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[big campaign] Media Monitoring Report - Morning 09/08/08
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Ryan Duncan Sep 8, 2008 3:08 PM
Main Topics: Rick Davis, Nancy Pfotenhauer, Tucker Bounds Push the McCain-Palin Reform/Change Ticket, McCain Surges in Polls, Bob Woodward's Book
Summary of Shift:
Top political coverage today stemmed from new polls out that reveal a surge of enthusiasm for the McCain-Palin ticket, that has put Obama behind by four points, but within the margin of error. While McCain may be ahead nationally in the polls, in the key battleground states and in the Electoral College, Obama appears to have the edge and be closer to the 270 votes needed. Surrogates, Rick Davis, Nancy Pfotenhauer, and Tucker Bounds made the rounds heavily pushing the McCain-Palin ticket as the campaign of reform and change. A investigative piece on Sarah Palin's circle of friends reveals that even those closest to her may not vote for her due to her socially conservative record. Lastly, Bob Woodward has a new book out that portrays Bush acting alone in pursuing the surge and lying to the American people on the necessity of listening to the commanders on the ground.
Hurricane Ivan causes mandatory evacuation of the Florida Keys. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have officially been bailed out and taken over by the government, resulting in upward markets in the US and abroad. American missiles continue to target Taliban militants inside Pakistan. OPEC considers cutting oil production due to claims of too much supply.
Highlights:
1. Rick Davis Interviews
a. FNC: Rick Davis Discusses Sarah Palin, Her Reform Credentials, Her Ties to Lobbyists and earmarks, and Her Media Exposure
b. FNC: Rick Davis Discusses His Comments on Obama's Muslim and Radical Connections
c. FNC: Rick Davis Discusses How McCain Will Bring Change and How He Is Different Than Bush
d. MSNBC: Rick Davis Answers Questions on Palin's Earmarks, Obama's Radical Connections, and Talks Strategy
2. MSNBC: Nancy Pfotenhauer Attempts to Define McCain as the Agent of Change, and How He is No Bush
3. FNC: Tucker Bounds Talks About McCain's Enthusiastic, Reform Ticket, Sarah Palin's Media Access, and Stolen INVESCO Field Flags
4. NBC: Bob Woodward on Bush's Failings in Iraq
5. FNC: New McCain/Palin Ad Analyzed on Fox and Friends
6. FNC: Conservative Blogger Attempts to Identify Fact v. Fiction on Sarah Palin Rumors
7. MSNBC: Chuck Todd Breaks Down the Battleground States and Possible Breakdowns of Election Map
8. ABC: Only Three of Sarah Palin's Four Friends on Panel Pledge to Vote for Her
Highlights, No Clips:
9. MSNBC - JENNIFER PALMIERI: "When they say change, he's offering the same economic policies of George Bush, higher, bigger tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations. When he says change, it doesn't mean change when you vote with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Remember, when you have a campaign that's run by lobbyists […] What the McCain campaign strategy really is to ask voters to suspend disbelief and believe that this man who votes with Bush, is of the same party, has been in Washington for 25 years, is going to bring about change. I think in the end that's not going to work."
Clips:
Headline #1
Rick Davis Discusses Sarah Palin, Her Reform Credentials, Her Ties to Lobbyists and earmarks, and Her Media Exposure (FNC 09/07/08 6:20pm)
CHRIS MATTHEWS: As a matter of personal privilege I'm going to give you the opportunity to respond to David Axelrod who said for all the talk about wait until we come and shake up this lobbyists and the campaign team of McCain is filled with lobbyists, in your case former lobbyists and how do you respond.
RICK DAVIS: I think that it's just more of the same from David Axelrod and they have been running on ghosts of the past all along and I think it just shows they don't really have anything to talk about. If they want to run against Rick Davis or our campaign staff, let them, I think it is hilarious and is a wonderful distraction from the real issues we are trying to debate. It's a classic example of a campaign without anything else to say, so they pick on staff.
MATTHEWS: Let's turn to the choice of Sarah Palin as the running mate. What does she add to the ticket? Does she bring new states into play? How will use her.
DAVIS: I think she's exactly what we need to really focus the public's attention on the fact the brand of John McCain, the maverick, the independent, the guy who has been railing against corruption, and ethics abuses in Washington and who wants to reform government, and she reinforces that and it is a wonderful thing for our campaign to be able to get this kind of attention on our ticket coming out of the convention and we've had wonderful events and fantastic rallies and people are excited about this ticket. And this is a ticket that will govern Washington.
MATTHEWS: But aren't you vastly exaggerating her record as a reformer? Take a look. As mayor of Wasilla she hired a Washington lobbyist and got $27 million in earmarks and in her less than two years as governor, Alaska has asked for $589 million in pork-barrel projects. Her record as a reform, particularly on the issue of earmarks, is far from clean.
DAVIS: Well, let's be clear about this. When she was mayor of Wasilla, there were already people in place who were getting those grants from the federal government and small towns do a lot of that kind of activity.
MATTHEWS: She did hire a lobbyist.
DAVIS: The projects you talk about. These were not projects that she tried to get. These were projects the republican establishment in Alaska who she campaigned against and beat many times over were the ones picking up those grants and she vetoed more bills and cut back on more pork barrel spending in the state legislature than any other previous governor. She converted that legislator into reform because she passed ethics reforms and corruption reforms. She railed against the establishment, in Alaska and was able to accomplish great things, passing a significant energy bill that allowed them to create a natural gas pipeline and these are all things that a true reformer is able to accomplish and so, I don't disagree with the fact that there were pork-barrel projects coming to Alaska but not from her. Within the state legislature she beat back those efforts.
MATTHEWS: First of all, as governor, Alaska, during her one-and-a-half, two years as governor, Alaska continued to get more federal money for park barrel projects per capita than any state in the country. […] And she supported the bridge to nowhere and it was only after the federal government dropped it out and killed it, the congress killed, that she then opposed it and in fact still got the money for the approach, the ramp to the bridge to nowhere.
DAVIS: Congress didn't beat back the bridge to nowhere. That funding was in the grant and she said I'm not spending that money and what they did, they took a $500 million bridge and she turned it into a 2 million dollar ferry and that's what she did on her own without help from anybody else.
MATTHEWS: Actually it was congress that killed the money for the bridge to nowhere. Governor Palin has given some very good speeches this week and everybody, republican or democrat, would say that she was very effective at the republican convention. She's not answered a single question from the national media. When will she agree to an interview?
DAVIS: She'll agree to an interview when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it. […] It's not like there is no information about Sarah Palin, the governor, the mother, the agent for change. And there is plenty out there. I don't think our campaign is the campaign that has not given immense amount of access to the press, that is the Obama campaign.
MATTHEWS: Why is she scared to answer questions?
DAVIS: She's not scared to answer questions. But you know what? We run or campaign, not the news media and we'll do things on our timetable and honestly, this last week was not an exemplary moment for the news media. So why do we want to throw her into a cycle of piranhas called the news media who have nothing better to ask questions about than her personal life and children and I think our attitude would be, let it pass.
MATTHEWS: I think there are legitimate questions that, and it doesn't have to be a huge news conference and I'm not telling you ho to run your campaign, legitimate questions, is she or is she not ready to be commander-in-chief, if last week didn't work, why not this week?
DAVIS: Sarah Palin will have the opportunity to speak to the American people. She just gave a speech, to 40 million Americans in her convention. She's in the process of, you know, getting to know people out on the campaign trail and she will do interviews. But she'll do them on the terms and conditions of which the campaign decides that it is ready to do it. And Chris all due respect, I mean, the information the news media has been putting out on Sarah Palin is not objective journalism and until the point in time we feel like the news media will treat her with a level of respect and deference, I think it would be fool hardy to put her into that environment.
MATTHEWS: […] My point is there are legitimate questions to ask, whether fox or anybody else, about is she ready to be president, what does she know about foreign policy?
DAVIS: Absolutely, no question about that and she will be available to the news media, when and if we decide that that is going to be the case.
MATTHWEWS: So you are not willing at this point to say when?
DAVIS: No.
Rick Davis Discusses His Comments on Obama's Muslim and Radical Connections (FNC 09/07/08 6:30pm)
MATTHEWS: Let's get back to your comment last week, I discussed with David Axelrod and up on the screen, the election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates. […] Do you want to focus on personalities or a composite view of the candidates, not issues because of the fact, for instance we have 6.1% unemployment, the highest in five years?
DAVIS: No, Chris and what you didn't show on the screen was the next sentence, which is, the composite view is made up of people's values. It is made up of their opinions and made up of their judgment and their principles and so, then I let -- then the next sentence says and of course, issues will play an important role in people's final decision. So I respect the fact that the Obama campaign has some kind of a -- you know, obsession about rick Davis and I have been the focus of their advertising and now, their candidate seems to be wanting to attack me more than anybody else. That's fine, the water is warm and I'm happy to go toe-to-toe but to insinuate yesterday on the stump somehow those comments implied that I was going to, you know, indicate that he was going to have these Muslim connections or that he had these radical relationships, is absolutely out of control.
MATTHEWS: Wait, the Muslim thing may not be fair, your campaign has talked about the fact that he had a relationship with William Ayers.
DAVIS: But did the quote indicate that.
MATTHEWS: Well, the radical connections, that is what William Ayres is.
DAVIS: Where in the quote is radical connections?
MATTHEWS: You just quoted what Obama said on the trail.
DAVIS: Absolutely, yesterday, against my quote, he said this what is they are saying, by saying that it's about personalities. I didn't even say personalities, he is not correct in the way he's quoting me and he tries to use that to try and scare me and he says they'll tell you we'll try to scare people and they'll tell you that, you know, I have Muslim connections. Well, this is the same construct he's done before. He's trying to play victim and I don't think it is very flattering on his part.
Rick Davis Discusses How McCain Will Bring Change and How He Is Different Than Bush (FNC 09/07/08 6:40pm)
MATTHEWS: Okay, McCain keeps talk about change is coming. But in all the big bread and butter issues, taxes, social security, energy, trade, health care, there really are not big differences between John McCain and George Bush.
DAVIS: Oh, I think change is coming. I mean, look at George bush couldn't get anything done on social security. I mean, I think that is a fundamental difference between john McCain and George bush in the sense that I think john McCain's approach to social security, getting democrats to come over to the white house and sit down and get a deal so we can take it off the table, so that not only the people who are currently getting social security, can feel like they are safe and secure, but, all those people in the pipeline to receive it in the future know what their benefits will be and what it will cost.
MATTHEWS: Wait, let's take social security as an example. In fact, McCain's social security plan is almost identical to George w. Bush's, he's talking about some reform of the system, plus private accounts and you will never get private accounts through a democratic congress.
DAVIS: The difference is the approach and George Bush said, take it or lift, here's the way we do it, private accounts first and the balance of the social security system has to be fixed in the process. John McCain says exactly the opposite, and says, give me the leadership of congress, republicans or democrats, I don't care. Come over to the white house and sit down and let's find out a way to take off the table and once we satisfy the American public that we fixed the social security system, well into the future, then let's sit down and look at Medicare and Medicaid. because those are the things that are sapping our federal budget. So, what is the difference? And I think is an important difference, and it is changed politically, is john McCain has a history of getting things done, in congress, by sitting down with people who are part of the solution, not part of the problem. He'll sit down with democrats, independence, republicans, alike and say, we have got to change the system. He has a long history of doing that and nobody passed more bipartisan reforms in congress than john McCain. And he'll do it as president.
MATTHEWS: So you are willing to concede his starting out point is very similar to George w. Bush's, on all of these bread and butter issues, but the difference is the approach and how he deals with Congress?
DAVIS: I think there are lots of differences in some of the bread and butter issues. I think our approach on taxes and trade, even though as a republican, are very similar to George Bush, we have different proposals today. I mean, look, most importantly we have different proposals than Barack Obama, who has this somehow believes that raising taxes will cure an ailing economy, I mean, you know, economics 101 tells don't raise taxes into a recession and john McCain said over and over and we have to get more money into the pockets of the American public.
MATTHEWS: I want to you to talk strategy over the next 58 days and lets put up Karl Rove's electoral map, which shows Obama leads in states with 260 electoral votes, again 270 needed to win the presidency. Obviously it is still fluid but doesn't Obama have many more ways to get to 270 when you look at the map, than you do?
DAVIS: No, I think maps are maps and polls are polls and we are not worried and if we worried about polls we would have given up a year ago. What is amazing about that map, in my opinion, is Colorado. The democrats just spent tens of millions, maybe $100 million, in Colorado with their convention, and they dominated the news media for weeks at a time and John McCain just went into Colorado and had a huge rally incredibly enthusiastic support and even though the democrats have spent tens of millions of dollars in a state that is a clear targeted state, they weren't able to move it into their column.
MATTHEWS: […] If you had to frame in one or two sentences the choice that you want voters to have on their minds on election day, what would it be?
DAVIS: Well, I think it was really exemplified in the conventions. Our convention focused on putting the country first and John McCain has always put his country first, throughout his career. And willing to sacrifice his own political interests for the country at large. The Obama convention, it was all me first and Barack Obama is putting himself ahead of the democratic party and ahead of the country's interests and ahead of his party's interests and that is a history in a way he's conducted himself in his public life that I think is a clear difference between the two candidates.
Rick Davis Answers Questions on Palin's Earmarks, Obama's Radical Connections, and Talks Strategy (MSNBC 09/08/08 8:26am)
MIKA BRZENISKI: Did you hear David Axelrod on our show about 30 minutes ago?
RICK DAVIS: no, no, I didn't hear David.
BRZENISKI: He was pointing out governor Palin's record seems to contradict her image that's being painted there in the campaign as a change agent. Saying that as mayor of Wasilla, she hired a Washington lobbyist, that perhaps she asked for over $500 million in pork barrel projects during her 1 ½ years as governor, and so on and so on. Does her record back up the label, change agent?
DAVIS: I didn't hear David but I listened to your clip from Barack Obama railing about earmarks. I had to stop myself from laughing before I got on. Here is a guy who personally asked for over $1 billion worth of earmarks, including some that went directly to the hospital where his wife works. And he's talking about how somehow that we're casting a different light on this issue. That's the most hypocritical thing I ever heard in my life.
BRZENISKI: The one thing I'm seeing between these campaigns, now they have each other on the experience issue and feel like they can go after each other on the experience. Barack Obama versus Palin's. Being a Washington insider, Joe Biden versus John McCain. Now the word "change" being switched about. Are we going to see a difference between these campaigns or is the point here to muddy the waters?
DAVIS: I think that the Obama campaign is clearly on the defense, especially as regards to their only real theme in their campaign, which is change. The problem is they look anything but change. They spent the entire month on the attack. They've not had a single positive message to put out there. Then when they have the best opportunity there is to show whether they are willing to really change anything, Barack Obama, in what is singularly the most important decision he had to possibly make as a candidate for president, picks Joe Biden, which is probably the least change that you could possibly have in the selection of a vice presidential candidate. Then they complain viciously because John McCain actually reaches out to a real reformer, someone who has actually shaken up the old boy network, someone who campaigned against the ethnics and corruption abuses in politics, and all of a sudden, who looks more like change than Barack Obama? John McCain.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Let me ask you about the choice of Palin, which clearly seems to be giving the republican ticket a good bounce. You've come out of the convention and she is getting a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. Getting back to what Mika suggested, she did hire a lobbyist, she did go after earmarks for her town of Wasilla. So how do you square that circle?
DAVIS: Look, when she was the mayor of a small town in Alaska, there was a
practice that existed before she ever got there to use as many national and federal grants as they could to fund that town. And like many other towns around the country, it's the only way they can compete for funding. So I think that's exactly what it appears to be. It was a practice that while she was mayor they did away with and did not replicate when she was governor. I think it was the kind of thing that is a good lessons learned. I think the experience we ought to be pointing to is she cast away those kinds of actions later on in her career. In fact, when you look at her governances as governor of the state of Alaska, she cut pork out of the budget significantly. Wielded the veto pen line item more than any other governor in Alaskan history. The track record you ought to be looking at, instead of following up on these points the Obama people make. It's interesting. They complain initially being the mayor of a small town in Wasilla, Alaska didn't give her enough experience to be able to have a seat on this ticket. When they found out that people rejected that notion as being ridiculous since it was on par with the kind of experience that the top of their ticket Barack Obama had, now they are trying to undermine her experiences as a mayor. I just think, look what's their message? Do they have anything they are actually going to do for the country or spend the next couple of months running down our candidates?
PAT BUCHANAN: You are quoted saying this election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates. Is it basically the strategy of the campaign to say, look, we've got John McCain, the war hero, the old warrior, the man who's been there fighting and a real reformer and a maverick? And we've got this enormously exciting personality. And take a look at our two candidates as persons and their two candidates and ask, which of the two are equipped to lead the country? Which of the two do you want to lead the country, rather than focusing on the Bush-Cheney record?
DAVIS: The first thing is, it's amazing to me that Barack Obama would spend his time attacking Rick Davis. I was jumping for joy the day I saw that happen. But at least get the quote right. The quote is, and "the Washington post" is the one who had this, it says not only that the election is about the composite view people take away from these candidates. Then I say in the same sentence their values, their character, their opinions and their principles, all that go into the great rinse cycle of politics, obviously in the same sentence, issues have a big bearing on that. If Barack Obama is going to start quoting Rick Davis, I suggest he get the quote right. He said it was issues and not issues, but personality. I don't see personality in that at all. The other thing that just is amazing to me, is he then said that quote had something to do with me saying somehow that meant I was going to try to scare people or somehow Barack Obama's got Muslim connections or that he hangs around with radicals. I've got to tell you, I've been around this track in politics a long time but that is a leap of faith that requires a lot of introspection. What is he trying to do there? I don't understand the tactic he takes. Obviously, issues play an important role. But I don't think voters are solely issue voters. Pat, if you believe they don't take into consideration the values of the candidate, the character of the candidate, the candidate's opinions and principles, and then I would be shocked to think otherwise.
MITCHELL: Rick, were you just putting the Muslim thing up there? Were you just tossing that up there?
DAVIS: No, what Barack Obama said when he attacked me on this quote, he said that it -- direct quote, they say this isn't about issues it's about personalities. What they are really saying is that we are going to try to scare people about Barack. He goes on to say, "So we're going to say maybe he's got Muslim connections or we are going to say he hangs around with radicals. He is not patriotic." that is a Barack Obama quote about my quote. That is a leap of faith, in my book.
BRZENISKI: What do you think you are really doing here?
DAVIS: I think they just realized that these hollow themes that they tried to put out about change and about hope -- look, they are good themes if they are backed up with real substance. What John McCain is doing is going around talking about ways to fix the economy, ways to fix the energy situation. He's actually put out specific proposals on doing that. And he's connecting with the American public. What they are realizing is the hollow promises aren't cutting it. Now all of a sudden they are looking at being behind and they are scared and attacking. That's the only option they have left in their mind.
Headline #2
Nancy Pfotenhauer Attempts to Define McCain as the Agent of Change, and How He is No Bush (MSNBC 09/08/08 9:53am)
TAMRON HALL: […] how is the McCain campaign defining change?
NANCY PFOTENHAUER: Well, it's really who will reform Washington, DC? Who will take on then entrenched special interests and challenge them and drain the swamp, if you will. And there's only one ticket out that will do that and that has a record of being willing to buck their own party when necessary and that's john McCain and Sarah Palin. They have both done it. John McCain here in our nation's capitol and as he said, he has the scars to prove it. And Sarah Palin in a state where then entrenched powers were just about as dug in as you can imagine and that woman took them on and she racked up a pretty high score of wins.
HALL: Senator Joe Biden said yesterday in Montana that McCain and Palin may change the feel of politics but he has not heard a single thing on issues that affect every day people's lives. Healthcare, and jobs, what change to McCain and Palin bring on those topics?
PFOTENHUAER: I think they're just manufacturing their own feedback, if you will. I actually heard I think it was Gibbons claim there wasn't any discussion of policy at the convention when we were getting criticism for senator McCain's speech being so rife with policy. Let's take it issue by issue. Let's talk about protecting the taxpayers. You've got john McCain who's never asked for an earmark in his political career. You've got Barack Obama, in the three short years he's been here, request almost a billion dollars, including a million for his wife's employer, and 3.4 million for Biden's son's lobbying firm. You have corruption. John McCain taking on even the Abramoff scandal. The 9/11 commission.
HALL: Specifically Joe Biden said health care and jobs. What can you say with that?
PFOTENHAUER: Let's talk healthcare. Senator McCain's health care plan, $5,000 tax credit for families. $2,500 tax credit for individuals so that if you do not have a job, if your employer doesn't offer you health insurance, you have an option to do it. We're going to introduce competition across state lines that doesn't exist right now to lower health care costs. We're going to get millions and millions who were uninsured on the ranks of the insured as well as improving care and efficiency. From the standpoint of jobs, Senator McCain is going to keep taxes low and he's going to lower federal spending and increase export markets open to trade. That is the recipe for prosperity whether you try it here or abroad. Barack Obama is going to raise taxes, he's going to increase spending, and he's rattling sabers about undoing trade agreements with our largest trading partners.
HALL: […] Nancy, there is no question, the Obama campaign is trying to tie McCain directly to the past eight years of republican policy. What can you tell our viewers who were listening closely to what you're saying about how John McCain administration would be different or do think differently.
PFOTENHAUER: First of all you got Barack Obama who has the most liberal voting record in the US Senate. So the only change he's going to bring is higher spending, more government intervention and lower job creation. But to get to your point, Senator McCain has got an energy plan very different from the White House's energy plan. That's why he voted against the last energy bill that Barack Obama voted for. He's got a tax plan that's different from the current approach and that it lowers what is the second highest largest corporate rate or business rate in the world. That's why we're losing jobs overseas. Senator Obama wants to keep us with that burden on our backs.
HALL: What about the Obama campaign saying that he voted with bush 90% of the time? How do you refute that?
PFOTENHAUER: He voted with the democratic congress that has got a lower approval rating, over 90% of the time, more than Senator McCain. The question is, when you needed to challenge the status quo, who did it? That's john McCain. Barack Obama has never bucked his own party to put the country first and do anything difficult. He's got like three meager things to list. One, the nuclear issue was a voice vote. The other, an ethics reform, 96-0, because he carried his party leadership water and watered it down. He has no record. He voted present 130 times in the Illinois state legislature because he wouldn't take on a tough issue. That's not change. That's politics as usual.
Headline #3
Tucker Bounds Talks About McCain's Enthusiastic, Reform Ticket, Sarah Palin's Media Access, and Stolen INVESCO Field Flags (FNC 09/07/08 1:30pm)
BRIAN WILSON: A couple of minutes ago, new information coming in indicates there may well be voter next couple of days you may see the revelation of a major McCain-Palin bounce. Is this what you are picking up in your internal polling?
TUCKER BOUNDS: We are seeing a little bit of a surge in enthusiasm, to be entirely honest. I expect there will be a certain bounce in the polls. I think that is attributed to voters are starting to zero in on the two candidates and they recognizing that John McCain with governor Palin on the ticket, is a ticket about reform, with records of reform, and about making change, where as Barack Obama's ticket represents a lot of rhetoric and talk about change without a track record of actually doing so. Voters are dialing in now that we are out of the conventions and into the final stretch of the general election, voters are getting to take notice of the actual records of the candidates.
WILSON: But if this is right you could well be outside the margin of error leading Barack Obama for the first time in this campaign, that has got to be exciting for you.
BOUNDS: Well, it's exciting, but we're cautiously optimistic. It's a terrible election climate for republicans. We understand that, but we also understand we are running with a different type of republican. John McCain has shown time and time again that he is willing to buck his own party to make change, to make reforms. He has a record of actually doing it. This is going to be a change election, people want a new chapter in the white house and they want someone that has prove than they can do it, work in a bipartisan way and get rid of the rancor in Washington. That's the record John McCain has.
WILSON: Sarah Palin, a lot of questions about when you are going to put her out and let people actually ask her questions.
BOUNDS: Certainly, there are going to get questions. There has been clamoring in the media. […] We are looking forward to having some interviews and she will talk with the media, absolutely. It is a lot of speculation and the chattering clash in Washington, but at the end of the day whether she is talking to reporters or directly to voters, her record is of reforming government, making change. She has a great civic story. She is an incredible candidate and we are excited to have her on the ticket. I think all Americans and the media will be excited to see what they find.
WILSON: Colorado Springs yesterday, the McCain campaign and some supporters passed out flags that you say were rescued from INVESCO after the democratic national convention. The democrats say they weren't rescued, those McCain people stole our flags. Which is it, tucker?
BOUNDS: We are under the understanding there is a vendor at INVESCO Field that found the flags in garbage backs in and around dumpsters and brought them to the McCain campaign. We pledged to rescue them, to put them to good use. […] We will move those to memorial services and appropriate uses. What you are seeing out of the democratic national convention was a little bit of crisis control. They may have made a mistake and probably recognized it but we enjoyed using the flags and respecting them as appropriate.
Headline #4
Bob Woodward on Bush's Failings in Iraq (NBC 09/08/08 8:52am)
MATT LAUER: […] This is a harsh look at an administration and the president who you say, "was rarely the voice of realism on the Iraq War and too often failed to lead." […] when you say he wasn't the voice of realism, did he mislead intentionally or was he himself given bad information, that he then moved on to the American people?
BOB WOODWARD: Over the six-month period, before he announced the surge, he knew it was not working, and he would go out and say we are winning. there are meetings. […] In July '06, when they're looking at the strategy in detail, he turns it over to his national security adviser, Steve Hadley, who quizzes the Iraq commander and then Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.
LAUER: So early in the summer of 2006, when he comes out and says "we are winning the war," yet, you write about a conversation where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that the way don Rumsfeld was running the defense department, they were giving the president "fables" about Iraq.
WOODWARD: That's right. the information is -- they're optimistic, they hope to withdraw, they have that strategy of let's train the Iraqis, and then they realize it's not working, and the level of violence was just staggering in that country.
LAUER: The surge in 2007 in January, it was very controversial within the administration. There's some people who said bad idea. Let's not send 30,000 additional troops there. And there were military leaders who said, Mr. president, reluctantly, we could give you two brigades, and the president decided in the end to send five brigades. I had mixed feelings when I read this. First of all, President Bush often said to the American people, I'm going to make decisions on troop strength based on what I hear from my commanders on the ground. Are you telling me he ignored the advice of those commanders?
WOODWARD: He overruled them. As he saw it, it was the only alternative. And they told him -- I mean, the joint chiefs, the top military people, the head of the Army kept saying, you don't have enough time, you don't have force to do this. And of course, he was right, and the solution was to extend the tours in Iraq for the troops to 15 months.
LAUER: […] when you say in that first quote […] "all too often failed to lead," well, this is an example of leadership, though, in some strange way, isn't it? Some advisers are saying don't go with the surge. Military people are saying two brigades, not five. and he said, no, I'm going to go all in on this. I'm doubling down -- I think you even quoted, something you put in the book. That is leadership, like it or not, isn't it?
WOODWARD: […] for instance, when I interviewed him, he just said, Hadley, his national security adviser, drove this. He said, you know, when I asked, did you give them a deadline? People are dying. And he said, no, I don't think I did. This is nothing you hurry.
LAUER: You talk about this surge and its success, […] and you say one of the reasons might not be troop strength on the ground. It might be breakthrough in techniques in covert tactics that are being used to seek out and kill insurgent leaders. […] Are these game-changing tactics?
WOODWARD: Yeah, I think they are. In a statement Friday, the white house for the first time said they're newly developed techniques and operations that contributed to the drop in violence.
LAUER: Are they applicable elsewhere outside of Iraq in the overall War on Terror?
WOODWARD: Yeah, I believe so. I mean, this is -- remember World War II they had the Manhattan project for the a-bomb, and all of a sudden, the a-bomb was used in Japan twice and the war was over. They have developed some breakthrough techniques, which can't be talked about, because to talk about them is to alert the other side. You used the right word, they're game-changers.
LAUER: […] You write the following "as I complete the fourth book on President Bush and his wars, I keep returning to key questions. Most important, how did Bush perform as commander in chief? Has the president set up and enforced a decision-making system worthy of the sacrifices he's asked of others, particularly the men and women of the U.S. military and their families?" […]
WOODWARD: It's a sacred duty being commander in chief. We're going to elect a new one in a couple of months. When we are at war, what's your expectation of the Commander in Chief? That he's on duty all the time, working day and night to fix it. there was a six-month period here when the president of the united states knew it was not working, knew it was failing, and there was this slow process, no hurry. President not at some of the key meetings at the same time, he decided to do something that indeed helped and has worked, but there are other factors in all of this. […]
Headline #5
New McCain/Palin Ad Analyzed on Fox and Friends (FNC 09/08/08 8:16am)
STEVE DOOCY: Very effective ad?
KT MCFARLAN: Absolutely. You know, the choice of Palin is what ha really changed this whole race because it lets McCain be McCain. John McCain gets up in the morning looking for enemies to slay, bad guy, corrupt guys, pork barrel spenders, and she just doubles him up. And that's what this ad is all about.
KIRSTEN POWERS: It's obviously a very powerful ad because it's where the mood of the country is right now. It's that they want change, that's why Obama's been so popular, and they want things to be different, they want people who are going to come in and up end things in Washington. So, I think that they're going right at that message.
DAN: I do think it's an effective ad, but to quote Sarah Palin's line, instead of lipstick and a pit bull, this is lipstick on a pig. The McCain campaign has saddled with the Bush administration. […] It has nothing to do with Sarah Palin, it has to do with the Bush administration. The best thing the McCain campaign can do is change the subject from the fact that they're basically embraced the Bush administration right down the line on economic policy, on tax policy, and all they can do is hope that people aren't paying attention. And this ad is designed to kind of change the subject.
[…]
ANTHONY HOLM: This is a situation of legitimate reformers who have a history of reforming within their own party, which is why the bowling moms in the Mid-West are cluing in and coming here. These people, you can look at their history and say wow, they've done reform. We need, we have dysfunctional government at all levels, unlike Obama and Biden who have talked about change but haven't actually instituted it. This is legitimate reformers.
[…]
POWERS: She's definitely connecting with a lot of people and I think as a woman, regardless of who you support, I think she's someone to be proud of. She's someone who is balancing a family, she has a husband who's helping at home with the kids, she's very successful, and she's incredible. She's an incredible speaker, I don't agree with her politics necessarily, but I think that she's somebody that a lot of women can identify with.
MCFADDEN: […] It cuts beyond party lines, this is a women thing where you're a woman before you're a candidate, before you're a democrat, before you're a republican, and she really has tapped into a vain of most working women and mothers.
Headline #6
Conservative Blogger Attempts to Identify Fact v. Fiction on Sarah Palin Rumors (FNC 09/08/08 9:20am)
BILL HEMMER: What have you found there Charlie?
CHARLIE MARTIN: So far, I have got about 71 of them. 71 rumors or pieces of rumors about Sarah Palin. And of those 71 are rumors, almost all of them turn out to either be simply scurrilous or to be things that have been sort of taken out of context. Some of them, of course, are true. Her daughter is pregnant. She is the governor of Alaska, not the lieutenant governor, not the mayor of Wasilla still. And a lot of them have been really outrageous. Andrew Sullivan was pushing the one about her new son, trig, being actually her daughter's son. And there was no evidence for that. But there was some fuss about it.
HEMMER: This is your own version of the stop the smears campaign which was initiated by the Obama team about six months ago. This is what you're doing for Sarah Palin now.
MARTIN: That's effectively it, and I have been accumulating every rumor I've got to try to track them down.
HEMMER: Is it personal, is it directed at her family, or is it directed on the issues surrounding Governor Palin?
MARTIN: The rumors are pretty uniformly personal. Although a few of them do have issue components. For instance, there is talk about what has been the controversy in Wasilla about the sports center. Yes, indeed, she did push through a sports center that has caused Wasilla to have a bunch of long-term debt, something like $15 million. But, as I said on my site, how did you buy your house? It is not the sort of thing buy by saving up for it, and cities have trouble saving up anyway.
HEMMER: What kind of reaction are you getting? Hearing it from both sides?
MARTIN: I am hearing it from both sides. I'm getting less reaction from the left than I expected, although I suspect that might change now. And a lot of reaction from a lot of the right hand side that has been very favorable. In fact, I was picked up by several of the biggest blogs, Weekly Standard, National Review, as being the go-to guy for the list. They have led me to new rumors and to more information refuting rumors.
Headline #7
Chuck Todd Breaks Down the Battleground States and Possible Breakdowns of Election Map (MSNBC 09/08/08 9:25am)
CHUCK TODD: […] A new battleground map, where the states are, which ones are leaning Obama, which ones are leaning McCain, and what does the toss-ups look like. […] Here's what it looks like today, September 8th. Here are the big changes, Missouri, we move from toss up to lean McCain. This is Governor Palin and Governor Palin alone that moves Missouri back into the Republican column. Wisconsin, another state that for some reason Obama can't quite put away, moving from lean Obama back to toss-up. But here's some good news for Obama, Pennsylvania, a state that we have yet to see a poll in months showing McCain ahead, the pick of Joe Biden probably solidified southeast Pennsylvania, and that's why we've moved it into lean Obama. That gives our grand total, 228 for Obama, 200 for McCain, 110 electoral votes in the battleground. So the battleground shrinking ever so slightly. One footnote, we almost moved North Carolina to toss up. Not there yet, because again, we've yet to see a poll showing Obama ahead in that state.
TAMRON HALL: You got to look at how the Electoral College votes could shape out.
TODD: Well, it's interesting. […] Nevada, that's a state that might, right now, have McCain slightly ahead by a point or two. Wisconsin, yes we've moved it from lean Obama to toss-up, but again he's probably got a two or three point lead. Florida, a state that's with McCain. New Hampshire and Ohio are pure toss-ups right now. Colorado, pure toss-up. New Mexico, that might be the state we move next from toss-up into lean Obama. Michigan, […] that one probably still slightly leaning democrat. So that puts four states pure toss-ups, 46. So here would be our numbers if this were a week before the election, 260 for Obama, 232 for McCain. Well, why are these numbers important? Well, let's take a look. Obviously, Obama needs 10. Well, what happens if he only gets 9. Here's your nightmare scenario. 9 for Obama and the other three go to McCain, and this is where we get our electoral tie. […] It does show that every electoral vote then matters. New Hampshire's four becomes as important as Ohio's twenty because that would be what puts Obama over that 270 mark.
Headline #8
Only Three of Sarah Palin's Four Friends on Panel Pledge to Vote for Her (ABC 09/08/08 7:31am)
PATTI RICKER - Okay. Can I just—I just need to clarify something. I support Sarah as a friend, and I can't necessarily say who that I'm going to vote for [sic]. I haven't made up my mind yet.
I don't know what's going to happen, but I—you know, I am pro-choice and I don't agree with everything Sarah says either, but, again, I haven't said—I haven't committed to voting for anybody. I haven't decided yet.
SANDY HOEST: I have never voted republican for presidential and this may be the first time I vote republican for the presidential. I'm real excited to see the debates and make up my mind, but I haven't—I'm not committed. I don't know. Haven't decided.
[…]
AMY HANSEN: I know I have a really big mouth, but my vote is very personal and it's between me and the voting booth so I'm keeping my mouth shut on that one, but I love Sarah to pieces.
Summary of Shift:
Top political coverage today stemmed from new polls out that reveal a surge of enthusiasm for the McCain-Palin ticket, that has put Obama behind by four points, but within the margin of error. While McCain may be ahead nationally in the polls, in the key battleground states and in the Electoral College, Obama appears to have the edge and be closer to the 270 votes needed. Surrogates, Rick Davis, Nancy Pfotenhauer, and Tucker Bounds made the rounds heavily pushing the McCain-Palin ticket as the campaign of reform and change. A investigative piece on Sarah Palin's circle of friends reveals that even those closest to her may not vote for her due to her socially conservative record. Lastly, Bob Woodward has a new book out that portrays Bush acting alone in pursuing the surge and lying to the American people on the necessity of listening to the commanders on the ground.
Hurricane Ivan causes mandatory evacuation of the Florida Keys. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have officially been bailed out and taken over by the government, resulting in upward markets in the US and abroad. American missiles continue to target Taliban militants inside Pakistan. OPEC considers cutting oil production due to claims of too much supply.
Highlights:
1. Rick Davis Interviews
a. FNC: Rick Davis Discusses Sarah Palin, Her Reform Credentials, Her Ties to Lobbyists and earmarks, and Her Media Exposure
b. FNC: Rick Davis Discusses His Comments on Obama's Muslim and Radical Connections
c. FNC: Rick Davis Discusses How McCain Will Bring Change and How He Is Different Than Bush
d. MSNBC: Rick Davis Answers Questions on Palin's Earmarks, Obama's Radical Connections, and Talks Strategy
2. MSNBC: Nancy Pfotenhauer Attempts to Define McCain as the Agent of Change, and How He is No Bush
3. FNC: Tucker Bounds Talks About McCain's Enthusiastic, Reform Ticket, Sarah Palin's Media Access, and Stolen INVESCO Field Flags
4. NBC: Bob Woodward on Bush's Failings in Iraq
5. FNC: New McCain/Palin Ad Analyzed on Fox and Friends
6. FNC: Conservative Blogger Attempts to Identify Fact v. Fiction on Sarah Palin Rumors
7. MSNBC: Chuck Todd Breaks Down the Battleground States and Possible Breakdowns of Election Map
8. ABC: Only Three of Sarah Palin's Four Friends on Panel Pledge to Vote for Her
Highlights, No Clips:
9. MSNBC - JENNIFER PALMIERI: "When they say change, he's offering the same economic policies of George Bush, higher, bigger tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations. When he says change, it doesn't mean change when you vote with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Remember, when you have a campaign that's run by lobbyists […] What the McCain campaign strategy really is to ask voters to suspend disbelief and believe that this man who votes with Bush, is of the same party, has been in Washington for 25 years, is going to bring about change. I think in the end that's not going to work."
Clips:
Headline #1
Rick Davis Discusses Sarah Palin, Her Reform Credentials, Her Ties to Lobbyists and earmarks, and Her Media Exposure (FNC 09/07/08 6:20pm)
CHRIS MATTHEWS: As a matter of personal privilege I'm going to give you the opportunity to respond to David Axelrod who said for all the talk about wait until we come and shake up this lobbyists and the campaign team of McCain is filled with lobbyists, in your case former lobbyists and how do you respond.
RICK DAVIS: I think that it's just more of the same from David Axelrod and they have been running on ghosts of the past all along and I think it just shows they don't really have anything to talk about. If they want to run against Rick Davis or our campaign staff, let them, I think it is hilarious and is a wonderful distraction from the real issues we are trying to debate. It's a classic example of a campaign without anything else to say, so they pick on staff.
MATTHEWS: Let's turn to the choice of Sarah Palin as the running mate. What does she add to the ticket? Does she bring new states into play? How will use her.
DAVIS: I think she's exactly what we need to really focus the public's attention on the fact the brand of John McCain, the maverick, the independent, the guy who has been railing against corruption, and ethics abuses in Washington and who wants to reform government, and she reinforces that and it is a wonderful thing for our campaign to be able to get this kind of attention on our ticket coming out of the convention and we've had wonderful events and fantastic rallies and people are excited about this ticket. And this is a ticket that will govern Washington.
MATTHEWS: But aren't you vastly exaggerating her record as a reformer? Take a look. As mayor of Wasilla she hired a Washington lobbyist and got $27 million in earmarks and in her less than two years as governor, Alaska has asked for $589 million in pork-barrel projects. Her record as a reform, particularly on the issue of earmarks, is far from clean.
DAVIS: Well, let's be clear about this. When she was mayor of Wasilla, there were already people in place who were getting those grants from the federal government and small towns do a lot of that kind of activity.
MATTHEWS: She did hire a lobbyist.
DAVIS: The projects you talk about. These were not projects that she tried to get. These were projects the republican establishment in Alaska who she campaigned against and beat many times over were the ones picking up those grants and she vetoed more bills and cut back on more pork barrel spending in the state legislature than any other previous governor. She converted that legislator into reform because she passed ethics reforms and corruption reforms. She railed against the establishment, in Alaska and was able to accomplish great things, passing a significant energy bill that allowed them to create a natural gas pipeline and these are all things that a true reformer is able to accomplish and so, I don't disagree with the fact that there were pork-barrel projects coming to Alaska but not from her. Within the state legislature she beat back those efforts.
MATTHEWS: First of all, as governor, Alaska, during her one-and-a-half, two years as governor, Alaska continued to get more federal money for park barrel projects per capita than any state in the country. […] And she supported the bridge to nowhere and it was only after the federal government dropped it out and killed it, the congress killed, that she then opposed it and in fact still got the money for the approach, the ramp to the bridge to nowhere.
DAVIS: Congress didn't beat back the bridge to nowhere. That funding was in the grant and she said I'm not spending that money and what they did, they took a $500 million bridge and she turned it into a 2 million dollar ferry and that's what she did on her own without help from anybody else.
MATTHEWS: Actually it was congress that killed the money for the bridge to nowhere. Governor Palin has given some very good speeches this week and everybody, republican or democrat, would say that she was very effective at the republican convention. She's not answered a single question from the national media. When will she agree to an interview?
DAVIS: She'll agree to an interview when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it. […] It's not like there is no information about Sarah Palin, the governor, the mother, the agent for change. And there is plenty out there. I don't think our campaign is the campaign that has not given immense amount of access to the press, that is the Obama campaign.
MATTHEWS: Why is she scared to answer questions?
DAVIS: She's not scared to answer questions. But you know what? We run or campaign, not the news media and we'll do things on our timetable and honestly, this last week was not an exemplary moment for the news media. So why do we want to throw her into a cycle of piranhas called the news media who have nothing better to ask questions about than her personal life and children and I think our attitude would be, let it pass.
MATTHEWS: I think there are legitimate questions that, and it doesn't have to be a huge news conference and I'm not telling you ho to run your campaign, legitimate questions, is she or is she not ready to be commander-in-chief, if last week didn't work, why not this week?
DAVIS: Sarah Palin will have the opportunity to speak to the American people. She just gave a speech, to 40 million Americans in her convention. She's in the process of, you know, getting to know people out on the campaign trail and she will do interviews. But she'll do them on the terms and conditions of which the campaign decides that it is ready to do it. And Chris all due respect, I mean, the information the news media has been putting out on Sarah Palin is not objective journalism and until the point in time we feel like the news media will treat her with a level of respect and deference, I think it would be fool hardy to put her into that environment.
MATTHEWS: […] My point is there are legitimate questions to ask, whether fox or anybody else, about is she ready to be president, what does she know about foreign policy?
DAVIS: Absolutely, no question about that and she will be available to the news media, when and if we decide that that is going to be the case.
MATTHWEWS: So you are not willing at this point to say when?
DAVIS: No.
Rick Davis Discusses His Comments on Obama's Muslim and Radical Connections (FNC 09/07/08 6:30pm)
MATTHEWS: Let's get back to your comment last week, I discussed with David Axelrod and up on the screen, the election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates. […] Do you want to focus on personalities or a composite view of the candidates, not issues because of the fact, for instance we have 6.1% unemployment, the highest in five years?
DAVIS: No, Chris and what you didn't show on the screen was the next sentence, which is, the composite view is made up of people's values. It is made up of their opinions and made up of their judgment and their principles and so, then I let -- then the next sentence says and of course, issues will play an important role in people's final decision. So I respect the fact that the Obama campaign has some kind of a -- you know, obsession about rick Davis and I have been the focus of their advertising and now, their candidate seems to be wanting to attack me more than anybody else. That's fine, the water is warm and I'm happy to go toe-to-toe but to insinuate yesterday on the stump somehow those comments implied that I was going to, you know, indicate that he was going to have these Muslim connections or that he had these radical relationships, is absolutely out of control.
MATTHEWS: Wait, the Muslim thing may not be fair, your campaign has talked about the fact that he had a relationship with William Ayers.
DAVIS: But did the quote indicate that.
MATTHEWS: Well, the radical connections, that is what William Ayres is.
DAVIS: Where in the quote is radical connections?
MATTHEWS: You just quoted what Obama said on the trail.
DAVIS: Absolutely, yesterday, against my quote, he said this what is they are saying, by saying that it's about personalities. I didn't even say personalities, he is not correct in the way he's quoting me and he tries to use that to try and scare me and he says they'll tell you we'll try to scare people and they'll tell you that, you know, I have Muslim connections. Well, this is the same construct he's done before. He's trying to play victim and I don't think it is very flattering on his part.
Rick Davis Discusses How McCain Will Bring Change and How He Is Different Than Bush (FNC 09/07/08 6:40pm)
MATTHEWS: Okay, McCain keeps talk about change is coming. But in all the big bread and butter issues, taxes, social security, energy, trade, health care, there really are not big differences between John McCain and George Bush.
DAVIS: Oh, I think change is coming. I mean, look at George bush couldn't get anything done on social security. I mean, I think that is a fundamental difference between john McCain and George bush in the sense that I think john McCain's approach to social security, getting democrats to come over to the white house and sit down and get a deal so we can take it off the table, so that not only the people who are currently getting social security, can feel like they are safe and secure, but, all those people in the pipeline to receive it in the future know what their benefits will be and what it will cost.
MATTHEWS: Wait, let's take social security as an example. In fact, McCain's social security plan is almost identical to George w. Bush's, he's talking about some reform of the system, plus private accounts and you will never get private accounts through a democratic congress.
DAVIS: The difference is the approach and George Bush said, take it or lift, here's the way we do it, private accounts first and the balance of the social security system has to be fixed in the process. John McCain says exactly the opposite, and says, give me the leadership of congress, republicans or democrats, I don't care. Come over to the white house and sit down and let's find out a way to take off the table and once we satisfy the American public that we fixed the social security system, well into the future, then let's sit down and look at Medicare and Medicaid. because those are the things that are sapping our federal budget. So, what is the difference? And I think is an important difference, and it is changed politically, is john McCain has a history of getting things done, in congress, by sitting down with people who are part of the solution, not part of the problem. He'll sit down with democrats, independence, republicans, alike and say, we have got to change the system. He has a long history of doing that and nobody passed more bipartisan reforms in congress than john McCain. And he'll do it as president.
MATTHEWS: So you are willing to concede his starting out point is very similar to George w. Bush's, on all of these bread and butter issues, but the difference is the approach and how he deals with Congress?
DAVIS: I think there are lots of differences in some of the bread and butter issues. I think our approach on taxes and trade, even though as a republican, are very similar to George Bush, we have different proposals today. I mean, look, most importantly we have different proposals than Barack Obama, who has this somehow believes that raising taxes will cure an ailing economy, I mean, you know, economics 101 tells don't raise taxes into a recession and john McCain said over and over and we have to get more money into the pockets of the American public.
MATTHEWS: I want to you to talk strategy over the next 58 days and lets put up Karl Rove's electoral map, which shows Obama leads in states with 260 electoral votes, again 270 needed to win the presidency. Obviously it is still fluid but doesn't Obama have many more ways to get to 270 when you look at the map, than you do?
DAVIS: No, I think maps are maps and polls are polls and we are not worried and if we worried about polls we would have given up a year ago. What is amazing about that map, in my opinion, is Colorado. The democrats just spent tens of millions, maybe $100 million, in Colorado with their convention, and they dominated the news media for weeks at a time and John McCain just went into Colorado and had a huge rally incredibly enthusiastic support and even though the democrats have spent tens of millions of dollars in a state that is a clear targeted state, they weren't able to move it into their column.
MATTHEWS: […] If you had to frame in one or two sentences the choice that you want voters to have on their minds on election day, what would it be?
DAVIS: Well, I think it was really exemplified in the conventions. Our convention focused on putting the country first and John McCain has always put his country first, throughout his career. And willing to sacrifice his own political interests for the country at large. The Obama convention, it was all me first and Barack Obama is putting himself ahead of the democratic party and ahead of the country's interests and ahead of his party's interests and that is a history in a way he's conducted himself in his public life that I think is a clear difference between the two candidates.
Rick Davis Answers Questions on Palin's Earmarks, Obama's Radical Connections, and Talks Strategy (MSNBC 09/08/08 8:26am)
MIKA BRZENISKI: Did you hear David Axelrod on our show about 30 minutes ago?
RICK DAVIS: no, no, I didn't hear David.
BRZENISKI: He was pointing out governor Palin's record seems to contradict her image that's being painted there in the campaign as a change agent. Saying that as mayor of Wasilla, she hired a Washington lobbyist, that perhaps she asked for over $500 million in pork barrel projects during her 1 ½ years as governor, and so on and so on. Does her record back up the label, change agent?
DAVIS: I didn't hear David but I listened to your clip from Barack Obama railing about earmarks. I had to stop myself from laughing before I got on. Here is a guy who personally asked for over $1 billion worth of earmarks, including some that went directly to the hospital where his wife works. And he's talking about how somehow that we're casting a different light on this issue. That's the most hypocritical thing I ever heard in my life.
BRZENISKI: The one thing I'm seeing between these campaigns, now they have each other on the experience issue and feel like they can go after each other on the experience. Barack Obama versus Palin's. Being a Washington insider, Joe Biden versus John McCain. Now the word "change" being switched about. Are we going to see a difference between these campaigns or is the point here to muddy the waters?
DAVIS: I think that the Obama campaign is clearly on the defense, especially as regards to their only real theme in their campaign, which is change. The problem is they look anything but change. They spent the entire month on the attack. They've not had a single positive message to put out there. Then when they have the best opportunity there is to show whether they are willing to really change anything, Barack Obama, in what is singularly the most important decision he had to possibly make as a candidate for president, picks Joe Biden, which is probably the least change that you could possibly have in the selection of a vice presidential candidate. Then they complain viciously because John McCain actually reaches out to a real reformer, someone who has actually shaken up the old boy network, someone who campaigned against the ethnics and corruption abuses in politics, and all of a sudden, who looks more like change than Barack Obama? John McCain.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Let me ask you about the choice of Palin, which clearly seems to be giving the republican ticket a good bounce. You've come out of the convention and she is getting a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. Getting back to what Mika suggested, she did hire a lobbyist, she did go after earmarks for her town of Wasilla. So how do you square that circle?
DAVIS: Look, when she was the mayor of a small town in Alaska, there was a
practice that existed before she ever got there to use as many national and federal grants as they could to fund that town. And like many other towns around the country, it's the only way they can compete for funding. So I think that's exactly what it appears to be. It was a practice that while she was mayor they did away with and did not replicate when she was governor. I think it was the kind of thing that is a good lessons learned. I think the experience we ought to be pointing to is she cast away those kinds of actions later on in her career. In fact, when you look at her governances as governor of the state of Alaska, she cut pork out of the budget significantly. Wielded the veto pen line item more than any other governor in Alaskan history. The track record you ought to be looking at, instead of following up on these points the Obama people make. It's interesting. They complain initially being the mayor of a small town in Wasilla, Alaska didn't give her enough experience to be able to have a seat on this ticket. When they found out that people rejected that notion as being ridiculous since it was on par with the kind of experience that the top of their ticket Barack Obama had, now they are trying to undermine her experiences as a mayor. I just think, look what's their message? Do they have anything they are actually going to do for the country or spend the next couple of months running down our candidates?
PAT BUCHANAN: You are quoted saying this election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates. Is it basically the strategy of the campaign to say, look, we've got John McCain, the war hero, the old warrior, the man who's been there fighting and a real reformer and a maverick? And we've got this enormously exciting personality. And take a look at our two candidates as persons and their two candidates and ask, which of the two are equipped to lead the country? Which of the two do you want to lead the country, rather than focusing on the Bush-Cheney record?
DAVIS: The first thing is, it's amazing to me that Barack Obama would spend his time attacking Rick Davis. I was jumping for joy the day I saw that happen. But at least get the quote right. The quote is, and "the Washington post" is the one who had this, it says not only that the election is about the composite view people take away from these candidates. Then I say in the same sentence their values, their character, their opinions and their principles, all that go into the great rinse cycle of politics, obviously in the same sentence, issues have a big bearing on that. If Barack Obama is going to start quoting Rick Davis, I suggest he get the quote right. He said it was issues and not issues, but personality. I don't see personality in that at all. The other thing that just is amazing to me, is he then said that quote had something to do with me saying somehow that meant I was going to try to scare people or somehow Barack Obama's got Muslim connections or that he hangs around with radicals. I've got to tell you, I've been around this track in politics a long time but that is a leap of faith that requires a lot of introspection. What is he trying to do there? I don't understand the tactic he takes. Obviously, issues play an important role. But I don't think voters are solely issue voters. Pat, if you believe they don't take into consideration the values of the candidate, the character of the candidate, the candidate's opinions and principles, and then I would be shocked to think otherwise.
MITCHELL: Rick, were you just putting the Muslim thing up there? Were you just tossing that up there?
DAVIS: No, what Barack Obama said when he attacked me on this quote, he said that it -- direct quote, they say this isn't about issues it's about personalities. What they are really saying is that we are going to try to scare people about Barack. He goes on to say, "So we're going to say maybe he's got Muslim connections or we are going to say he hangs around with radicals. He is not patriotic." that is a Barack Obama quote about my quote. That is a leap of faith, in my book.
BRZENISKI: What do you think you are really doing here?
DAVIS: I think they just realized that these hollow themes that they tried to put out about change and about hope -- look, they are good themes if they are backed up with real substance. What John McCain is doing is going around talking about ways to fix the economy, ways to fix the energy situation. He's actually put out specific proposals on doing that. And he's connecting with the American public. What they are realizing is the hollow promises aren't cutting it. Now all of a sudden they are looking at being behind and they are scared and attacking. That's the only option they have left in their mind.
Headline #2
Nancy Pfotenhauer Attempts to Define McCain as the Agent of Change, and How He is No Bush (MSNBC 09/08/08 9:53am)
TAMRON HALL: […] how is the McCain campaign defining change?
NANCY PFOTENHAUER: Well, it's really who will reform Washington, DC? Who will take on then entrenched special interests and challenge them and drain the swamp, if you will. And there's only one ticket out that will do that and that has a record of being willing to buck their own party when necessary and that's john McCain and Sarah Palin. They have both done it. John McCain here in our nation's capitol and as he said, he has the scars to prove it. And Sarah Palin in a state where then entrenched powers were just about as dug in as you can imagine and that woman took them on and she racked up a pretty high score of wins.
HALL: Senator Joe Biden said yesterday in Montana that McCain and Palin may change the feel of politics but he has not heard a single thing on issues that affect every day people's lives. Healthcare, and jobs, what change to McCain and Palin bring on those topics?
PFOTENHUAER: I think they're just manufacturing their own feedback, if you will. I actually heard I think it was Gibbons claim there wasn't any discussion of policy at the convention when we were getting criticism for senator McCain's speech being so rife with policy. Let's take it issue by issue. Let's talk about protecting the taxpayers. You've got john McCain who's never asked for an earmark in his political career. You've got Barack Obama, in the three short years he's been here, request almost a billion dollars, including a million for his wife's employer, and 3.4 million for Biden's son's lobbying firm. You have corruption. John McCain taking on even the Abramoff scandal. The 9/11 commission.
HALL: Specifically Joe Biden said health care and jobs. What can you say with that?
PFOTENHAUER: Let's talk healthcare. Senator McCain's health care plan, $5,000 tax credit for families. $2,500 tax credit for individuals so that if you do not have a job, if your employer doesn't offer you health insurance, you have an option to do it. We're going to introduce competition across state lines that doesn't exist right now to lower health care costs. We're going to get millions and millions who were uninsured on the ranks of the insured as well as improving care and efficiency. From the standpoint of jobs, Senator McCain is going to keep taxes low and he's going to lower federal spending and increase export markets open to trade. That is the recipe for prosperity whether you try it here or abroad. Barack Obama is going to raise taxes, he's going to increase spending, and he's rattling sabers about undoing trade agreements with our largest trading partners.
HALL: […] Nancy, there is no question, the Obama campaign is trying to tie McCain directly to the past eight years of republican policy. What can you tell our viewers who were listening closely to what you're saying about how John McCain administration would be different or do think differently.
PFOTENHAUER: First of all you got Barack Obama who has the most liberal voting record in the US Senate. So the only change he's going to bring is higher spending, more government intervention and lower job creation. But to get to your point, Senator McCain has got an energy plan very different from the White House's energy plan. That's why he voted against the last energy bill that Barack Obama voted for. He's got a tax plan that's different from the current approach and that it lowers what is the second highest largest corporate rate or business rate in the world. That's why we're losing jobs overseas. Senator Obama wants to keep us with that burden on our backs.
HALL: What about the Obama campaign saying that he voted with bush 90% of the time? How do you refute that?
PFOTENHAUER: He voted with the democratic congress that has got a lower approval rating, over 90% of the time, more than Senator McCain. The question is, when you needed to challenge the status quo, who did it? That's john McCain. Barack Obama has never bucked his own party to put the country first and do anything difficult. He's got like three meager things to list. One, the nuclear issue was a voice vote. The other, an ethics reform, 96-0, because he carried his party leadership water and watered it down. He has no record. He voted present 130 times in the Illinois state legislature because he wouldn't take on a tough issue. That's not change. That's politics as usual.
Headline #3
Tucker Bounds Talks About McCain's Enthusiastic, Reform Ticket, Sarah Palin's Media Access, and Stolen INVESCO Field Flags (FNC 09/07/08 1:30pm)
BRIAN WILSON: A couple of minutes ago, new information coming in indicates there may well be voter next couple of days you may see the revelation of a major McCain-Palin bounce. Is this what you are picking up in your internal polling?
TUCKER BOUNDS: We are seeing a little bit of a surge in enthusiasm, to be entirely honest. I expect there will be a certain bounce in the polls. I think that is attributed to voters are starting to zero in on the two candidates and they recognizing that John McCain with governor Palin on the ticket, is a ticket about reform, with records of reform, and about making change, where as Barack Obama's ticket represents a lot of rhetoric and talk about change without a track record of actually doing so. Voters are dialing in now that we are out of the conventions and into the final stretch of the general election, voters are getting to take notice of the actual records of the candidates.
WILSON: But if this is right you could well be outside the margin of error leading Barack Obama for the first time in this campaign, that has got to be exciting for you.
BOUNDS: Well, it's exciting, but we're cautiously optimistic. It's a terrible election climate for republicans. We understand that, but we also understand we are running with a different type of republican. John McCain has shown time and time again that he is willing to buck his own party to make change, to make reforms. He has a record of actually doing it. This is going to be a change election, people want a new chapter in the white house and they want someone that has prove than they can do it, work in a bipartisan way and get rid of the rancor in Washington. That's the record John McCain has.
WILSON: Sarah Palin, a lot of questions about when you are going to put her out and let people actually ask her questions.
BOUNDS: Certainly, there are going to get questions. There has been clamoring in the media. […] We are looking forward to having some interviews and she will talk with the media, absolutely. It is a lot of speculation and the chattering clash in Washington, but at the end of the day whether she is talking to reporters or directly to voters, her record is of reforming government, making change. She has a great civic story. She is an incredible candidate and we are excited to have her on the ticket. I think all Americans and the media will be excited to see what they find.
WILSON: Colorado Springs yesterday, the McCain campaign and some supporters passed out flags that you say were rescued from INVESCO after the democratic national convention. The democrats say they weren't rescued, those McCain people stole our flags. Which is it, tucker?
BOUNDS: We are under the understanding there is a vendor at INVESCO Field that found the flags in garbage backs in and around dumpsters and brought them to the McCain campaign. We pledged to rescue them, to put them to good use. […] We will move those to memorial services and appropriate uses. What you are seeing out of the democratic national convention was a little bit of crisis control. They may have made a mistake and probably recognized it but we enjoyed using the flags and respecting them as appropriate.
Headline #4
Bob Woodward on Bush's Failings in Iraq (NBC 09/08/08 8:52am)
MATT LAUER: […] This is a harsh look at an administration and the president who you say, "was rarely the voice of realism on the Iraq War and too often failed to lead." […] when you say he wasn't the voice of realism, did he mislead intentionally or was he himself given bad information, that he then moved on to the American people?
BOB WOODWARD: Over the six-month period, before he announced the surge, he knew it was not working, and he would go out and say we are winning. there are meetings. […] In July '06, when they're looking at the strategy in detail, he turns it over to his national security adviser, Steve Hadley, who quizzes the Iraq commander and then Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.
LAUER: So early in the summer of 2006, when he comes out and says "we are winning the war," yet, you write about a conversation where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that the way don Rumsfeld was running the defense department, they were giving the president "fables" about Iraq.
WOODWARD: That's right. the information is -- they're optimistic, they hope to withdraw, they have that strategy of let's train the Iraqis, and then they realize it's not working, and the level of violence was just staggering in that country.
LAUER: The surge in 2007 in January, it was very controversial within the administration. There's some people who said bad idea. Let's not send 30,000 additional troops there. And there were military leaders who said, Mr. president, reluctantly, we could give you two brigades, and the president decided in the end to send five brigades. I had mixed feelings when I read this. First of all, President Bush often said to the American people, I'm going to make decisions on troop strength based on what I hear from my commanders on the ground. Are you telling me he ignored the advice of those commanders?
WOODWARD: He overruled them. As he saw it, it was the only alternative. And they told him -- I mean, the joint chiefs, the top military people, the head of the Army kept saying, you don't have enough time, you don't have force to do this. And of course, he was right, and the solution was to extend the tours in Iraq for the troops to 15 months.
LAUER: […] when you say in that first quote […] "all too often failed to lead," well, this is an example of leadership, though, in some strange way, isn't it? Some advisers are saying don't go with the surge. Military people are saying two brigades, not five. and he said, no, I'm going to go all in on this. I'm doubling down -- I think you even quoted, something you put in the book. That is leadership, like it or not, isn't it?
WOODWARD: […] for instance, when I interviewed him, he just said, Hadley, his national security adviser, drove this. He said, you know, when I asked, did you give them a deadline? People are dying. And he said, no, I don't think I did. This is nothing you hurry.
LAUER: You talk about this surge and its success, […] and you say one of the reasons might not be troop strength on the ground. It might be breakthrough in techniques in covert tactics that are being used to seek out and kill insurgent leaders. […] Are these game-changing tactics?
WOODWARD: Yeah, I think they are. In a statement Friday, the white house for the first time said they're newly developed techniques and operations that contributed to the drop in violence.
LAUER: Are they applicable elsewhere outside of Iraq in the overall War on Terror?
WOODWARD: Yeah, I believe so. I mean, this is -- remember World War II they had the Manhattan project for the a-bomb, and all of a sudden, the a-bomb was used in Japan twice and the war was over. They have developed some breakthrough techniques, which can't be talked about, because to talk about them is to alert the other side. You used the right word, they're game-changers.
LAUER: […] You write the following "as I complete the fourth book on President Bush and his wars, I keep returning to key questions. Most important, how did Bush perform as commander in chief? Has the president set up and enforced a decision-making system worthy of the sacrifices he's asked of others, particularly the men and women of the U.S. military and their families?" […]
WOODWARD: It's a sacred duty being commander in chief. We're going to elect a new one in a couple of months. When we are at war, what's your expectation of the Commander in Chief? That he's on duty all the time, working day and night to fix it. there was a six-month period here when the president of the united states knew it was not working, knew it was failing, and there was this slow process, no hurry. President not at some of the key meetings at the same time, he decided to do something that indeed helped and has worked, but there are other factors in all of this. […]
Headline #5
New McCain/Palin Ad Analyzed on Fox and Friends (FNC 09/08/08 8:16am)
STEVE DOOCY: Very effective ad?
KT MCFARLAN: Absolutely. You know, the choice of Palin is what ha really changed this whole race because it lets McCain be McCain. John McCain gets up in the morning looking for enemies to slay, bad guy, corrupt guys, pork barrel spenders, and she just doubles him up. And that's what this ad is all about.
KIRSTEN POWERS: It's obviously a very powerful ad because it's where the mood of the country is right now. It's that they want change, that's why Obama's been so popular, and they want things to be different, they want people who are going to come in and up end things in Washington. So, I think that they're going right at that message.
DAN: I do think it's an effective ad, but to quote Sarah Palin's line, instead of lipstick and a pit bull, this is lipstick on a pig. The McCain campaign has saddled with the Bush administration. […] It has nothing to do with Sarah Palin, it has to do with the Bush administration. The best thing the McCain campaign can do is change the subject from the fact that they're basically embraced the Bush administration right down the line on economic policy, on tax policy, and all they can do is hope that people aren't paying attention. And this ad is designed to kind of change the subject.
[…]
ANTHONY HOLM: This is a situation of legitimate reformers who have a history of reforming within their own party, which is why the bowling moms in the Mid-West are cluing in and coming here. These people, you can look at their history and say wow, they've done reform. We need, we have dysfunctional government at all levels, unlike Obama and Biden who have talked about change but haven't actually instituted it. This is legitimate reformers.
[…]
POWERS: She's definitely connecting with a lot of people and I think as a woman, regardless of who you support, I think she's someone to be proud of. She's someone who is balancing a family, she has a husband who's helping at home with the kids, she's very successful, and she's incredible. She's an incredible speaker, I don't agree with her politics necessarily, but I think that she's somebody that a lot of women can identify with.
MCFADDEN: […] It cuts beyond party lines, this is a women thing where you're a woman before you're a candidate, before you're a democrat, before you're a republican, and she really has tapped into a vain of most working women and mothers.
Headline #6
Conservative Blogger Attempts to Identify Fact v. Fiction on Sarah Palin Rumors (FNC 09/08/08 9:20am)
BILL HEMMER: What have you found there Charlie?
CHARLIE MARTIN: So far, I have got about 71 of them. 71 rumors or pieces of rumors about Sarah Palin. And of those 71 are rumors, almost all of them turn out to either be simply scurrilous or to be things that have been sort of taken out of context. Some of them, of course, are true. Her daughter is pregnant. She is the governor of Alaska, not the lieutenant governor, not the mayor of Wasilla still. And a lot of them have been really outrageous. Andrew Sullivan was pushing the one about her new son, trig, being actually her daughter's son. And there was no evidence for that. But there was some fuss about it.
HEMMER: This is your own version of the stop the smears campaign which was initiated by the Obama team about six months ago. This is what you're doing for Sarah Palin now.
MARTIN: That's effectively it, and I have been accumulating every rumor I've got to try to track them down.
HEMMER: Is it personal, is it directed at her family, or is it directed on the issues surrounding Governor Palin?
MARTIN: The rumors are pretty uniformly personal. Although a few of them do have issue components. For instance, there is talk about what has been the controversy in Wasilla about the sports center. Yes, indeed, she did push through a sports center that has caused Wasilla to have a bunch of long-term debt, something like $15 million. But, as I said on my site, how did you buy your house? It is not the sort of thing buy by saving up for it, and cities have trouble saving up anyway.
HEMMER: What kind of reaction are you getting? Hearing it from both sides?
MARTIN: I am hearing it from both sides. I'm getting less reaction from the left than I expected, although I suspect that might change now. And a lot of reaction from a lot of the right hand side that has been very favorable. In fact, I was picked up by several of the biggest blogs, Weekly Standard, National Review, as being the go-to guy for the list. They have led me to new rumors and to more information refuting rumors.
Headline #7
Chuck Todd Breaks Down the Battleground States and Possible Breakdowns of Election Map (MSNBC 09/08/08 9:25am)
CHUCK TODD: […] A new battleground map, where the states are, which ones are leaning Obama, which ones are leaning McCain, and what does the toss-ups look like. […] Here's what it looks like today, September 8th. Here are the big changes, Missouri, we move from toss up to lean McCain. This is Governor Palin and Governor Palin alone that moves Missouri back into the Republican column. Wisconsin, another state that for some reason Obama can't quite put away, moving from lean Obama back to toss-up. But here's some good news for Obama, Pennsylvania, a state that we have yet to see a poll in months showing McCain ahead, the pick of Joe Biden probably solidified southeast Pennsylvania, and that's why we've moved it into lean Obama. That gives our grand total, 228 for Obama, 200 for McCain, 110 electoral votes in the battleground. So the battleground shrinking ever so slightly. One footnote, we almost moved North Carolina to toss up. Not there yet, because again, we've yet to see a poll showing Obama ahead in that state.
TAMRON HALL: You got to look at how the Electoral College votes could shape out.
TODD: Well, it's interesting. […] Nevada, that's a state that might, right now, have McCain slightly ahead by a point or two. Wisconsin, yes we've moved it from lean Obama to toss-up, but again he's probably got a two or three point lead. Florida, a state that's with McCain. New Hampshire and Ohio are pure toss-ups right now. Colorado, pure toss-up. New Mexico, that might be the state we move next from toss-up into lean Obama. Michigan, […] that one probably still slightly leaning democrat. So that puts four states pure toss-ups, 46. So here would be our numbers if this were a week before the election, 260 for Obama, 232 for McCain. Well, why are these numbers important? Well, let's take a look. Obviously, Obama needs 10. Well, what happens if he only gets 9. Here's your nightmare scenario. 9 for Obama and the other three go to McCain, and this is where we get our electoral tie. […] It does show that every electoral vote then matters. New Hampshire's four becomes as important as Ohio's twenty because that would be what puts Obama over that 270 mark.
Headline #8
Only Three of Sarah Palin's Four Friends on Panel Pledge to Vote for Her (ABC 09/08/08 7:31am)
PATTI RICKER - Okay. Can I just—I just need to clarify something. I support Sarah as a friend, and I can't necessarily say who that I'm going to vote for [sic]. I haven't made up my mind yet.
I don't know what's going to happen, but I—you know, I am pro-choice and I don't agree with everything Sarah says either, but, again, I haven't said—I haven't committed to voting for anybody. I haven't decided yet.
SANDY HOEST: I have never voted republican for presidential and this may be the first time I vote republican for the presidential. I'm real excited to see the debates and make up my mind, but I haven't—I'm not committed. I don't know. Haven't decided.
[…]
AMY HANSEN: I know I have a really big mouth, but my vote is very personal and it's between me and the voting booth so I'm keeping my mouth shut on that one, but I love Sarah to pieces.
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