First Door on the Left

If there was ever any doubt in anybody’s mind that Johnny McCain is running for George W. Bush’s third term, it should be gone now…

McCain Orders Shake-Up of His Campaign

Steve Schmidt

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign has gone through its second shake-up in a year as Mr. McCain, responding to Republican concerns that his candidacy was faltering, put Steve Schmidt in charge of day-to-day operations and abandoned an effort to have the campaign run by 11 regional managers, the senator’s aides said Wednesday.

Mr. Schmidt is a veteran of President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign and he worked closely with Karl Rove, who was Mr. Bush’s political adviser. His installation at Mr. McCain’s headquarters sharply diminished the responsibilities of Rick Davis, who has been Mr. McCain’s campaign manager since the last shake-up nearly a year ago.

Mr. McCain’s advisers said that Mr. Davis would continue to hold the position of campaign manager, but that Mr. Schmidt had taken over every major operation where Mr. McCain has shown signs of struggling: communications, scheduling and basic political strategy.

The shift was approved by Mr. McCain after several aides, including Mr. Schmidt, warned him about 10 days ago that he was in danger of losing the presidential election unless he revamped his campaign operation, according to two officials close to the campaign.[..]

Mr. Schmidt’s elevation is the latest sign of increasing influence of veterans of Mr. Rove’s campaign efforts in the McCain operation. Nicolle Wallace, who was communications director for Mr. Bush in the 2004 campaign and in his White House, has joined the campaign as a senior adviser, and will travel with Mr. McCain every other week. Greg Jenkins, another veteran of Mr. Rove’s operation, has joined the McCain communications operation.

Mr. Jenkins is a former Fox News producer and a director of Mr. Bush’s presidential advance team that set up political events.

“I think the time has come for Sen. Obama to not just repudiate Gen. Clark, but to cut him loose.” — Johnny McCain, July 1, 2008

Yes, I rather imagine that John McCain is wishing that Barack Obama would “cut General Wesley Clark loose.” It must be terribly embarrassing, not to mention inconvenient, to have somebody on the other side who actually has some military experience and has demonstrated some good judgment in his lifetime.

You really can’t blame Johnny and his surrogates for wishing that General Clark would just go away.

Somehow, I don’t think it’s going be quite that easy…

WASHINGTON (AP) - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark rejected suggestions he apologize Tuesday for saying John McCain’s medal-winning military service does not qualify him for the White House. Elaborating, Clark said a president must have judgment, not merely courage and character.

Courage? Perhaps. (40 years ago.) Character? Debatable.

P.S. It really is fun to watch Johnny McCain and the Republicans crying in their milk like this, isn’t it? If they can’t stand up to Wes Clark (who, by the way, is on our side), how the hell can we expect them to stand up to al Quaeda and all the other bad guys of the world?

Whatever money problems Johnny McCain may have had seem to now be a thing of the past. He just bought himself a brand new airplane. (Well, new to the McCain campaign, anyway. It’s a Boeing 737-400. Boeing delivered the last of this model in early 2000; the first was delivered in 1988.)

The New York Times reports:

The more deluxe accommodations of the plane, which will seat 95 and was paid for by the campaign, will be far different from the less grand Straight Talk bus with alternator problems that the campaign turned to after it nearly ran out of money about a year ago, and even from the Jet Blue charter that his campaign has used in this campaign.

There will be 10 first-class seats up front for Mr. McCain and his guests, as well as a telephone and a fax machine. The journalists who will sit in the back, behind the Secret Service agents, are promised electrical outlets.

And mindful of the lighting issues that have kept Mr. McCain from holding many news conferences on the old plane, the new area will be television-ready. It will be wired for microphones, have specialty lighting and have room for a television camera.

Very nice indeed. Perhaps Johnny and Cindy can keep it and use it to fly between their numerous houses after the campaign is over. (The White House, fortunately for us, will not be one of them.)

If the Democrats expect to win this year’s presidential election, they really need to stop wimping out all the time. I’m not kidding around here, folks. My party needs to grow a pair.

Yesterday, during an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation, General Wesley Clark, in response to a question from moderator Bob Schieffer, said:

“Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”

That is a true statement and I have said it before right here on this weblog. However, the rabid right wingers saw it as an attack on the frail old man they have chosen begrudgingly accepted as their 2008 presidential nominee. They objected and the Obama campaign immediately capitulated…

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, “As he’s said many times before, Sen. Obama honors and respects Senator McCain’s service, and of course he rejects yesterday’s statement by Gen. Clark.”

Sen. Obama rejects yesterday’s statement by Gen. Clark.

Wrong answer!

The correct answer would have been:

General Wesley K. Clark

“General Wesley Clark is a retired General of the United States Army. He graduated as valedictorian of his class at West Point, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford where he obtained a degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics & Economics), and later graduated from the Command and General Staff College with a master’s degree in military science. He spent 34 years in the Army and the Department of Defense, receiving many military decorations, several honorary knighthoods, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. His latest assignment was as Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000. [source]

We honor the service of General Wesley Clark, value his opinions and are grateful to have his support and his advice in this all-important campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America.

We will put the service of General Wesley Clark up against that of John Sidney McCain III any day of the week. That is a debate we will be glad to have.”

That is what they should have said. Instead, they sent the candidate out to make a speech about how nobody’s patriotism should ever be challenged (Sen. McCain’s patriotism was not challenged; his qualifications for the presidency were) and then they issue a statement in which they “reject yesterday’s statement by Gen. Wesley Clark.”

Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy.

I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me that Barack Obama may have blown it today. He seems to believe that if he plays nice, so will the Republicans. They won’t.

UDPATE: Watch the video…

(Could Schieffer possibly be more biased? One could almost believe he works for Fox News rather than CBS.)

Those on the right who are feigning such outrage over the new logo of the Barack Obama presidential campaign should perhaps look in their own back yard. Here are three logos currently in use by the National Republican Senatorial Committee:

In the event that you are in need of a refresher, here is the new Obama logo:

Of the bunch, the Obama logo is definitely the most imaginative and the better looking. As I stated in my earlier post on this topic, it will serve until we take the real presidential seal away from the impostor now using it.

Besides, I still have not seen or read anything official from the campaign stating that the new logo has been adopted, nor have I seen it used other than when Senator Obama was speaking to the governors’ group last Friday. It still does not appear on the official campaign website. Perhaps the campaign was just taking it out for a test run? (If it were up to me, I’d have the dang thing woven into the new rug for the Oval Office.)

As far as I am able to determine, the official logo of the campaign continues to be this:

(h/t Mark Nickolas)

UPDATE: “Obama’s presidential seal gone after one use.” Looks like y’all can put the outrage away for use on another day.

[Friday night cartoons are in the post prior to this.]

The Barack Obama campaign unveiled a new logo this morning. Here it is alongside the presidential seal:

(You can click on the picture to make it bigger.)

A bit cheeky perhaps, but I like it. Senator Obama will be able to use the real one as soon as we take it away from the impostor in January.

By the way, “vero possumus” is Latin for “yes we can.” (Actually a bit closer to “in truth we can,” but it’ll serve.)

(Source: CNN)

P.S. You have to admit that it’s just a little more imaginative than the McCain campaign logo:

UPDATE: As of 7:00 p.m. CDT on Saturday, June 21, this new logo has yet to make an appearance on the official Obama campaign website.

Okay, I confess, I have never watched The View. I’m sorry. It just does not come on at an hour when I’m generally watching the tube. When I heard about this video, I had to watch it.

The video is a little over 24 minutes in length. You may not have time to watch the whole thing. I really encourage you to at least watch the first minute. It is so easy to visualize Michelle Obama as the next First Lady of the United States. I actually read somewhere today where somebody mentioned that she may be running for the presidency herself in twelve years or so. I can so see it.

Anyway… watch it. At least the first minute or so…

My man Mike Huckabee, who the Republicans passed over for their presidential nod but for whom I am still holding out hope for a vice presidential nod, delivered a speech at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo yesterday. Afterward, he spoke with reporters…

Huckabee: Demonizing Obama is a ‘fatal mistake’

Mike Huckabee

(CNN) – Former GOP presidential contender Mike Huckabee called Barack Obama’s candidacy “a landmark achievement” Tuesday, and warned fellow Republicans not to demonize Obama.

“Republicans will make a fundamental if not fatal mistake if they seek to win the election by demonizing Barack Obama,” Huckabee told reporters in Tokyo, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.

Huckabee praised the country for getting “to a point where we did not see his color but we truly saw his charisma, his message and what he brought to the campaign trail.”

“When people are really hurting — and they are right now — they’re not looking at a person’s race,” he added.

Too late, Mike.

To their credit, the Republicans in Texas have disavowed this button which was sold at their state convention this past weekend…

Then there is right wing “humor” like the following, gleaned from The BoBo Files today…

Giving BoBo the benefit of the doubt, he was probably trying to be funny. The vendor selling that button at the Texas Republican Convention probably thought it was funny, too.

It’s a thin line.

Hillary Clinton has been enjoying a well-deserved vacation. It is time for her to get back to work…

Clinton, Obama to make joint appearance next week

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will make a joint public appearance next week for the first time since she ended her White House bid.

Clinton’s national finance director, Jonathan Mantz, sent top donors an invitation Tuesday for a June 26 meeting in Washington, D.C. featuring both former rivals. Mantz also asked Clinton donors to show unity by giving Obama $2,300, the maximum donation allowable under federal campaign finance laws.

He added that Clinton “will do everything she can to unify the party and to elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.”

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