Text Messages and Tea Leaves

I like the reading of tealeaves you've just done.... i'm betting BO is going for a completely unexpected but exciting choice. Everyone seems to like Tim Kaine.... he'd be a good choice too... but hopefully he goes for Schweitzer.

And although I'm still pulling for Sebelius, I tend to agree that her being highlighted as the Convention co-chair makes it unlikely that she is the one.

I think the idea to broadcast the news to Obama supporters first is genius. I'll have my cell phone ring turned way UP the next few days!

Which night would the keynote speaker traditionally speak? And the VP nominee? This is my first time paying much attention to the convention (listened to Obama's speech in '04 as I was a fan, being from Illinois), so I have no idea how these things traditionally play out. Would this be done at INVESCO? Or would that take away from Barack's night to shine. Just wondering which day we can be expecting this news.

I like this idea of letting people know by text. I really hope Sebellius is not the VP pick. She would be a bad choice that would create backlash. That's a headache we don't need in this upcoming election. If they are going for a complete change ticket, Mark Warner would be the way to go in my view. He has great chemistry with Barack plus he would make Virginia a lock for the democrats and get us that much closer to 270 Electoral votes. If they are going for experience any of the picks mentioned would be fine whether it be Biden, Clinton or Bayh though I think we can rule out Clinton as she is set to speak on tuesday. If it's Obama/Biden, that would be a great mix of excitement, change and experience. If it's Obama/Bayh, even though Bayh is a bit dull, he is a moderate that appeals to independents and if the campaign has internal polling showing  that adding Bayh to the ticket  makes Indiana blue in November I have no problem with having him as VP.

For the second time this week someone is calling Dodd an "exciting" veep pick--when did Dodd become exciting? I must pass on the Wait Wait observation that "Obama-Dodd" works nicely in the muppets "Menahmenah" song. (For me this is a plus....) Quite likely Sebelius (with whom I'd be very happy) but I'll hold out a little hope that Schweitzer's lack of rumors means it could be him, too. I'll speculate that making Kathleen more and more visible to Dems might blunt the "a woman? then why not Hillary?" reaction by making it clear that all Democratic women are not actually interchangeable.

I think that the VP decision has been made. Those who did not make the cut (I am guessing, like Sebelius) have been told. Whoever it is, the Obama campaign is confident that the pick will generate enough excitement and has ability to give a speech so as not be overshadowed by Bill Clinton. They would not have put Bill Clinton on Wednesday night if that wasn't the case.

It will be nice if some prominent, disillusioned  Republican speaks at the convention. Will Chuck Hagel do it?

"The headline prime-time speaker on Wednesday August 27th will be Barack Obama’s Vice Presidential nominee."

I wonder if it was Obama's decision or her decision.  Sen. Brownback is up for re-election in 2010 and Sebelius, who is term limited, has a great shot at it.  She's probably the only Democrat in the state who can win that seat.  Then again, would someone really want to be a Senator instead of a Vice President?

Unless McCain announces his VP tomorrow morning, this little stunt is going to own the news cycle for the next three days.  After that it will be Phelps and USA Basketball, and then it will go back to Obama when he makes his pick.  McCain will pretty much have to exhume Reagan to get anything above the B section or on to any bloggers page.

These Obama guys have just topped any season of Survior or American Idol.

With this build up, the only three people that could live up to the hype would be Gore, Oprah or ....  an exhumed JFK....

I think it would be nice if they leaked it to the Field! I have no doubt that the Obama campaign has been paying attention to your fine analysis.

 LOL, Orlando, I giggled at both you and Al!

This mass email is another part of "real change, you can believe in".

Respect, Empower & Include! Two people, who I admire greatly, said those words to me this year- it is my new mantra- hopefully it catches on in this nation, fieldhands, let's do our part! I am doing my part locally for those words to resonate. Democracy is on a comeback!

Al, do you think that making Sebelius the convention co-chair could be another fake to throw the media off the right trail? As unlikely as it may seem, it's certainly working to make people think she's not the VP. 

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I really, really hope it's her or Schweitzer.

I love the fact that Obama's ship is so tight that the LACK of rumors about somone makes us think that person is MORE likely.

 

I was thinking about Warner today...he is 54 and would be a good candidate to run in '16 (see my optimisim embedded in there?).  This of course, would depend on who the VP was.  Anyway, I guess my point is that he is young and can wait and I just don't see how the Dems giving up the automatic Senate seat pickup would be a good thing.  In theory, Kaine gives you VA as well so why give up the Senate seat?

 

Still loving Schweitzer though.

 

Orlando, I see you've got your kids involved in Obama art as well.  I draw the Obama slogan with the horizon and have my kids color it in. : ))

And you should hear my daughter repeat the words of:

"and if one voice can change a room..."

Of course, given that we are a Spanish speaking household, she says it in Spanish!

"y si una voz puede cambiar..."

This is was one of the things that made me support Obama - his ability to inspire young people.

Right now I'm betting on Sebelius. The silence and lack of leaks from her camp is a good indicator for me.

What I realized when I got the email this AM was that Obama is setting up a new communication vehicle for the general election in which they can

(1) Dispel negative McCain remarks faster than getting ads up in all markets

(2) Generate blog fodder faster than having the blogs react to the news wires,

but more imiportantly, this is the test run to work out the kinks for how he's going to govern.

This, to me, was the most exciting part of what I read this morning. It was a eureka. I saw -- shit!! -- this is how he's going to govern. This is how he's going to get the electorate to call their local congressmen and state their choices. A natural extension of the grassroots movement using the technology in most people's hands. By the time it comes to fruition, it will also include your congressman's or senator's phone number to respond. With a 1, 2, or 3 selection on your cell phone to respond to an issue.

Brilliant.

Usually the keynote speaker is not the VP if the VP is chosen before the convention, which is usually the case. If the VP is chosen during the convention, then the keynote speaker is often someone new who is being auditioned for VP.

What may be a factor is that Hillary is speaking Tuesday night, the roll call vote is Wednesday, and the VP speaks Wednesday night. Do you pick your VP after the roll call, to keep any dissatisfied delegtes from a backlash, Hilary-related or other? I don't see any realistic scenario where any VP pick before the convention affects the roll call, but this may be being mulled over.

There's no question that Sebelius' national stature has been improved by the VP speculation, as Edwards' was when Gore shortlisted him in 2000.

I'm betting on either Warner or Kaine.  Both from Virginia, a key state.  And both middle-aged white guys, which will help to allay the fears among conservative Democrats that we can't have an African-American and a woman in the White House at the same time.  That's just too much racial and gender progress for this country to handle in one gulp.

A report in the last 10 days noted that the majority of the 50,000,000 voting Millennials do not use email. They only use text messaging, or SMS, and things like Twitter.

So this move by Team Obama to a text-messaging dialogue is smart.

Back in 1999, one of my favorite news sources (because I was anti what we were doing to the Serbs, and did not buy the US Kosovo War Kool-aid one bit) was The eXile in Russia. Mark Ames and Matt Taibbi were co-owners or publishers and editors.

Matt Taibbi returned to the US. Mark Ames is now the editor of The eXiled, past tense because Russia has banned it for its criticism of Putin.

Nevertheless, Mark Ames has an interesting piece on the Russia/Georgia/Ossetia crisis, and decimates McCain for his reaction. As usual, the young unworldly limited-perspective Huffington Post editors get it completely wrong.

Read it here:

http://exiledonline.com/georgia-gets-its-war-onmccain-gets-his-brain-pla...

Indeed, using cutting edge technologies to by-pass the corporate media and the US oligarchy's propaganda machine will be crucial at a grass-roots level.

If real progress is going to be made in so many areas, then that means that the people striving for significant change have to make an end-run around the brain-washing, disinformation apparatus.

Am I being quixotic in my thinking here?  Perhaps.  I am just hoping that this is a mere taste of things to come.   Certainly the passive consumerist model of autocracy needs to be smashed.

My natural inclinations as a farmer is to bring back horse-whips and pitch-folks--but I try to be open minded.

 

 

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13285

The money quote

The United States is denouncing the Russians as aggressors in the UN Security Council and accusing the Kremlin of engaging in a policy of "regime change," in Ambassador Khalilzad's phrase. The Russian response: "regime change" is "an American invention," but, hey, in Saakashvili's case, it might not be such a bad idea.

amk

With Conglomerate Media acting esstentially as Panama John McSame's ad agency, Obama has had to be creative in how he manages media cycles, and this whole VP speculation game has been done very well so far.

Now of course, they'd better deliver the goods with the eventual choice, and with how much hype they've been building, I'm starting to think it'll be a big name and perhaps a surprise. If it was a unknown, you'd think they would've announced by now so people can start getting familiar with this person, since one of Obama's hurdles is that he's "unknown" to much of the electorate still.

Howard Dean would be the best. Can you imagine the excitement this would generate with the base, especially at the Convention? The DLC wing of the Party (many Hillary backers) wouldn't be thrilled, but we needed to clear them out years ago anyway. With all the new people getting excited about being Democrats, what a great way to further fuel the momentum as we rebuild the Party from the ground up.

Dean, with his '04 campaign and 50 State Strategy, is credited as jump starting these new models of fundraising and organizing that Obama is using today. Obama has explicitly mentioned how much he respects what Dean has done and they seem to really like each other. We wouldn't lose any Senators or "Red State" governors, and with the success of his ideas, it's likely we could elect a like-minded person to replace Dean as DNC Chair.

We'll know soon enough!

 

 

My first reaction is it will come today. The Obama campaign does not play games.About to is in motion.

My thinking went this way. This decision will set McCain hopping mad because it will preempt all the time between the announcement and the Convention.

McCain will attack the process which is brilliant -- a monster fundraising move. And he will attack the nominee as another inexperienced lightweight.

Let him try that on Brian Schweitzerr.

I can't wait.

I believe the attention to Kaine was because he is a good friend and Barack told him NO gently and then enlisted him to help. That is the nly explanation for Kaine violating the protocol by talking to the media. I think Michelle went to hold his hand.

I also think Barack believes he can win Indiana without Bayh in tow and that Bayh would knock out the change prop big time.

There is an underlying tension here between the Clintonite politics of Rubinomics and the Obama reaching out for something a trifle more just.

Schweitzer is a prosperity-oriented Democrat who is right up Barack's alley and who can also deflect and destroy anything McCain throws -- an attack dog with a smile and watch for the dog he owns in the campaign.

Why do I feel so certain? Because noting Barack had done including FISA has really crushed me and because every time I get to feeling the bubble may burst, the Campaign acts in a way that pleases me.

I can survive with another pick, but I will need a very good reason.

My 1 year old loves to say "Obama" and frequently in conversations with strangers will interject a random "Obama" as if urging them to vote. When you ask him where he will live, he says "White house!"

Sebelius and Schweizer are still my top 2 picks. But I have confidence in the campaign so whoever they pick, I'll be fine. Just no  John Edwards or Hillary Clinton.

Help me out someone. When does the keynote speaker usually speak? Tuesday or Wednesday?

For all the Chicken Littles,

Obama hits back hard!  Witness "Embrace":

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185304443/bctid1721792723

 

 Does anyone here believe there is a chance in hell, McShame will pick Leiberman as his Veep?

It seems hard to imagine, he was the Veep candidate for the Dems only 8 years ago.

I think that the Clinton's have been brought in to give speeches in support that will clearly be vetted by the team and both of them speaking and Chelsea introducing her mother coupled with having Sebelius Wednesday Night accept the nomination after Clinton has just given a speech and HRC has spent Tuesday reminding Women how far they've come.

It would be a way to show how path breaking HRC was and pull Sebelius up as a woman with a great story who will make a historic ticket.

It also pulls the fangs from all those womens protests who will also have a female VP.

I think that Sebelius is a candidate to watch IMO. I think they've put her out there and no one has brought serious objections; and the Obama folks are risk averse. She's a strong governor with a great economic story to tell. And Obama has two people in Biden and Kerry fighting for Sec. of State who will testify to his security chops. Picking a governor who has turned around an economy without raising taxes is FAR more important.

Maybe I'm being wishful because I'm such a huge Katherine Sebelius fan! But I hope she is the VP. I'll be waiting for that text messgae, lol.

Does anyone here believe there is a chance in hell, McShame will pick Leiberman as his Veep?

If the decision were McCain's alone, it would be a strong possibility. But I think the Rovian Rugrats who are now running McSame's campaign would nix the idea since Lieberman would send the pro-life fundie base running for the hills despite his recent sucking up to creeps like Hagee. 

It would be wonderful if it actually happened, though. Lieberman wouldn't even carry CT.

An interesting aspect of this method of releasing the VP news this way is that it forces the press to join the Obama campaign.  In order for them to get the news the same time as us they will have to sign up and become members of myBO, thus they will be on the receiving end of all the campaign-generated content - i.e., videos like the fact-checking one repudiating McCain's lying tax ad, requests for donations, campaign and volunteer events local to their zip code.  This will have to have some sort of subliminial effect I would think.

KD

Make sure to review the entry above for updates added on Monday morning.

Obama rolled out his McCain-is-a-celebrity-too ad.  I had no idea that being called a celebrity was such a negative thing. 

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/11/obamas-celeb-ad-adopts-mc_n_118116.html

 

OK, so I just saw this schedule of topics for each night. Take a look:

Monday, August 25 -- One Nation
Monday’s headline prime-time speaker will be Michelle Obama.

Tuesday, August 26 – Renewing America’s Promise
Senator Hillary Clinton will be the headline prime-time speaker on Tuesday night.

Wednesday, August 27 -- Securing America’s Future
The Vice Presidential Acceptance Speech

The headline prime-time speaker on Wednesday will be Barack Obama’s Vice Presidential Nominee.

Thursday, August 28 – Change You Can Believe In
Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech

If Wednesday's theme is "Securing America's Future", is that focusing on National Security or more on economy and the creation of jobs? This would help in guessing the VP choice, right?

Thanks for all the updates Al - I love how this build-up to the convention is being played.  I'm planning to use the Neighbor-to-Neighbor tool this weekend to talk to all my neighbors to make sure they are tuning in convention week.  I think if you really open your ears and mind and listen that week you would have to come away convinced of the message.  It is going to be key to get as many people as possible listening and watching.  I wonder if the campaign will use some of the Olympic ad buy to advertise the convention?

As I was washing my breakfast dishes, I was thinking again about what you mention here - that Obama is looking for a VP who will help him get stuff done.  I've also heard him talk before about wanting someone who might complement his own skillset.  Now, Obama wants to get three big things done in his administration:

1) get out of Iraq;

2) move towards energy independence;

3) fix healthcare.

I think he is confident in his own abilities to achieve No. 1; and I think he is hoping to tap Hillary in the Senate to achieve No. 3.  So No. 2 is where he might be looking for some help from his VP - so again this is looking to Richardson, Schweitzer, Gore.  I think the energy issue as it relates to "new jobs" will be really key - and I could see this playing really well in Michigan for example (btw Al, do you think you could do a post on Michigan - I'm kind of worried about that state - Nate Silver has suggested that if McCain wins there, he will probably win the election, but I don't have a real feel for how  Obama is doing there, particularly because we did not see how he would perform in a primary election there).  If autoworkers can be convinced of Obama's promise, I think that could be key - and what better way than what is implied in the new "Hands" video (i.e., a riff on the theme - American used to be a country where we made stuff, created goods, etc. - we need to be the innovative country once again, a leader in this new industry).

PS - I'm hoping that Blue Man in a Red State is on a particular someone's beach reading list this week.

KD

Just saw Olivia's post about Wednesday night's theme - "Securing America's Future" - that has to be energy and jobs, doesn't it?

KD

Karen,

"Securing America's Future" is going to be a salute to the vets apparently. Which actually makes me think it may also be a nod to the VP or if the VP isn't a VET having a former president speak is a good thing too.

First Read seems to play up the Vet angle through....

McCain just issued his statement on the Russia/Georgia conflict, and holy shit it scares me to think he has a chance at the presidency.

http://thepage.time.com/mccain-statement-on-russian-georgian-conflict/

He's talking as if Russia is brutally invading in order to take over Georgia, and completely disregards South Ossetia's near autonomous status and its people's allegiance to Russia and Russia commitment to defend it. He wants to get NATO forces directly involved, which, among other things he says there, is making my head spin.

Painting Georgia as some democratic safe-haven of freedom and Russia as the Big Red Scare is making me Cold.

Oh - and the rollout of the VP before the convention definitely suggests it is someone who is less of a known quantity.  Seems like they want to give the media lots of time to introduce the pick, and to mitigate against the response of "Who?" by the much of the general population if they left the announcement to Wed night of the convention.

KD

Brilliant. I am in awe of this campaign. We can avoid the MSM and the 'talking heads' who give us this "wisdom"(SNARK!)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/11/9502/01611/633/565846

Still don't understand why she's allowed to speak on NPR - the only radio station I still listen to - and is considered somone who has anything of value to say.  Tho' I do appreciate the great laugh one recent Sunday morning when she proudly 'announced' her own pride in never reading 'any of those online blogs.'

Thank Dog for the Field and the Field Hands - can't wait to hear from you all in Denver.

Excellent page of updates.

While a little off topic, I have a question for you Al.  I sent you a Facebook invite to the event, but I've been trying to organize college age voters.  While they are considered a prime demographic for Obama, I have not received any urges from the Obama campaign to remember to register for an absentee ballot before I leave for school in a few weeks.

I've been trying to remind friends locally through social networking (invite your college friends here) but I'm wondering if there is a reason this is never an effort made?

Is there a better way to get the word around the next few weeks besides Facebook?

Thanks, Al.

 

Marc Ambinder says early next week, we should be getting the news and he usually has great contacts within the campaign (remember John Edwards plane trip to Michigan)

 

I hope its Sebelius.....I agree with Rhoda....Hillary Clinton speaking on Tuesday to remind her supporters about "the glass ceiling" will help counteract her disappointed supporters.....

 

But I don't know, I am so excited......

Al, now you have me thinking it's Kaine.....

If it is Sebelius....Barack will be the only man speaking in primetime at the convention

While Democrats are preparing for all the important moment: to introduce Barack as the nominee, some groups are trying to disrupt it.

From their site, "Kick off a week of resistance to the corrupt two-party system and capitalism with a rowdy street party that will reclaim public space from the police state occupation of Denver!"

Wow!

I doubt he'll ask anyone who voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq.

That rules out Bayh, Biden, Clinton, Daschle, Dodd, Edwards, Hagel and Kerry.

While that vote is not very relevant in resolving the present situation, these people failed the commander-in-chief test by making the wrong decision on a critical moment.

Travis - I wouldn't go so far to presume that because one person (you) hasn't received a communication from the presidential campaign regarding registering in your own state, that doesn't mean that there's no effort. It would probably depend on:

A. Are you already registered to vote? They're working off very up-to-date voter rolls cross-referenced with state-of-the-art demographic and consumer information on each of the 56 million unregistered but eligible to vote citizens. If you're already registered, they have that info and wouldn't be contacting you to register.

B. Is your home town in a swing state? The efforts are obviously concentrated in the 18 or 20 states considered to be up for grabs. If you attend university in a swing state, but live in a safe "blue" or "red" state, they'll be urging you, conversely, to register from your college residence. Once school starts in a couple of weeks, the effort will be intensive on campuses, particularly those in swing states.

I try to never extrapolate a general truth from a solitary example. If you attend college in a "safe" state, don't be surprised if once you get back to school you'll be greeted by organizers with all the forms and paperwork to register you at home, rather than at school (that is, if you're not already registered to vote). The Obama campaign didn't ignore the campuses in the primaries and it's impossible to imagine it would suddenly ignore them in the general.

Re: Suzy Shure,

Cokie Roberts is a communications relic. Her pronouncements on the internet and use thereof in 1997-9 were profoundly arrogant, smarmy, and wrong. She consistently fails to read the temper of the times, just like her congressman father who voted against desegregation and the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

What NPR show was she on, altho' she was an NPR regular for years. Her daughter's? (Daughter: Rebecca Roberts.)

What I like about the plan to text or email the VP announcement is that it's a subtle message that the campaign should be the primary source of news, rather than the media. It encourages people to look for information straight from the horse's mouth, rather than other outlets. Very smart.

CB, the keynote speaker speaks the first night of the convention.

Some over at dkos and tpm are saying that Obama waited to late to hit back at McCain, but I don't agree

This particular meme is not taking into account a few important elements of this election cycle.  First of all if Obama had responded to the initial attack ads, then for the past what 2 weeks, all we would have gotten is back to back attack ads which may boost our morale, but would be a disaster for Obama.  Let's be honest, what makes Obama a "risky" choice to some people is that people claim to not know enough about Obama.  Obama unlike Cliton and McCain is a relatively unknown quanitity to some people.  If he had spent the past 2 weeks countering attack ads, what would the people who consider him unknown have discoverd about Obama.  The answer: NOTHING!  Unlike McCain or Clinton Obama does not have the luxury of just running a counterattack campaign.  He has to let those American who are looking for a reason to vote for him other than the fact that yes, we Libs/Dems bloggers like him.   The way to do that is not by running a negative non-substantive campaign, one in which all Obama does is counterpunch negative ads all the time.  While McCain has been running negative ads, what has Obama been doing, talking about the economy, energy, jobs, etc.  He's been giving those voters who wants other reasons to vote for him, exactly what may sway them...policy.

I really think that we sometimes forget that Obama and McCain are trying to reach different audiences.  McCain wants to reach the people who are looking for reasons NOT TO VOTE FOR BARACK H OBAMA.
Barack wants to reach the people who are looking for reasons to VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA, or even AGAINST GWB.

I really think that this should be the eyes by which we view this campaign. Because conservatives will ultimately vote against Obama by voting for McCain (or hopefuly Barr), and Liberals will untimately vote for Obama or against Bush. So I think it's really about who can get out the most of the middle of the road voters.

Obama will not win the people who aren't even contemplating voting for him, but he has a good chance of winning those who are.

alexa - loved your CR analogy.  I hear her on NPR - can't remember specific program - often asked for 'opinion' on what's happening in DC.  Really is helping show the world what dinosaurs are still hanging on in the MSM.

An American from Florida vacationing in Ossetia with his wife and daughter wants Saakashvili and Bush brought up on war crimes for this. Not what you're hearing stateside. 5:36 min.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLoBckWl-dg

It makes you pay attention even more to the election and keeps you engaged. Just recently my phone alerted me of an email and I quickly looked at it thinking it was 'the message'! ;-)

This morning's clues all seem to point at Wesley Clark:

-Wednesday, the night reserved for the VP, is supposed to focus on "Veteran's issues".

-The theme of the night is "Securing America's Future".  Clark's website is www.securingamerica.com

-Bill Clinton, who has ties to Clark, is also speaking that night

Al, what do you make of this?  A clever feint, or is it for real?

Obama and Dean, once again showing that they get Alinsky.

This is exactly what Alinsky had dreamed of doing, but couldn't quite pull off.  By 2012, we will be in control and the Blue Dogs will be brought to heel -- despite the yappings of the GOP/Media Complex.

Sam does some good tea leaf reading there himself.  I can't say I'm overly familiar with Clark.  What do folks think of that choice?  I have never had a huge problem with bringing in a Clinton supporter if it was the right one.  And a general can be viewed favorably, although I know there are those that think it only highlights Obama's 'weakness' in this area rather than doubling down on his strengths.  Also, I'm not sure why, but when I mentioned Clark to my dad, USAF fighter pilot Republican leaning to Obama, he was less than impressed.

 

You know, Schweitzer is a damned exciting pick and as we've discussed would be a great attack dog and truly cement the change message.  But there is no doubt that the electorate also likes their comfy security blankets.  Is it possible to meld the two??

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=781576

Is he pissed off, because Obama told him no-dice on veep chance ?

With "surrogates" like this, who needs repugs ?

amk

In response to a question above, Al said - "Is your home town in a swing state? The efforts are obviously concentrated in the 18 or 20 states considered to be up for grabs. If you attend university in a swing state, but live in a safe "blue" or "red" state, they'll be urging you, conversely, to register from your college residence. Once school starts in a couple of weeks, the effort will be intensive on campuses, particularly those in swing states."

In Georgia, the campaign on the ground is very aware of the returning college students. We have so many colleges in Atlanta that attract out of state students. We definitely want them to register and vote here, to turn Georgia blue.

One more thing, let's all remember these cell-phone, text-messaging folks, including college students, when the polls mkae Georgia and other states look so red. The campaign is reaching out to them even if the pollsters can't figure out how. 

Al - you said you were on the call today.  Was there anything to indicate the theme of Wednesday "Securing American's Future" is focusing on national security?  A couple of commenters here have mentioned this, but I can't find anything on the convention website.  Did they issue any more details other than the title?  To me, reading that title as referring to national security is a bit reactive (and Republican), i.e., we secure our future by hunkering down in national defense posture? I read it rather more optimistically - i.e., strategies for economic security, our future viability in terms of energy independence, etc.

KD

Funny, but I thought the exact opposite.

You may know I've had a man-crush on Feingold for VP since way back.

One of the reasons I advance him is because he is best known for McCain-Feingold.  Campaign finance reform, ethics, bipartisanship, and his record of working with the Republican nominee undercuts their efforts to portray him as a dangerous liberal.

In the article, he makes the case for an Obama presidency and for an end to narrow partisanship.  Sounds a lot like the Obama formula to me!

Sorry to disagree with you. After reading that Feingold article, I felt sick to my stomach. Let us not kid ourselves by misinterpreting Obama's bipartisan approach. The dems definitely need to learn a lesson (or two or three..) on how to pull for their side and win elections for once.

He came very close to Hillary's "CIC" garbage. One consolation - Feingold will be off the veep shortlist.

amk

Sam and Karen - I wouldn't read too much into the naming of Wednesday night at the convention as "Securing America's Future" regarding the VP pick. My sense is that those thematic declarations have more to do with the kinds of questions and answers that will be provided through the public interactive portions of the convention: i.e. someone like Clark might well be there, on stage, to answer questions from the public on that theme, as others will be there on other nights to do the same on different themes, but they won't necessarily be the primetime speakers for those nights.

Also, according to Mark Halperin, the Obama campaign has already swatted down such speculation:

Campaign aide says the theme isn't a hint that Obama's veep pick will have a strong military background.

 

"Wednesday night is about securing America's future... anyone who Senator Obama picks will be more than prepared to address those issues."

As usual, I could be wrong about that. But my instincts are pointing elsewhere.

Al had a post recently showing how Tim Pawlenty launched the tire gauge theme first, and then the trinkets followed.  This was supposedly a "tell."

Just saw this over the weekend where Bill Richardson kept saying "Washington celebrity" in an interview, and within a day or two, Obama begins airing the "Washington celebrity" ad.  Is this a tell that Richardson will be the pick?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/207898.php

About McLame's call for Nato involvement.

First it is interesting that this dick swinging is coming from McCain and not the President.

Second, McLame portray's Georgia as a peaceful 'democracy--when in fact it massively bombed civilian targets in the Ossetian capital, and this lead to the deaths of over one thousand people.

McLame is dangerous, just as much as the Georgian puppet president.

Just a reminder to me of how incredible Obama's candidacy at this point really is. Not only is he biracial, not only does he have a foreign sounding name, not only does he have to fight off the Republican right wing machine, BUT he also has to deal with people like Feingold who are more concerned with covering for their insider friends like McCain than sticking up for their own nominee.

 

 

 

 

It's interesting the list of places (in the Monday update) where there will be "open calls", sites set up to record questions for the convention.  A very battleground/swing-y list - I'd imagine this will really push local participation and initiate some local media coverage, help work the local organizing in these critical electoral states, and be sure that the thoughts of these battleground voters are voiced at the convention: "Atlanta, Ga.; Columbus, Ohio; Denver, Colo.; Detroit, Mich.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Raleigh, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; and Tampa, Fla."

Forgot to login before posting about the open calls in swing states... so that one went in anonymously...

It seems like a pretty big coincidence to me the theme "Securing America's Future"  is tag line of Wes Clark's pac "Securing America" and is used on his blog.

 

 

 

 

I disagree, amk. Check out Feingold's legislative history. That man votes with his conscience (and strong intellect) more than anyone else in that party, perhaps. To name just a few, he voted against The Iraq War from the beginning... No Child Left Behind... Plus his recent defense of Obama's vote on FISA was very well-stated-- although they disagreed, he expressed strong support for Obama's constituional scholarship instincts while still maintaining his own stance.

 

"Michelle Obama went to Virginia last week and did her own mini-tour with him. No such Michelle touring happened with Bayh. And as much as nobody would admit it aloud, the spouse's opinion weighs very heavily in a vice presidential choice."

 

They already know each other. So Michelle would have already met with Bayh and gotten a sense of who he is.

Bayh went on a trip with Obama to Iraq in '06. And I think he also mentioned in an article that the two families once had dinner and got on very well together a few years ago. He also mentioned that he and Obama bond over basketball and running (hobbies they both are obsessed with). So the two couples are pretty familiar with each other.

Also, Mrs Bayh is very accomplished and independant in her own right. So I can see Michelle Obama getting along with her on some level at least.

Anyway, we'll be finding out soon enough so I'll pass on the guessing game. I'm sure it'll be a wise decision.

"Securing America's Future" is an energy independence meme....google it.

But...maybe my hope for Schweitzer is leading me to imagine faulty connections.

edit: woops commenter above already mentioned this - that's what I get for getting busy at work and sitting on it for two hours

Obama has remarked several times in the past that major part of America's national security needs to involve becoming energy independent - by labeling this as "Securing America's Future" it seems they are explicitly implying yet avoiding the term "national security" in the traditional sense. "Securing" and "Future" make an equally strong suggestion that the discussion will actually revolve around energy independence. It would be a clever tactic to make everyone think this is about military defense, etc, and then bring the focus in on energy so that the coorelation between security and energy is very clearly made.

What I'm trying to say is "pretty please Schweitzer?"

Securing America's Future Energy aka SAFE is different from Securing America's Future, which is Clark's pac's name.   And that the theme is National Security/Veterans' affairs seems to point to Clark.

I'm not saying it's going to be Clark, but it seems like big coincidence the theme is the exact name of his PAC and the focus that day is national security/veterans.

That and isn't Bill Clinton talking that day?

If the theme was Green, then I'd be more likely to think the 'Securing America's Future' was in reference to Energy.

I guess we'll see.

These remarks were delivered by Obama one week after his visit to Montana....

http://thepage.time.com/transcript-of-obamas-energy-remarks-in-dayton-oh...

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama –(as prepared for delivery)

A Secure Energy Future

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Dayton, Ohio

The money quote:

"If Iran decided to shut down the petroleum-rich Strait of Hormuz tomorrow, they believe oil would skyrocket to $300-a-barrel in minutes, a price that one speculator predicted would result in $12-a-gallon gas.  $12 a gallon."

That is almost verbatim what Schweitzer said in his Charlie Rose interview.

Ok, now I need to settle down, do my work, and wait.

would be perceived to be a very conventional and safe pick by the punditocracy in that he brings executive military experience.

In my humble opinion, picking Clark would be a mistake because it would elevate the importance of national security in the campaign.  And national security is arguably an area where McCain is perceived to have an advantage over Obama by the low-information segment of the electorate.  And Clark's comments about McCain (while probably correct on their face) reflected a losing strategy (e.g., appearing to diminish or disparage the stature of a guy who gave up several years of his life as a prisoner of war).

I would personally advise the Obama camp to pick somebody who plays right into Obama's wheelhouse -- job creation, economic development -- without overshadowing him or highlighting any of his own possible optical shortcomings (military service, national security).

Then again, none of this might matter so much if the Obama camp can increase turnout the way they're trying to.

For what it's worth I don't think he would be fundraising to support himself campaigning for Democrats if he were the VP. Even if he happens to have a cleverly-chosen slogan. To give him credit, he does a lot of hard work campaigning for Congressional Democrats, particularly in red states.

Another interesting connection with Schweitzer is that Wed. night will focus on veterans' issues, and Schweitzer has been outspoken against the VA and its treatment of vets.  Montana has the most vets per capita, but basically the lowest treatment rates b/c there's only one VA hospital in all of Montana.

Last night I had a dream that it was Warner. And I told him (because of course I was standing next to him in the dream when I got the text message announcing the pick) that he and the campaign did a really good job of keeping his name off the media's short list, suprising everybody.

I was searching for a link that Bill Clinton is scheduled to talk on Wednesday (VP day), but I couldn't find it.  I don't remember where I read that.   I am happy with almost all the names floated, so whatever happens happens.  However after today,  my bets are on Clark.

 

 

 

 

Actually, when I was in college I did not have to apply for the ballot ahead of time. I did register ahead of time (but I've never actually voted in a booth). I've heard people say that the first time you have to vote in a booth, but I was able to find a program in Illinois where you can register as a student through the mail to receive absentee ballots for every election. As I attended school out of state, in Michigan, obviously I couldn't make it into the state to vote for Kerry. My roommate from lllinois did this as well, and we always received our ballots for primaries, elections, etc.

 

For those in Cook County - here is what I used. I'm not sure if this is available everywhere, and it was kind of hard to find.

http://www.voterinfonet.com/sub/absentee_students.asp

 

Note: if you register by mail, you have to vote in person the FIRST time. I had to go into my city hall office and register in person in order to be able to vote for the first time by absentee. So if you're communicating with students, you may want to inform them of this.

Kirsten, that's really wierd--becasue last night I had a dream that you were standing next to Warner.  You recieved the text message that it will be Schweizer as VP--then, and you turned to tell Warner the news, he took off his mask, and it was really Schwiezer!

Damn!  Dreams are so strange.

Do you know Warner, Kirsten?

Hey, furthermore, do I even know you?

Weird, how stuff happens.

 

Since I was bored after watching the Olympics, I took the advice of an earlier poster, and Googled the phrase "Securing America's Future." The number one hit is a link to www.secureenergy.org, the website for Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE), a nonpartisan organization whose primary mission is reducing U.S. oil dependence.  This could mean nothing, and may merely be a coincidence.

Combined with the Daily Kos diary of Wes Clark Jr. suggesting that his father wasn't in contention for the VP job (although that could be an inelegant misdirection), it is certainly within the realm of possibility that a domestic energy maven could be Obama's pick.

Some of the following are rarely mentioned by the punditocracy as VP candidates, although they are all either long-time or outspoken advocates for oil independence.

• Dick Lugar -- Republican Senator from Indiana

• Bill Bradley -- former Senator from New Jersey
  

• Brian Schweitzer -- Democratic Governor of Montana

What are the odds that it could be one of the three?  Probably pretty low, but it is fun to consider.

 

 

 

Nice Vik.

Indeed, I have a feeling that Al and others' hunch about Schweizer will play out. Just a feeling--added to the fact that Al has a well developed political intuition, as we have seen this past primary season.

In moments of preoccupation, I have let myself be lead to the idea that 'it has to be a military guy'--but, given Obama's style, I think it would be seen as a VP choice from a position of weakness.   That is McLame's job. LOL

With Schweizer the ticket will have positive, youthful, and innovative vibe--especially if Obama/Schweizer develop a strong narrative/discourse on energy at and after the convention.