The Thorn Papers

That's Better

2008-05-13T22:02:00.002-05:00

Itawamba's in, and with but one precinct in Childers' home county left to report, the Democratic Congressman from North Mississippi (man, it feels good to type that) won this race by an eight point margin.

Booya.

So much credit is due to the folks on the ground who gave of themselves to help make this happen. It was awesome to see a ground game in action - people powered piece by piece across the district - accomplish some serious mobilization of voters. Kudos, y'all.

What's Up With Itawamba?

2008-05-13T21:54:00.003-05:00

Seriously. It's three hours past poll closing and they've yet to report a single district.

Meet Your New Congressman, MS-01

2008-05-13T21:14:00.002-05:00

According to the AP, it's our boy Travis Childers!

How cool is that? Huh? See what some people power can get ya?

Thanks to all y'all who kicked in to make this happen, especially the volunteers who spent hours on the phone contacting voters and walking the door-to-door.

This is phenomenal. Phenomenally bad for the GOP, too, which only serves to make the phenomenon so much more phenomenal.

Wow.

Childers Gaining Ground

2008-05-13T20:35:00.004-05:00

Up by eight, and making inroads from April's results. 237/462 precincts reporting so far.

Still the bulk of votes from De Soto, but he's keeping Davis down there, so far too.

Update (8:58 PM): Okay. The majority of De Soto is in now, and it brought the race dead even. But Prentiss (Childer's home county) has yet to report.

Why, if I was a betting man....

Results (Or Lack Thereof)

2008-05-13T19:29:00.004-05:00

Half an hour after polls closed, and still no results at all (by way of the Clarion-Ledger's county-by-county breakdown page). Odd.

I'll pop in now and again, but for your Mississippi flavored live-blogging coverage, Will Bardwell and Cotton Mouth are on point. And the good fellas of Swing State Project are on as always.

Update (7:57 PM): Childers 59%, Davis 41%. No reports in yet from South Memphis though. This will tighten considerably, I'd imagine.

Another view

2008-05-13T15:20:00.003-05:00

First off, I think it was a risky, boneheaded move on the part of the DCCC, particularly in Mississippi. A classic example of a national crew failing to really understand a local dynamic. But, that said...

The beef behind the DCCC's mailer is that Greg Davis never actually said he'd take the Forrest statue, just the Davis statue. This was due to some less than clear writing in the Commercial Appeal. From the Hill, today:

“They called and asked Mayor Davis if he had any interest in any of the statues … and Mayor Davis basically said, ‘You know I’d take the statue of Jefferson Davis, because it’s part of history,’ ” Prill said. “The mayor next door in Horn Lake said, ‘Yeah, I’ll take 'em all.' One of those happened to be [Forrest].

“It’s completely untrue to say that Greg Davis wanted the [Forrest] statue in Southaven.”

The Memphis Commercial Appeal, which is cited in the flier, reported in 2005 that Greg Davis and Horn Lake Mayor Nat Baker “said they would gladly accept the statues here in DeSoto (County) if Memphis didn’t want them.” The statues being referenced are those of Forrest and Confederate President Jefferson Davis, but the story does not elaborate on who agreed to take which.

In a previous story, the Commercial Appeal specifically said Greg Davis would be willing to display the Jefferson Davis statue near City Hall in Southaven and that Baker said he would take the Forrest statue “in a heartbeat.”

The later story does make reference to Greg Davis’s offer to accept “the statues” – plural – but it never specifically says he wanted the Forrest statue. The Jefferson Davis and Forrest statues are the only statues mentioned in the story.

Greg Davis is quoted as saying, “We were just placing ourselves as an alternative for if the city wanted to move the statues,” but it’s not clear to whom the pronoun “we” refers – the city of Southaven or he and Baker.

Okay. But as helpful commenter JimM over at SSP discovered, we find another reference from back in 2005, in a NY Times story covering the specific issue of the Forrest statue alone(emphasis added):

There have been other proposals for how the handle the Forrest issue, like giving generic names to the parks and adding monuments of black heroes. Last week, the mayor of Southaven, Miss., a fast-growing city where many white Memphians have moved over the years, said he would be happy to have the Forrest equestrian statue in Southaven.

Win-Win

2008-05-13T09:12:00.003-05:00

Re: MS-01 today, from the First Read blog over at Chuck Todd's shop:

That said, the match-up appears to be a win-win situation for the Democrats. A Childers victory would be yet another win in an overwhelmingly GOP district and it would come even as Republicans tried to make Obama a boogeyman in the race. A Davis victory, meanwhile, would come after the GOP devoted precious resources and time to a district that Bush won by 62% four years ago.

It bears repeating: no matter what the outcome tonight, this is a win.

This Day in History

2008-05-13T07:54:00.000-05:00

May 13, 2008, the day the Democrats took back the MS-01 congressional seat for the people.

Today is the day. If you're a MS-01 voter, make sure you get yourself to the polls. If you're working for the Childers campaign today, do your thing, ring the phones, knock the doors, bring those voters to the poll.

And whoever you are, if you know folks in the district, drop an email, give a call, stop by for a cup of coffee and make sure we get out people to the polling places.

It's going to be an exciting night; let's do everything we can to make sure it's the good kind of excitement.

Remember: Whether you're in or out of state, you can help Childers out by using the DCCC's virtual phone banking center. It's all about GOTV, people, and that will decide this race. Folks are on the ground today, but every bit helps.

Onward, to victory.

Time for Change

2008-05-13T07:41:00.004-05:00

Offered from the NE MS Daily Journal without comment:

Cheney said Davis, who faces Democrat Travis Childers in today's voting, would support President Bush on his policies in Iraq and would vote to maintain Republican tax cuts....

...Politics is a team sport, "and we need a congressman in the 1st District who will vote like Thad and Roger, not against them," Barbour noted. He was referring to Republican Sens. Cochran and Wicker. "We also need him on the same team with John McCain," the presumptive GOP presidential nominee from Arizona.

Um. Yeah. That's what America wants. More Republican policies to laissez le bon temps roulet.

Because, as we all know, the temps have been so doggone bon lately. Four more years of the brilliant bush policies, driven by McCain and supported with unwavering, unquestioning, lockstep precision by people like Davis.

Yeah.

Okay. So I lied. The preceding was offered with just a tiny comment....

Eve of Destruction

2008-05-12T17:06:00.002-05:00

Thanks to the work of the good folks over at the Swing State Project, we've all been watching the DCCC & RCCC expenditures in MS-01, and we've seen that, while the Democrats have been laying out a good chunk of change on field organization and GOTV efforts in the days leading up to the vote, the Republicans have been dropping thousands on poll after poll after poll (and tons of annoying prozac-voiced robocalls, if we can judge by my own personal experience).

And we all know damn well that if there was something they wanted to report from those polls, we'd have heard about it by now. But there's been a deafening silence.

Well, now we know why. A little bird just informed me that the Republicans' own internal polls are showing Childers up five.

Let's do this, people.

Operation Meltdown

2008-05-09T20:20:00.004-05:00

"House GOP Shifts Into Panic Mode"

That's the headline of Reid Wilson's illuminating story over at Real Clear Politics, and it's not only true, it's music to the ears. Here's the lede (emphasis added):

After losing two previously Republican-held seats in special elections earlier this year, House GOP aides worry their party is on the brink of an election year catastrophe, and as a key test looms on Tuesday, the party is already pulling out all the stops.

This is the real deal. The GOP is in a tailspin nationwide, but the very fact that they're on the brink of losing a seat here in MS-01 is a bellwether of what's to come in November. The NRCC is hemorrhaging cash, and is having a hell of a time rounding up new donors. And no wonder, as Hillary Clinton is realizing, people are just not inclined to fund a loser.

Even mo' better, the disarray is sowing friction and dissent amongst the GOP:

The fallout has encouraged a brewing feud between House Majority Leader John Boehner and National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Tom Cole, two top Republicans who have spent much of the past year fighting. And while other Capitol Hill Republicans are almost unanimous in agreeing the trouble is not all Cole's fault, someone has to take the hit. "The two offices are positioning themselves to avoid blame or to lay blame," the aide said.

Man, that's gotta suck.

It's so clear that even Newt Gingrich, Mr. Movement himself, sees the writing on the wall:

"Without change we could face a catastrophic election this fall," Gingrich warned. "Without change the Republican Party in the House could revert to the permanent minority status it had from 1930 to 1994."

I'd go so far as to say that, change or not, they're doomed in the fall, and maybe for quite some time to come. The American public saw very clearly - and has suffered the ramifications - of full-tilt Republican rule. A maniacal and criminal executive branch with a compliant GOP majority in the house, senate and on the Supreme Court have pushed America to the brink.

Not that it matters. Change isn't on the Republican menu. They've still only got the one page play book, and can't come to grips with the fact that the play's been played out. Americans aren't buying it anymore. That includes the good people of Mississippi.

While the GOP likes to think they're mindless sheep who can be manipulated with culturally divisive issues and meaningless scare tactics, they're actually fully functioning human beings with minds of their own, and who will base their vote on their own decisions and not stale Republican dark side Jedi mind tricks.

So this stuff?

"Republicans are committed to winning in Mississippi and we believe the momentum is on our side," NRCC spokesman Ken Spain said. "Voters will have a clear choice on Tuesday between Greg Davis who will represent Mississippi values in Congress, and Travis Childers who will say one thing on the campaign trail, but will undoubtedly do the bidding of liberal Speaker Nancy Pelosi."

Ain't gonna work. Not today. Not anymore.

The most recent national poll showed Republicans trailing Democrats in a generic ballot matchup by eighteen points, the same margin by which Democrats led the week before the 2006 election.

And, it's not just generic ballots....they're losing in some very specific, and unlikely, races. Here's to one more come Tuesday.

Dialing for Democracy

2008-05-09T14:51:00.003-05:00

Quick note to let y'all know that the DCCC - who have been pouring serious dollars and resources into Travis Childers winning the MS-01 special election on Tuesday (and bankrupting their GOP counterparts in the process) - have set up a virtual phone banking center to help support the cause.

So, all y'all, no matter where you may be in the country, if you've got a little time and a few cell minutes to spare, can help us make history, take back this seat we held for 53 years, and turn Mississippi blue...again.

Saving a Seat for You, Travis

2008-05-08T15:29:00.003-05:00

No scoop here, this was already posted over on both Swing State Project and Cotton Mouth, but I wanted to take a minute to chime in too.

According to The Politico, the Democratic House leadership have a seat waiting for Travis Childers on the Agriculture Committee when he wins the MS-01 seat this coming Tuesday. That's great news for Mississippians - who most definitely need a voice in that Committee - and for Childers, of course.

On the other side of that coin, not so much. It's just more bad news for Greg Davis.

Should Davis somehow overcome his soaring negatives (and from what I can tell, there's a whole lot of folks who are just sick to death of him at this point...even more than than there were before Travis beat him the last time, in fact) and pull out a win on Tuesday, he'll be at the bottom of the seniority ladder of a minority party.

That means no committee seats for him.

Or for us. Which would suck.

If anyone needed another reason to choose the good guy over the puppet, I'd say this should seal the deal. Especially the many rural Mississippians who are directly impacted by the Ag Comm.

But then again, there's not a whole of them in the Memphis suburbs, are there?

Donate Today

2008-05-07T15:01:00.004-05:00

Today is the last day to contribute funds to the Childers campaign that can be used towards Tuesday's special election run-off. The following came from DCCC Executive Director Brian Wolff:

Dear Friend,
Midnight tonight is the deadline to help Democrat Travis Childers in his bid to win our third straight Republican pick up in a special election. His special election is less than a week away and tonight is the last time to get contributions in enough time to still purchase more ad time, tanks of gas to drive voters to the polls, and help get canvassers on the ground. Please give to Travis at https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/childers.

This November we will be playing in races like this nationwide, but next week with this special election we can set the tone by winning in a ruby-red district in Mississippi. Let's help put Travis Childers over the top and go three-for-three in special elections. We already won both the former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert's seat and another red seat this past Saturday in Louisiana -- let's finish the deal. Give generously and give now at https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/childers

We are just a few thousand dollars away of meeting our goal and there are just hours left before our midnight deadline. And, we are all counting on you.

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/childers

On to victory,

Brian Wolff
DCCC Executive Director

Do it to it.

NRCC - Bummin' in MS

2008-05-07T14:16:00.004-05:00

Seems as though the cash-strapped NRCC just isn't getting the love that they used to. From The Hill:

Rep. Tom Cole on Tuesday told the many Republican members who haven’t given to the GOP candidate in next week’s Mississippi special election that they “ought to be ashamed of themselves,” GOP sources said.

The Mississippi race is shaping up as an increasingly crucial psychological battle for a GOP conference that has already lost two seats this cycle after dropping 30 in the 2006 election, and the harsh admonition was the latest rallying cry from a GOP campaign arm that has repeatedly cited a lack of member enthusiasm and giving.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told his colleagues earlier this year that they needed to get off their “dead asses” and raise money for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), and Senate GOP campaign chief John Ensign (Nev.) has also been critical.

Boehner and Cole (R-Okla.), the NRCC’s chairman, continued in that vein Tuesday at a closed-door House GOP meeting, asking members to focus on the Mississippi race just days after they suffered a big loss in former Rep. Richard Baker’s (R) conservative Louisiana district.

In another conservative district in Mississippi, the vast majority of members haven’t given to Southaven Mayor Greg Davis (R), even after he nearly lost to Democrat Travis Childers late last month.

The two will meet head-to-head in a runoff Tuesday, three weeks after Childers came within a few hundred votes of winning the race outright.

“Well, we lost [Louisiana], and it’s clear this election is about change,” Boehner told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting. “I wish we would have won, but we didn’t.”

No, you didn't. Get used to it. Even the conservatives don't want Davis:

In Mississippi, Democrats have given a similar amount to Childers, the Prentiss County Chancery Clerk. That’s about twice as much as their GOP colleagues have given to Davis.

GOP members have rallied a bit in recent days but have still only given about $80,000 to Davis’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission reports. About half of that total came just from Boehner, Cole and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), a regular contributor to his colleagues.

Only about two dozen rank-and-file GOPers have given, and most of them have given $1,000 or less.

All ABout the GOTV

2008-05-07T12:00:00.004-05:00

We all know that the DCCC has dumped an unprecedented amount of money into the MS-01 race, and Travis Childers has been doing good fund raising too. But, success in this endeavor is going to depend on one thing and one thing only: our ability to get out the vote.

Particularly after three previous elections for this same seat in the last two months or so, there's a degree of voter fatigue. There will be people on the ground, though, and on the phones, working to GOTV. That, like everything else in a campaign, takes money.

If you feel like you'd be willing to throw in to help, and want to drop a couple/few/many bucks into the Childers Jar, Swing State Project and Cotton Mouth are both raising money on ActBlue.

Please do drop whatever bit you can spare into one of the two. That's the money that will get our people to the polls on Tuesday.

And Again....

2008-05-07T10:36:00.002-05:00

As promised, here is the second of the two DCCC ads I was able to get uploaded. I think this is the more effective of the two, and while technically an anti-Davis ad as opposed to a pro-Childers ad, I think the faces and voices of regular Mississippi folks carry a lot of impact. And for what it's worth, the opinions of these people do reflect what I've been hearing on the ground.

There's a reason we're being bombarded with the Huckster, the George Bush robo-calls and a (shudder) in-person Cheney visit on Monday. The GOP knows this seat is - and in fact, their hopes across the entire country - slipping through their fingers. And it's a beautiful thing.

Anyway, on to our feature presentation:

More DCCC Fruit in MS-01

2008-05-07T10:12:00.004-05:00

I've been meaning to get these two DCCC-funded ads for Travis Childers up for days now, but what with all the excitement of last night (and, you know, life), it took longer than expected. In any case, here's the first of two DCCC-Childers ads, this one setting the record straight on the lies being peddled by once and future Bushie Ari Fleischer and his Freedom's Watch gang:

I'll have the other one up in a bit. It's the better of the two, in my opinion.

Late Night

2008-05-07T08:05:00.002-05:00

Wow. That was something last night, wasn't it? Obama absolutely dominated in NC - not quite the "game changer" Clinton was hoping for.

For her part, Clinton squeaked out, at best, a tainted win in Indiana, pushed over the top only by way of Republican crossover votes spurred on by Rush Limbaugh's mischief-making (to borrow Chris Matthews' term) "Operation Chaos."

When 13% of the Indianans who voted for HRC tell exit pollsters they will actually vote for McCain against her in the fall, one simply has to wonder.

And word has it that Wes Clark, who'd been a loyal Clinton supporter throughout the primary season, called Hillary to tell her it was time to step aside. Smart guy, that General. Slow on the trigger, but smart.

In any case, this primary season is, for all intents and purposes, over. Come May 20th, Obama will have the necessary delegates to officially take the nomination.

Even if the Michigan and Florida delegates are seated - as is, and in total violation of the rules everyone involved agreed to last Fall - Obama will still have over 100k+ more popular votes and over a hundred more delegates.

Seating Michigan and Florida in violation of DNC rules was Hillary's last hope to take the nomination away from the clear winner. That and convincing the supers to ignore the vote and delegate count. Watch for the remaining super delegates to begin to break en masse to Obama over the coming weeks.

On a side note, Clinton supporter Lisa Caputo, on MSNBC last night, said that even if she won NC (with the momentum she supposedly had) and Indiana, Hillary Clinton would never be able to win over the "devout Obama followers."

Devout, huh? Like some sort of religious fervor? And Hillary has supporters but Barrack has followers?

I just thought that that was an interesting choice of words.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

2008-05-05T15:40:00.002-05:00

Hide the children, draw the shades, bring the dog inside.

Five, six, grab your crucifix....

"Go for a head shot..."

2008-05-05T09:01:00.005-05:00

You know, I got into a heated discussion with good friend the other night at a local watering hole, and over the course of the conversation, talk turned to the craziness of the mid-nineties, with the Patriot movement, the militias, and right-wing media openly advocating sedition and violence. Timothy McVeigh was a fruit of those times, and he killed 168 people.

And yet, trying to get people to recall the mindset of that time - the open, seething hatred for the Clintons and the federal government - is very hard indeed.

It's like the blunt force trauma of 9/11 has wiped that far less effective, but still very real domestic terrorist element - with numbers, at the time, which rivaled those of al Qaeda before 9/11, and before George Bush swelled their ranks by essentially doing Osama's bidding - from the collective consciousness. In fact, over the Bush years, we've seen those elements absorbed back into the fold, with what used to be radical ideas softened and become part of the wider GOP narrative.

And of course, there's no need to advocate the overthrow of a government you're welcomed into, even if you have to use the back door.

Anyway, as we all know anything anyone a presidential candidate has ever associated with says is directly attributable to the candidate him or herself. The media, John McCain, and Hillary Clinton have all stressed that argument against Barrack Obama. He's been hounded to hell and back to account for Louis Farrakhan, Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers and everything they've ever said or done.

The other two? Not so much. McCain shrugs off John Hagee's vile comments and the press sees something shiny off to the side and chases it. For all her talk of being thoroughly "vetted," there's been suspiciously little talk of all the many skeletons in Hillary Clinton's closet (not to mention tapping that old 90's Clinton-hatred). Perhaps such talk will go better in the fall. October, maybe.

But in yesterday's Chicago Tribune, Steve Chapman writes about John McCain's "old friend" G. Gordon Liddy:

What McCain didn't mention is that he has his own Bill Ayers—in the form of G. Gordon Liddy. Now a conservative radio talk-show host, Liddy spent more than 4 years in prison for his role in the 1972 Watergate burglary. That was just one element of what Liddy did, and proposed to do, in a secret White House effort to subvert the Constitution. Far from repudiating him, McCain has embraced him.

How close are McCain and Liddy? At least as close as Obama and Ayers appear to be. In 1998, Liddy's home was the site of a McCain fundraiser. Over the years, he has made at least four contributions totaling $5,000 to the senator's campaigns—including $1,000 this year.

In fact, McCain gushes praise for Liddy, saying on an appearance on his radio show:

Liddy greeted him as "an old friend," and McCain sounded like one. "I'm proud of you, I'm proud of your family," he gushed. "It's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great."

Hmm. McCain obviously shares the the "principles and philosophies" of Gordon. He said so, in his own words (and I know, John McCain is of the opinion that reminding him of his words is a libelous act, but still).

This is a man, who in addition to his role in masterminding the Watergate break-in (for his role in which he served four years in prison) and being an all around, well-known whack-job, rose to new heights as a right-wing radio host in the 90's (emphasis added):

In 1994, after the disastrous federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, he gave some advice to his listeners: "Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they're going to be wearing bulletproof vests. . . . Kill the sons of bitches."

He later backed off, saying he meant merely that people should defend themselves if federal agents came with guns blazing. But his amended guidance was not exactly conciliatory: Liddy also said he should have recommended shots to the groin instead of the head. If that wasn't enough to inflame any nut cases, he mentioned labeling targets "Bill" and "Hillary" when he practiced shooting.

Given Liddy's record, it's hard to see why McCain would touch him with a 10-foot pole. On the contrary, he should be returning his donations and shunning his show. Yet the senator shows no qualms about associating with Liddy—or celebrating his service to their common cause.

Indeed.

So, other than Chapman, who tried and was refused comment on the matter by the Straight Talk Express, who in the American media will start to ask some questions about the "principles and philosophies" the Senator shares with a man who - much more recently than the Weather Underground - was openly advocating violence against Federal Agents and encouraging violence against the President and First Lady?

DCCC Money on the Fertile Ground of Mississippi

2008-05-02T11:05:00.007-05:00

UPDATE: A note to visitors coming from one or another of the sites which have linked to this page. Please do take a minute and check out the main site. Though dormant for well over a year, The Thorn Papers is back for the foreseeable future.

Just thought perhaps those who are interested in the MS-01 race would like to see how some of the big money the DCCC has sunk into the game is being spent. The door hangers below are starting to show up on front doors all across North Mississippi (not quite enough of them yet, but they're coming) in anticipation of the May 13h run off between Travis Childers and Republican Greg Davis.

I've got to say, after so many years of being left out to hang dry by the national Democratic establishment, it's extremely gratifying to see them finally putting some resources into winning this seat. And it is totally winnable.

I should add that, while Childers is rightfully focusing on making this a local race, based on local issues, it's good to see the DCCC doing their job as well, which is to tie every Republican running to the miserably failed policies of the GOP by way of the Bush administration. There's no daylight between those two entities - and the Republican candidates running nationwide - and we should never let the American people forget it.

The Good People of Indiana

2008-05-02T09:09:00.005-05:00

Wow. The good, salt-of-the-earth, heartland, working-class Hoosier folks sure have come a long way in 16 years - at least in the estimation of the Clintons.

[YouTube pulled the video]

Note, by the way, the shock, dismay and indignation from Carville and Stephanapoulos. Positively deafening.

Shame Obama's such an elitist, eh?

UPDATE: There seems to be much disagreement on whether or not the above was a doctored clip. In any case, YouTube has pulled the initial video. Nothing to see here. The Clinton campaign - well, Kantor specifically -says it's a conspiracy, though.

Message to Travis Childers, Candidate for MS-01

2008-04-30T13:01:00.006-05:00

The next time someone sticks a microphone in your face and tries to play "gotcha" with a reference to Barrack Obama, remember this:

By hedging your bets against another Democrat, you provide aid and comfort to your electoral enemy and allow the GOP to continue to hammer home their same tired old saws about "Washington liberals," trying to make you run from your party and make you look weak, waffley, and two-faced.
Obama may not have officially endorsed you but he did indeed lend a (perhaps unsolicited) hand by urging his supporters to make calls on your behalf. That's what Democrats do. It's good for the candidate, the party, the movement and ultimately, the country.
It's far better to take command of an aggressive move like this by saying something along the lines of :
"I'll tell you this much: at least Senator Obama and I are - as are all Democrats - speaking to the issues which really matter to the American public and the working people of Mississippi. There's a lot that needs to be done if we're gong to get out of the fix we're in.

As Democrats, Sen Obama - and Sen. Clinton for that matter - and I are working to bring real change to this country, not to just play games or hijack the public discourse by slinging the same old mud like our friends on the other side. It's pretty clear why they're doing this: They're scared to death of the Democratic wave that's going to sweep this country, as well they should be.

But as to an official endorsement, I'd have to refer you to Senator Obama's campaign, since there's been no contact between us on the issue. But I'm sure his goal is the same as mine, to bring change to the American people by bringing Democrats in to clean up the mess that's been made."

See how easy that could have been?

That Wasted Old AA Wisdom

2007-01-10T15:10:00.000-06:00

I don't know why I'd imagine he'd understand that the very definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and again and expect different results. Especially when the last time he went this route the consequences were disastrous on so many fronts. As does this new old mistake. But, then again, if that were the case, he wouldn't be our boy:

The accelerating war here and the critical need for troops vastly complicate the crumbling security picture across the region - from Afghanistan, where the United States chose to strike back after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, to Iraq, where American troops have been unable in almost four years of fighting to establish basic security and quell a bloody sectarian war.
As a last-ditch effort, President Bush is expected to announce this week the dispatch of thousands of additional troops to Iraq as a stopgap measure, an order that Pentagon officials say would strain the Army and Marine Corps as they struggle to man both wars.
Already, a U.S. Army infantry battalion fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks in order to deploy to Iraq.
According to Army Brig. Gen. Anthony J. Tata and other senior U.S. commanders here, that will happen just as the Taliban is expected to unleash a major campaign to cut the vital road between Kabul and Kandahar. The official said the Taliban intend to seize Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city and the place where the group was organized in the 1990s.
"We anticipate significant events there next spring," said Tata.