and maybe the McCain campaign really is being run by those who wish him to lose and lose badly.

New Questions Arise Over McCain's Health
Urge McCain to offer full public disclosure about his health records.
Post by Nico Pitney. October 20, 2008.-

Colin Powell Slams McCain After Endorsing Obama
"Taxes are necessary for the common good."
Post by Steve Benen. October 20, 2008.-

California Republican Arrested for Voter Fraud
Another report of Republican-related voter registration problems surfaces in California.
Post by Brad Friedman. October 19, 2008.

ACORN Office Vandalized After McCain Comment

This story speaks for itself. John McCain calls ACORN a threat to the fabric of American democracy in the final presidential debate and the group becomes a target of politically inspired violence.

Below is the top of the report from Greg Gordon of McClatchy's Washington bureau.

Death threat, vandalism hit ACORN after McCain comments

Palin: I Love Visiting 'Pro-America Areas of This Great Nation'

The McCain campaign is seeking to clarify a remark reported from a Sarah Palin fundraiser in North Carolina yesterday in which the Alaska Governor declared that she loved to visit the "pro-America" areas of the country -- implying, implicitly, that there were some parts of the United States she viewed as not pro-America.

Palin's Staffers Keep Her Away From the News to Avoid Being 'Depressed'
Posted by Katharine Zaleski, Huffington Post on October 17, 2008 at 10:43 AM.

A day after The Washington Post's Dana Milbank wrote about how the Secret Service is blocking press at Sarah Palin's rallies, it appears Palin's staff is blocking her from listening to the press. Palin revealed at a fundraiser last night that she is in an ever-growing media bubble. 

Rachel Maddow: David Sirota on McCain's Fake Populism

Obama Brings the Funny: '(Housing) Crisis Has Been 8 Times Harder on John McCain'

Sen. Barack Obama - 2008 Al Smith Dinner - Part 1

Sen. Barack Obama - 2008 Al Smith Dinner - Part 2

http://www.politico.com/arena/ The  Arena. See What They Are Saying!

http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/victor_h_fazio.html

Former U.S. Congressman Victor H. Fazio advises clients of the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld on a range of public policy and government relations issues. Fazio served for 20 years as a member of Congress, representing California’s 3rd District.

“Powell's endorsement will impact independent voters and put McCain on the defensive just when he seemed poised to begin a counter attack against the ascendant Obama campaign. It almost seems he can't catch a break.”

http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/steve_steckler.html

Steve Steckler is chairman and founder of Infrastructure Management Group (IMG), a US-based finance and management company specializing in the commercialization of public-use infrastructure around the world. Through its diversified investment, management and technology interests, IMG changes the way America finances and manages its roads, airports, utilities and public services.

“The guest commentary makes clear that Powell's endorsement was, more than anything else, an opportunity for political catharsis among Bush-loathers everywhere.  With their focus so pointedly on the past eight years and Republicans in general, it's hard to believe the moment would have been diminished had the 2008 Republican nominees been Lincoln Chafee or Chuck Hagel. “

http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/mickey_edwards.html

Former Congressman Mickey Edwards is a lecturer at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is also a vice president of the Aspen Institute and director of the Institute’s Aspen-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership program. 

“General Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama is highly significant in its own right -- there are very few Americans more respected, nor more deservedly so, than Secretary Powell -- but its real importance is that it is one more in a long a series of repudiations of the Republican Party, and sometimes of Senator McCain specifically, by some of the most prominent, and most highly regarded, names in the party.”

http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/lawrence_lessig.html

Lawrence Lessig is a professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of the school's Center for Internet and Society.

Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, he was the Berkman professor of law at Harvard Law School and a professor at the University of Chicago. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court.

No 200 word summary could adequately comment on Powell's endorsement. It is the most important, most profoundly stated seven minutes of this campaign. Everyone should watch it here. 

Bachmann Calls Obama and Liberals Anti-american

Bachmann Calls For McCarthyite Investigation Into Anti-American Activities Of Liberals»

Katrina Vanden Heuvel Responds to Bachman's Call for McCarthy like Investigation of Members of Congress

 -Voter Registration Fraud? I'll Show You Voter Registration Fraud!
By Looseheadprop, Firedoglake
Where is the Justice Department investigation of this? Read more »

Voter Registration Up In Battleground States

Most of the swing states that could decide the 2008 presidential election are reporting big increases in the number of voters who have registered to vote in November. Nevada and Virginia have registered significantly more voters compared with 2004, while Missouri is one of the few battleground states with fewer registered voters this time around. READ MORE

CQ Politics' Top 10: Open Seat Races Bring Out the Bucks

Candidates for Congress had to meet an Oct. 15 deadline to file updated campaign finance reports that reflected receipts and expenditures through Sept. 30 -- exactly five weeks before Election Day on Nov. 4. READ MORE

Looking at the Polls on the Most Competitive Races

CQ Politics has wrapped up the polls on the most competitive states in the contests for the White House and the Senate, along with how we rated the races in each. READ MORE

Video Trail Mix -- Obama's White Burden

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1374481205?bclid=1418511633&bctid=1861243799

CQ Race Ratings Changes, Part Two: Democrats Gain Ground

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows Barack Obama attracting 50% of the vote while John McCain earns 46%. Obama has been at the 50% level of support for seven of the past eight days while McCain has been at 45% or 46%. Obama’s lead has been in the four to six point range on each of those eight days.

This suggests that the race may be tightening a bit. Prior to the past week, Obama had enjoyed a five to eight point advantage for several weeks.

McCain has regained his advantage among male voters, leading by five. However, Obama leads by eleven among women.

Still, from a broader perspective, the race remains very stable. Obama’s support has ranged from 50% to 52% every day for twenty-five straight days while McCain’s total has stayed between 44% and 46% (see trends).

Tracking Poll results are released every day at 9:30 a.m. Eastern and a FREE daily e-mail update is available.

Obama is viewed favorably by 54%, McCain by 53%.

Colin Powell, in a poll conducted just prior to his endorsement of Obama for President, was viewed favorably by 80% of voters nationwide. Yesterday’s polling, the first conducted after Powell’s endorsement, were quite consistent with the previous few days and did not show any immediate signs of movement.

Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” is viewed favorably by 44% and unfavorably by 41%. He earns his best reviews from middle-income voters and entrepreneurs.

Polling data on ACORN, the activist group at the center of several voter registration issues, will be released later today (Premium Members can get an advance look at the data now).

At noon Eastern today, new Presidential polling data will be released from Virginia. At 6:00 p.m. Eastern, new results will be released for Colorado, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Rasmussen Reports data indicates that Obama currently has the edge in every state won by John Kerry four years ago. However, of the states won by George Bush, McCain is trailing in four and five others are considered a toss-up. As a result, Electoral College projections now show Obama leading 260-163. When “leaners” are included, Obama leads 300-174. A total of 270 Electoral Votes are needed to win the White House.

Take a moment to predict how many Electoral College votes Obama will win this year.

Recent statewide Presidential polls have been released for Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin Demographic crosstabs for all state polling are available for Premium Members. Learn More.

Rasmussen Markets data shows Obama is given a 85.5 % chance of winning in November (see market expectations for key states).

Daily tracking results are collected via telephone surveys of 1,000 likely voters per night and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. The margin of sampling error—for the full sample of 3,000 Likely Voters--is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Results are also compiled on a full-week basis and crosstabs for the full-week results are available for Premium Members.

Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large (see methodology). Among other targets, Rasmussen Reports weights data by political party affiliation using a dynamic weighting process. During the final two months of Election 2008, party weighting targets are updated each Sunday (see additional information). For polling data released during the week of October 19-25, 2008, the partisan weighting targets used by Rasmussen Reports will be 39.7% Democratic, 33.0% Republican, and 27.3% unaffiliated.

A review of last week’s key polls is posted each Saturday morning. We also invite you to review other recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls, our Quick Campaign Overview and a 50-State Summary of the Presidential Race.

Rasmussen Reports

Rasmussen Markets 

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll 

Rasmussen Reports Video