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Indybay Feature

Obama draws monster crowd in red state; McCain churns out sleeze as fast as he can

by various
About 100,000 people turned out Saturday for an appearance by Senator Barack Obama in St. Louis. Rumor is he raised over $100 million in donations in the month of September, enough to bury McCain in an avalanche of high-priced TV spots.

As Obama is poised to win by a landslide in a matter of weeks, giving him a mandate for serious change from the trickile-down economics of the last 30 years, and end to the Reagan era if you will, all McCain can do now is try to scare people that Obama is a black radical, terrorist-coddling, socialist, welfare state, danger to the nation...
obamamissouri_10-18-08.jpg
Day’s Campaigning Shows an Inverted Political Plane

By MICHAEL POWELL and MICHAEL COOPER
Published: October 18, 2008

ST. LOUIS — There was the feel of a political world turned upside down on Saturday as Senator John McCain found himself defending North Carolina and Virginia, while Senator Barack Obama was greeted by huge crowds in Missouri, which Republicans had also considered safe just months ago.

Mr. McCain has escalated his attacks in recent days, all but accusing Mr. Obama on Saturday of being a socialist and saying his rival’s tax plan would turn the Internal Revenue Service into “a giant welfare agency.” Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, attached the politically charged word “welfare” to Mr. Obama for the second successive day.

For his part, Mr. Obama depicted Mr. McCain, who favors extending tax cuts for wealthier Americans, as removed from the reality of the hard times descending on the nation.

Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, gave a striking sign of his electoral muscle when he arrived here and journeyed to the Gateway Arch on the Mississippi River. He saw 100,000 people spread out before him, a vast turnout in a state that teeters between the Republicans and Democrats.

Even Mr. Obama, who can wear self-possession like an overcoat, seemed taken aback. “What a magnificent day the Lord has made,” he said. “And thank you for being here today.”

The crowd offered a bubbling optimism that was at once tinged with a shot of wariness.

“Whoo! I am on a high to see so many people of so many colors,” said Nicole Brown, a young woman who lives in St. Louis. “I mean, I’m anxious — is this real?”

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/us/politics/19campaign.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin


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Big News Orgs Picking Up On Magnitude Of McCain's Robo-Slime Campaign
By Greg Sargent - October 18, 2008, 5:20PM

The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN are now getting serious about picking up on the story of John McCain's robo-slime campaign, all weighing in with pieces that endeavor to demonstrate the true breadth and scope of McCain's under-the-radar smear effort.

The Times piece is here. WaPo's is here. And you can watch CNN's report on the video below.

The Times piece hits directly hits on two key points: First, the calls are "misleading," as the paper puts it, perhaps too delicately. And second, the calls show McCain yet again jettisoning a formerly claimed principle as he faces the increasingly likely prospect of defeat. As the paper notes, McCain high-mindedly denounced such tactics when he was the target of them in 2000, and again during the GOP primary this year, when he described the robo-slime being directed at him as "scurrilous stuff."

It's worth stepping back to ponder what's really going on here. While McCain and Sarah Palin try to persuade you that they're running a relatively clean campaign and don't question Obama's patriotism or love of country, they are running an enormous shadow campaign to smear Obama in the ugliest of ways, one that's designed to portray him as a friend of terrorists, as a vaguely sinister other, as not genuinely committed to defending our country, and as callously indifferent to the lives of newborn babies.

Thus, while Palin was sweetly claiming yesterday that she knows "Obama loves America," her and McCain's campaign were funding thousands upon thousands of calls telling battleground state voters that Obama put "Hollywood above America" during the crisis negotiations, that Obama and Dems merely "say" they want to keep you safe and "aren't who you think they are," and that Obama has "worked closely" with a "domestic terrorist" whose group "killed Americans."

There are two McCain campaigns operating simultaneously right now. There's the one that McCain and Palin are running in front of the cameras, and then there's the subterranean robo-slime campaign, which is bombarding thousands upon thousands of voters with multiple messages that McCain would never associate himself with in the glare of the klieg lights. That's the real story here.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/big_news_orgs_picking_up_on_ma.php


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Inland GOP mailing depicts Obama's face on food stamp

11:39 PM PDT on Thursday, October 16, 2008

By MICHELLE DeARMOND
The Press-Enterprise

The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women's group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles.

The October newsletter by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps -- instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of "Obama Bucks" -- a phony $10 bill featuring Obama's face on a donkey's body, labeled "United States Food Stamps."

The GOP newsletter, which was sent to about 200 members and associates of the group by e-mail and regular mail last week, is drawing harsh criticism from members of the political group, elected leaders, party officials and others as racist.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_buck16.3d67d4a.html


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The hateful just might be dangerous after Obama wins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPg0VCg4AEQ


obamakansas_10-18-08.jpg
Obama Raises Over $150 Million In September
By Greg Sargent - October 19, 2008, 9:08AM

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe emails supporters this morning with the news that Obama has raised an extraordinary sum in September: Over $150 million.

The Obama camp added 632,000 new donors, bringing the campaign's total number of donors to over three million people. Also extraordinary: The average donation for the month was less than $100.

The key here is that September was when the contours of the current context first became truly visible: The GOP convention took place at the start of the month, and hockey mom/pitbull with lipstick Sarah Palin was first introduced to America as John McCain's choice for backup commander in chief.

What's more, as the month unfolded, it became clearer and clearer that McCain had made a strategic decision to wage a campaign dominated by slimy attacks, vile adver-sleazements, and cosmic levels of mendacity. And Obama's donor base responded in kind, as did more than half a million newcomers.
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