"Dems Hitting McCain Hard on Lobbyist Ties"

MotherJones.com
August 6, 2008

Democrats began today what is sure to become a long-term campaign of attacking McCain for his ties to lobbyists. Democrats seek to target McCain's reliance on lobbyists for fund raising and, frequently, upper-level staffing.



The Democratic National Committee launched a strategy today of using images—always tinged deep Republican red—to disseminate the idea that McCain is owned by big oil. One such image, a fake check for $2 million from "Exxon and friends" comes on the heels of some suspicious donations from Hess employees.

The campaign finance watchdog group, Public Campaign Action Fund, also piled on today, launching a website dedicated to cataloging McCain's lobbyist ties.

Of course, Public Campaign Action Fund may not be as totally nonpartisan as they claim. Major donors include billionaire Democratic activist George Soros and the group Campaign to Defend America, which is run by MoveOn.org co-founder Wes Boyd and Tom Matzzie. Matzzie is—wait for it—a lobbyist, having worked for MoveOn.org as well America Coming Together and Media Fund. The Washington Post described the latter two as "outside-the-party" Democratic groups.

There's also McCain's record. He may still rely on the lobbyists Obama goes without, and the implications of his lobbyist ties remain severe and real, but he did co-sponsor the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Better know as McCain-Feingold, the law was an historic blow to lobbyist tactics like soft money and buying political ads. The law is also the reason why political candidates must state "I'm so-and-so, and I approve this message" in every ad. McCain may not be Obama when it comes to independence from lobbyists, but he's not George W. Bush, either.

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"Future President Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad"

MotherJones.com
August 6, 2008

Paris Hilton, never one to pass up an opportunity to waste money or pander for attention, has produced a video response to Sen. McCain's attack ad comparing Sen. Obama with Hilton.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

The helpful wonks over at The New Republic actually fact-checked Hilton's energy spiel (slow news week, guys?), so check that out if you want. Ok, so maybe she won't be our next Secretary of Energy, and come to think of it she's not that funny, either. (McCain is old? Uh, great.)

But, unlike the two Senators actually running for the most important job in the free world, she demonstrates a working knowledge of satire and the ability to make a simple joke without offending the entire English-speaking world. With both candidates gaffing their way through the summer, Republicans protesting in dark, empty rooms, and Democrats plotting secret back-room strategies that get immediately leaked, Paris Hilton may actually be the political MVP of these first few days of August.

And that is the state of American politics today. How long until Rasmussen starts tracking her in the polls?

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"In Election's Racial Divide, Battered Clintons Side with McCain"

MotherJones.com
August 5, 2008

It certainly didn't take long. With weeks to go before either party's political convention, and neither candidate having selected a running mate, the issue of race has already become a theme of the just-begun general election. Sens. Obama and McCain are now accusing one another of using race as a political tool. Obama, apparently unprovoked on the issue, suggested McCain would use Obama's "funny name" and appearance to scare voters. McCain's campaign accused Obama of playing the race card "from the bottom of the deck."

Some Democrats may expect the Clintons, who enjoyed tremendous support from African Americans for many years but have lost some due to insensitive remarks about race during the primary, to step in and defend Obama, but no such luck. The Clintons have remained silent and some suggest that members of Sen. Clinton's presidential campaign, after bearing similar accusations from Obama during the Democratic primary, may be quietly celebrating Obama's difficulty with the issue.

Politico reports anonymous Clinton aides declaring "I feel slightly vindicated" and that "the chickens have come home to roost." One stated, “We were being considered a racist campaign ... so there aren’t a lot of people rushing to inoculate [Obama] on that account.” In an interview yesterday, a visibly angry Bill Clinton chastised a reporter for asking about race, stating "I am not a racist." Video of the interview—and why Democratic infighting still defines this election—after the jump.



The irony is that McCain, perhaps having learned from the hateful, race-based attacks President Bush launched against him during the 2000 campaign, has not really brought up race as an issue. (McCain's campaign did issue an ad with Obama's face mockingly projected on Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill, but it appears to be about hubris and not race.) So why go after McCain for a race-based attack he never made? Because not everyone has been as civil as McCain on Obama's race. The Clintons had considerable success using race to rack up big victories in Appalachian states.

The primary battle may be over, but the race-based issues that the Clintons brought up—and the damage they do Obama in certain key states—never went away. Obama has to confront the issue of race. By attacking McCain on the issue, he can address his otherness while also getting in an attack on his opponent. Obama's statements, however, clearly allude to the treatment he got during the primary, reopening wounds from which the Clintons were still recovering. They may not be attacking Obama anymore, but they also aren't defending him, and their absence speaks as loudly as any RNC attack ad ever could.

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"Pelosi Urges Dems To Hedge on Off-Shore Drilling"

MotherJones.com
August 5, 2008

Last week, Sen. Obama raised eyebrows by suggesting he would back off-shore drilling, despite House Speaker Pelosi's long-held opposition to opening the coastline. Some feared the policy difference would lead to a split and tension within the party.

It turns out, however, that Pelosi has been quietly urging fellow Democrats to publicly split with her on the issue and support off-shore drilling in order to gain political points for the coming elections. It may be a somewhat duplicitous strategy, but more Democratic seats in Congress would mean greater ability to pass comprehensive energy legislation, even if it does come at the cost of coastal drilling.

Pelosi's plan, it seems, is to publicly present a Democratic Congress divided over allowing off-shore drilling, enticing Republicans to offer more compromises on energy legislation than they otherwise would to woo hard-line Democrats. The strategy also allows Democrats up for reelection to appear independently minded on energy.

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"Hess Corp., Where Low-Level Oil Workers Donate Thousands to McCain"

MotherJones.com
August 4, 2008

Alice and Pasquale Rocchio are not the kinds of people you typically see donating $57,000, the maximum combined amount, to a single political campaign. Alice is an office manager; Pasquale, a foreman. They rent their home in Flushing, Queens, a modest, blue-collar suburb of New York City. They drive a 2003 Buick and a 1993 Chevrolet. Yet they both maxed out in donations to Sen. McCain's campaign fund, McCain Victory 2008. Surprised?

Don't be. Alice Rocchio works for the Hess Corporation, a mammoth American oil company, according to Talking Points Memo. At Hess, she joins a slew of employees who have also given the maximum allowable amounts to McCain's fund.

Alice Rocchio told The New York Times that she made the decision on her own and wasn't reimbursed by Hess as a way of circumventing campaign finance restrictions.

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"In Congress, A Role Reversal On Energy"

MotherJones.com
August 4, 2008

Several members of the House of Representatives returned to the House floor today, despite the Congressional recess that began on Friday, to protest Congress' failure to pass legislation combating high gas prices before beginning the month-long vacation. But they're not from the party you might think.

The protesters, who took to the empty House floor this morning despite dimmed lights and switched-off microphones, are Republicans. They're pushing for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open a vote on allowing off-shore drilling, even though the Department of Energy has stated that opening the shoreline would have no effect on gas prices until 2030. Democrats show no sign of budging.

Normally, Congressional infighting would have ended there. But this is campaign season, so of course the president and the two senators seeking his office got pulled in.

Sen. Obama, perhaps concerned that McCain's attack ad blaming high gas prices on the off-shore ban might stick, recently hedged on the issue, saying he would be open to lifting the ban as a compromise to get other energy initiatives passed. (This morning, he suggested tapping into U.S. oil reserves, an idea that has met opposition from Bush in the past.)

Republicans have been quick to pounce. Rep. Eric Cantor, who the McCain campaign is considering as a running mate, called on Obama to pressure Pelosi and other Dems to reconvene Congress to pass off-shore drilling legislation. Obama, caught between Democrats long opposed to off-shore drilling and Republicans eager to paint Obama as weak on energy, will have to act carefully.

McCain repeated Cantor's call, even offering to come off the campaign trail. Obama responded quickly, offering to join in requesting Congress' return if McCain would pledge "a $1,000 energy rebate and ... a serious investment in renewable energy."

But any such compromise between the candidates would likely be meaningless. Pelosi, whose involvement is necessary to bring the House to a vote, has vehemently opposed opening California's coast for her entire career.

Even President Bush, strangely, reacted to a request by Republicans to force Congress to reconvene with a denial, though he has long pushed for off-shore drilling. Perhaps the political points his party might stand to gain against Obama are just worth more to him than battling fuel prices.

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