http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/atom.aspxCommunity Server2008-10-10T09:13:00Zhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/the-moderate-voice-of-tempers-and-temperament.aspx2008-10-10T22:39:01Z2008-10-10T22:39:01ZWith John McCain tanking, I have sometimes wondered why on earth am I still supporting him. Giving it some thought, I come up with one answer: I know what I'm getting with the Arizona Senator. I don't know what I'm getting with Barack Obama. I know that I am getting a man that supports the environment and that tends to be more gay-friendly than past GOP nominees. I know that I am getting a man that has worked with Democrats and shunned his own party's narrow interests to work for the national interest. I know that I am getting a grumpy and testy old man, that deep down in a good and decent man. I don't know what I am getting in Obama. That's not to say that he is a bad person, I just don't know. He doesn't have a long record. He has...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/23382/of-tempers-and-temperament/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/writes-like-she-talks-values-voters-encouraged-to-partake-in-illegal-phone-jamming.aspx2008-10-10T20:52:00Z2008-10-10T20:52:00ZWhoa - she's calling it illegal, before even telling us what it is? You bet. Because in the 2002 elections , someone went to jail for what is now being suggested to millions of Ohioans. Let's start with Ohio Daily Blog's explanation of the scam: Right wingers aligned with the McCain campaign have sent out a mass email message to so-called values voters, lying about Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and directing all recipients to call the Secretary of State and seven county Boards of Elections . (Full text of the message after the break.) As a result, telephone lines have been jammed and elections officials have been hampered in carrying out their duties, while early voting and critical preparations for the election are underway...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://www.writeslikeshetalks.com/2008/10/10/values-voters-encouraged-to-partake-in-illegal-phone-jamming/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/the-moderate-voice-senator-mccain-in-the-outer-limits.aspx2008-10-10T20:12:01Z2008-10-10T20:12:01ZColor me amazed at the exchanges between Senator McCain and two supporters (well, I don't know if they will support him after this; thanks to Allahpundit at Hot Air for the video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE I'm 34 years old. So I haven't been around long enough to see many presidential elections. But has this ever happened before with a presidential candidate; where he/she rhetorically rips the spine out of one or more supporters on national television? That's what McCain did in the video clip. They expressed their fears of Obama (unjustified in my opinion but the fears are deeply legitimate to them) to McCain and he basically scolds them for that fear. Color me amazed squared. Part of me is saying, What in the...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/media/msm/23381/senator-mccain-in-the-outer-limits/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/writes-like-she-talks-palin-is-plain-wrong.aspx2008-10-10T20:06:04Z2008-10-10T20:06:04ZI've read this quote in several places now and every time I read it, it's still wrong. From the AP: Palin, at a fundraiser in Ohio on Friday, told supporters it's not negative and it's not mean-spirited to scrutinize Obama's iffy associations. If Palin were in fact scrutinizing the associations ( definition of scrutinize : to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail), that might be true. But she does what she always does: she is conclusory - she tells the audience what to think. She doesn't offer one shred of evidence to support the conclusions she wants the listeners to make, because there isn't any evidence to support her conclusions, and she's not all that interested in the audience even being concerned about...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://www.writeslikeshetalks.com/2008/10/10/palin-is-plain-wrong/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/writes-like-she-talks-nearly-9-out-of-10-clinton-supporters-now-support-obama.aspx2008-10-10T18:47:01Z2008-10-10T18:47:01ZNewsweek has a new poll out and if it's to be believed, it puts to rest any concerns that so-called PUMAs and members of other Hillary Clinton-centered groups enveloped disproportionately large numbers of women who would never vote for Barack Obama: Supporters of Hillary Clinton, as many as a fifth of whom had at one point told pollsters they'd support McCain over Obama, now back the Democratic nominee 88 percent to 7 percent. At one point, Columbus, Ohio was the epicenter of a movement of called Clinton Supporters Count Too . And yet, since June, some others have claimed that such women - those who would not vote for Obama - didn't actually exist, but were either Republicans trying to convince former Clinton supporters that it was...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://www.writeslikeshetalks.com/2008/10/10/nearly-9-out-of-10-clinton-supporters-now-support-obama/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/the-moderate-voice-breaking-world-financial-crisis-news-vs-acorn-news.aspx2008-10-10T16:43:03Z2008-10-10T16:43:03ZAbout 45 minutes ago, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson held a news conference to announce the latest plan of the Bush administration to mitigate the U.S. and global financial crisis. On of the elements of the plan is to buy stock in financial institutions from a broad array of institutions. According to AP's Martin Crutsinger, Paulson said the government's program would be designed to complement the efforts of banks to raise fresh capital from private sourcesthe government's stock purchases would be of nonvoting shares so that the government will not have power to run the companies. And, The purchase of equity stakes in companies would be in addition to the main thrust of the $700 billion rescue effort, which involves purchasing...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/media/tv-news/brit-hume/23377/breaking-world-financial-crisis-news-vs-acorn-news/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/the-moderate-voice-mccain-campaign-troubles-moderate-republicans-and-some-others.aspx2008-10-10T16:25:03Z2008-10-10T16:25:03ZThe tone of the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has begun to trouble some moderate Republicans and some other Republicans. Note this piece from the Grand Rapids Press: He endorsed John McCain in the presidential primary, but now former Republican Gov. William Milliken is expressing doubts about his party's nominee. He is not the McCain I endorsed, said Milliken, reached at his Traverse City home Thursday. He keeps saying, Who is Barack Obama?' I would ask the question, Who is John McCain?' because his campaign has become rather disappointing to me. I'm disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign, when he ought to be talking about the issues. Milliken, a...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/politics/republican-party/23376/mccain-campaign-troubles-moderate-republicans-and-some-others/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/outside-the-beltway-changing-the-debate-no-game-changer.aspx2008-10-10T16:13:00Z2008-10-10T16:13:00ZEveryone from MoveOn and DailyKos to Pajamas Media and Next Right to Wikipedia and Reddit are begging Barack Obama and John McCain to change the rules so that the third debate won't be so mind numbingly boring as the first two. It's not going to happen: The are boring precisely because both candidates' reps negotiated the rules in such a way as to minimize the chance of their guy screwing up. McCain might be willing to go for something more freewheeling at this point, given that he's got a lot of ground to make up, but it's almost inconceivable that Obama will go along. No matter. As Walter Mears , who's been covering these things since well before I was born, reminds us the last debate never matters unless it's also the first. And...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/changing_the_debate_no_game_changer/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/the-moderate-voice-for-mccain-better-late-than-never.aspx2008-10-10T15:59:04Z2008-10-10T15:59:04ZThe last few days, I've been very critical of the McCain camp and by extension Sen. McCain for their potentially mob-inciting rhetoric . And while I seriously doubt Senator McCain reads TMV, much less anything I write, somehow, the message got through, at least a little. Sadly, the mob won't let it go . I know some of you won't be as forgiving, but at this point, I honestly pity the Senator, and I suspect he has learned another in a series of painful life lessons. No matter your party or allegiance, I hope you'll agree that it's all such an incredible shame...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/23374/better-late-than-never-credit-where-its-due/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/the-moderate-voice-better-late-than-never-credit-where-it-s-due.aspx2008-10-10T15:59:04Z2008-10-10T15:59:04ZThe last few days, I've been very critical of the McCain camp and by extension Sen. McCain for their potentially mob-inciting rhetoric . And while I seriously doubt Senator McCain reads TMV, much less anything I write, somehow, the message got through, at least a little. Sadly, the mob won't let it go . I know some of you won't be as forgiving, but at this point, I honestly pity the Senator, and I suspect he has learned another in a series of painful life lessons. No matter your party or allegiance, I hope you'll agree that it's all such an incredible shame...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/23374/better-late-than-never-credit-where-its-due/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/talkleft-excerpts-from-bipartisan-troopergate-report-and-palin-s-initial-pledge-to-cooperate.aspx2008-10-10T15:52:00Z2008-10-10T15:52:00ZThe full TrooperGate report is here (pdf). Pages 65-67 with key findings on Gov. Sarah Palin are reproduced here (pdf). Below are some key excerpts from the report, followed by several news articles showing that contrary to claims by Palin and the McCain campaign, the investigation was bipartisan from start to finish -- and Palin herself initially pledged to cooperate with the legislature. [More...] For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin Abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. [Branchflower Report to the Alaska Legislative Council, Page 8] Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional....The evidence supports the...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/10/10/22522/374">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/the-moderate-voice-obama-saw-it-coming.aspx2008-10-10T14:58:05Z2008-10-10T14:58:05ZRemember earlier in the year when Obama was accused of playing the race card for predicting Republicans would try to scare voters into thinking he's not like us. A lot of people are now giving him credit for his prescience, but honestly how hard is it to predict McCain's game plan when he's relying on the same playbook that Republicans have used the last two elections? McCain has one last hail mary option that might work. He can fire Steve Schmidt and all other reminiscences of Karl Rove that are currently running his campaign into the ground and publicly apologize to the American people for losing control and . He then has to promise to take the high road from here on out, and actually follow through. Sure, it might be seen as another...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/politics/negative-campaigning/23373/obama-saw-it-coming/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/talkleft-troopergate-report-palin-abused-the-power-of-her-office.aspx2008-10-10T13:32:03Z2008-10-10T13:32:03ZTrooperGate report is out. Findings: Gov. Sarah Palin abused the power of her office . The report by investigator Steve Branchflower found that Palin violated the state's executive branch ethics act, which says that "each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust." The full report is here (pdf.) The vote to release it was unanimous. I'll update as I read it...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/10/10/203238/00">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/talkleft-newseek-palin-may-cost-mccain-a-win-in-florida.aspx2008-10-10T13:13:02Z2008-10-10T13:13:02ZFlorida's Jewish voters are not happy with Sarah Palin , and many who thought they might vote for McCain have now decided otherwise. As one Jewish voter, Jamie Erenreich, puts it: She finds so much about Palin objectionable that she almost doesn't know where to begin. There's the abortion issue, for one. Palin "wouldn't want anyone to have an abortion even for rape or incest," says Jamie. "Who is she to judge by telling me how to live my life and overturning the things women have worked so hard for?" Equally disconcerting is Palin's seeming shallowness on some of the most pressing matters facing the country. "She doesn't know what she is talking about and makes it up as she goes along," says Jamie. "The fact that she had to be...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/10/10/201321/00">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspxhttp://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/10/10/the-moderate-voice-the-media-vs-john-mccain.aspx2008-10-10T13:13:00Z2008-10-10T13:13:00ZNo, it's not what you think. Jay Cost has an interesting analysis as to why John McCain is doing so badly in the polls and there is nothing that he can do about it. He notes: McCain's problem a week ago is the same as his problem today, enhanced anxiety about the economy. The deal failed to sooth any nerves, so McCain is still in a weakened positionSo long as the newspapers and the televisions are full of stories about contraction, which as you can see dominated every day this week here in Pittsburgh, John McCain's poll position will be weak. That's all there is to it. Conservatives can criticize McCain for not doing this, that or the other; liberals can praise Obama for doing this, that, or the other. But the fact remains that, as...<div id=ReadMoreLink><a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/putting-the-culture-on-the-couch/23372/the-media-vs-john-mccain/">Read the full post on the contributor's blog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://blog.newsweek.com/members/Anonymous.aspx