The Ruckus

Hot Air: Team McCain Conference Call: Energy

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:37:01 GMT

With demand swelling from the American electorate to increase supply, if you'll pardon my pun, it's small wonder that Team McCain wanted to talk about John McCain's energy policy today...

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The Moderate Voice: McCain’s Fudge House

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:30:00 GMT

So McCain understandably, perhaps, given how little attention he's getting these days dumped on Obama's speech in Berlin yesterday: I would rather speak at a rally or a political gathering any place outside of the country after I am president of the United States, he said. In other words, presidential candidates should stay at home, in the U.S., where the voters are, and not travel around the world giving speeches (like, to thousands and thousands of Germans). NBC's Mark Murray reminds us , on June 20, McCain himself gave a speech in Canada to the Economic Club of Canada in which he applauded NAFTA's successes McCain's trip to Canada was paid for by the campaign. Oops. Call it envy, call it whatever you want, this was also yet...

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Calitics: Newsweek's Ruckus Asks: "What would be the boldest vice presidential choices?"

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:22:02 GMT

or the last few months, Calitics has been part of the Ruckus Blog on Newsweek . This week we're starting a question feature. The question this week asks who would be a bold pick for John McCain and Barack Obama as VP candidates. This being a California blog, I have some answers for that question. I'm not going to say these would be good picks, but they will be bold. McCain : Duncan "wildebeest" Hunter. Barack Obama : Barbara Boxer. Duncan Hunter : Let's look at Duncan Hunter first. He's a longtime congressman and first time presidential candidate this cycle. The man is clearly insane, so much so that he wants to feed the Darfur refugees with wildebeest that he shoots himself. And that's not all. He wants to turn Santa Rosa Island...

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The Moderate Voice: The Smear, The Rebuttal, and the Faux Pas

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:42:01 GMT

As if Barack Obama is not having enough faultfinding of his foreign tour First, there was the smear. According to the Daily News on July 24: The latest chain e-mail smear against Barack Obama: He blew off troops at an Afghan base to shoot hoops for a publicity photo. The letter was apparently written by a Utah Army National Guard intelligence officer in a linguist unit at Bagram Airfield who claimed the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was rude to G.I.s. Then there was the rebuttal and condemnation of the smear. In the same Daily News article: But angry Army brass debunked the Obama-bashing soldier's allegations, which went viral Thursday over the Web and on military blogs such as Blackfive: These comments are...

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Outside The Beltway: Los Angeles Times Bans Edwards Scandal Story

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:35:03 GMT

Via Mickey Kaus, we learn that the Los Angeles Times has apparently banned its bloggers from mentioning the Edwards/Rielle Hunter story. From: Pierce, Tony Date: July 24, 2008 10:54:41 AM PDT To: [XXX] Subject: john edwards Hey bloggers, There has been a little buzz surrounding John Edwards and his alleged affair. Because the only source has been the National Enquirer we have decided not to cover the rumors or salacious speculations. So I am asking you all not to blog about this topic until further notified. If you have any questions or are ever in need of story ideas that would best fit your blog, please don't hesitate to ask Keep rockin, Tony Now, the only thing about the Hunter story that actually interests me is the inside...

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Outside The Beltway: What would be the boldest vice presidential choice John McCain and Barack Obama could make?

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:32:03 GMT

The gang behind Newsweek 's Ruckus blog is asking its contributors to answer the following question: What would be the boldest vice presidential choice John McCain and Barack Obama could make? If we leave aside the silly and absurd, for McCain, the answer seems obvious: Joe Lieberman . This would double down on his foreign policy experience as well as reinforcing his cultivated image as a maverick who's not bound by party lines. It would reach out to moderates, strengthen his appeal to Jewish voters, and conceivably pull in some Hillary Clinton dead-enders and DLC Democrats. It would also risk further alienating conservatives, which probably means he won't do it. For Obama, I'll go in a similar direction: Chuck Hagel or Colin...

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Outside The Beltway: What would be the boldest vice presidential choice John McCain and Barack Obama could make? (Updated)

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:32:03 GMT

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The Moderate Voice: Obama Not Closing Sale With Some Key Voters Or Clinton Supporters

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:54:05 GMT

The emerging pollster conventional wisdom is that Democratic party presumptive nominee Senator Barack Obama is now stuck in a political ditch: he isn't closing the deal with many voters and some Clinton supporters are still dragging their heels and an increasing number of news stories suggest some Clintonistas seem to be looking for reasons to drag their heels. In other words: in a year when it seemed like the Democrats were almost certain to win the White House to emphasis is increasingly on the The bottom line: Obama might consider slowing down his transition team's ongoing deliberations for a while and divert some resources to plugging up a leaky boat that could sink and leave the race winnable to the floating boat of his...

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Hot Air: Breaking up is hard to do

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:51:05 GMT

Read this post...

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Hot Air: WSJ poll: It’s the energy, stupid — er, Pelosi

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:09:02 GMT

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Outside The Beltway: Obama Berlin Speech After Action

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:07:04 GMT

Barack Obama's speech to the throngs gathered at the Berlin Tiergarten Park was a solid effort, saying most of the right things about the Transatlantic relationship along with some unfortunate banalities. The allusions to our shared history with Western Europe in general and Germany in particular were well done. The reminder of our efforts in the Berlin Airlift and helping rebuild a defeated foe, turning an enemy into one of our most reliable Allies, was important. This is speechmaking at its finest: [I]n the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city's mayor...

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The Moderate Voice: McCain’s Energy Policy Gains Traction in COPM

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:07:00 GMT

Despite the perceived dire climate for Republicans nationally, I continue to watch the COPM (Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan) states for an indicator of how the general election will play out. While the media focuses on the various stops of the Obama team across Europe, John McCain continues to hammer on energy policy and the economy in some of these states, and the message seems to be sinking in . The four polls conducted by Quinnipiac University in partnership with the Wall Street Journal and washingtonpost.com show that McCain is running slightly ahead of Obama in Colorado , is close in Minnesota and has narrowed the gap in Michigan and Wisconsin. In Colorado, McCain was ahead 46% to 44%. Obama led in Michigan, 46% to...

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Hot Air: Why Obama snubbed the troops: no photo op allowed

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:21:01 GMT

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The Moderate Voice: From O Globo of Brazil: Obama’s World Tour - Unsubtle, But Effective

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:00:01 GMT

So how are people in other parts of the world, for example Brazil, interpreting Barack Obama's global tour. And is this trip - as John McCain charges - simply an electoral caravan' on the part of Obama's campaign? And if it is, does it matter? William Waack writes for Brazil's leading daily: John McCain is right when he says that his adversary is only committed to running an electoral caravan. And so what? One gets a good sense of what this sensational candidate (Obama, of course) has to say about the changes he seeks to impose on American foreign policy. And they don't seem to amount to all that much change. Illustrating the complexity of planning a trip like this, Waack tackles the question of how polished the Obama campaign is...

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Keystone Politics: Ridge for VP?

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:57:05 GMT

He was on the short list in 2000, but passed over because of opposition from social conservatives. Will 2008 be Tom Ridge's year? Or is the former Pennsylvania governor destined to be passed over again? Political insiders close to John McCain said the presumptive Republican presidential nominee would like to pick Ridge his friend, national co-chairman of his campaign and a fellow Vietnam veteran to be his vice presidential running mate. Analysts and party insiders said Ridge would almost certainly guarantee a victory in Pennsylvania, which is viewed as a must-win state for McCain...

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