Denye nouvèl Eleksyon Meriken yo. Obama devan, li devan nèt. Ann gade

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

CAMPAIGN NEWS


Media Said To See Obama Win As "Foregone Conclusion"


The New York Times reports this morning on the front of its "C" section, "News shows should probably come with a spoiler alert: the following program contains images and language that seem to jump to a foregone conclusion. ... One week away from the election news anchors and commentators have the taut, self-conscious demeanor they don on election nights when the exit polls are in, but when they are duty-bound not to declare a winner." In the Washington Post, Howard Kurtz writes that "if, as a former McCain strategist put it to Politico, 'the cake is baked' for his man's defeat, it's fair to ask whether the media have provided the flour, the frosting and the candles."

Obama Delivers "Closing Argument" In Ohio


NBC Nightly News reported Sen. Barack Obama "started the final push to Election Day with a big speech in Canton, Ohio, today. It was what he called...his 'closing argument,' where he returned to a lot of the very familiar themes we heard during the primaries of unity and hope. They're oldies but goodies say his campaign -- ones that they credit for getting him this far in the process." The Wall Street Journal reports from Canton, Ohio, Obama's "speech contained little that was new, instead serving as a summary of his 21-month campaign." ABC World News said "officials for the Obama campaign say they feel that consistency serves Senator Obama well, especially in contrast they say with Senator McCain, who's been jumping around from theme to theme, hoping for something to stick." According to the CBS Evening News, Obama "rallied his supporters with his call to champion the middle-class, do away with Wall Street greed and end the politics of division. It's a call he hopes will drown out increasingly negative Republican 'robo-calls' and other attacks."
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In 2001, Obama Called For Redistribution Of Wealth


ABC World News reported that Sen. John McCain yesterday "blasted" Sen. Barack Obama "for, he said, having once advocated the redistribution of wealth." Fox News' Special Report reported McCain "seized on 7-year-old radio Obama comment about using the courts to redistribute the wealth." Fox played the 2001 audio recording of Obama saying, "One of the, I think, the tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think, that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that." The Washington Times notes that clips of the 2001 interview with Chicago Public Radio "were posted to YouTube and linked Monday morning by the Drudge Report. Mr. McCain said it was another of the 'unscripted moments' that are piling up and giving voters a glimpse of an Obama administration."
According to the New York Times (10/28, A15, Falcone, 1.12M), Obama, at the time a state senator and professor at the University of Chicago Law School, "did not express regret that the courts did not take steps to spread wealth, as Republicans contended. But neither did he speak dismissively in the interview about the concept, according to the edited tape."

McCain Says He And Obama "Both Disagree" With Bush's Economic Policies


NBC Nightly News reported Sen. John McCain "continued his efforts to separate himself from the two men who could deny him the White House -- Barack Obama and George Bush." McCain: "We both disagree with President Bush on economic policy. The difference is [Obama] thinks taxes have been too low, and I think that spending has been too high." The AP reports, "Fading in the polls, John McCain fought Barack Obama for support in economically hard-hit Ohio." McClatchy reports that in Cleveland, McCain said, "With one week left in this campaign, the choice facing Americans is stark. Our plan will create jobs. His plan to raise taxes...will cut jobs. It's a difference of millions of jobs...and Americans are beginning to figure that out." The New York Times reports McCain "was surrounded by advisors and supporters with economic credentials. They included John Taylor, a Stanford University economist and former Under Secretary of the Treasury, and Mitt Romney...as well as business leaders like Meg Whitman, the former chief executive of eBay and David Farr, the chief executive of Emerson, the electronics manufacturer."

Obama Will Air Half-Hour Ads On CBS, NBC And Fox Wednesday


USA Today reports Sen. Barack Obama "will punctuate his broadcast strategy Wednesday with prime-time commercials on CBS, NBC and Fox. The three 30-minute ads, which cost Obama nearly $1 million apiece, mark the first time in 16 years that a White House hopeful has aired commercials of that length on broadcast networks. Billionaire Ross Perot paid for 11 half-hour ads during his unsuccessful 1992 bid as an independent." In the Washington Post, TV columnist Lisa de Moraes writes, "ABC finally offered Barack Obama's camp the 8 p.m. half-hour in its Wednesday lineup for his campaign-related program," but "in an ironic twist," Obama's campaign "passed on ABC's offer, saying it has allocated the funds elsewhere."

Reputed Neo-Nazis Charged With Plotting Obama Assassination, Killing Spree


ABC World News reported, "Federal authorities say they have broken up an improbable plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads in Tennessee to assassinate Barack Obama after they had shot or beheaded 102 black Americans. They two men apparently planned to go on a nation-wide killing spree before shooting at Obama from a speeding car. ... It's the second white supremacist assassination plot targeting Obama we have learned about in the last three months." NBC Nightly News reported that "investigators are very skeptical they had the wherewithal to carry it out."
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National Polls Show Obama Leads Ranging From Three To 10 Points


National polls continue to show Barack Obama leading John McCain in the race for the White House. However, the size of that lead varies widely.
The GWU/Battleground poll of 1,000 likely voters taken October 20-23 and October 26 shows Obama leading McCain 49%-46%.
The IBD /TIPP daily presidential tracking poll of 874 likely voters taken October 22-26 shows Obama leading McCain 47%-44%.
The Gallup daily presidential tracking poll of 2,797 registered voters taken October 24-26 has two likely voter models – one (based on past voting behavior and current intention to vote) shows Obama leading McCain 50%-45%, while the second (based on current intention to vote) shows Obama up 53%-43%.
The C-Span/Zogby daily presidential tracking poll of 1,204 likely voters taken October 25-27 shows Obama leading McCain 49%-45%.
The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll for October 26 shows Obama leading McCain 51%-46%, the same as the previous day.
The ABC News /Washington Post daily presidential tracking poll of 1,314 likely voters taken October 23-26 shows Obama leading McCain 52%-45%.
The Hotline/Diageo tracking poll of 879 likely voters taken October 24-26 shows Obama up 50%-42%.