Obama Internal Polling Shows Two-Point Obama Lead in Pennsylvania?

Today Steve Corbett of WILK radio in Scranton received an internal e-mail from someone named Grant Olin in the Obama Campaign in Pennsylvania. The e-mail warned supporters not to be complacent, because internal campaign polling showed that Obama is leading in Pennsylvania by only two points.

Corbett interviewed Sean Smith, Communications Director for the Obama Campaign in PA. Smith claims that Grant Olin is a young campaign worker who got a little overenthusiastic in trying to motivate his volunteers. He sent the e-mail to nearly 700 people. Olin has now been “talked to” and reprimanded for “going rogue” although he meant well. However, Corbett asked Smith directly if the information about internal polling in the e-mail was correct; and Smith refused to confirm or deny it. Here is the audio of the interview.

Apparently McCain’s internal polling shows something similar to what Grand Olin reported in his e-mail, because McCain is planning to campaign hard and spend a lot of money in Pennsylvania, according to a report I heard on Fox News a short time ago.

A diary by “Oujdi” on the daily Cheeto reported on the Corbett scoop this morning.

This has caught on like wildfire in the right wing blogs and seems to have raised their spirits.

This is important because, if it is true, it undermines the argument that we have a substantial partyId advantage this year.

A partyId of at least +6 this year seems reasonable, as many pollsters are showing. Many rightwingers are arguing that the breakdown should be a push, like 2004, which is ridiculous. However the rumor of +2 in PA reinforces their argument. And that’s the last hope they have left.

We need to get on this story as soon as possible before it spreads any further. I don’t want them to have any hope left, Let’s crush their spirits!

Hey, my spirit isn’t crushed. This is what I have suspected all along–particularly after Riverdaughter reported on her conversations with family and friends in Pennsylvania recently. What say you, Conflucians? Are your spirits crushed or still going strong?

As MadamaB says: PUMA UP!!!

CNN hack tries to ambush Governor Palin

This Tim Russert wannabe hit Sarah with a question asking her reaction to this partial quote:

“it’s sometimes hard to decide whether Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt, backward, or — or, well, all of the above.”

But here was the FULL quote:

Watching press coverage of the Republican candidate for vice president, it’s sometimes hard to decide whether Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt, backward, or — or, well, all of the above. Palin, the governor of Alaska, has faced more criticism than any vice-presidential candidate since 1988, when Democrats and the press tore into Dan Quayle. In fact, Palin may have it even worse than Quayle, since she’s taking flak not only from Democrats and the press but from some conservative opinion leaders as well….

 Yes, there are legitimate concerns about Palin’s lack of experience. Who wouldn’t, at the very least, wish that she had more time in the governor’s office on her résumé? But a look at Palin’s 20 months in power, along with interviews with people who worked with her, shows her to be a serious executive, a governor who picked important things to do and got them done — and who didn’t just stumble into an 80 percent job-approval rating.

Slightly different meaning, no?  This sleazy tactic worked for Charlie Gibson, but Sarah’s a fast learner.

h/t Ace of Spades

Our long national nightmare isn’t over

Election day is two weeks from today, but we already lost.

Seriously, no matter who wins on November 4th, we lost.  We lost this election a long time ago, somewhere between the time when the media decided they wanted Barack Obama to be the next President and when the DNC stole the nomination from Hillary and gave it to an empty suit.  We lost, Hillary lost, the nation lost.

All that is left for us is a choice between bad and worse, but that’s a distinction that Lazarus Long said is far more critical than the one between good and better.  I have no illusions about John McCain.  He will be a bad choice, and the best we can expect is that he will be a mediocre President during a time of crisis.

But Barack Obama is worse.  He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, with an empty resume and the worst traits of George W. Bush.  His election will be a setback for liberal politics and a disaster for the Democratic party.  He will cause Democrats to lose seats in Congress (and possibly control of the Senate) in 2010 and will allow the GOP to retake the White House in 2012.  We can expect four years of gridlock, scandals, right-of-center policies, ineffective crisis management and a failed Presidency.

Either candidate will in all likelihood be a one-term President.  If McCain wins then Hillary will be well positioned to defeat him in 2012.  But if Obama wins no Democrat will be permitted to challenge him for the nomination when he runs for reelection, thus pretty much ending Hillary’s chances of ever becoming President.

It’s gonna be a long four years either way.  But then nobody said it would be easy.

Joe Biden: Huh?!

Be Afraid! Be Very Afraid!

I really don’t get this. Is Joe Biden a secret PUMA? Is he wishing that McCain had chosen him instead of Sarah Palin? Or worse, does he think this type of speech actually HELPS the Senator from Illinois?

ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe Reports: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., on Sunday guaranteed that if elected, Sen. Barack Obama., D-Ill., will be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in power and he will need supporters to stand by him as he makes tough, and possibly unpopular, decisions.

“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

“I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate,” Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. “And he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you – not financially to help him – we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.”

Not only will the next administration have to deal with foreign affairs issues, Biden warned, but also with the current economic crisis.

“Gird your loins,” Biden told the crowd. “We’re gonna win with your help, God willing, we’re gonna win, but this is not gonna be an easy ride. This president, the next president, is gonna be left with the most significant task. It’s like cleaning the Augean stables, man. This is more than just, this is more than – think about it, literally, think about it – this is more than just a capital crisis, this is more than just markets. This is a systemic problem we have with this economy.”

(snip)

“I’ve forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know, so I’m not being falsely humble with you. I think I can be value added, but this guy has it,” the Senate Foreign Relations chairman said of Obama. “This guy has it. But he’s gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, ‘Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?’ We’re gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I’m asking you now, I’m asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you’re going to have to reinforce us.”

“There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don’t know about that decision’,” Biden continued. “Because if you think the decision is sound when they’re made, which I believe you will when they’re made, they’re not likely to be as popular as they are sound. Because if they’re popular, they’re probably not sound.” 

Tuesday: Ohm’s law- how will you resist?

Two of our most passionate resistors, Patsy and Sugar, have been resisting since Clinton was still in the race.  These two African-American women have taken a lot of $#&@ for their principled stance against Obama.

Patsy and Sugar have a blogtalkradio show called Our View on Thursday evening’s at 9:00PM EST on NQR.  Highly recommended.  In the most recent segment, they talk about how they see Obama as passing as black and adopting habits that identify himself with African American culture to the point of being absurd.  They had a good laugh over Obama’s preferred cigarettes, Newports in a box.  It sounds like he’s trying too hard.  Patsy relates a story about being stuck in a conversation with two middle aged African American ladies who assumed she was an Obama supporter and read her the riot act before she had a chance to respond.  There is trouble in paradise for Obama, it seems.  Resistance is starting to build in the African American bloc as well.

What’s maddening about many of Obama’s African American supporters  is that they can’t seem to get beyond the glamour of him breaking through the color barrier to see that Obama and his buddy, Donna Brazile, have already thrown them under the bus.  African Americans are part of the “old coalition’ of the Democratic party.  Just like the elderly, the poor, women and the GBLT community, the ‘old coalition’ still needs the support of government for either protection of their basic civil rights to making sure Social Security and Medicare is still solvent.  The Whole Foods Nation can climb higher on Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs on their way to self-actualization.  The rest of us still have to work extra hard to meet our basic needs.  Obama is sitting pretty near the top of the pyramid, which is why Patsy and Sugar see his attempts to look more black as laughable.

Patsy and Sugar have made some amazing videos.  Patsy explained it all a couple of weeks ago and said all that any former Clintonista had to say about why she wasn’t supporting Obama.  It doesn’t get much clearer.  And yesterday, Sugar posted this video on her blog Sugarnspice from a brother who tells us why there won’t be rioting in the street:

I think he might be slightly off on this one.  There may well be rioting in those communities that have broken out in the past, like in certain portions of LA.  But for the vast majority of African Americans, they’re busy.  They’ve got jobs an families and can’t be bothered with all the destruction that follows a riot.  But for the Obama campaign to start a whisper campaign spreading that rumor, well, that would be offensive to me as an African American.  Why wouldn’t the African American community behave in the same way that women behaved after the suppression of Clinton’s votes?  Why wouldn’t it be just as effective for them to organize, do online protesting, make plans for reform of the party and other acts of non-violent civil disobedience?  We’ve had African American leaders of real stature, such as Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson, who have been inspirational for many people who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s.  You can get things done without ripping up your neighborhood and looting from your neighbors.

Maybe Obama would know that if he actually spent some time getting to know his most loyal constituents instead of just exploiting them.

And here is a new poll: