One of McCain’s strongest blocks of supporters is in the Vietnamese community (at least compared to other Asian immigrant communities) — do we have a Manchurian Candidate on our hands?

The LA Times railed against the stupidity of undecided voters (as well as discussing their perceived central role in American politics) in a recent opinion piece. As a potentially undecided voter, it’s videos like the ones below that make me want to vote for nobody. The first, from Drudge, is a McCain supporters’ march through Manhattan being heckled by Obama supporters. The second, from Cynical-C, is a line of ignorant McCain supporters waiting to get into a rally in Pennsylvania. Both sides display an extreme lack of decency and have turned politics into demagoguery. It’s sad.

Maybe I’ll vote for Bob Barr.

This graph show’s how McCain’s polling correlates with the health of the stock market as measured by the S&P 500:

Is it possible that nothing in the campaign has had any impact on the polls other than the economy? That’s sort of a sad thought.

Via State of the Union and Electoral Vote.

At 5′7″, John McCain is the shortest presidential candidate since democrat James Cox ran against Calvin Coolidge in 1920. If elected president, he would be the shortest president since William McKinley in 1900. The NYTimes provides this handy graphic of the presidential body shapes of the last hundred (or so) years:

The president I am most similar to in size and shape is Abraham Lincoln.

Via Reddit.

He’s finally found a way to target all my Anti-Christ fearing friends:

Rasmussen reports that:

Libertarian voters make up 4% of the nation’s likely voters and they favor Barack Obama over John McCain by a 53% to 38% margin. Three percent (3%) would vote for some other candidate and 5% are not sure.

Only 3% of libertarians said they would vote for a third party candidate?  That’s a pretty sad performance for Bob Barr. Maybe he’s the one who should to be firing his campaign manager. Maybe Ron Paul wants the gig…

The Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog today focuses on the lives of Barack Obama and John McCain. This picture of Obama with his mother caught my attention:

What, you don’t see it? Maybe if I blend them together for you?

Huh. I think they have similar eyes and eyebrows. Still not seeing it? Well, happy Fourth of July regardless.

Things More Muslim than Obama is like Things Younger Than McCain, but funnier.

Well known angry curmudgeon Jack Cafferty asks “how to survive the presidential campaign?” This being the first election in recent memory where both candidates stand an arguable chance of not living through their term, I thought this was going to be a surprising discussion of security procedures and healthy eating.

It wasn’t.

It was just a setup for a discussion of how it is possible for those of us watching the campaign on TV to be able to stand it. Is it really so hard to watch and read news coverage of a campaign? And isn’t it perfectly easy to opt out if you’re not interested? Not that what I thought the other topic was a good one, but it certainly would have been more interesting than this.

Will flip-flops once again be prominently featured at the GOP presidential nominating convention?

Obama 2007:

Question I-B:
If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?

Yes… If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.

Obama’s Spokesperson, 2007:

Obama’s spokesman Bill Burton said the senator “is pleased FEC took this important step in preserving the public financing system, which is why he sought the opinion. If Senator Obama is the nominee, he will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.”

Obama 2008:

Sen. Barack Obama told supporters Thursday that he has decided not to accept public financing for his general election campaign.

Hmm…

Obama’s spokesperson being either funny, or surprisingly hypocritical. I think it’s hypocritical, but I’m having a hard time seeing why she’d be so blatant about it:

In a response Thursday, Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan said McCain was raising old allegations rather than talking about the issues.

“It’s telling that John McCain — whose vice presidential search process is headed by a prominent D.C. lobbyist who served as the Reagan administration’s point man on the Iran-Contra scandal — would try to recycle a tired attack on Mr. Holder,” she said.

If Iran-Contra isn’t an old issue, I don’t know what is.

McCain’s supporters show how their lively, dynamic campaign is poised to take America by storm:

Amazing picture via Reddit.

John McCain’s newest ad is half car commercial, half World War II documentary:

Slate takes a quick jab at Ron Paul:

If you were designing the perfect candidate in a lab, you’d want John McCain’s personal courage, Mike Huckabee’s humor, and Hillary Clinton’s tenacity. The ingredient you’d want from Obama isn’t hope, which is, after all, hype. They all offer hope — even Ron Paul, in a creepy, Ayn Rand kind of way.

In honor of today’s big primaries, here’s a quick snapshot of CNN’s Exit Polls from the recent Florida Republican primary:

Notice a theme? Even Ron Paul couldn’t get above N/A. Where’s Alan Keyes when you need him?

Is it possible that the right wing of the Republican party has a two-fold agenda in its recent vocal series of attacks on John McCain (see, from the past week, Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, James Dobson)?

1. The straightfoward – they genuinely would prefer that Romney was the nominee and they’re not all that thrilled by McCain’s ideological divergence from standard conservative values.
2. The devious – they recognize that they’re facing an uphill battle this year to win  moderate conservatives and a very strong uphill battle to win moderate liberals, especially if Obama is the Democratic nominee.  To confront this problem, the far right of the Republican party is publicly making a lot of noise to show their displeasure with McCain, advertising that their displeasure is because McCain is SOOOO moderate.  Every time Ann Coulter tells Fox News’s right-leaning audience not to vote for McCain, she’s giving him credibility in the center.  Notice that these attacks didn’t ramp up until it seemed clear (or at least likely) that he was going to win the party’s nomination — this sort of strategy wouldn’t work if they actually derailed him.  For this to be functional, they have to loudly complain only after he’s essentially locked up the nomination.  The efforts they’re making will both scare him to the right AND encourage moderates to vote for him.  Pretty good strategy, eh?

Anyone agree?

Ron Paul (8/20/35) is one year older than John McCain (8/29/36).  Who knew?

Both the New York Times (on 11/18/07) and the Boston Globe (on 1/27/08) recently published pieces critiquing the graphic designs of various 2008 campaign logos. Considering that both papers are owned by the same parent company, one might expect them to have similar slants to the story. Here’s how the two compared:

NY Times on Hillary Clinton:

Boston Globe on Hillary Clinton:

The Hillary type palette is far from fresh and colorful; it is begging for legitimacy instead of demanding respect. It projects recycled establishment. The type has a tired feeling, as if the ink has been soaking into the page too long. The Hillary logo has the look of an ’80s newspaper layout or an investment company. The tall lower-case reminds me of someone with their pants pulled up too high. I wonder about the significance of the three stars and three stripes. A third term?

Comparison:

Both agree that the choices made were conservative. The Times however thinks the choices were interesting, the Globe finds them tired and recycled.

Read more »

Better blog: The Romney Boys or Meghan McCain?

If we’re judging based on title graphics alone, Meghan’s stylish drawing wins over the Romneys’ blurry photo. Also, can someone with musical knowledge tell me if Meghan’s playlists are any good?

I don’t think any other candidates’ children have blogs.

I’ve mentioned Ron Paul a lot, including my recent comparison of him to Snakes on a Plane, but I think I’ve finally pinned down a major Ron Paul problem, his unfavorables. Here are some results from the most recent Rasmussen poll in Iowa:

Among those likely to take part in the Iowa Republican caucuses, Romney is viewed favorably by 77%, Huckabee by 76%, Giuliani by 68%, and Thompson by 71%…

As for unfavorables, just 20% offer a negative assessment of Huckabee. Twenty-one percent (21%) have an unfavorable opinion of Romney, 24% say the same about Thompson, and 30% have a negative opinion of Giuliani.

McCain’s numbers have fallen since the previous Rasmussen Reports survey. Among Republicans likely to participate in the caucus, 54% have a favorable opinion of the Arizona Senator while 44% have an unfavorable view.

Ron Paul is viewed favorably by 39% and unfavorably by 52%.

Notice that bit at the end there? Ron Paul has an UNFAVORABLE rating above 50% That basically means that no matter what, more than 50% of Iowa Republican caucus voters will not vote for him. Money, media and message can do a lot to fix a public’s lack of knowledge about a candidate, but they can’t do much to fix a public’s established negative perceptions of a candidate.

A hundred November 5ths (or Tea Parties) won’t do Ron Paul any good if his unfavorables stay above 50%. And while those events raise a lot of money, they won’t do a lot to change negative perceptions. Of course, the commercials paid for by that money might help, but it hasn’t done so yet.

Yet another 2008 candidate selector, this one is fairly quick. Here’s where I stand:

1. 21 – Ron Paul
2. 18 – Joe Biden & Rudy Guiliani
3. 17 – Chris Dodd & Dennis Kucinich
4. 16 – Obama & Clinton
5. 14 – McCain

Ah, Ron Paul. Now that I’ve used your name I’m sure your minions will arrive to call me stupid… like last time.