Obama-McCain: Who Can Fix The Economy?

You decide.

These are our only two choices.

Warning: The first clip is Obama’s two minute ad re: the economy.  I don’t know about you, but it was easier for me to read than listen to.  Given it’s length, I think it should come with a 2-minute warning.

Obama’s Co-Running Mates

Amid recent grumblings in the blogosphere that Barack Obama should dump running mate Joe (What Did I Say Now) Biden for Hillary Clinton, who many, including Biden, seem to feel should have been offered the position in the first place, it seems that Camp O has settled on a unique new strategy: run Biden/Clinton together.  The AP reports that Clinton and Biden will even make campaign appearances together, like this one:

Biden and Clinton held an online video forum with women voters where they took questions on pay equity, abortion rights and other issues. The forum was to be broadcast Wednesday evening on Obama’s campaign Web site.

According to the story, the O Team is just tickled pink with Clinton’s efforts on their behalf so far:

“We couldn’t be happier,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, adding that officials would ask Clinton to step up campaign appearances after the Senate adjourns this month.

It also appears that HRC’s cancellation of a protest event appearance featuring Republican VP candidate, Sarah Palin, likely came at the behest of the OBidens:

Advisers to party nominee Barack Obama and to Clinton say that she will resist pressure to speak out against Palin, believing it would diminish her own stature while creating a “cat fight” sideshow that would only distract voters from the contest at the top of the ticket. Any mention Clinton makes of Palin will only be in the context of her partnership with GOP nominee John McCain, aides said.

Hey, I guess when you’re co-running mate with the guy who thinks you’d be a better pick than him, sometimes you gotta take one for the team.  Lord knows the team could use all the help it can get.   Politico’s Roger Simon lays out the problems Obama is facing and ends with the sum-it-all-up quote from Donna (My Mama Taught Me Race Is The Bottom Line) Brazile:

“He has had some moments where he seems unsure of his own voice,” Brazile said, “but I still think he can pull this off.”

And if he doesn’t?

“If he doesn’t, then Obama didn’t lose,” she said. “The country just wasn’t ready.”

It’s a black thing, understand?

I guess Donna’s strategy sessions with Karl Rove aren’t going to pan out well for her this time, either.

*UPDATE: The aforementioned Biden/Clinton Women’s Forum

PUMA

Just Say No Deal

Every Obama Speech

Boils down to this.

From TelePrompTer:

“They’re going to try to tell you John McCain is good, but you’re smarter than that.  After eight years of George Bush, you know we can’t afford another white guy.  George Bush is bad.  John McCain knows George Bush personally.  That makes John McCain bad.

But you know that.  Even though your lives suck because you’ve got no money, because there are no jobs available, and when you do work, your taxes are too high, and if you get sick, you’re probably gonna die because George Bush won’t give you health insurance, and John McCain knows George Bush.  You deserve health insurance.  But Washington doesn’t work that way.  George Bush doesn’t work that way.  And John McCain knows George Bush 90% of the time.

That’s why it’s time to change.  We don’t need 8 to 10 more years of the same old policies we’ve had under George Bush.  We need to change.  John McCain is not going to change Washington, he’s been there 26 years.  We need a new direction, we need hope.  Now is the time for a different way of doing things.  Can we really afford more of the same?  Now is the time for change.  Now is the time for hope.

But we can’t just hope to end the war.  We’re fighting 2 wars, and John McCain says that’s okay.  He wants to fight George Bush’s war for the next 100 years.  But you know better.  You can’t keep fighting the wrong war, the dumb war.  I’ve been against this war from the beginning, and when I’m president I will end this war.  But not the other one. After eight years of George Bush’s failed policies, we know John McCain won’t.  He wants to raise your taxes.  He doesn’t get it.  He can’t use a computer.  He’s really old.  That’s why the special interests that run Washington want John McCain, but we can’t afford 4 more years of the same old thing.

Now is the time for you to tell Washington that you want change.  Send a message to the special interests that they can no longer expect business as usual.  Tell them it’s time for a black man.  With your help, I will fix Washington, I will say “no” to the special interests, I will end this war, I will always work for you, the middle class, the little guy.  I’m not like the other presidents.  I’ve got a funny name.  But I love my country too much to let you hold that against me.  I believe the time is now.  I believe we need to change.  I believe we can do better than four more years of the same old George Bush policies John McCain wants.  But it starts with you.  If you have hope, we can change.  Do you want change?  Do you like hope?  Then vote for me, because I’m not the other guy.”

I was going to try to write up that speech interpretation as it might be delivered sans TelePrompTer, but after only a few moments of typing, I could no longer bear the excruciating pain of trying to actually read what I was writing, nor could I see clearly through the tears.  Plus, my head was really starting to…uh…umm…well…hurt.  So maybe that’s not an exact transcription, but it’s what his speeches, ads and news stories sound like to me.  Or, should I say, sounded like.  The only time I hear him speak nowadays is when unwittingly duped into visiting undercover Obots masquerading as “friends” and forced to listen to Obi-Wan-NaBePresident against my will.  On those increasingly rare occasions, I’ve learned to put something crunchy in my mouth and chew loudly, even if it annoys my hosts and their guests, since I have also learned that such behavior is preferable to them than having me put my fingers in my ears and make loud “la-la” noises.  I’ll admit, I’ve learned not to even try to listen closely for fear that doing so will make my eyes glaze over as I grind my teeth to a powder while my ears begin to bleed copiously, and I really don’t like it when that happens.

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Just Say No Deal

Biden: Obama Smarter Than A Bucket Of Fluff

Okay, that’s not exactly what he said, but he did say Obama was “different” because he’s so smart he couldn’t be from your neighborhood.  It was the woman who introduced Biden in Flat Rock, Michigan  Monday, Barbara Theaker, who called Sarah Palin a “bucket of fluff.”

The video below, from MSNBC’s Morning Joe, shows the whole sordid mess, though interestingly, there’s nothing of note about it on their website.  For the details, you gotta do a little, but not much, digging.  Newsbusters gives the quote from Theaker:

Barack Obama has made an intelligent choice for the vice-presidency.  How so very different this is from that bucket of fluff that the Republican candidates have chosen for the same position.

Gateway Pundit quotes Joe (Stop Me Before I Speak Again) Biden: (their emphasis)

“All this stuff about how different Barack Obama is, they’re not just used to somebody really smart. They’re just not used to somebody who’s really well educated. They just don’t know quite how to handle it. Cause if he’s as smart as Barack is he must not be from my neighborhood.”

ABC News says that Joe responded to Theaker’s comments approvingly before telling an audience member to pipe down at a later point when the crowd got rowdy:

“You are good! My Lord!”

edit

“Shush up for a second will ya?” he said bluntly.

The ABC article also mentions another lively introduction Joe got about a week ago:

This is not the first time a Biden supporter has used the introduction to hit out at Palin.

Last Tuesday in St. Louis, Missouri Rep. Russ Carnahan said of the Alaska governor, “There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick.”

That Carnahan guy sure has a unique clerical hobby.  I guess he couldn’t find any pigs in need of a makeover.  Either that or he didn’t get the official “Obama Lipstick/Pig/Palin And How To Sneak It In” memo.  Anyway, here’s Joe and Mika on Joe and Barbara:

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Just say No Deal