The Monday ‘BushWhacking’

Another start of another week, can you stand the excitement?

• Sen. Clinton delivered a poignant, declarative speech on Saturday that HAD to be tough to deliver. In the speech she asked for party unity, praised her supporters, praised Sen. Obama and asked for her supporters to throw themselves behind Obama. Let’s hope it works…
• “President” Bush is heading out for a six-nation trip to Europe to highlight improved US relations… (What relations are improved is what I want to know… US relations won’t be improved until, at the earliest, January 20, 2009)
• Both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain’s campaigns have rejected an offer from NYC Mayor Bloomberg to host a town-hall meeting that would have aired solely on ABC. While both Obama and McCain are anxious to debate, both of the campaigns said any Town Hall meetings or debates would have to be available for broadcast on ALL networks and news outlets, so stay tuned.
• On Bloomberg TV this past weekend, one of McCain’s policy advisers, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, tried to brushback attempts that McCain is running to continue Bush’s policies by claiming (are you sitting down?) that Obama would be like President Bush and that Obama is “dedicated to the recent Bush tradition of spending money on everything.” (Wait… he’s trying to say that Obama will be a continuation of Bush’s policies? Are you kidding me? Hell, even conservative putz stalwart Bob Novak says that Eakin’s claim is “the silliest thing I have ever heard!” And if you’ve lost Novak, you’ve lost a lot… what the hell was Eakin thinking? Bringing this up will only keep the McCain as Bush talk in the public’s eyes more… is Eakin taking lessons from Mark Penn???)
• Sen. McCain is on a fundraising tour of Virginia and Washington D.C. while Sen. Obama is poised to start a 2-week tour entitled “Change That Works For You”, starting today at the North Carolina State fairgrounds. Game on…
• 78% of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research poll rate current US economic conditions as poor, up from 75% in March. What’s even more telling is that a scant 22% rate the economic conditions in the country as good… (and one has to wonder what the HELL those 22% are smoking…)
• White House lawyers are worried that Scott McClellan’s book will reignite the Valerie Plame story and will cause lawmakers to again ask questions about the CIA leak scandal. (Good. I still think the wrong person got nailed for that. And if Scott’s book does reignite interest and illicit hearings, that’s a good thing. Stay tuned)
• And have we mentioned? That despite anything “President” Bush does now, he is still likely to end up as the worst president ever? In an informal poll of scholars this past Spring, only two out of 109 historians said Bush would be judged a success while the majority of those questions deemed him the “worst president ever.” (Ouch. How does one combat that? You really can’t. If people of this time view him as the worst ever, it would take an absolutely astounding event to alter enough minds to vindicate him. And I don’t think that’s possible)