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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Degrading His Brand

Posted by: Carol Platt Liebau at 9:51 PM

Amanda blogged earlier today about Barack Obama's playing of the race card.

Maybe Barack did it because he's getting nervous. After all, he's still running neck-and-neck with John McCain, even after pulling out all the stops on his foreign "getting to know you" tour. Maybe he's just trying to find a way to change a press narrative that's focusing more and more on egObamamania, and hopes to win the press back over to his side by eliciting its indignation towad McCain.

But invoking does seem to be an emerging pattern for Barack when he feels under political pressure. As I pointed out at the time, when he was trying to get past the Jeremiah Wright debacle, he did so by making a speech designed to turn the conversation from Wright to race.

But just as that was a dumb strategic move at the time, it's a dumb strategic move now -- and for the same reason. The quality that made Barack Obama so uniquely appealing at the outset certainly wasn't his far-left policies. Nor his supposed rock star cool, or his wholesome family. Instead, it was the hope he offered of allowing our country to transcend the racial divisions that pain Americans of all colors.

Every time he plays the race card, it's not just that he sounds like a whiner. Worst of all, he degrades his brand, and undermines one of the most compelling rationales for the presidential candidacy of a first-term senator with few legislative achievements and little national experience. He ends up presenting himself as a candidate more in the mold of a Sharpton/Jackson than a Powell. And in doing so, he turns off precisely the moderates and independents he will need to win.

Almost exactly four years ago today, as Barack prepared to make his first national speech as a newcomer at the Democratic National Convention just a few months before his election to the US Senate, I wrote this about him:

Obama will resist the temptation to attract the kind of polarizing, Jesse Jackson-like attention that ultimately results in marginalization. Choosing a centrist course and defending it offers Obama the opportunity to become the Colin Powell of the Democratic Party – and with it, the chance to become the first African-American Democratic political leader who transcends race altogether.

It will be interesting to see whether some combination of political panic, bitterness or failed strategy prevents him from living up to that promise.

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Promoting New American Energy Act

Posted by: Michele Bachmann at 5:50 PM

Today I introduced the Promoting New American Energy Act to accelerate tax depreciation for renewable energy investments and other energy technologies.

Specifically, this bill would accelerate tax depreciation to 3 years for investments in newer, cleaner, and more efficient energy technologies. By encouraging greater investment in solar, wind, geothermal and more, these alternatives become a bigger part of our arsenal of energy options more quickly. And a diverse arsenal of solutions will decrease our dependence on foreign oil and curb our gas costs.

According to a study by the nonprofit, nonpartisan American Council for Capital Formation, investments in alternative energy experience less favorable tax depreciation rules in the U.S. compared to many other countries. My legislation will put America on better footing globally and take us one step closer to increasing our domestic energy production.

The fact of the matter is that our nation is in an energy crisis and Congress needs to do everything in its power to increase domestic energy production and exploration. By establishing new tax incentives to encourage purchases of energy production equipment and technologies, this bill provides American businesses with the tools needed to increase production and lower our current sky-rocketing energy costs.

I also had the privilege today to attend and address the 11th Annual Congressional Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency EXPO Forum.

At the forum, I got to speak a little bit about this new piece of legislation, and I have a little clip here you can check out:

The event brought together nearly fifty businesses, sustainable energy industry trade associations, government agencies, and energy policy research organizations to showcase the status and potential of the broad cross-section of renewable energy (biofuels/biomass, geothermal, solar, water, wind) and energy efficiency technologies.

This bill is a vital piece of my All-of-the-Above energy strategy that calls for an increase in the production and exploration of America’s own energy resources, but improves conservation and energy efficiency and promotes new and ever-improving energy technologies to help bring gas costs down.

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Transcript of John Stossel Chat

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 4:48 PM

If you missed it earlier, here is the transcript from today's Live Chat with John Stossel ...

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

I Bet Bob Barr has Never Been in a Movie ...

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 4:44 PM

Jake Tapper makes a good point about the "celebrity" ad:

Which presidential candidate hosted Saturday Night Live (hint -- the musical guests were The White Stripes)?

Which one had cameos on "24" and "Wedding Crashers"?

Whose wife secretly got her pilot's license and owns a jet?

Who is pals with Warren Beatty?

Whose daughter is friends with Heidi from MTV's The Hills?

Whose wife once told Vogue, explaining the purchase of a 7th or 8th house, this one a beach house, "When I bought the first one, my husband, who is not a beach person, said, 'Oh this is such a waste of money; the kids will never go. Then it got to the point where they used it so much I couldn't get in the place. So I bought another one.”

Whose family credit cards have been known to ring up more than $500,000 in charges in one month?

Clearly, McCain has never enjoyed the level of hero worship that Obama now receives from his "fans". Still, the fact that he was once a bit of a celebrity, himself, does make it more difficult for him to use this as a cudgel. Similarly, the fact that McCain has referred to the media as his "base" makes it more difficult for him to cry foul over the media's glowing coverage of Obama ...

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Re: A Ludacris Controversy

Posted by: Amanda Carpenter at 4:10 PM

Carol, we discussed this last night on "The Factor." I sparred with Bill a bit over whether or not Obama was really criticizing Ludacris in his statement. I said "no" and Bill thought otherwise.

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

A Ludacris Controversy

Posted by: Carol Platt Liebau at 3:30 PM

As I predicted yesterday, Hillary supporters are anything but thrilled with the new Ludacris release referring to their candidate as an "irrelevant bitch" (among other offensive elements). Over at BlogHer, Erika Alexander calls out Ludacris, going so far as to note that -- like Don Imus -- he doesn't "get a pass."

Obviously, the Obama campaign hastened to condemn Ludacris' new release. But there are three points worth making.

First, for a guy who was the first presidential candidate to call for Don Imus to be fired, Obama's condemnation of Ludacris is comparatively tame. Could it be that he knew going after Imus was good politics for him among a core constituency -- but going after Ludacris, well, not so much? Note that in the campaign's official statement on the matter, even amid the distancing, Barack nonetheless calls Ludacris a "talented individual." Hm. Did he offer such a grace note to Imus? (And for the record, in a dazzling explication of the obvious, Ludacris is not a "talented individual." He's a hateful thug.)

Second, it's interesting and a bit alarming to see how hard-core culturally left some of Obama's supporters are. Obviously, Barack can't be held responsible for everything his supporters say and do (luckily for him, apparently). But imagine some despicable off-the-charts right-wing rednecks chose to voice their support for John McCain by releasing a record using racially divisive language (perhaps telling listeners not to "paint The White House black" instead of urging them to do so, a la Ludacris) and calling Hillary Clinton a bitch. Wouldn't it be fair to ask: What, exactly, is it in John McCain's message or candidacy that these haters find so appealing? If so, isn't it fair to do the same with Barack?

Finally, Obama has declared himself to be "troubled" by some rap lyrics. But note that he has also told audiences that his daughter likes the rap song "Drop It Like It's Hot" -- revealing that she thinks the title is "Drop It Like a Sock."

Here are the lyrics to the song. Note the charming references to pimps, "roll[ing] weed," and "all the girls get[ting] naked." Even the edited version retains delightful elements like the references to pimps, along with a term beginning with "n" that's considered derogatory toward African-Americans (at least when others use it) and references to gun violence.

Barack's daughter probably doesn't even understand the lyrics (fortunately). But in Prude, I document instances of girls being swayed over time by the music they hear -- including one high school freshman who told me "It does influence the way you act, the way you talk." If Barack does truly object to misogyny in rap lyrics, shouldn't this prospect bother him enough to keep his daughter away from any of the Snoop Dog/Pharrell oeuvre -- and a lot of the other rap out there?

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Andrea Mitchell vs. Rick Davis ...

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 3:26 PM

If you missed it today, Andrea Mitchell had a good (and, at times, heated) debate with McCain manager Rick Davis today. The topic, of course, was McCain's new TV ad which features Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Note: The good stuff doesn't start till a couple minutes into the clip ...

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

About that Race Card

Posted by: Amanda Carpenter at 2:47 PM

Lots email and blog traffic today about Obama's "race card."

I think it's helpful to point out this isn't the first time Obama has played it. Last June he got a big applause line while campaigning in Florida by essentially telling the audience the evil GOP was going to make him about to be a scary, scary black man in the general election. Which is sort of like me saying Barack Obama is going to slaughter puppies sometime soon. I have no evidence that may be true, but hey, it might happen. Seems like there's nothing to stopping Obama from making a few convenient Miss Cleo like predictions about those mean, racist Republicans.

Video and transcript below, emphasis mine.

"We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid. They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?'"

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Wink, Wink, Nod, Nod

Posted by: Amanda Carpenter at 2:42 PM

Doesn't seem like Sen. Ted Stevens is taking his indictment too seriously. At his arraignment hearing, an observer from the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense noted "He looked calm, and even at one point winked at people in the gallery."

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Just Concluded Live Chat

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 1:48 PM

Special thanks to John Stossel and Young America's Foundation for making today's Live Chat possible.

And thank you to everyone who participated!

We will be posting the transcripts shortly...

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

John Stossel Live Chat About to Start!

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 12:30 PM

Thank you to all the folks who submitted questions in advance!

We are no longer accepting advance questions, but in just one hour (1:30 ET) you can ask your questions LIVE at 1:30 right here.

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Race Card is Baaaack

Posted by: Amanda Carpenter at 12:19 PM

Full story, with video links, is up on the homepage. Here's the short blog version.

-Obama tells reporters, three separate times while stumping in a single day the McCain campaign is telling voters Obama is "scary" and "doesn't look like other presidents." This was Obama's odd reaction to McCain's "Celeb" ad which compares Obama's celebrity to pop stars and hits Obama on leadership, taxes and energy.

-Lots of people, including myself, wonder if this sounds like Obama is playing the "race card"

-McCain campaign says heck yes he is! And McCain campaign manager Rick Davis emails out this statement: "Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Questions Remain on Death of Jim Webb Aide

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 11:06 AM

Authorities still don't know whether suicide or foul play was the cause of death for one of Jim Webb's aides. Meanwhile, I'm reminded that another Webb aide was previously charged with trying to bring a gun into the senate. Of course, I'm not saying there is any connection between these two stories -- but it is interesting that one senator would have two separate aides involved in high-profile gun stories.