Contest: Has Obama Ever Had A “New Idea”?

Obama claims he’s the candidate of change and “new ideas”, but I can’t seem to find any thus far. His economic and social solutions are stolen from FDR. His national service plan looks like the recycled ideas of Mao and Stalin. The imagery and pattern of his campaign are ripoffs of JFK and MLK Jr., and Obama’s even borrowing speeches and punchlines from other politicians, bloggers and cartoonists.

So, here’s an open thread for all comers to try and identify something that actually qualifies as a “new idea”. Fire away!

Obama Reenacting The Invasion Of Iraq

In March 2003 I was sitting on a ship in the Arabian Gulf. Well into the invasion, reports were streaming in about the chaos on the ground. The Iraqi military could no longer communicate or coordinate and was in a panic. Thousands were disappearing into the desert and surrendering. Ordinary Iraqis were turning against Saddam. American forces were advancing faster than expected and were already in some areas of Baghdad, and the Iraqi government was denying it all.

Remembering those days made me think of the Obama campaign. Obama is still making the rounds trying to rally dwindling numbers of supporters with little effect, and I fully expect his spokesman, David Gibbs–the Baghdad Bob of today–to appear at any moment and glibly declare that there are no problems and everything is under control.

The most recent news of the 20-point swing among women voters from Obama to McCain, and the cacaphony of nutty conspiracy theories coming from his supporters proves Obama’s base is fractured and in disarry. Even the media can’t seem to find a solid issue and stick to it. The official representives of the campaign are reduced to comparing McCain and Palin to marine life and farm animals.

I love it all; I really do.

However, the danger to McCain right now is the same danger the U.S. military faced during the chaos in Iraq: overextending. With the wild sandstorm of reports whipping up the airwaves, front pages and Internet, there’s a palpable danger that the McCain campaign and its supporters can lose focus on hard issues and get distracted by the flurries of spurious reports and Obama missteps, thereby forfeiting the initiative.

Rush Limbaugh recommends that, should you encounter someone commited to making a fool of themselves, the best thing to do is get out of their way. Now may be a good time for McCain to get out of Obama’s way.

How Much Did Palin Save Alaskans By Staying At Home?

The internet is abuzz with the story of Gov. Palin’s per diem payments for living at home. Here are the numbers from the MSNBC story:

Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance [for 312 days], which officials say was permitted because her official “duty station” is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.

I’ve collected that much money on federal travel in a third of the time–she only got $54 per day.

Anyway, here’s the bottom line: how much did the state save in salaries of employees that no longer had to maintain the residence at the governor’s mansion? I bet Alaskans kept three or four times what they paid Gov. Palin in the personal chef’s salary alone. Never mind the plane and its air crew. Sounds like a bargain to me.

I suppose politicians and the media are entitled to try and make hay anywhere they like, but I wonder how much per diem those Washington Post reporters are getting while they’re digging dirt in the wilds of Alaska. I bet it’s a whole lot more than $54 per day.

Earmarks: A Weak Issue?

There’s an interesting detail in September 4th’s ABC News poll that speaks directly to the effectiveness of the current skirmish over earmarks. Here’s the question:

For each item I name, please tell me if it makes you think more favorably toward Palin, less favorably, or if it doesn’t change your opinion of her one way or another. . . As mayor she obtained 27 million dollars in federal funding for projects in her town of about 7,000 people

The responses are more than a little surprising. 32% of respondents thought it made her more favorable, 19% thought it made her less favorable, and 49% had no opinion or didn’t know. No wonder the size of the federal budget has ballooned; 81% didn’t care or thought it was a good thing. Perhaps it’s just that voters are reserving judgment until they know something about what the money was for. The general case against earmarks does appear to be weak, though.

McCain/Palin Draw More Blood In Polls [UpdatedX2]

There’s more good news in the polls for the McCain/Palin ticket today.

Two new “firsts” came out of this round of averages. This marks the first time since January 2007 that Obama did not lead in any of the polls in the RealClearPolitics average. McCain also achieved his highest-ever polling numbers in the history of the data. His previous high was 47% in January, 2008.

[Update] Also, today marks the first time McCain’s favorable/unfavorable average exceeded Obama’s. McCain’s favorables exceed his unfavorables by 20.4 points. Obama’s favorables exceed his unfavorables by 18.5 points. McCain’s favorable numbers are higher in five of the six polls in the average, and tied with Obama’s in the sixth.

[Update 2] The biggest gains appear to be among independents. Prior to the convention, just 40% of independents supported McCain. Following the convention, 52% of independents say they support McCain. Most surprisingly, McCain’s support from Democrats rose from 9% to 14% following his choice of running mate and the convention.

There are also some dramatic swings taking place in the state polling. All the following numbers are based on individual polls, not the averages. The averages for these states frequently include data that’s nearly a month old.

Ohio (20 electoral votes): Before the conventions, Obama led by one. In the most recent poll, McCain leads by seven.

Virginia (13 electoral votes): Before the conventions, Obama was ahead by two; today McCain leads by two.

Michigan (17 electoral votes): Before the conventions, Obama led by seven points. In the most recent poll, Obama leads by just one point.

Pennsylvania (21 electoral votes): Before the conventions, Obama lead by seven points. In the most recent poll, Obama leads by two points.

New Hampshire (4 electoral votes): There is no post-convention data, but prior to the conventions, Obama led by a single point.

If New Hampshire flips, which I expect it will, the electoral counts will be tied if the polling is correct. If either Pennsylvania or Michigan flips, McCain will regain the lead in the Electoral College.

Obama: I’m An Ordinary Guy, Too!

Barack tries to play the “ordinary guy” card:

With the national political conventions over, the fall election campaign begins in earnest this week. But for Barack Obama’s daughters, today is also the first day of school.

So there was Obama this morning at the University of Chicago Lab School, leading backpack-wearing daughters Malia and Sasha in on their first day. The candidate stayed inside the school for 10 minutes before returning to his motorcade and heading home, according to a pool report.

The drop-off was a moment witnessed by his press pool of journalists and a 5-vehicle caravan of Secret Service. Details were provided by the print reporter in the pool.

The senator, wearing a White Sox cap, gym clothes and sneakers, escorted Malia and Sasha through a side door of the school.

Obama walked between them, holding each girl’s hand. There were no other kids or parents in view. Malia is entering the 5th grade; we are awaiting confirmation from the campaign that Sasha is now in the second grade.

So, Obama delivers his children to school in a 5-vehicle caravan and gets the Secret Service to clear the hallways for his entrance–complete with “ordinary guy” attire–and expects middle class voters to identify with him?

Um, no.

Advice To McCain On Debating Obama

Dahlia Lithwick offers McCain advice on how to deal with Obama in a debate:

Your real problem is that Obama is not a serious candidate. I don’t mean to suggest that he is not a serious person or even a seriously impressive first-term senator with real potential to shake up national politics. Nor do I want to imply for an instant that Obama is not a serious competitor. I just want to state here what you will be unable to say out loud at the debate: That by every obvious metric—experience, knowledge base, decades of public service, policy experience, understanding of the world—Obama is an unserious candidate for the presidency of the United States.

Except that I fudged it. She was actually offering Biden advice on how to approach a debate with Sarah Palin. The shoe fits fit pretty well, though, does it not? It’s truly a sad state of affairs the Democrats have gotten themselves into.