FBI Set to Probe ACORN

ACORN has become the latest Republican obsession over the past couple of weeks, as was evinced by John McCain's attack of it during Wednesday night's debate only . It is no suprise that the GOP feels alarm towards any voter registtration group at a time where they are losing countless voters to the Democratic party, who has registered an unprecedented amount of voters.

The AP has sources that are 'leaking' that the FBI has begun an investigation into voter-registration fraud at ACORN only weeks before the election.
Fromer US Attorney David Iglesias, spoke to TPM, and said he is shocked by this AP article saying:

"Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it's a scare tactic." In 2006, Iglesias was fired as U.S. attorney thanks partly to his reluctance to pursue voter-fraud cases as aggressively as DOJ wanted -- one of several U.S. attorneys fired for inappropriate political reasons, according to a recently released report by DOJ's Office of the Inspector General

Last Night's Debate

Last nights second presidential debate held at Belmont University in Tennessee, was supposed to be a different kind of debate, a town-hall style debate whose format is not supposed to lend it self well to talking points.

Unfortunately, to anyone who has been following this election, it is evident that the talking points of both candidates were as evident as ever. Both McCain and Obama answered questions in the manner they liked irregardless of the question, each time falling back on the same talking points that have become central to their campaigns. It is not fair to say the debate was boring, rather it was tired, there were no revelations, no moments of truth and clarification from either side.

While Elbows were thrown, particularly about the others associations with the now disgraced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both candidates kept the debate relatively bloodless, neither bringing up William Ayers or Charles Keating.

The real star of the debate was of course the economy, absorbing over 60minutes have questioning and answers leaving ownly a paltry 30 minutes to foreign affairs and other domestic issues, which in turn kept coming back to the economy.

Now, obviously the economy is the numero uno issue on voters minds, and likewise it should be, but it is also important to address other issues afflicting this nation. I think Obama tied in the issues of the economy with another monumental issues eloquently when he said:

Now, if we get our tax policies right so that they're good for the middle class, if we reverse the policies of the last eight years that got us into this fix in the first place, and that Senator McCain supported, then we are going to be in a position to deal with Social Security and deal with Medicare because we will have a health care plan that actually works for you, reduces spending and costs over the long term, and Social Security that is stable and solvent for all Americans and not just some.

Even FOX News in there post-election coverage asserted that, McCain lead until healthcare, the anchor said it himself.

McCain in one of his opening remarks said

Americans are angry, they’re upset, and they’re a little fearful. It’s our job to fix the problem.

But from there are on we heard very little in the way of how he would fix it.

Speaking of "Palling Around......" McCain is Not Doing Much These Days

According to Politico's Mike Allen, there has been a lot of "grumpy McCain" going around lately, like when a Politico reporter tried asking him a question and responded"

"Excuse me, you’re bothering me," McCain said.
It was a surprising rebuke from a politician who once was famous for palling around with reporters, and who was so media-friendly that he was sometimes known as “the senator from ‘Meet the Press.’”

In another example of McCain's crabbiness Allen writes:

McCain sat down with Time magazine, a reporter asked him to define honor, and he snarled, “Read it in my books.” The magazine headlined its prickly McCain interview, “McCain’s prickly Time interview.

Other examples in the article show Politico's and other news organizations perturbed with McCains recent unfriendliness. For the MSM this is like losing a good friend. McCain has often been a darling of the media but has fallen to much criticism as of late, shutting out the media more then they would like. It is clear from this article there is a peevishness being felt in the media.

But beyond what this means to the media....what does this say about McCain.....

The article muses whether McCain's unhappy, crabbiness is the result of not running a "campaign that’s antithetical to his persona." McCain pledged to run a platform in which there would be no smears no 'politics as usual.' But as of late the campaign has become a model for 'politics as usual.' If McCain wanted to run a campaign free of smears, he can. If McCain is unhappy because he has become a slave of the conservative right and is no longer a maverick, only he can change that. By not running on platforms that he truly believes in and serving the conservative agenda, he is choosing to be just another 'grumpy old man.'

Appearences Trump Policy

Yesterday when I was watching the cable news morning news coverage. It was no surprise that they continued to talk about the debates and their ensuing narratives....

On MSNBC's Morning Joe, Host Joe Scarborough tried to talk about McCain's "temperament" at every possible point he could, going on to say "he looked like that angry grandfather at dinner."
It was truly absurd how many comments he made about his age.
Joe Scarborough t was about temperament.."he looked like that angry grandfather at dinner."

Pat Buchanan, co-host of Morning Joe (and GOPer who ran an unsuccessful bid for president) went on to discuss how it really came down to "atmospherics." And in the end, Buchanan said Obama came across as a much nicer guy, "like Bush was in 2000." Whew, I don't know if Obama would see that as much of a compliment being compared to Bush, although the man did win two elections.

Later discussion summed up the event as "dull" and having very few "memorable moments."

Um...policy discussion..anyone?

FOX Text-Message Poll Declares McCain Winner... Ten Minutes Into Debate?

According to Media Matters, a poll conducted by FOX News on Friday was not exactly, as Fox would say, "fair and balanced." Following the presidential debate on Friday, Hannity & Colmes co-host Hannity declared McCain the winner of the debate with 82% of votes in his favor (Or in his own words "82% are correct").

But here is what Hannity forgot to mention:

But during Fox News' broadcast of the presidential debate, an on-screen graphic invited viewers to vote on "who [they] thought won" the debate as early as 9:12 p.m. ET, 10 minutes after the candidates began responding to the moderator's questions.

Interestingly in 2007, Hannity dismissed text message polls as being silly. Apparently they are only valid when they work in his favor. Thank heavens FOX is "fair and balanced."

Remember Folks, Politics is a Game

Lowry of RealClearPolitics.com writes:

The media have made it gospel that McCain is attacking Obama dishonestly. Of course, campaign advertisements are the last place to look for a dispassionate rendition of the facts. McCain's ads are no different. But they are no worse than Obama's spots.

When Obama distorted a McCain remark about staying in Iraq for 100 years -- if we were taking no casualties -- into an endorsement of endless war, the media generally tsk-tsked that McCain should be more careful about what he says.

McCain has been getting a lot of slack from the Media about misconstruing remarks and facts about Obama's stance on taxes amongst other things. What this article is a good reminder of is that this is politics, this is a game, and one that both Obama and McCain both know that a little cheating may mean a big win come November.

McCain at Columbia Forum

This McCain line truly irked me the other night while I was watching the Presidential National Forum at Columbia University at Columbia University on Sept. 11th (see bold):

MCCAIN: I think a small-town mayor has very great responsibilities. They have a responsibility for the budget. They have hiring and firing of people. They have great responsibilities. They have to stand for election. I admire mayors.

I'm -- listen, mayors have the toughest job, I think, in America. It's easy for me to go to Washington and, frankly, be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have.

Understandably, McCain is sticking up for his VP choice Sarah Palin. However what struck me about this line, is it almost McCain admitting he is detached from his constituiency and wrapped up in his Washington bubble--presumably the same Washington he is running a campaign -in vain- to distance himself from. This line lends itself more to video, when he was saying it I was struck by the shear truth of it.

Here is the Link to Part 1 of McCain at the Forum