The 2008 gubernatorial races were never meant to be the cycle's most suspenseful contests, but my March ratings found that the top four races had gotten unexpectedly more competitive, with three making their way to the toss-up rating. Yet, things have quieted down over the past few months. For one, heated Democratic primaries in Indiana and North Carolina were resolved and it will take some time before the general election in these states reaches full speed. Meanwhile, Missouri's Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon is expanding his lead over his two potential opponents in what is looking like it could be a runaway race.

Originally posted on Campaign Diaries.

No doubt this is a Democratic year, but that doesn't prevent Democrats from trying to find a way to lose. The current methodology is by attacking their candidate. Everyone knows The Right is unhappy with McCain, but the reason they win and Democrats lose is that they will choose party over candidate. Not the Democrats, who have a certain knack for screwing up sure things.

It is very simple really. The media is like a two-year old child. They will repeat what they are told by some outside source. If the Democrats profess happiness with Obama, all stories will reflect this and will shift the focus onto McCain's problems. But when there is dissatisfaction in the ranks...MYDD, Daily Kos, Huffington, TPM, Open Left, etc.,...all the sudden Obama has liabilities which leads the dumb media to exploring all of this other liabilities(Islamic name, black, Rev. Wright, no experience, etc.).

All liberal bloggers who have put this dumb FISA issue and Obama's move to the center up as a rallying cry on their sites, which he must do to win, morons, as not enough people agree with you and your leftist views, should be dragged out back and beaten....to quote Bill McNeal.

He broke faith,

said Matt Stoller, a political consultant and blogger at OpenLeft.com.

Obama pledged to filibuster, and he is part of that old politics, in this case, that he said he wasn't. It will spur us to challenge him

.

It angers the blogosphere to its core

, said Jane Hamsher, founder of the popular blog Firedoglake.com.

We want to be able to know: What did you do? If we can get that information, we can make sure they don't do that again. We can get the public engaged

.

Another Republican term is what angers me.

Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of Daily Kos, said Monday on MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann":

Let's be honest, it is either Obama or John McCain. So we really don't have much of a choice

.

At stake for Obama in the FISA vote is the intensity of support for Obama, Moulitsas said.

What is at stake in the 'Netroots'. Mr Moulitsas is your grandstanding attempt to gain further entry into the mainstream. With all it's fame and fortune at the expense of electing a Democratic president.

He goes on:

I don't want to hear him talk about leadership. I don't want to hear him talk about defending the Constitution. I want to see him do it," he said. "If he does, it will increase the intensity and level of support he gets from base Democrats. If he doesn't, we may worry he is just another one of these spineless Democrats who are more afraid of controversy in doing the right thing than they are in actually doing the right thing.

By the by, Keith Olbermann's special comment is on this very subject, how the FISA bill none of you have read but love to criticize Obama for selling you out over, is actually so poorly written that it doesn't prevent any of the Telecommunications companies from being CRIMINALLY prosecuted. It just prevents civil cases...i.e...all of Daily Kos joining up in a class action civil lawsuit because, most assuredly, the government is having the Telecoms monitor every single movement of yours.

Stop shooting yourself, Democrats, and the causes of the left by being petulent whiny bastards. The Right doesn't do this and The Right wins. The left does this and the left loses. It really isn't that hard.....don't shit where you eat.

These Netroots take themselves too seriously. The media is now feeding of their childish tantrums. I'm sick of them making Democrats lose.

Obama as nominee has to appeal to ALL Americans not just Democrats. If Obama loses, then this party is OVER. No party that loses 3 times in a row will be viewed seriously.

Shame on the 'NetRoots' bloggers who want to increase their fame and make 'statement's.

Shame on Mydd, Kos, Openleft, Salon.com, shame on you all. Who want fame and don't want to win.

Will Barack Obama parachute into Mile High Stadium to accept the Democratic nomination?

Unlike fans of movies like The Sting, who laugh along with con-men while they bilk some unsympathetic rube, I never thought Barack Obama was funny.

Obama's waffling about NAFTA was obviously unfunny way back in March, but he waited until Hillary Clinton conceded before he made it obvious enough for the naive "youth vote" that gave him the nomination.

Obama's right-wing support for an individual right to bear arms was obviously unfunny way back in February, but he waited until Hillary Clinton conceded before he made it obvious enough to wake up the New York Times.

Obama still wasn't funny when he did a 180 degree back-flip about FISA and flip-flopped about public campaign financing, and even out-pandered George W. Bush by offering Jerusalem to AIPAC and finally made his unprincipled political gamesmanship obvious enough even for blind-faith Obamabots like Paul Woodward at War in Context.

It wasn't even funny to me when tens of thousands of Obama's most dedicated supporters on my.barackobama.com petitioned Obama to oppose the God-awful FISA bill while Markos Moulitsas was simultanously telling them to forget about trying to run the circus from their seats in the peanut gallery.

But when Obama topped it all off by deciding that not even the gigantic Pepsi Convention Center in Denver is gigantic enough for a cosmic event like the nomination of Barack Obama, and the Democratic National Convention has to be turned into a political Super Bowl by staging it in the super-gigantic Mile High Stadium...

Now that's funny.

But it would be even funnier if this super-gigantic nomination never happened, and the super-delegates locked up the Convention until it nominated a really principled Democrat like Chris Dodd, who was filibustering against warrantless wire-tapping while Barack Obama was planning a colossal freak-show in Denver.

Pundits have nothing new and of interest to talk about with regards to the 2008 Election , so they are stuck reporting basically nothing and trying their hardest to look and sound like they are excited. Those disappointed in the outcome of the Democratic Primaries are still pulling out that left over Beef Stroganoff (sp) casserole , combing for little bits of meat while ignoring the overwhelming smell of mold in their argument. Republican activists , realizing that for the first time in 6 years , they failed to successfully politicize the Fourth of July to their advantage, are now strategizing to politicize the anniversary of 911. Democratic activists do what they always do when they get bored in a General Election; seek to fine tune their party's candidate , analyzing him with a magnifying glass and going over the party's talking point positions, with a fine toothed comb in preparation for the Fall.

by Walter Brasch

    Barack Obama spent the Fourth of July in Montana.  A Red State. A state that few think he can win. A state that gave huge margins to George Bush the past two elections.

    But here he was. On Independence Day. Marching in a parade. Hosting a picnic for hundreds. Trying to rally support for his Presidential run. Trying to show that he can appeal to voters of every political, social, and economic demographic. His web site tells us he "shook hands, kissed babies, signed autographs and posed for pictures." Patriotism just oozed out of his every pore.

    Barack Obama is now as patriotic as the electorate wants him to be. During most of the primaries, he didn't wear a flag pin on his lapel. He didn't think wearing pins makes one patriotic, or not wearing one makes someone unpatriotic. But, the right-wing lambasted him for that. Now he wears a flag pin.

    And every speech he makes, he is now flanked by several American flags. Just in case anyone thinks he isn't patriotic. Or is a foreigner. Or worse, a Muslim.

    Barack Obama has changed in other ways. Once he said he would pull the U.S. out of Iraq. End that war. Now, he's calling for a phased withdrawal.

    Once, he opposed innumerable pieces of legislation sent to the Senate by the Bush-Cheney Administration--and which a Republican Congress rubber stamped. Now, as the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, he voted a bill that granted immunity to telephone companies that violated both established federal law and the 4th Amendment to the Constitution when they voluntarily gave personal data about subscribers to the government.

    Once, he said he would accept government restrictions and decline the excessive private contributions that have muddied politics. Now, with a campaign war chest at least two or three times greater than John McCain's, he changed his mind and is taking whatever he can get--and doesn't have to report who gave what.

    Barack Obama isn't the only politician to forsake some of his principles for the greater principle--do whatever it takes to get elected. Hillary Clinton moved more to the center when she began to think she could be the next president, and even voted for the renewal of the unconstitutional PATRIOT Act. John McCain, by any standards a conservative, began playing even more to the right-wing when the evangelical Christians challenged some of his beliefs and voting record. Every politician, even the most maverick ones, say they need to get elected to do whatever it is they want to do. But, once in office they continue to do whatever is necessary to stay in office and get re-elected.

    Barack Obama, like every other politician, needs to reflect upon the principles of what the Founding Fathers wanted. And maybe every politician should decide that on this Independence Day weekend, it is time to declare that once and forever they will follow their convictions, their beliefs, and declare themselves to be independent, now and forever, not only of special interests, but also of pandering for votes.

    [Walter Brasch has covered politics and presidential campaigns more than 40 years. He is professor of journalism at Bloomsburg University, a syndicated columnist, and author of 17books. His latest book is Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush, available through amazon.com and other stores.]

I see Hillary trolls and poor judgment haven't yet been eliminated from MyDD, seeing a diary on the rec list promoting some demand that Hillary be given a roll call vote at the convention.

Honestly, I know nothing of convention procedure other than what I've watched on TV in the past and what I read about the 1944 convention in separate biographies of Harry Truman and Henry Wallace.

But......

Senator Obama has said he would consider his first term a failure
if all troops were not withdrawn from Iraq, if health care was not affordable for all, and if the Economy was still in recession. Personally if he was to accomplish even the first two I would be satisfied. Creating an affordable health care system for all would be significant. Ending the Iraq war would save American lives and billions of dollars that could be used in other areas such as taking care of our wounded troops for the rest of their lives, Education, Foreign aid, and the list goes on. My question to you is what would satisfy you? What does President Obama have to accomplish to be rewarded with a second term? We disagree on many issues, even candidates, but we all have issues that mean something to us. I'm very curious to know what others believe to be their TOP issues. What would satisfy you and what would exceed your expectations? As you all know I love our candidate but once he is elected I will pressure him in any way I can. This is what a lot of people don't seem to understand, the people with the highest of hopes will demand the most of our president. No free rides from me, I demand results and I personally believe he will deliver. He needs our support and he needs to know what is important to us in order to lead effectively. I have never considered Senator Obama perfect or a God I consider him an intelligent man who sincerely wants to make America better.

Sometimes it is good to remember who the real enemy is.  Recently, a Medicare funding bill was passed by the House 355-59.  The bill would fund and expand low-income assistance programs and preventive services, as well as prevent a 10% reduction in doctor reimbursement rates that went into effect on July 1.  The additional costs of funding would be offset by cuts in payments to private plans that participate in Medicare.  Therein lies the rub, as explained by the NY Times:

That has inflamed opposition from the White House and Senate Republicans who seem determined to protect inefficient private plans from the rigors of competing fairly against traditional Medicare coverage. Medicare pays these private plans, known as Medicare Advantage, an average of 13 percent more to provide the same services as the traditional Medicare program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/opinio n/05sat2.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&o ref=slogin

However, the bill enjoys broad support among doctors and pharmacists and passed the House with a veto-proof majority.  All good, right?  Not quite.

The Senate Republicans, in their infinite wisdom and love for hardworking Americans, decided to filibuster the bill.  On June 26, 2008, cloture failed by a vote of 58-40 (i.e., 2 votes short of defeating the filibuster).  Sens. Obama and Clinton voted for cloture, as did all Democrats other than Kennedy (who did not vote, for obvious reasons) and Reid.  Even Lieberman voted in favor of cloture.  As for Reid, his vote "against" cloture is misleading - his vote was a procedural maneuver so that he can bring the bill up later.  In other words, cloture failed by one vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/ro ll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?con gress=110&session=2&vote=00160

Any guess on who decided to skip the vote to attend a fundraiser in Ohio?  It's awfully convenient that Senate Republicans mostly avoid blame by quietly filibustering this bill, and that McCain avoids even more blame by failing to show up and letting the rest of the Republicans take the fall for him.  Such is the way of the maverick.

A much more detailed analysis of this whole series of events can be found on Openleft, here:  http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do;jse ssionid=6EE0933FFA4BD49A4EEBD8A35A61BB2A ?diaryId=6782