Check this out.
Notice how incredibly similar Hillary Clinton’s new ad blaming the Washington punditry (in post below) is to Rudy Giuliani’s ad blaming the Washington punditry when they said he was toast.
Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin get the credit for discovering the similarities.
New England Cable News reports Sen. Ted Kennedy did not suffer a stroke and is not in any immediate danger. They also gave no indication of how long Kennedy would be there.
Watch the video report.
Update 10:09 PM ET: I had to remove the video from this site. It’s a tad unconventional, technically speaking, and was too problematic. You can watch it at NECN’s site.
Hillary has had little choice but to adhere to the warnings from Democratic Party leaders that she dial back her rhetoric against Obama. But they never warned her about the media. So, now that she can’t demonize Obama publicly, she’s running a new ad in Oregon, “What’s Right,” and blaming the media.
The Hillary campaign’s slogan for the ad? “In Washington, they talk about who’s up and who’s down. In Oregon, we care about what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Mary Poppins — practically perfect in every way.
Why would anybody ever think that Hillary may have created her own problems, or that Obama was a better candidate, or maybe the media was right or even biased towards Hillary at times?
D.C. City Councilmember [and supredelegate] Jack Evans today announced that he is switching his support from Clinton to Obama.
John McCain may soon be sporting a black eye instead of appearing rejuvenated after his interview with Glamour. Obviously unaware of of Hillary Clinton’s “testicular fortitude,” McCain suggested in the interview that Clinton might be feeling sorry for herself.
The Caucus reports McCain was asked if Hillary had been ‘treated fairly on the campaign trail as a woman.’ ” His response:
You know, I don’t know because I’m not objective enough to make the judgment. I simply don’t know. But I know the one thing that I try to avoid in my campaigns is feeling sorry for myself. It’s easy to do, pick up the paper this morning, read a story that’s negative, ‘Oh, my God, they’re picking on me.’ You just can’t do that. You just can’t do that.
Did he just get himself into a ton of trouble or what? Hillary Clinton is no Cindy McCain — smiling quietly like a Stepford Wife in the background.
God knows, I’m glad Obama did not make that kind of mistake.
My friends, John McCain has a new ad for Iowa, but it may be dated. The ad takes a swipe at Clinton and Obama, claiming “John McCain leads” while the two Democrats continue their slug-fest. McCain must believe the slug-fest is to be continued. Let’s hope he’s very wrong.
Unbelievably, the ad actually promotes John McCain’s gas-tax holiday plan. After all the bad press Hillary received over it, one would think McCain might just let that slide quietly into the past with Hillary taking most of the credit.
Transcript:
ANNCR: While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama argue and fight with each other, John McCain leads.
John McCain leads the fight against wasteful government spending. He has a plan to stop it.
John McCain understands the pain people are feeling at the pump. That’s why he wants a gas tax holiday to provide needed relief.
A real plan for health care that provides $5000 tax credits — no mandates.
John McCain — leadership, not politics.
JOHN MCCAIN: I’m John McCain and I approve this message.
I am indeed pleased that Hillary Clinton’s demonization of Barack Obama and political grandstanding has all but disappeared, but at the same time it raises even more questions in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking for a return to life as it was a few days ago, but if all the things she said were so important and credible, why are they not equally as important today?
I’m not talking about political processes (viz. MI and FL) or similar issues — they’re self-serving. Instead, I’m referring to issues like that all important gas tax plan Clinton plagiarized from John McCain.
Remember this ultimatum?
“I believe it is important to get every member of Congress on the record. Do they stand with hard pressed Americans who are trying to pay their gas bills at the gas station or do they once again stand with the big oil companies? That’s a vote I’m going to try to get, because I want to know where they stand and I want them to tell us - are they with us or against us?”
The better question may be, how could one forget it?
So, in just over a week, Hillary went from promoting her do-or-die gas-tax-cut plan every minute of every day to this statement in response to George Bush’s trip to Saudi Arabia this week.
“I don’t think it is a good energy policy to depend upon the kindness of the Saudis … while businesses and individuals are trying to figure out how they’re going to afford nearly $4 a gallon gas and nearly $5 a gallon diesel,” she said. “The impact is really beginning to ripple dramatically through the economy. . . .”
“I think it’s very important that we do something more dramatic than going to have tea with the Saudis,” she said. “The Saudis may decide, well we better do something to help out President Bush, but that’s a short term fix. It is not going to have any long-term consequences. And we just have to take a different approach if we’re going to begin to get serious.”
There is no doubting what answer Clinton would give today if quizzed on the plan she deemed so vital to our nation less than 10 days ago. But what does it say about her credibility when she abandons that all-important plan now that she is not actively trying to destroy Barack Obama (overtly)? Are all those “hard working white Americans” less important today and no longer in need of her soaring rhetoric promoting her flawless solution?
Apparently Sen. Kennedy is stable, which is indeed very good news.
“It appears that Senator Kennedy experienced a seizure this morning,” a statement released by his office in Washington said. “He is undergoing a battery of tests at Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure. Senator Kennedy is resting comfortably, and it is unlikely we will know anything more for the next 48 hours.”
At Kennedy’s age, this is not unusual. That doesn’t make it any better, but it’s just realistic. My father went through several episodes of being rushed to the hospital due to the rapid onset of some serious malady that was not readily discernible. The “battery of tests” were almost always done to either determine the problem or clarify the extent of “how bad it was.”
The results 48 hours later were never what really mattered. What did matter was how quickly he could be stabilized and that sepsis was not a factor.
What an astute observer George Bush is:
President Bush said Saturday that the Saudis’ modest increase in oil production is “something but it doesn’t solve our problem” of soaring gas prices.Taking note of the kingdom’s recent decision to raise production by 300,000 barrels a day, the president said the United States must act, too, to ease the gasoline crisis. He mentioned steps such as developing alternate fuels, improving conservation and expanding domestic exploration.
“We’ve got to do more at home,” the president said on a lawn of a resort overlooking the Red Sea. He spoke after a private meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
Well, let’s see…gas had to hit a national average of $3.79 per gallon for Bush to realize something has to be done. So, nothing has been done except for a little failed-groveling by the President, therefore the energy crisis is seeking its own path — that would be out of control.
Out of control indeed, especially when the price is expected to rise to $7.00 per gallon, and $4.00 will seem like a gift from heaven, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
Drivers will likely need to become comfortable with gas at $4 a gallon as oil experts say an era of historic pain at the pump will endure well beyond the Memorial Day weekend, when prices traditionally peak. . . .
The new world order for petroleum markets has some analysts predicting far higher prices ahead. Gas at the pump in the U.S. could reach $7 a gallon because more drivers in India and China will hit the road even as American oil consumption retreats, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce predicts.
Just imagine what $7.00 per gallon will do to the economy.
CNN Teevee reports the Kennedy family said they are “guardedly optimistic” about Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Of course, that is very ambiguous. Not to put any spin on it, but just to illustrate the possible variances, Sen. Tim Johnson’s family was “encouraged and optimistic” after he had a stroke in December 2006.
Update 1:47 PM ET: CNN now reports the Kennedy family indicates “it appears to be a seizure.” Whatever that means.
Via The Caucus:
Senator Edward M. Kennedy was rushed to a hospital this morning in Cape Cod, where he was treated for a serious – but unknown – illness.
The Boston Globe reported that Mr. Kennedy had suffered stroke-like symptoms and was transported by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The Cape Cod Times published a photograph on its Web site of Mr. Kennedy on a stretcher as it was being loaded onto a medical transport helicopter.
Longtime readers of TPC know how I feel about mixing religion and politics, and particularly my view on the religious test applied to Barack Obama with respect to Jeremiah Wright. But for those that aren’t, I had to give this particular issue on Pastor John Hagee, and by association John McCain, considerable thought before posting it.
The Jeremiah Wright controversy was initiated by others. They sought information and videos on Wright with the sole intent of destroying Barack Obama. Wright did not come out on the national stage and endorse Obama as a result of Obama seeking and promoting that endorsement. Instead the facts show Obama sought to distance himself from Wright rather than publicize him. In other words — it wasn’t pandering or trying to curry favor with a particular sect of voters.
The same cannot be said for the relationship between John McCain and Pastor John Hagee. I don’t believe John McCain’s views are entirely synonymous with Pastor Hagee’s views, but their alliance does reflect on John McCain’s judgment and his hypocrisy. John McCain has one standard for his opponents and another standard for himself.
Hagee recently apologized for referring to the Catholic Church as the “great whore” and as I said at the time, that was but one of Hagee’s offensive remarks. Cliff Schecter has uncovered another one of Hagee’s “teachings” that is not only offensive, to me at least, but also flies in the face of George Bush and remarks he made against Obama this week and McCain fully supported.
Yesterday I discovered an astonishing audio recording of a sermon, by controversial McCain endorser Pastor John Hagee, in which Hagee elaborates on his view that Hitler and the Nazis were divine agents, sent by God to (with gruesome inefficiency it would seem) chase Europe’s Jews towards Palestine. In his 2006 book “Jerusalem Countdown”, Hagee proposed that anti-Semitism, and thus the Holocaust, was the fault of Jews themselves - the result of an age old divine curse incurred by the ancient Hebrews through worshiping idols and passed, down the ages, to all Jews now alive.
I can’t think of a better way to frame this than by using John McCain’s words. “I think that Barack Obama John McCain needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with the support of a man who is the head of a government church…who denies the [source and tragedy] of the Holocaust [for what it was.]“
John McCain and George Bush — inseparable. I suppose Joe Lieberman and Lindsey “Mini-me” Graham are getting jealous.
President George W. Bush will join John McCain for a fundraiser in the Arizona senator’s hometown later this month, McCain’s campaign confirms.
The reception, to be held in Phoenix on May 27th, will mark the first time the two have appeared together at a campaign event this year and the first time Bush has lent his fundraising skills to McCain.
Jonah Goldberg on Obama selecting John Edwards for Attorney General:
[T]he suggestion that John Edwards would be even considered for Attorney General is horrifying. I really can’t think of any mainstream political figure more inappropriate for that job than Edwards.
If Goldberg feels that strongly about it, Edwards must be the right person for the job. Of course, Goldberg offers no reasons why, he just makes his rude comment and leaves it at that.
Well, if Hillary did nothing else, she gave us a few good lines, which seemed appropriate to go with the spanking the Times Editorial Board has given President Bush and the Senior Senator from Arizona, John McCain.
President Bush’s penchant for slash-and-burn politics, learned at the feet of Karl Rove and the late Lee Atwater, is unseemly when practiced at home. It is shameful for the president and damaging for the country when put on display abroad.
So it was especially distressing to hear Mr. Bush’s barely veiled attack against Senator Barack Obama in front of Israel’s Parliament. . . .
[T]he White House press secretary, Dana Perino, insisted the president’s remarks had nothing to do with Mr. Obama and slyly suggested that the Democratic senator was being narcissistic. Mr. Bush’s counselor, Ed Gillespie, then expressed surprise that no one had interpreted the president’s words as a rebuke to former President Jimmy Carter — which he said, sort of, that it wasn’t.
No one bought that — including, we suspect, Mr. Gillespie and Ms. Perino. Senator John McCain certainly had no trouble decoding the remark. He spent much of his week running away from Mr. Bush but endorsed this language enthusiastically. He also said that it was Mr. Obama’s responsibility to explain why he was willing to talk with Iran.
Senator Obama has called for talking with Iran and Syria, as have this editorial page and scores of foreign-policy experts from both political parties. None have suggested surrendering to these countries’ demands, which is, after all, what appeasement is.
Diplomacy is simply good sense. There is no guarantee that it will change anyone’s mind. But Mr. Bush’s refusal to talk has made it far easier for North Korea to churn out plutonium, Iran to meddle in Iraq and indulge its nuclear appetites and Syria and Iran to back Hamas and Hezbollah. The list goes on.
Those failed policies are one reason we yearn for the coming change of administration and for the next president to reject Mr. Bush’s bullheadedness.
We also yearn for a more civilized and respectful political dialogue. That is essential for a healthy democracy. It is also essential for regaining the world’s respect.
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