I have posted an essay at The American Liberalism Project which begins to address the problem of a corrupt and unprofessional press in America. Clearly the only organization that did their due diligence in the run-up to the Iraq War was the Knight-Ridder organization (purchased by McClatchy Newspapers) since that time. Taking off from an article in Smirking Chimp by Danny Schechter, I am becoming more and more convinced that it is folly to believe that the media can self-regulate any better than the banking or insurance or stock markets can. They can’t, and they need to have their real feet held to a real fire, especially when war is concerned.

War is the ultimate sanction one people can exert against another. We have lots of euphemisms for getting us into the state of war, but basically war is a people-to-people exercise in which, typically, the process of diminishing the humanity of the other side begins almost immediately and does not end until hostilities are over. You get expressions like gook, hun, slope, raghead, haji, and various other epithets thrown around that reduce the opponent to a sub-human category, one that is easy to kill. And kill we do! The high estimates from Iraq are that about a million Iraqis have died since the invasion, some by direct fire, some by mistake, some for the lack of care, some by starvation, and others by the hand of their own countrymen. The point is that war kills and it kills the human spirit and anesthetizes it to reason, compassion, and logic.

Propaganda that drives a country to war is deliberate falsehood, spin, and mendacity. It is worse than libel for the result is death for large numbers of people. I am more and more convinced that the American media are complicit in the deaths of our own soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. I think we should do something about it as a people and as a political party.

JB

Ok, the primaries are so over, and we can get on with beating McCain!

What’s next? How can we Democrats bring ourselves together? Many observers believe that Barack Obama should somehow bring Hillary into the mix. Others, to the contrary believe that Hillary is disqualified by the tone of her campaign rhetoric or by the many statements made by Bill Clinton.

In the last 17 Presidential elections, the choice of Vice Presidential candidate has only once had a positive effect (electoral votes) on the campaign. The exception was when JFK picked Lyndon Johnson in 1960. Otherwise there has been no positive benefit to any campaign as demonstrated by the voting in the subsequent November.

But, It is clear that a sizable number of Hillary supporters are “stuck on their gal.” Led by Bill Clinton, a number of pundits are pushing for Hillary to be named as VP as noted by Ben Smith over at The Politico. And, of course, this afternoon Hillary herself applied for the job in a story from Associated Press.

But there are possibilities beyond just the Vice Presidential pick. In fact there is a talk on the web that Barack Obama has had open discussions with his staff about the cabinet that was put together by Abraham Lincoln. His fascination is that Lincoln brought together many of his political opponents, appointed them to cabinet or other positions and then challenged them to run the country based on what was best for the country.

Hillary has also been mentioned for Health & Education in an Obama cabinet or as some sort of health czar. Other mentions have included John Edwards for Attorney General, and Joe Biden for Secretary of State. There have been lots of articles about various possibilities.

Here is a list of some other folks that have been mentioned as Vice Presidential candidates. By and large they are getting less press than others.

Joe Biden (Delaware Senator) Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is certainly on the short list for Secretary of State but many believe he could be a great VP choice.

Michael Bloomberg (ex-NY Republican Mayor) Former life-long Democrat now registered Independent could bring economic credentials to the campaign with appeal to Republicans.

Richard Clarke (counterterrorism director) A Regan/Bush Sr. appointee, Clarke could bring important national security credentials.

Richard Danzig (ex-Navy Secy) Clinton appointee with national security credentials.

Anthony Lake (ex-National Security adviser under Clinton) Also an ex-foreign service officer who worked for Nixon, Kissinger,Muskie and McGovern. Currently a professor at Georgetown University.

Bill Richardson (Governor of New Mexico) Richardson, a savvy politician who understands elections, brings diplomatic experience as former Ambassador to the United Nations and he could be helpful with the Hispanic community.

Robert Rubin (ex-Treasury Secy) Currently Chairman of Citigroup. Former Secretary of Treasury under Bill.

Jim Webb (Pennsylvania Senator) Junior Senator from Virginia and former Secretary of the Navy under Reagan.

Please feel free to comment and tell us about your favorites.

MG

We are indebted to the Swing State Project and Democracy Now for this news. New polls suggest that the 2008 Congressional elections may be a repeat “Big Democratic Wave.” The data suggests that Democrats could pick up twenty to forty Republican-held House seats. In the past five months, generic ballot has gone from a 1 point disadvantage to a 7 point advantage in 45 vulnerable House seats currently held by Republicans.

Two years ago before the 2006 election cycle, a Democratic poling organization, Democracy Now, did a survey of vulnerable Republican districts and predicted that twenty to thirty seats in the House of Representatives could swing over to the Democratic side of the aisle. This was the first poll at that time to indicate the size of the 2006 Democratic landslide.

The polling was repeated in January 2008 and again in mid May 2008. The latest numbers suggest that another big wave of Democratic victories may be coming. In just the past four or five months, the “generic ballot” suggests that Democrats have improved from a -1 point disadvantage to a seven point advantage. These polls were conducted in 45 House Districts across the country where Republicans were elected by sizable majorities in 2006! In fact, their average 2006 victory was by ten points or more.

Democracy Now has divided the 45 vulnerable districts into Tier 1 and Tier 2 categories. There are 21 Republican held House seats in Tier 1 and generic poling shows the Democratic challenger to have a 9 percentage point advantage (51% to 42%). These are big enough margins to suppose that these 21 House seats are “Likely” pick-ups for the Democrats. In Tier 2 there are another 24 districts and here the generic Democratic advantage is now 3 percentage points versus a 6 point disadvantage only a few months ago. Accordingly there has been a 9 point improvement in these 24 Republican-held seats and we are now even or slightly ahead.

We have yet to see similar data for the United States Senate; but many observers are suggesting that Democrats have an opportunity to pick up seven to twelve seats in the upper house. If we can pick up nine seats, we will have the votes to close debate and block Republican filibusters.

Lastly, I would like to note that Rick Renzi’s seat in Arizona’s Congressional District #1 is firmly in the Tier 1 category. This suggests we have an outstanding chance to add one more to our Arizona contingent.  CD #1 is the only Arizona seat in either Tier 1 or 2.

Charisma, change and vision vs. a gaffe-prone spent force: Obama will beat McCain and win 300 to 350 electoral votes.

Guy T. Saperstein, Alternet.com

In early December 2007, at a time when Hillary Clinton was tracking 20-plus points ahead of the Democratic field in national polls, I published an article contending that Hillary Clinton was an inherently weak candidate, a beatable candidate, and that Barack Obama would be a stronger match against Republicans.

OK, that was then, this is now.

The November presidential election is not going to be close. Barack Obama is going to beat John McCain by 8 to 10 points in the national popular vote and win 300 to 350 electoral votes. Obama is going to wipe out McCain mano a mano.

I am far more confident making this prediction than I was in predicting Hillary’s demise. There are many reasons why. Click here to read more at Alternet.

Editor’s Note: This journalist brings up an important point regarding John McCain that has been noticeable to his campaign’s observers. Here is a direct quote:

The problem with McCain is that his brain is no longer working. There is something wrong. Many doctor friends of mine hypothesize Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is consistent with his 5½ years of great stress in prison and which can explain his violent temper, his memory lapses and his frequent mental disconnects. It also is possible that he is suffering mini-strokes, which cause momentary double vision, partial blackouts and confusion, and which could explain why he can say incredibly stupid things, sometimes the same dumb thing several times in one day, without appearing to understand what he just said. Whatever the specific cause, he is not healthy, and mentally he is struggling to hold it together.

On ABC TV: This Week Program with George Stephanapolis.

Senator John McCain has tried to distance himself from Bush in an effort to avoid being tagged by Democrats as running for Bush’s third term.  However, as Think Progress notes, McCain’s chief surrogate, Senator Lindsey Graham, did not adhere to that message during his appearance on ABC’s This Week, with George Stephanopoulos.

George Stephanopoulos asked Sen. Graham if McCain’s tax and health care policies are essentially “an extension or maybe an enhancement of the Bush policies.” Sen. Graham answered, “Yeah, absolutely!”

Click here to watch the video of John McCain’s embrace of Bush policies and programs.

Posted by: Your Editor

From time to time, we will sample Presidential Polling totals to keep our readers up to date.

Now that the Democratic primary contest has been settled, the winner, (Barack Obama, in this case) is expected to get a surge in “popularity.” This is a normal process which has more to do with how people react to news than anything else. The surge may or may not be temporary.

It is important that we Democrats do not slacken our enthusiasm or volunteer efforts merely because polls show our candidate is ahead. It is a long hard road to November. Yes the signs are good; but we cannot afford to relax our guard. By all estimates, this will be the dirtiest election in American politics and we can expect the Republicans to distort facts, evade responsibility and play attack politics.

In the meantime, polls show that Barack Obama is leading or firmly ahead in the prospective Electoral Vote count. Bear in mind that 267 votes are needed to become President of the United States.

President Polls 2008

President Polls 2008 is a website that keeps track of individual state polling data and combines this information with historical voting trends. Based on current data from Presidential Polls 2008, as of June 8,2008, it appears that Barack Obama is leading in states that have 303 Electoral Votes and John McCain is leading in states having 235 Electoral votes.

Electoral-Vote.com

Here is another website that keeps track of historical voting trends and current polling data. Today, June 7, 2008, this site is showing Barack Obama leading in 287 Electoral Votes versus 227 Electoral Votes for John McCain and 24 Electoral Votes in 2 states where the candidates are effectively tied.

We suggest that you keep these sites in your “Favorites” list and check them periodically. As the campaign season picks up we will keep these numbers posted in a box on the upper right hand of your screen.

Finally a Comment About Arizona: Currently Arizona appears to be a strong McCain state as it well should be. After all this is his home state, even if he got less than 50% of the REPULICAN vote in the primary election in February. The latest polls indicate that McCain is ahead of Obama by a solid 11%. This does not mean that McCain has coat-tails; in fact we expect that Arizona is turning purple.

McCain now fears that he could lose Arizona in November because of anti-McCain attitudes of the Neo-Conservative wing of the Arizona Republican Party. In a press briefing, Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, did not include Arizona as one of the 17 “historically Republican states” — though Arizona has voted Republican in every presidential election but one since 1952. The omission signals that McCain believes that Arizona voters may well opt for Barack Obama.

Washington Independent, June 10th 2008

PHOENIX–Sen. John McCain’s big struggle to energize a suspicious conservative Republican base and attract crucial independent voters is a national fight that encompasses his home state of Arizona. Despite representing the state in Congress for 26 years, McCain is now confronting a resurgent state Democratic Party and a burgeoning number of unpredictable independent voters.

While Arizona Republicans are bogged down with nasty infighting and a slumping number of registered voters, Arizona Democrats are gaining voters daily. Powered by Sen. Barack Obama’s voter registration drive, Democratic voter registration is up 2.8 percent in the last year and Democrats are poised to gain control of a majority of the state’s House congressional delegation for the first time in decades. {In the past year alone, Democrats have registered 60,000 more voters than the Republicans.}

The biggest shift in the Arizona political landscape has been in the number of voters registering as independents — up 7.6 percent in the last year. Arizona is now essentially a tri-party state — Republicans make up 38 percent of registered voters; Democrats, 34 percent, and independents, 27 percent. Securing a plurality of independents will be crucial to the presidential race here and Obama has the early edge. Without the enthusiastic support of rank-and-file Republicans, McCain could face a desert dogfight that could wind up costing him the White House in a close contest.

Click here to read more in the Washington Independent.

Montana Republicans have picked Bob Kelleher over three other candidates as their nominee to run against incumbent Democratic Senator Max Bacus (D-Mt). Bob is truly a different kind of Republican! He favors Socialized Medicine, wants big Oil companies nationalized, and advocates that taxes should be raised and the funds used to eliminate poverty in America.

Well it sounds like our Montana Senate seat will be safe this year! And even if we lose, maybe we win!

By Bob Kraushner, The Politico, June 11th 2008

Meet Bob Kelleher, the Republican nominee against Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) this year.

He is an 85-year-old attorney with some downright unconventional views. He believes the American system of representative government should be replaced by a parliamentary system. He calls for socialized medicine, advocates nationalizing the country’s oil and gas industries and believes taxes should be raised significantly to eradicate poverty.

It’s not the standard GOP platform, but nevertheless Kelleher defeated four other candidates in the primary to claim the Republican nomination.

Among those he bested were former state House Majority Leader Mike Lange and businessman Kirk Bushman, who had courted statewide donors and visited Washington to meet with national party representatives. It was Kelleher’s first victory after 15 losses as a Democratic Party and Green Party candidate.

Needless to say, the Republican Party wants nothing to do with him.

If Kelleher were an aberration, his candidacy might be easier for Republicans to swallow. But he’s not.

He’s one of a handful of GOP Senate nominees who are, well, not exactly who the party had in mind.

If nothing else, Kelleher is emblematic of Senate Republicans’ flat-out bad luck this election cycle. Not only has the party missed out on landing top-tier recruits in conservative-minded states such as South Dakota and West Virginia, but Republican primary voters have exacerbated the situation by nominating candidates elsewhere who have virtually no chance of winning races that might otherwise have been somewhat competitive.  Click here to read more about Bob Kelleher at The Politico.

The Pew Research Center’s latest reading on generic Republican and Democratic ballots now favors Democrats by eighteeen points, the biggest advantage in a decade.

The overall image of the Democratic Party has improved over the past year, although the Democratic-led Congress remains widely unpopular. A majority of Americans (57%) say they have a favorable view of the Democratic Party, up six points since July 2007 and 10 points since July 2006.

In contrast, views of the Republican Party remain at historic lows. Currently, 53% of Americans express unfavorable views of the Republican Party while only 39% say they have a favorable opinion of the party. These ratings are unchanged from July 2007, and have changed little since April 2006.

Public attitudes toward Congress remain very negative. Currently, just 41% of the public expresses a favorable opinion of Congress, with 51% unfavorable; that is identical to opinions of Congress in July 2007. Views of Congress were more positive in January 2007, shortly after the Democrats won control of the House and Senate (53% favorable vs. 38% unfavorable).

In historical terms, positive opinions of Congress are about as low as they were in October 1995, during the standoff between former President Clinton and the GOP-led Congress that led to a government shutdown. In October 1995, 42% expressed favorable views compared with 55% who held unfavorable opinions.

Click here to read the full article at Pew Research.

By: Nedra Pickler, AP
June 17th 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrat Barack Obama says he’ll take no lectures from Republicans on who will keep America safer. GOP rival John McCain’s campaign criticized Obama Tuesday for speaking approvingly of the successful prosecution of terrorists. A McCain aide said, “Obama is a perfect manifestation of a September 10th mind-set” and does not understand the dangers posed by U.S. adversaries.

Obama told reporters that the Republicans have no “standing to suggest that they’ve learned a lot of lessons from 9-11.”

He said they “helped to engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9-11.” He said Osama bin Laden is still at large in part because of their failed strategies.

In a conference call with reporters, McCain adviser Randy Scheunemann said Tuesday: “Senator Obama is a perfect manifestation of a September 10th mind-set. … He does not understand the nature of the enemies we face.” Former CIA director James Woolsey said Obama has “an extremely dangerous and extremely naive approach toward terrorism … and toward dealing with prisoners captured overseas who have been engaged in terrorist attacks against the United States.”

The Obama campaign quickly responded with its own conference call in which Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Richard Clarke, a counter-terrorism official in Republican and Democratic administrations, argued the McCain campaign was emulating Karl Rove, President Bush’s former political adviser.

“I’m a little disgusted by the attempts of some of my friends on the McCain campaign to use the same old, tired tactics … to drive a wedge between Americans for partisan advantage and to frankly frighten Americans,” Clarke said.

GOP criticism of the presumed Democratic nominee echoed the words of Rove, who in January 2006 said Republicans have a post-Sept. 11 view of the world and Democrats a pre-9/11 view. Eleven months later, the GOP lost control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections. Click here to read more at Breitbard.com.