Greetings from Fredericksburg

The old cliche about the devil being in the details really applies here. The principles have been framed nicely, but to what extent will tax payers receive an equity interest for the funds expended? To what extent will there be meaningful Congressional oversight, particularly given the Bush Administration's history of acting as if the Executive were the only legitimate branch of government. The same goes for all the other principles the Democrats allegedly stood up for.

Given their history of caving (and/or selling out), I'll believe it when I see it.

is in Fredericksburg, not William & Mary, which is in Williamsburg.  Correction for first sentence.

Dona - Corrected!

(That's the second time in a week you've helped me!)

Given the schedule and the upcoming elections and the clear unpopularity of a bailout, I predict nothing except for a stop-gap amount of funds will be given this year. Once the contentious elections are over and a new President is sworn in, Congress may settle down enough for a longer term solution without fear of being voted out right away. At least that's what I would do, a small stop gap until next year.

It was looking like the House Republicans might tie this thing up in knots, but then Washington Mutual collapsed. After that, they seemed cowed into going along for fear of taking the blame if "C-Day" came. We humans have a tendency to assume everything will be fine until the worst is upon us, so I don't rule out that possibility. But, at this point, it seems more likely there will be some sort of grudging agreement.

at least for this thread, but Fallows' take on last night's debate is essential reading:

http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/on_strategy_and_tactics.php

@Opper- Fallows is spot on, explains the post debate polling and reactions.

Here is some excellent analysis by James Fallows
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/on_strategy_and_tac...

and by Josh Marshall-
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220315.php

on why Obama was most helped last night, and why he won over more of the undecided voter by his performance.

often times I misgudge kos, but no more, he is truly a Saul Alinsky student.

I don't envy you the visit to Fredericksburg.  My sister lives there, her husbands a cop. It is just an excuse for big box stores and chain fast food.  Disgusting place that used to be a historic town.  I guess thats the face of America nowadays. Go Obama..

 Fredricksburg, VA

http://origin.barackobama.com/live/

Whatever decision made will be an anticlimax and a feeble effort. The total toxic waste flying through planetary financial systems may be closer to 700 Trillion given leverage. No one really knows.

What we are really seeing is a pending seize up of the entire planetary banking system because of the greatest confidence implosion of our lifetime.

No one trusts anyone else so the critical interbank money loaning movement is close to paralysis and all sorts of transactions at every level of western existence depend on this basic element of banking.

Now I have been following a spectrum of financial and economics blogs almost hourly at times and have feeds to a bunch of them.

The consensus across the board without regard to party affiliation or economics school affiliation is that this is a looming catastrophe with no precedent.

Part of the consensus is that the vile post Reagan culture that made this mess should just be left to rot, mark to market and eat their toxins. I surely agree.

But these uber criminals have managed to spread this mess so far that this pitiful 700 million buck squirtgun shot at a napalm blast may not go very far and the terms are unprecedented, like jaw droppingly strange.

China bought insane heaps of this toxic debt so they own us. Everyone else is lining up and it basically means the end of American planetary financial hegemony. The dollar may soon lose its status as the planetary cost benchmark.

At least it'll doom McCain. This will be a bigger mess than the one that greeted FDR. It tends to mean electing the addled is near suicidal.

Jeez Al, Fredericksburg. Take a moment to stand on Marye's Heights and imagine the mess before you of a long gone year as you face DC. The cream of the Army of the Potomac mowed down in an unusually stupid campaign.

Al, enjoyed your firedoglake presence; you asked my questions.

This ad is running in Vegas and I've had friends call me up to say they were really affected by it. Because it hit the conditions under which their mothers had to struggle. If there are Obama people who read this blog: You've hit a nerve among a few women who intended to vote for McCain, people who were on the fence.

You are absolutely right. I have heard three stories in the last week that caused women who were either not going to vote or vote McLame decide to vote Obama after seeing Lily tell em like it is. It should play in every battleground state, imho.

Hey, no need to trash on Fredericksburg. Some of us live here, you know. The historic area is still nice (and is improving), although you're right that it is surrounded by more strip malls than anywhere else I've been, except Northern VA. Also like 5 Walmarts I think.

Anyways, just wanted to point out that the image at the top of the post is actually a map of the newly constructed satellite campus of UMW, housing the new grad school. The rally was at the downtown campus, here:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=38.302693,-77.475028&spn=0.01012,0.01...

Standing there for three hours in the pouring rain, I've got to say it was pretty uncomfortable, but it was neat that whenever the thunder and lighting struck, everyone would chant "Obama Obama" in defiance. Also, Obama worked in some nice "this storm too will pass" metaphors into the speech.

Cheers,

-mbs

What MBS said!

It was something to see an all ages crowd soaked to the gills and still happy. I got the sense that some of those folks hadn't gotten wet in decades. There were some pretty suburban looking folk in that crowd. And who can ever forget what seemed like a wet tee shirt contest for senior citizens.

Also impressive: I counted license plates on the cars in parked outside of the campus: about eight Virginia plates for every out-of-state one. It was a Virginia crowd, despite being an hour from DC and parts of Maryland. If anything, the rain kept the outsiders away, and made it a home team crowd.

One local peculiarity. The guy at the convenience store wouldn't let me buy two cans of beer. Said it had to be a whole six pack. Oh well. Can't let it go to waste now, holed up here at the economy motel!

Hello fellow Fieldhands,

Well, I went canvassing today for the first time. I have done phonebanking but was pretty nervous about canvassing. I didn't have anyone to come with me which made me even more nervous but I thought about all of the stories I have heard from you all and just sucked it up and did it. It was great! Many people weren't home and I still have more to do tomorrow but overall it was really great. I was able to identify some unregistered Obama leaners so it was time well spent. I just wanted to thank you all for the inspiration.

on the NY Times Caucus page. Very rainy and my first thought upon seeing it was of Al Giordino.

Of course, Al is always in my thoughts....

One of my favorites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJTJ9k_aQnQ

That's hilarious about the beer. When I got to South Carolina I was amazed that you could just pull beers off the 6-pack and buy them separately! I was actually upset that I couldn't find a sixer without missing cans. In Illinois and Arizona (and as far as I know, in Michigan -- I only lived there a month after I turned 21), that was definitely not allowed.

There is a facinating dkos story re the anger of McCain toward Obama and the reason for the slams about pork barrels, ethics, and bipartisian memes. Gives an interesting perspective!

Backstory on McCain/Obama from 2006
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/27/192717/710/478/612791

Letters
http://obama.senate.gov/letter/060206-sen_obama_and_sen_mccain_exchange_letters_on_ethics_reform/

McCain’s testimony on bill passage [8/2/07]
http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=42E5505D-D404-9CF7-F185-C0007CD9EA71

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220359.php

This could be another explanation as to some of McCain's hostility toward Obama.

Dont miss Frank Rich's column.

This guy really has it in for Obama, doesn't he ?

It is very scary that repugs chose this vindictive, petulant and supercilious nut-job as their candidate. If the unthinkable happens in November, I can imagine the ultimate unthinkable will not be too far.

amk

Your not a virgin anymore. Congratulations of your first day of canvassing, someday you will look back on your efforts and know you had a hand in something bigger than all of us. You are helping make our country better. Thank you for all you are doing. You make this fieldhand proud.

Chris I agree 100% and think that electing Obama is going to be necessary for the country as we are going to be facing very tough times as you have so artfully described for us. Obama must win this thing.

Barack Obama rally in Reno, NV, Tuesday, September 30th!

Details here.  Looks like I'm headed to Reno a few days earlier than planned.

The poll here at USAToday/ Gallup shows Obama wins hands down, with big increases in confidence and favorability levels. Overall 46-34, says he wins the debate.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/09/usatgallup-poll.html

Nielsen estimates 57 million watched the debate.  And the ratings by metropolitan market bode well for Obama as well.  Here is the ranking.  You'll see that the highest percentage of viewership was in St. Louis, MO, that viewership was also exceptionally high in VA/DC/MD, TN, NC, OH and CO. 

Very encouraging to see that so many of the states that Obama is putting in play were watching closely.  I can't wait to see the polling over the next few days!

Yeah, the viewership by media market is very interesting. Except for Denver, all of the top 11 media markets by viewership have very large African-American populations and I believe that is an important factor. But there are other media markets with large African-American populations that did not rank so high so I think the location is also very important.

Viewership would almost certainly have been higher if the debate hadn't been on a Friday night. Also, people aren't all that interested in 90 minutes of foreign policy, especially with the economy tanking, so the main suspense drawing people to tune in is whether Obama could hold his own. But Obama was already showing he could lead in a crisis so I think the suspense was less than it would have been otherwise.

All of which is a long way of saying that the viewership may be much higher for the town hall debate and especially the domestic policy debate.

I'm trying to figure out what to expect from the VP debate. In some ways, I think it will be easier than an interview because the questions are less specific so if she can get back to the level she was at with Gibson (aside from the Bush Doctrine question) or at the convention, she might get by OK. But if she is like she was with Couric, it will be a disaster.

I don't think she's as stupid as she seemed with Couric. I think she's terrified out of her wits, she's in way over her head and knows it, and nobody thinks clearly in a panic. They may even forget things they know fairly well. And what could be more panic-inducing than 90 minutes, no teleprompter and many tens of millions of people watching (I personally would be a gibbering idiot in that situation, but then I am not a politician). I can't predict which Palin will show up.

I'm not sure even an OK performance would really change things for McCain, though. Not at this stage of the game. People may be relieved that she is competent but I don't think they would come flocking back.

I think Biden should take a page out of Obama's book and be calm and authoritative. He should ignore Palin as much as possible, not try to trip her up, and speak to the viewing audience. Let her sink or swim on her own and viewers judge for themselves the contrast between him and her.

While many pundits on TV thought McCain won the debate on points and that Obama was not aggressive enough, the voters saw it differently. Insta polls from CBS and CNN as well as Fox News focus group had Obama as the clear winner.  A new USA Today poll conducted on Saturday confirms Obama as the winner.

A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows 46% of people who watched Friday night's presidential debate say Democrat Barack Obama did a better job than Republican John McCain; 34% said McCain did better.

Here is the link..

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/09/usatgallup-poll.html

Once again Obama has proved that he is way ahead of others in sensing the mood of the electorate. While political junkies and his supporters thought that he let go too many opportunities to attack McCain and agreed with him too much, Obama knew exactly what he was doing and stuck to the plan even as McCain kept attacking. His supporters would have felt better with more attacks but that is not what the general voter was looking for. The vast majority of people who tuned in for the first time saw the debate very differently than the so called pundits. It wasn't even close.

Once again, Damn you Barack Obama!

Thanks for sharing the link on Obama-McCain letters. Here's a much earlier piece on McCain's character from an Arizona journalist detailing the approach he takes when others don't please him:

http://www.mtexpress.com/1999/12-29-99/12-29murphy.htm

E. D.

for the link. That is scary stuff, and it struck me how similar Palin and McCain would seem to be in dealing with folks who disagree with them. I remember one of his campaign saying shortly after she was named as VP that she would have four years to "learn at the foot of the master," and remembering that while reading this article was especially chilling. 

Here.

Time to ramp up our letter writing campaign, don't you agree, Al?

I just did a couple of hours of phone banking from Los Angeles to - get this! - Indiana.  I was calling Columbus off of a registered Democrat list.  I did get one pro-McCain but got many vehement Obama supporters.  We had talking points for the undecideds so when I encountered them, I began my points.  Some very good questions were raised, some other points mentioned, a lot of give and take.  People were genuinely engaged.

The names on the list I had were not ethnic - it seemed that I was calling a very stable neighborhood with a large percentage of people over 60. 

Renee

For those having a hard time accessing the government Web site to glimpse the proposed bailout bill that the Republicans are now holed up debating (some arm twisting going on now, I'm sure), here you go. Take a look:

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Summary of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Section-by-Section of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Renee -

Thanks for calling my neighboring state of Indiana - I was actually born there back in the pioneer days :) and still have family there.  They are very much concerned and most of them are not racist, but they are very religious.  They have just now decided Obama is probably not a Muslim but may be too young, altho they like him when they see him on the news, etc.   I'm canvassing and calling here in Ohio so can't get back there at all, and you're doing yeoman's work and it's appreciated - and I think it can't help but turn the tide.  Blue Indiana?  It'll be close, that's for sure.  Thanks again.

Ask them how they feel about family values:

08 09 26 Obama relationship
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathlyn-and-gay-hendricks/the-obama-relationship-a_b_128896.html

and gambling.

NYT 9/28/08 Gambling and Indian reservations
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/us/politics/28gambling-web.html?hp

 This newspaper has endorsed a Democrat for President. Today they endorsed Barack Obama.

One guy popped his head out of the door and asked, "You mean you don't want me to vote for Giget and Geezer?"

Several Republicans who want to vote for Obama but can't quite get comfortable voting for a Democrat yet.

Many complaints about McMc's behavior in the debate.

OMFG.

"On Friday, September 26, the end of a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West -- the fear-mongering, anti-Muslim documentary being distributed by the millions in swing states via DVDs inserted in major newspapers and through the U.S. mail -- were distributed by mail in Ohio, a "chemical irritant" was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, where 300 people were gathered for a Ramadan prayer service. The room that the chemical was sprayed into was the room where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were engaged in prayers. This, apparently, is what the scare tactic political campaigning of John McCain's supporters has led to -- Americans perpetrating a terrorist attack against innocent children on American soil."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/28/203016/697/536/613742

I live in East TN. Home of Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker. Corker has been on Dodd's Committee and come out in support of the "bailout/buy-in".

My theory is there may be a reverse Bradley effect. Moderate Republicans, in the secrecy of the voting booth, pulling the lever for Obama.

Has anyone heard from Al today?