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Monday, September 15, 2008
Bob Barr wins his fight to stay on the ballot in Pennsylvania
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr has beat a Republican attempt to keep him off the Pennsylvania ballot this November.
The decision could have profound implications if the presidential race continues to tighten.
This is from the Associated Press:
HARRISBURG, Pa.—A Pennsylvania judge’s ruling that keeps Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr on the ballot will force Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic nominee Barack Obama to take him seriously in a key battleground state, a Barr campaign spokesman said Monday.
The major-party candidates “will have to compete for the votes of Pennsylvania citizens instead of taking them for granted,” said Russell Verney, Barr’s campaign manager said in a statement.
The challenge to Barr—a former Republican congressman from Georgia who some GOP strategists fear might siphon votes from McCain—was filed by Harrisburg lawyer Victor Stabile, who is also chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Party.
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Buckley ads: ‘Have you been to the emergency room lately? Did you bring an interpreter?’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If this guy Allen Buckley had any real money, he might be dangerous.
The Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate is distributing four volatile radio ads across the state, each aimed at Saxby Chambliss — tying the Republican incumbent to the federal deficit, the presence of immigrants in Georgia, and special interest spending.
These are not ads that politely disagree with Chambliss, as do those of Jim Martin, the Democrat. These skewer and bludgeon, in a Republican-primary, kitchen-sink sort of way.
Hat-tip to Creative Loafing, by the way, which found them first.
Here’s one of the Buckley ads, played in a boot-camp cadence:
Does Saxby Chambliss work for me?
He darn sure will not work for free.
Who the hell is paying him?
It’s a long list so listen in.
Big law lobbyists and big oil, too
He ain’t concerned what’s good for you
Illegal immigrants at my door.
Saxby says make room for more.
Georgia, Georgia, can’t you see?
Saxby ain’t what he seems to be.
Buckley says the ads will be run locally on WGST (640AM), in Rome on WRGA (1470AM), and in Thomaston on WTGA (1590AM). But at the same time, Buckley also confesses he doesn’t have much money.
Republican activist Joe McCutchen of Elijay is one of those scrounging for money to buy more air time, Buckley said.
Saxby Chambliss spends your money like a drunken sailor — $3 million for golf lessons, $110 million to help Gallo wines and Sunkist advertise.
The U.S. government is running a $470 billion deficit this year. Did you know that Saxby’s campaign has collected $2.5 million in special interest money? That shouldn’t be a surprise. His son is a lobbyist.
Maybe your money would be safer with a drunken sailor. No offense to drunken sailors.
And another, very angry script:
Have you been to the grocery story lately? Like paying more for less? Thank you, Saxby.
My 401K is in the toilet, my house is worth half of what it was a year ago. Thank you, Saxby. It’s going to be cold this winter, and energy costs are only going to go up. Thank you, Saxby.
Have you been to the emergency room lately? Did you bring an interpreter? Thank you. Do you know what a fiscal conservative is? Neither does Saxby.
Again, note that these radio ads are getting only limited exposure.
Photo credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
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Martin aims a second ad at the middle class
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for Senate, has another ad in the works.
His campaign hasn’t said yet whether the spot will be on TV — Martin’s financial resources are limited — but it was posted on YouTube early this morning. You’ll see that it has a heavy middle class focus.
Click on the box below:
Says Martin:
“I don’t have to tell you the middle class is hurting in Georgia. I won’t insult your intelligence. But apparently we do have to tell Saxby Chambliss.
“We need to reverse the George Bush economic policies that Saxby’s been voting for all these years, crack down on the Wall Street oil speculators, stop the wasteful spending, and we can’t afford to continue spending $10 billion a month in Iraq.
“I approved this message because Saxby won’t do that in the Senate. But I will.”
Martin makes one off-note reference to oil that most people are unlikely to notice.
The economy may be going to hell, and a post-Ike panic may be sending gas prices to $4.50 a gallon, but the price of oil dropped to a seven-month low today, selling for $96 a barrel.
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Fifty days out, it’s the economy, stupid.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s time to push the governor of Alaska to the back burner.
The 2008 presidential campaign took another sharp turn on Sunday, and again the economy has become the dominant issue.
America’s banking instability could upend the final 50 days of the presidential campaign, with both candidates forced to confront a calamity that has gotten only glancing attention during the first 20 months of the race for the White House. Red flags about the nation’s economic infrastructure have been popping up at least since the collapse in March of the investment bank Bear Stearns.
But neither Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) nor Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has talked in detail about the potential consequences for voters and the government.
For your backgrounding purposes, Business Week has this take on a disturbing 24 hours:
The day will face the fallout from the decision by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to let Lehman fail instead of having it taken over by another bank in a deal backed by the government.
Paulson and Bernanke made it clear this summer that they had reluctantly arranged the March acquisition of failing Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase (JPM). They feared permitting Bear Stearns’ bankruptcy would throw Wall Street into chaos because Bear had untold credit derivatives contracts in place with countless other banks and hedge funds.
Now the regulators have apparently decided that Wall Street has had time to control its risks with Lehman. The New York firm’s creditworthiness has been subject to question since early this year and has been in serious doubt for weeks. The warnings on Lehman and the six months since Bear was gently put down gave Wall Street time to conduct a drill for the bankruptcy by a major investment bank.
And a swallow-that-castor-oil piece from the Wall Street Journal:
When Japan was mired in economic crisis, the U.S. urged it to take decisive action to deal with its ailing banks. Japan didn’t follow the advice and the crisis dragged on for years. Now, it is the U.S. that is mired in crisis and facing the prospect of swallowing the bitter medicine it once proffered.
Japan’s stock-market bubble began rapidly deflating in 1990 and its property bubble followed suit shortly afterward. Many borrowers were unable to make payments on their debt and bad loans piled up on bank balance sheets. A long period of lackluster economic growth made a tough situation worse.
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Heads up: Huckabee filling in for Boortz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is filling in for Neal Boortz on WSB Radio today from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
If memory serves, the former governor of Arkansas has a background in the medium.
