Big Dogs Weblog

Barack Hussein Obama woke up this morning and found himself five points behind John Sidney McCain. This after he suffered a serious blow at the Saddleback forum that saw all but the most seriously mentally ill calling it a big win for McCain. Obama attacked McCain after that forum and he came out swinging at the beginning of this week. I wrote earlier about Obama going on the attack, something I knew he would do as soon as he started to fade.

Obama put out an attack video which ties McCain to disgraced lobbyist (they call him a Republican lobbyist but he gave nearly as much money to Democrats) Jack Abramoff. The ad implies that John McCain made sure that one of the people involved, Ralph Reed, did not have problems and now that person is raising money for McCain. It appears that Reed did not receive special treatment and that the fund raising is, according to him, as a private citizen.

The Obama ad ignores the fact that Barack Obama received money from Abramoff and his associates. The Obama ad also ignores the fact that McCain was responsible for the investigation of the corruption and Abramoff’s demise. McCain exposed the issue but the ad does not let the viewer in on that little secret.

The ad tries to make McCain guilty by association, something Obama chided Hillary for in the primaries. Guilt by association was an issue that was hard for Republicans to bring up (even though Obama has a lot of associates that are shady) because they did not stick in the primaries and the first thing out of their mouths would be racism. Desperate times call for desperate measures and in today’s political climate Obama should be 15 points ahead instead of 5 behind. He has been shown as a weakling and he has decided to start getting mean. It appears though, that Obama made a tactical error. By trying to make McCain guilty by association he opened the door for John McCain to do the very same and there is not a thing the Obama-bots can do about it. Their guy opened the door and invited McCain in.

And in he walked. Big John carrying a big stick and he used it quite effectively:

“Barack Obama’s ad is ridiculous. Because of John McCain, corruption was exposed and people like Jack Abramoff went to jail.

“However, if Barack Obama wants to have a discussion about truly questionable associations, let’s start with his relationship with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, at whose home Obama’s political career was reportedly launched. Mr. Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, a terrorist group responsible for countless bombings against targets including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and numerous police stations, courthouses and banks. In recent years, Mr. Ayers has stated, ‘I don’t regret setting bombs … I feel we didn’t do enough.’

“The question now is, will Barack Obama immediately call on the University of Illinois to release all of the records they are currently withholding to shed further light on Senator Obama’s relationship with this unrepentant terrorist?” —McCain spokesman Brian Rogers via STACLU

Game, set, match. The kid took a swing at John McCain while trying to act tough and the counter punch hit him square in his glass jaw. Now the McCain camp can air ads with pictures of all the things that Ayers blew up and sound bites of him saying they did not do enough. They can top that off with pictures of Barry and Ayers together. There is not a thing that Barry or any of his minions can do about this. You see, Barry could shrug it off in the primaries by claiming that he was a kid when Ayers bombed but Barry was an adult when he became an associate of Ayers. Ayers made his statements in the recent past so Obama is associated with a known terrorist. Obama had to know about Ayers’ past and his current feelings and yet he continued to associate with him. Obama, for such a smart man, led with his chin on this one.

It was good to see the McCain camp shoot back quickly and forcefully. This was not only a shot to the chin, it was also a shot across the bow. The McCain camp sent a warning that basically said; “If you want to play this game you go right ahead but we are good at it and we are not afraid to hit you very hard when we punch back. I bet this will give Obama a bit of a pause.

Might be too late. Now McCain is free to exploit the past associations of Obama and to use them without worry.

Barry played Carlton the doorman on this one.

Tags: abramoff, ayers, counter punch, glass jaw, McCain, Obama

I wrote earlier that Jones had suffered an aneurysm. The report at the time made it sound as if it was not immediately life threatening as it stated she was driving and gave no other details. There was no indication as to whether the aneurysm was in her brain or another part of the body (after the brain the aorta is common). Evidently she suffered a serious brain aneurysm and was clinging to life at a hospital.

Her death was reported earlier today and that news was reported as inaccurate. Now, Fox news is reporting that, according to her family and the hospital, the Congresswoman has died.

The prayers of the Big Dog family go out to the family and friends of Congresswoman Tubbs Jones. May she rest in peace.

Hillary Clinton’s name will be placed in nomination at the DNC and she will receive votes. This is a pretty gutsy move by Barack Obama since he does not have the number of delegates needed for an outright win and Super Delegates can vote for whomever they want. One Democrat indicates that as many as half the members of the House may vote for Hillary:

Rep. Loretta Sanchez says she’s happy for the chance to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Democratic National Convention — and she predicts that as many as half of the Democrats in the House could join her. Politico

Barry has been having a rough month, one that has Hillary and Bill silently laughing. The Democrats are worried that they might have made the wrong choice in candidates and the nagging issue of Hillary supporters has them nervous. Has Obama sent out the hit squad to ensure that Clinton supporters are not able to vote at the convention?

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has broken her ankle and will skip next week’s Democratic National Convention.

Feinstein, who was one of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top supporters, was to have chaired California’s delegation to the convention in Denver. Breitbart

U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Cleveland has suffered an aneurysm and is in a hospital.
~snip~
She was one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s biggest boosters during the primaries and is a superdelegate at next week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver. Breitbart

Maybe the Obama hit squad is out ensuring that Hillary supporters are unable to attend the convention. These “accidents” sure appear to be Chicago style politics. Barry has bumped off his competition before so it is not out of the question that he would do it again.

Maybe this is what he meant when he stated that McCain does not know what he is up against…

Tags: delegates, dnc, feinstein, hit squad, Obama, tubbs-jones

Barry Obama is fresh off his Hawaiian vacation and is not too happy because he got his head handed to him at Saddleback and now is five points behind John McCain in the national polls. In order to regain momentum after being punished at the religious forum Obama has decided to extend his tough talk past his post forum tantrum. He told a group in North Carolina:

“Our job in this election is not just ‘win,’ although I’m a big believer in winning,” Obama said during the rally. “I don’t intend to lose this election. John McCain doesn’t know what he’s up against.”

“He can talk all he wants about Britney (Spears) and Paris (Hilton), but I don’t have time for that mess,” Obama said. My Way News

Barry is trying to talk tough and wants people to believe he is a big believer in winning but that is simply not the case. Barack Hussein Obama is a big believer in personally winning because he is a politician and a self centered one at that. He is opposed to America winning and has described policies he will implement as president that would assure us of a loss in Iraq. He has already gone against the most successful tactic in the war and stated that they would not work. He wanted us to come home in shame so he opposed any new tactics and has refused to admit they were successful. Obama has even said he would not employ them even knowing what he does today. In other words, he would take the path of defeat.

Leave it to Barry to bring out the tough guy, punk in the hood, drug using, Chicago gangsta talk in this election. He mentioned that McCain does not know what he is up against. Barry, you are from Chicago. We all know what McCain is up against. He will face more votes from that place than there are registered voters. He will face voters who have been dead for years. He will face an electorate that will be bullied and intimidated by the Mayor and his thugs who will do anything in order to ensure your victory. This is what Richard Nixon faced in 1960 and it is what John McCain will face in 2008. Nothing has changed in the crime ridden Chicago political landscape in 48 years. Is he statement about McCain not knowing a veiled swipe at his age?

John McCain spent years being beaten and tortured by very bad people. He was abused and suffered physical and emotional wounds that took a long time to heal. What makes Barry think that John McCain will be threatened by a two bit hack from Chicago who has not quite gotten the hood out of his blood?

The reality is, Barry does not know what hit him. He has no time for Paris and Britney but he has time to play on the beach. The ads have hurt him and they have done so because they are accurate. Obama has celebrity status and he is viewed as a rock star. These are words that are used by his supporters and McCain seized upon them. Couple this with the messianic, cult like worship that his party, from the leadership down, showers us with on a daily basis and the McCain folks have a lot of ammunition courtesy of the other side.

What specifically is John McCain up against? Barack Obama is a Senator who is in his first term. He has spent more time campaigning than he has in the office to which he was elected. He has no legislative accomplishments as a US Senator and very few, if any, as an Illinois politician. His major claim to leadership is the fact he was a community organizer. That effort was marginal at best and provided no results for the community but a lot of money for his friends. Obama has no military experience, no leadership experience (I don’t think his claims count) and he has an unremarkable record. Obama has less experience for this job than Clarence Thomas had for the Supreme Court when he was selected. Obama said Thomas did not have the experience he needed when he was selected. What does that tell us about Barry? John McCain graduated from the Naval Academy two years before Obama was born and has more time serving this country than Barack Obama has on this planet.

The truth of the matter is that Barry thought he was on a cake walk. He has bought into his own hype. He believes he is “The One” and that the time is his. Hillary started out thinking that and look where she is.

Obama is talking tough because he thinks that John McCain has questioned his patriotism. McCain’s people point out they are questioning Obama’s experience. In reality, it is Obama who questioned McCain’s patriotism with his “Buy American, Vote Barack Obama” campaign. That campaign makes it clear that Obama is the true American Patriot but does not use the words to say it. I pointed out that Obama said he would never question someone else’s patriotism but that he did so in that new campaign. Obama only cries that his patriotism is being attacked so he has a reason to go on the warpath. He is making excuses so he can blame his lackluster performance on the attack ads. He believes that it must be the ads because everyone accepts the messiah.

Barry, be careful about the tough talk. People might expect you to back it up. You might think that the crafty veteran has no idea of what he is up against but I think he has been through much tougher times than anything you could possibly throw at him. I also know that if you start talking tough you might end up getting slapped around a bit by an old guy who has dealt with people tougher than you could ever hope to be.

As for your character. You have lied about too many things to count and you believe in killing infants. That says enough about your character right there.

You, young man, have no idea what you are up against…

Tags: chicago, gangsta, McCain, Obama, politics, tough talk

Barack Obama once famously announced he would debate John McCain anytime, anywhere. We found out that was untrue 75 days ago when John McCain invited The One to participate in 10 town Hall type debates. Obama agreed to one on the Fourth of july when no one would be interested and has avoided any other mention of the subject. The recent presidential forum at Saddleback church in California hosted by rick Warren demonstrated why Obama is avoiding any more debates than he absolutely has to attend. He is not well informed, he is not well prepared and he got his head handed to him on a platter.

Obama took some risk in this type of venue because this is not the typical liberal base. Liberals believe in immoral things that fundamental Christians oppose and given Obama’s position on murdering children in the womb and after they are born it is safe to say he was entering a place where he was out of his comfort zone. Of course, any place where Obama is without prepared text and a teleprompter is out of his comfort zone.

The sainted one went first and he stumbled over questions by searching for the right answer. He could not avoid stating his positions that are well known but he searched for nuanced ways to make them a softer sell. His appearance was off balance, awkward and disastrous.

John McCain, on the other hand, gave immediate answers and was well prepared. He answered from the heart based upon decades of experience and his replies were genuine. He did not have to fumble around looking for the “right” answer because he gave sincere answers. He made Obama look like the amateur that he is.

It is obvious that the Obama camp knew right away that their messiah had done poorly. The campaign accused John McCain of not being sequestered and therefore being able to hear the questions beforehand. This is not true as McCain was in a motorcade in route to the event and then in a green room that had no feed of the broadcast. The Obama camp had to claim McCain cheated because they exclaimed that he was so well prepared. He was so at ease. He must have heard the questions because no one can answer that smoothly and confidently. Only he did.

After the Obama camp made the accusations of cheating, Andrea Mitchell of NBC carried the water for them. She said that McCain was crisp, immediate, and forceful and that Obama did not do as well as his camp had wanted and then she said; “…what they’re putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama.”

Leave it to Andrea to fan the flames of rumor and unsubstantiated claims in order to assist The One. A real journalist would have investigated the claims in order to ascertain the truth and then reported it. Mitchell took the short cut in order to help Obama spread doubt about McCain. As a commenter on Wizbang pointed out, this is the way to help Obama in the real debates. They will give him the questions in advance so he can rehearse answers and then if McCain accuses him of cheating they will yell sour grapes and that he was the one who cheated. It is a ploy that involves the media wing of the Democratic party.

Another indication that Obama felt he did poorly was that he attacked McCain the very next day. Obama went on the attack because he knew he had been beaten like a rented mule. He had to go on attack to take the wind out of McCain’s sails. The problem is, when Obama attacked McCain, what he said made no sense:

“McCain says ‘Here’s my plan, I’m going to drill here, drill now which is something he only came up with two months ago when he started looking at polling,” Obama said of McCain’s energy policy. My Way News

Isn’t this a bit stupid? McCain might very well have changed his mind based upon polls despite his claims that $4.00 a gallon gas convinced him. However, Obama changed his mind two weeks ago and he did so based solely on polls. Obama was opposed to drilling (and still is) and he criticized McCain for changing his mind. Then, when polls showed that more than two thirds of Americans wanted us to drill, Obama says he is open to it. If Obama is critical of McCain in this fashion, is he not critical of himself as well? McCain was first to realize this issue and address it. Obama followed much later. As with Saddleback, Obama demonstrated he is a follower, not a leader. The only leading Obama did at the event was going first.

It is obvious why Obama will not debate McCain in Town Hall type events and why he will participate only in as many debates as he absolutely has to. McCain has much more experience and looks more presidential than Obama does. Obama will give a great speech in Denver because he will be reading prepared remarks from a teleprompter. Force him to answer based upon experience and knowledge and he flounders like a fish out of water.

One can only parrot Yes We Can [Thanks AOW] and scream Hope and Change for so long before the truth is exposed. Obama would have done better to start late so people did not have as much time to see his weaknesses. He will be played out by the time the election comes.

Given that Investor’s Business Daily said Saddleback was “No Contest” Obama and his people must be fretting the post convention debates. I can smell the fear and their reaction to Saddleback only demonstrates just how afraid they are.

It won’t be long before they realize the Emperor has no clothes. I bet even Hillary and Bill Clinton are smiling today…

Tags: accusations, cheating, debates, fear, McCain, Obama, saddleback