The Obama campaign has released a new ad specifically to run in Nevada, one of the half-dozen traditionally Republican states in the West that the Obama campaign believes it can win. The ad is a 30 spot and hits Senator McCain for supporting the proposed placement of a Federal deep geological repository storage facility for nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, Nevada which is about 90 miles north west of Las Vegas. McCain has supported the development of Department of Energy (DOE) managed storage facility previoulsy but seems to have back away from the idea recently.
I would seek to establish an international repository for spent nuclear fuel that could collect and safely store materials overseas that might otherwise be reprocessed to acquire bomb-grade materials. It is even possible that such an international center could make it unnecessary to open the proposed spent nuclear fuel storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.”— John McCain, 5/27/08
Obama, of course, has his own Yucca Mountain problems. One of his largest backers is the Illinois-based nuclear giant Exelon which is one of the biggest proponents of a deep geological repository storage facility at Yucca Mountain.
The latest poll for Nevada from Rasmussen Reports is from August 13, 2008. In that poll, John McCain had a slight advantage, 45% to 42%.
Big Think asks Gillian Caldwell, the executive director of Witness about the human rights aspect of global climatic change. Witness is a non-profit dedicated to documenting human rights abuses by using video and online technologies.
Global climatic change presents humanity with many challenges not the least of which is a moral one.
For seeking a legal permit to protest their receiving insufficient compensation when their homes were seized for redevelopment, a common complaint in China, Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying, both septuagenarians, have been sentenced by a Chinese court to “re-education through labor”. For standing for their rights and for the recourse of legal peaceful protest, Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying are heroines of the rights of conscience.
In the annals of people who have struggled against Communist Party rule, Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying are unlikely to merit even a footnote.
The two women, both in their late 70s, have never spoken out against China’s authoritarian government. Both walk with the help of a cane, and Ms. Wang is blind in one eye. Their grievance, receiving insufficient compensation when their homes were seized for redevelopment, is perhaps the most common complaint among Chinese displaced during the country’s long streak of fast economic growth.
But the Beijing police still sentenced the two women to an extrajudicial term of “re-education through labor” this week for applying to hold a legal protest in a designated area in Beijing, where officials promised that Chinese could hold demonstrations during the Olympic Games.
They became the most recent examples of people punished for submitting applications to protest. A few would-be demonstrators have simply disappeared, at least for the duration of the Games, squelching already diminished hopes that the influx of foreigners and the prestige of holding the Games would push China’s leaders to relax their tight grip on political expression.
Under the realm of those who live in glass houses, they shouldn’t bring up past associations. Today the Obama campaign unveiled a new ad attacking Senator McCain by attempting to link him to Jack Abramhoff, the convicted lobbyist, through Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition whose is tied to the Abramhoff scandal. The McCain campaign didn’t waste any time responding and further complicating the political ambitions of the very junior Senator from Illinois. Brian Rogers, spokesman for the McCain campaign, responded with this:
“Barack Obama’s ad is ridiculous. Because of John McCain, corruption was exposed and people like Jack Abramoff went to jail.
However, if Barack Obama wants to have a discussion about truly questionable associations, let’s start with his relationship with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, at whose home Obama’s political career was reportedly launched. Mr. Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, a terrorist group responsible for countless bombings against targets including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and numerous police stations, courthouses and banks. In recent years, Mr. Ayers has stated, ‘I don’t regret setting bombs… I feel we didn’t do enough.’
“The question now is, will Barack Obama immediately call on the University of Illinois to release all of the records they are currently withholding to shed further light on Senator Obama’s relationship with this unrepentant terrorist?”
The McCain campaign is doing what the Clinton largely chose not to do, that is, make an issue of all of the unsavory characters in Obama’s recent past. While McCain too has some past associations that have lurked in his long political career, Charles Keating for example, those are largely well-known and thus discounted. Apart from the Reverend Wright, who has yet to make a fiery reappearance in the general election, Obama’s past associations are not as well known and for the very junior Senator from Illinois they represent a veritable minefield of potentially derailing distractions.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll out today points to something that I have been saying for some time — a large portion of Senator Clinton’s supporters are not backing Senator Obama. All polling that I have seen since late February on suggest that anywhere between 20% and 40% plus of Clinton’s supporters in the primaries balk on voting for Obama. Covering and knowing the PUMA movement as I do, my view is that about a fifth to a quarter will actually vote for Senator McCain and another fifth likely to abstain or vote third party. This poll seems to indicate that I am not far off in my assessment.
Barack Obama’s lead in the presidential race has nearly disappeared, a combination of news from abroad, Republican attacks at home and Hillary Clinton voters who have not rallied behind Sen. Obama.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that as Democrats prepare to gather in Denver for their national convention next week, the Obama campaign’s biggest challenge may be attracting Sen. Clinton’s supporters to his campaign. Only half the people who voted for Sen. Clinton in the primaries said they are now supporting Sen. Obama. One in five is supporting Sen. McCain.
In mid-June, Senator Obama enjoyed a double digit lead in New Hamphire. Even as recent as a month ago, Obama led by a comfortable six points. That lead is now gone. It has become a rocky road for the very junior Senator from Illinois in the Granite State. The new Rasmussen Reports poll out today now shows Obama leads by a statistically insignificant one point. Since that is within the margin of error, the race in New Hampshire is a dead heat.
New Hampshire has long been one of the country’s most true conservative states. It voted for Hoover in the 1932 FDR landslide. It lasted voted for a Democrat in 1964 but in recent years, the southern part of the state has, in effect, become a suburb of liberal Boston changing New Hampshire’s politics.
The presidential race in New Hampshire is now a toss-up. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that Barack Obama’s once-double-digit lead over John McCain is down to a statistically insignificant one-point lead, 43% to 42%.
When “leaners” are factored in, Obama is ahead 47% to 46%. The Democrat’s support has steadily decreased in the Granite State since he clinched the nomination in early June. Obama fell from an 11-percentage point lead in mid-June to a six-point lead in July. The latest numbers mark the closest the race has been so far this year.
The latest numbers show support growing for McCain from those in his party. He now earns the vote from 87% of GOP voters, up from 78% a month ago. Though Obama still has a 42% to 34% lead among unaffiliated voters, support for the Democrat is down from 50% last month. He also has a 46% to 38% lead among women. Among men in New Hampshire, McCain has a 46% to 40% edge.
While Obama has a solid lead among younger voters, the race is close among voters between the ages of 30 and 64. McCain has a dominant lead among voters age 65 and older.
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones has suffered an aneurysm. The media first reported that she died this morning but Huron Hospital in Cleveland reports that she is in critical condition. The Congresswoman from Cleveland represents the 11 Congressional District of Ohio is a staunch Clinton supporter and critical in helping Senator Clinton carry Ohio during the Democratic primary. A member of Congress since 1998, I most remember her for her honesty and courage. On January 6, 2005, she joined U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in objecting to the certification of the 2004 U.S. presidential election results for Ohio.
Update
This evening, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones passed on. Here is a recent profile of her in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Another day, another brutal poll out. Today’s poll is from Public Policy Polling in Missouri. Over the past month, McCain has gained seven points to open up a ten point lead in the Show Me state. Obama’s biggest issue is with white voters, who support McCain by a 56-35 margin. McCain is leading among women.
John McCain has expanded his lead over Barack Obama in Missouri, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling. McCain’s advantage is 50-40, a seven point increase from PPP’s July poll, which showed him leading by just three points.
Obama’s biggest issue is with white voters, who support McCain by a 56-35 margin.
“There aren’t enough black voters in Missouri for Barack Obama to win it if he can’t make things more competitive among white voters,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “That’s going to be his challenge if he wants to have any chance at winning the state.”
McCain leads across every age group, and has the advantage with both men and women. Obama will need a good margin of victory with women if he is to take Missouri but for now that’s not coming through.
The news is better for Democrats in the Governor’s race. Jay Nixon leads Republican Kenny Hulshof 48-42. In other statewide races Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan hold double digit leads, while in the open seats for Attorney General and Treasurer Democrat Chris Koster and Republican Brad Lager each hold a narrow advantage.
PPP surveyed 750 likely voters from August 13th to 17th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-3.6%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.
Missouri has 11 electoral votes and is considered a battleground state. George W. Bush won Missouri in 2004 by 7.2% and in 2000 by 3.3%. Missouri is also considered a bellweather state, that is, it picks winners. As Missouri goes, so goes the nation. Missouri last voted for the losing candidate in 1956.
The progressive group Power PAC has launched this ad on behalf of Senator Obama’s flailing campaign in four Western states. Power PAC is a registered political action committee and is unaffliliated with any political party or candidate. Founded in 2004, it is based in California and headed by Steve Phillips, a former head of the San Francisco Board of Education. The group primarily has tackled immigration issues in California in the past.
PowerPAC, which aided Obama in the Democratic Primary, is also launching a voter registration drive in the African-American south and a media campaign targeting Hispanic voters in four Western states. The ad is a 30 second spot.
Below the same ad in Spanish. It is running in New Mexico.
The news just keeps on getting uglier and uglier for the still presumptive but soon to be the official nominee of the Democratic Party. In a Reuters/Zogby poll Senator McCain has opened up a five point advantage over Senator Obama. In the past month, there has been 12 point swing. Obama was up seven in July, now he is down five.
In a sharp turnaround, Republican John McCain has opened a 5-point lead on Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race and is seen as a stronger manager of the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama’s solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly Reuters/Zogby poll.
The reversal follows a month of attacks by McCain, who has questioned Obama’s experience, criticized his opposition to most new offshore oil drilling and mocked his overseas trip.
The poll was taken Thursday through Saturday as Obama wrapped up a weeklong vacation in Hawaii that ceded the political spotlight to McCain, who seized on Russia’s invasion of Georgia to emphasize his foreign policy views.
“There is no doubt the campaign to discredit Obama is paying off for McCain right now,” pollster John Zogby said. “This is a significant ebb for Obama.”
