From Holden: With one simple word: “The truth of the matter is, Iraq is a mess because this president and this vice president were incompetent,” Sen. John F. Kerry’s running mate told a largely blue-collar crowd. “They were incompetent in building a coalition. They were incompetent in having a plan. . . . If you want to know how successful this president and vice president will be on the war on terror, all you gotta do is look at their incompetence on Iraq.” Edwards said the word “incompetent” seven times in the first seven minutes of the speech. Here, and … Continue reading Medium John Kicks Ass

From Holden: The New York Times, besides serving as a forum for the ever-snarky MoDo, provides us with a shocking revelation in relation to the Rev. Robertson’s remarks: John Kerry is doing better among white evangelical Christians than Al Gore did in 2000! Pollsters say Mr. Robertson’s views of the war are a mirror of a growing skepticism among evangelical Protestants about the invasion of Iraq, though they still support both the invasion and the president much more strongly than do other groups. In a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in mid-September – after the conventions but before the … Continue reading Kerry Erodes Bush’s Base

From Holden: Here are your horserace numbers: ABC News Tracking Poll and Washington Post Tracking Poll Likely Voters, 3-way Bush 50 (-1) Kerry 47 (+1) Nader 1 (unchanged) Reuters/Zogby Tracking Poll Likely Voters, 3-way Bush 46 (+1) Kerry 46 (+1) Nader 1 (-1) TIPP tracking poll Likely Voters, 2-way Bush 45 (unchanged) Kerry 45 (unchanged) Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey Likely Voters, 3-way Bush 47 (-2) Kerry 47 (+3) Nader 1 (-1) Registered Voters, 3-way Bush 45 (-3) Kerry 45 (+4) Nader 1 (-1) Bush’s Job Approval numbers are still low as well: Pew Research … Continue reading Your Morning Glance at the Polls

From Holden: On the bubble. Continue reading Tom Toles is a Must Read

From Holden: Nicolodeon’s kids poll, which has correctly predicted the winner of the last four presidential elections, says John Kerry will be our next president. The kids have spoken, and it’s Senator John Kerry with a convincing victory over U.S. President George W. Bush on November 2. An unusual opinion poll that has correctly predicted the winner of the last four presidential elections has given Democratic challenger Kerry 57 percent against 43 percent for Bush, according to results released on Wednesday. The Nickelodeon cable channel, better known for programmes “SpongeBob Squarepants” and “Jimmy Neutron”, conducted “Kids Vote”, an online survey … Continue reading Sponge Bob Calls it for Kerry

From Holden: At a crucial point in time, less than two weeks prior the election, a state district judge has frozen the corporate accounts of Associated Republicans of Texas, a GOP PAC. Several republicans running for the state house here in Texas were benefitting from those accounts, but now they won’t get a penny from them this election cycle. A Texas judge has ordered a Republican political action committee to stop raising and spending corporate money until a Nov. 3 hearing. The ruling could help two Democrats vying for seats in the state House in the Nov. 2 election. State … Continue reading The Tom DeLay Ripple Effect

Buoyed by a home team victory, John Kerry eats popcorn and thinks about exactly what he wants to say in his inaugural address. A. Continue reading Bonus Happy Kerry Photo: My Preznit Watches A Ball Game

I have to make a decision whenever I post anything of what category to use. It’s required (as Athenae reminded me when I forgot a couple of times.) With stories like this one, it’s a tough call. Atrios has all the particulars on a developing story that involves Pat Robertson, God, George Bush, and now Karen Hughes and Scotty MClelland. It started with a story on CNN, in which Pat Robertson made a rather startling statement. He said he had talked to President Bush about Iraq, and that when he asked about casualties, the president said there wouldn’t be any. … Continue reading Is this the October surprise? I’ll take it!

From Holden: The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies reports that invading Iraq made al Qaida stronger. Basing its findings on information from its specialist contacts, including sources in governments and intelligence agencies, the institute said the invasion of Iraq had “enhanced jihadist recruitment and intensified al-Qaida’s motivation” to mount terrorist operations. The organisation estimated that al-Qaida had more than 18,000 potential terrorists in 60 countries, sympathetic, in varying degrees, to its cause. “Furthermore, the substantially exposed US military deployment in Iraq presents al-Qaida with perhaps its most attractive ‘iconic’ target outside US territory,” the report, The Military Balance, concluded. … Continue reading British Think Tank Sez Bush’s War Helped al Qaida

From Holden: Or at least Alessandra Stanley does. Exchanging his usual goofy teasing for withering contempt, he told Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson that they were partisan hacks and that their pro-wrestling approach to political discourse was “hurting America.” (He also used an epithet for the male reproductive organ to describe Mr. Carlson.) [snip] Mr. Stewart’s frankness was a cool, startling, rational version of Senator Zell Miller’s loony excoriation (“Get out of my face”) to Chris Matthews of MSNBC during the Republican convention. The transcript of Friday’s “Crossfire,” and the blog commentary about it, popped up all over the Internet … Continue reading The NY Times Gets It

From Holden: I was just looking at Electoral-Vote.com’s Electoral College predictor, and I like what I see. They’re listing ten states as barley supporting one candidate or the other, a total of 126 electoral votes. Six of those states were credited to Bush in 2000, four were won by Al Gore. The six states credited to Bush in 2000 that are now at risk add up to 86 electoral votes, while the former Gore states equal 36 votes. Kerry has a much larger margin for error than Bush does. Here’s a state-by-state breakdown of the “barely” states. Gore States Maine … Continue reading Swing States Shaping Up for Kerry

From Holden: Forty per cent of Iraqi soldiers deployed to Samarra after the recent US offensive in that city have deserted. At least 300 Iraqi soldiers abandoned their 750-man unit after they were deployed to Samarra earlier this month as part of a U.S.-Iraqi operation to retake the militant-controlled city. Like similar incidents earlier this year in Fallujah and Baghdad’s Sadr City, the desertions are prompting coalition officers to improve training for Iraqi recruits. [snip] [British Army Brig. Nigel Aylwin-Foster] said the deserters were spooked by an attack on Sept. 19, about a week after they had been deployed from … Continue reading Their Just Deserts, or, If It’s Good Enough for Georgie…

From Holden: Like my Obsession and the never-ending search for my Bush Boom, I’m making the Caption Contest a daily feature here at First Draft. Here’s my entry for today: Wait a minnit, Jebbie’s not preznit yet. Continue reading Today’s Caption Contest

From Holden: We have a damn shoddy press corps, no doubt. The only question about the flu vaccine crisis dealt with whether or not the president thought it was appropriate for members of congress to get the shot. Nothing touching on the administration’s failure to maintain a safe, adequate supply of vaccine. Also, no questions today about Pat Robertson stating that Bush said there would be no US casualties in Iraq, nor any mention of the CIA withholding a report said to afix blame for Sep. 11th squarely on senior administration officials. Sigh. What are the gaggle-obsessed to do? Oh, … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

link here. Check out the web site – Bush Relatives for Kerry.com – that I’ve linked to, especially if you need a little lift about now. Kudos to Atrios commenter Terry C for the link. Continue reading “Because blood is thinner than oil”

From Holden: As noted elsewhere, it certainly has the Bushies worried. From today’s Froomkin: Yesterday, on the way from St. Petersburg to New Port Richey, the presidential entourage stopped at the Paradise Restaurant in the little town of Safety Harbor, where the president and his brother posed for pictures and were served coffee and baklava. While in the restaurant, a member of the press pool shouted out a question to the president: “Are you accountable for the flu vaccine shortage?” Bush ignored the question. And reporters were hustled out of the restaurant. Continue reading Is Influenza the October Surprise?

From Holden: You won’t find my Bush Boom at any of our public universities: Tuition at the nation’s public universities rose an average of 10.5 percent this year, the second largest increase in more than a decade, according to the latest annual survey by the College Board. Last year’s rise, 13 percent, was the highest. Private universities and community colleges also increased tuition, by 6 percent and 9 percent, in a year when inflation has been about 2.5 percent. The tuition increases at private and community colleges were also among the steepest in a decade. It is the first time … Continue reading My Bush Boom Spent Its College Years Eating Stale Doritos

From Holden: The linked story is from Yahoo News. Click on the link and give it a rating of 5 so it will move up in their newsroll. The ranking members of the House Intelligence Committee have asked the CIA (news – web sites) to turn over an internal report on whether agency employees should be held accountable for intelligence failures leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks, congressional officials said Tuesday. The CIA so far hasn’t responded to the request, raising concerns among some Democrats in Congress that the report is being withheld to avoid political embarrassment for the … Continue reading Legislators Pressuring CIA for Report

The Baltimore Sun gives us a tale of journalistic courage in the person of 29-year-old Jon Leiberman, the Sinclair Broadcasting Washington DC bureau chief shitcanned this week for criticizing Sinclair’s plans to use the public airways to bash a candidate in the name of news. What a kickass story this guy has to tell: “It was the daily struggle to get fair news on the air,” he said. “I’ve been raising red flags for months. I didn’t just fly off the handle. … This is an agonizing process.” The Maryland-based corporation owns or operates 62 stations in 39 markets that … Continue reading I Say Thee Yea, Jon Leiberman

From Holden: The Bush campaign burned through more than half of their $75 million in public campaign funds during the month of September alone. Yet he’s still below 50% in nearly every poll, with a sub-45% approval rating. We should find out how much John Kerry, who had to make his money last an extra month, has spent later today. Continue reading Drunken Sailor Spending Continues

From Holden: No change in today’s Zogby tracking poll. It’s still a dead heat at 46 all. Continue reading Zogby Still Shows Dead Heat

From Holden: I try to avoid duplicating Atrios’ posts because I figure the folks who read this blog also frequent Eschaton. But the post Atrios has up quoting Pat Robertson saying that Bush told him we would have no casualties in Iraq omits a few other juicy quotes from the good reverend that I’ll repeat below: “And I warned him about this war. I had deep misgivings about this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying to say, ‘Mr. President, you had better prepare the American people for casualties.’ ” Robertson said the president then told him, “Oh, no, we’re … Continue reading Robertson on Bush

From Holden: That’s how our military is described by a consortium of security policy think tanks and advocacy groups in this report: More than 27 percent of the military’s active duty troops are overseas, and more than half of them are in combat zones, numbers not seen since the Vietnam War, a new study shows. The study from a consortium of security policy think tanks and advocacy groups warns that the stress the Iraq war is placing on the military’s personnel and equipment could reach a breaking point in as little as two years. [snip] A much greater percentage of … Continue reading Stretched to the Breaking Point

From Holden: Happy Nelson Muntz Day to Bill O’Reilly and Fox, who just got slapped with another lawsuit for retaliating against Andrea Mackris after she complained of O’Reilly’s sexual harassment. And a big “Haw-Haw” shout out to Ken Lay, who asked for a trial separate from Jeffrey K. Skilling and Richard A. Causey and got what he asked for – and more. Former Enron Corp. chairman Kenneth L. Lay, who for weeks had been pressing to be tried on his own on criminal charges related to the company’s demise, yesterday got more than he bargained for. A federal judge granted … Continue reading Happy Nelson Muntz Day!

From Holden: In the print edition October 2004 edition of The Progressive Elizabeth DiNovella has an article entitled “Snapshots from the RNC”. On day three of the Republican National Convention she attended an early morning prayer meeting of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies. Reverend Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition was presiding: Sheldon ended the meeting with a special request for the vice president. “God, people, help us and help those who think that same-sex relationships is a simple choice,” Sheldon said. “We pray for our President, George W. Bush. We pray for our Vice President, Dick Cheney. … Continue reading Are Mary Cheney’s 15 Minutes Up Yet? ‘Cause I’ve Got One More

From Holden: Democracy Corps and NBC News/Wall Street Journal Polls, hot off the presses: Democracy Corps Likely Voters, 3-way Bush 47 (unchanged) Kerry 50 (unchanged) Nader 1 (unchanged) NBC News/Wall Street Journal Likely Voters, 3-way Bush 48 (-2) Kerry 48 (+2) Nader 1 (unchanged) Registered Voters, 3-way Bush 48 (unchanged) Kerry 46 (+1) Nader 2 (unchanged) Continue reading Kerry Continues to Roll in Two New Polls

link here. “It is shocking: The Bush Administration is suppressing a CIA report on 9/11 until after the election, and this one names names. Although the report by the inspector general’s office was completed in June, it has not been made available to the congressional intelligence committee that mandated the study almost two years ago.” Read the article and you’ll understand that the reason this report is being suppressed until after the election is because it could sink the Bush Administration. What, if anything, can we do to remedy this situation? Obviously, this report is a matter of great interest … Continue reading How do we get this report aired publicly?

From Holden: Your Preznit, yesterday: American President George Bush said on Monday that he would grudgingly accept an Islamic fundamentalist government in Iraq, if the Iraqi people voted to create one in free elections. “I would be disappointed, but democracy is democracy,” Bush said when asked about the possibility that Iraqis might some day prefer an Islamic government to secular rule. “If that’s what the people choose, that’s what the people choose,” the president added. Iran responds, today (via Hesiod): “Historically, Democrats have harmed Iran more than Republicans, said Hasan Rowhani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top … Continue reading Quid Pro Quo

From Holden: Cheney is threatening America again: “The biggest threat we face now as a nation is the possibility of terrorists ending up in the middle of one of our cities with deadlier weapons than have ever before been used against us — biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind to be able to threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans,” Cheney said. “That’s the ultimate threat. For us to have a strategy that’s capable of defeating that threat, you’ve got to get your mind around that concept,” Cheney said. Continue reading I Think Dick Just Saw The Latest Poll Results for Florida and Ohio