Late Night Open Thread

Howard Dean is such a busy little bee, isn’t he? The Real Barack Obama has an interesting post up.  Months ago when they were called Rezkowatch, they posted a fascinating piece on Howard Dean’s role in enabling Barack Obama to get into the Senate so he would have a launching pad to move up to the White House.

Basically, about a month after Howard Dean lost his bid for the Democratic nomination in 2004, he morphed his campaign into Democracy for America and began working toward electing Obama in 2008. Somehow Dean got control of Move on also–or maybe Move on was working with him all along. Now The Real Barack Obama has more details on how Obama’s rapid march to power was planned.

Check it out, along with the earlier piece if you haven’t already read it. That Howard Dean. It’s amazing how he was able to accomplish this. And how on earth did he come out of nowhere in 2004 and end up taking over the Democratic Party? There is certainly a lot going on under the surface that I never suspected. My eyes are open now though. I don’t trust anyone in the Democratic “leadership” one bit.

According to Karl Rove many voters still haven’t made their final decisions on whom to vote for on November 5.

There are probably more undecided and persuadable voters open to switching their choice than in any election since 1968.

For those open to Mr. McCain, it is unclear how they will respond to his plan to order the Treasury secretary “to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes.” It came across as both impulsive and badly explained. No experts were ready to defend it. No explanatory paper was flung at journalists. Nor were surrogates like Mitt Romney briefed. But the campaign did admit it borrowed the idea from Hillary Clinton.

While it was good Mr. McCain engaged on health-care reform, his explanations were not crisp or powerful. And he failed to defend his proposed corporate tax cut. Why not say America has the world’s second-highest corporate tax rate, putting the U.S. at a disadvantage in creating jobs?

For those leaning to Mr. Obama, there was no evidence of bipartisanship. There was no talk of accomplishments. Did he really think it was smart to answer Mr. McCain on Fannie by dismissing the GSE reform bill and pointing to a letter he wrote? In the Senate, is the pen mightier than legislation? And Mr. Obama’s say-one-thing, do-another approach was apparent. Blast Mr. McCain for talking up the economy, then say, “I am confident about the American economy.” Blame Mr. McCain for the credit meltdown, and end the assault with “you’re not interested in hearing politicians pointing fingers.” Say “only a few percent of small businesses” will get taxed when 663,000 small enterprises are in the top 5%.

Rove ends with this:

Mr. Obama’s test is that voters haven’t shaken deep concerns about his lack of qualifications. Having accomplished virtually nothing in his three years in the Senate except to win the Democratic nomination, Mr. Obama must show he is up to the job. Voters like him, conditions favor him, yet he has not closed the sale. He may be approaching the finish line with that mixture of lassitude and insouciance he displayed in the spring against Mrs. Clinton.

But here’s a warning sign for Mr. Obama. Of recent candidates, only Michael Dukakis in 1988 has had a larger percentage of voters tell pollsters they believe he lacks the necessary qualifications to be president.

It does seem that undecided voters will decide the winner. I remember during the primaries, last minute deciders went for Hillary. Who will they choose this time? Will the bitter deadender hillbillies and menopausal women really mark their ballots for the guy who went to Rev. Wright’s church for 20 years and worked closely with unrepentent Weatherman Bill Ayers?

Speaking of Ayers, Lynn Sweet and Jake Tapper have been pressing Axelrod on his claim that Obama knew nothing about Bill Ayers’ violent history until after the meeting at Ayers’ house in 1995. Axelrod was less than forthcoming.

Can it be that the somnolent corporate media types are finally waking up to the story behind the fairy tale that is Barack Obama’s life story?