Senator Barack Obama was fund-raising Friday night in Philadelphia. But he was talking about "the Chicago way."

Channeling the mob drama, "The Untouchables," Mr. Obama said in reference to the general election rumble with the Republicans: "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun."

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...

So far, Obama's been less Al Capone than Fredo Corleone.

Many Americans have been told by the media that John McCain has more experience.  The “right” experience, in the words of the recent LAT poll ("enough" in the muddled mind of Chris Matthews).  Well, it’s undeniable that McCain has more experience, but the current framing of this issue is inherently unfair and misleading.  The truth is that in a fair comparison, Obama is the far more experienced candidate.

I know I am not the only one who is feeling the same way I am when I express that I am a little burnt out over these VP speculation diaries because I have been reading the comments of fellow Kossacks who are expressing this same sentiment. But it's what I am NOT seeing in these diaries that really irk me.

I have yet to see one , and if I am wrong on this, I am hoping that someone will please post a link in the comments section because I really would like to read it, but I myself have yet to see one diary making the case for a VP candidate on the grounds that he or she would best be able to GOVERN in an Obama Administration or TAKE OVER , should , Lord forbid, something happen to him.

Democrats are hand wringers, we are.

Many want to win so bad that every tick, tip; view of a poll gets everyone going.

Me, I don't care about the horserace, which is for the cable desk clerks.

I care about the state polling, which is still soft now, and the ground game.

This is what won Obama the Democratic Nomination, it will bolster him across the final line, but we cannot continue to have these negative ads go unanswered or unchallenged.

An interesting set of polls from FiveThirtyEight confirms the fears of some Obama Veep watchdogs: that Joe Biden is not that popular with voters. So while his stock is rising on Intrade, that may be more of political junkies sniffing the mainstream media buzz rather than people genuinely getting hot for Biden. And while speculation on this blog and others has reached somewhat of a ridiculous high and while this appears to be all coming to a close within the next 24-48 hours, I thought I would add another point to the never-ending conversation about who Obama is going to pick as his vice presidential nominee.

In 24 hours or therabout, Senator John Kerry will most likely become Obama's pick for Vice-President. For the past few days he has kept a low profile away from public and media attention but this will change in the coming days.
There is going to be little excitment with this pick among all party coalition but it makes the most sense.
It will be a safe pick by Senator Obama who is very thoughtful, cautious and calculative.
Senator Kerry, may not bridge the strong division in the party before the election but it will be a reasonable insurance that Obama will at least hold the Kerry States and tilt a couple of Purple States that have since matured and ripe enough to be added into Blue States.

Hi. John Sidney McCain III, here. I know a lot of you Daily Kossacks aren't of a mind to listen to my straight talk, but being the original maverick that I am, I am going to very publicly and proudly cross the aisle and tell you just how, in my own words (more or less, with the help of one of your regular contributors) share with you over the next several days how my experiences as a prisoner of war for seven years in Vietnam shaped my life, my character, my resolve, my views and my candidacy to become the next President of the United States who, despite sharing the same party, the same views, the same talking point and the same most wonderful special mancrush of a hug, will in no way be like the previous administration.

So, I'd like to start off this first part of what I think will be a five part series with the easiest, least controversial topic in American politics: Abortion.

As you hip netroots types like to say: More below the break. Heh!

The other day I heard a recording of the Saddleback Church thing, and I heard Obama pull out perhaps one of the most common phrases in political debates: "And this is a fundamental difference between myself and John McCain." Or something like that.

Candidates always do this in debates.They try to win over the middle and in doing so they sound like there was little difference between them. Which is why they go to such great lengths to point out what difference there is.

We know already that when the right plays to the middle, they are lying. Whatever McCain has said about himself being an average American and on the side of average Americans is bull. Average Americans don't buy $520 shoes and get rewarded for graduating at the bottom of their class. The rest of us work for a living.

What what about Obama? He's not lying. He has no reason to lie. He's almost a metaphor for America - biracial, immigrant father, worked for his success in life, Constitutional scholar, etc. Obama's IN the middle. Which is to say he's not a whole lot of difference from the status quo, aside from all of the major moves to the right over the last 8 years. But what would a candidate who is truly different look like?

A recent story tells about McCain's focused ad spending in battleground states, and Obama's broader spending pattern. McCain is focusing on battleground states, while Obama is spreading resources more broadly.

Why the mismatch in strategies? Here I will give a quantitative argument that in terms of optimal resource allocation, both patterns of behavior make perfect sense, given the campaigns probably think their best strategies are for winning.

[Cross-posted at election.princeton.edu]

No, no, this isn't some sort of anti-Obama diary. I'm just sitting here, having my coffee, and I've come to a conclusion: McCain's going to win the election.

No, no, again, I'll repeat myself, this isn't an anti-Obama diary. After the fold, please.

Yesterday I posted a mopey diary, to clean out the McNastiness that accumulated in my brain over the weekend. But after several joyous events in the past 24 hours, I'm starting to feel something remarkably like . . . HOPE.

1. Ben Smith used the phrase "playing the POW card" to describe McShame's post-Saddleback shenanigans, and others have used that phrase here. This should be our rallying cry. Say it loud, say it proud, and say it often. We need to get that phrase mainstreamed. It's not only a pithy soundbite, it has the distinction of being true, and in fact encapsulating the most egregious sins flaws of the McCain campaign.

2. KO ripped McCain several new ones in an absolutely KICK-ASS Special Comment that gave eloquent voice to nearly all strands of the pent-up frustration I've been feeling lately. And he and Rachel M shredded McKingOfTheWorld for basically accusing Obama of treason in his VFW speech Monday.

3. I watched a video of Barack's July 2nd "Call to Service" speech in Colorado Springs.

More happy times below . . .

When I watched Obama's keynote speech in 2004, I had tears rolling down my face. My 27 and 24 year old sons were surprized at my emotion. I told them then that I hoped I would live long enough to vote for Barack Obama for President. I believe that Obama has run and is running a very good campaign. I trust that he is a wise man with strong character, the intelligence, the judgement and a set of life experiences that make him uniquely qualified to be President.

Obama is the "presumptive nominee"of the democratic party. I trust that whomever he chooses as his running mate will be outstanding. (Even if I don't understand the brillance of the choice initially). I have been canvasing and donating. I will not be sitting in front of my TV in November throwing pretzels and wondering what the hell is wrong with America. I will have done everything I can to ensure a Democratic president, a democratic Senate and a Democratic Congress.

I am prepared to fully and unconditionally support the Vice Presidential nominee.. My diary about the excellent Vice Presidential choice:

This is my first diary, and I have been terrified of posting it, but not EVERYONE who is Christian is in love with McCain.  At least not the true ones anyway.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."

UPDATE:  Okay, I'll hold up a tip jar.  I just didn't think anyone would be paying attention!

There it is again!  McCain questions Obama's judgment.  It was a  drum beat on NPR today.  It is ridiculous.  George Lakoff must be screaming about it and I am unable to resist  ranting here!  How does he question Obama's judgment?   John McCain is promising that he can bring us victory!  Yup, for the first time in world history if we elect this man he will bring us victory in the occupation of another country!  He did not tell us what that meant.  Incidentally, he framed it as a "war".  But GWB declared the war over some years ago.  We are into an occupation.  Just a while ago we had an increase in our occupying forces.  The people who said the war was over some time ago called this increase in troop levels a "surge".  Today John McCain said that Obama lacks judgment because he still fails to acknowledge the success of the surge.  These are the front lines of the framing wars and Lakoff has warned us about them.  It seems that the warning that we can only lose the debate by accepting their framing still needs to be understood.  Look below the break and let's try again.

Political junkie that I am, one would think that this upcoming election would be filling me with excitement. Quite the opposite, in fact. I am filled with dread. The choices on the right, left and all points in between give new meaning to the phrase "lesser of all evils".

McCain is too old, too tied to special interests and corporate power mongers, too out of touch with the common man, too oblivious to the "new world" around him (hello - Czechoslovakia??),.  and too damn belligerent to be trusted with the top job.

Obama is too green, too tied to special interests and political power mongers, too willing to bend and sway to the political winds, too arrogant and too damn interested in listening to himself pontificate to be given the mantle of President of the United States.

Since John Mc Cain keeps getting into trouble with artists who just don't want his campaign using their music , I have the perfect song for him. It fit's him perfectly. I can just see him greeting the small crowds after one if his giggly , spit sucking campaign speeches to the tune of this song. I really think the campaign should use it and I don't think the artist would mind it at all.

obama with rick warren at saddleback church, california

We thought McCain would fall on his face. He does fall on his face, often, so it wasn't an unreasonable thought. But he didn't. Our candidate didn't connect with the audience as well as he might have if he, too, had told stories. That's preaching 101 these days--stories work better than exposition.  McCain had some great stories.  So it's not a surprise that the traditional media say he won. Who knows, maybe they were expecting him to fall on his face as much as we were.