Unfortunately for McCain, the Pew Hispanic Center has just released a poll that should alarm Republicans - Hispanics support Obama 66% - 23%. In the last election, Hispanics helped put George W. Bush over the top. It does not look like they will help McCain get into office this time around.

Why the turn-around? Quite possibly because the immigration reforms pushed by McCain and Bush along with Democrats failed to pass. Right-wing vitriol was so strong against illegal immigrants that it soiled the entire GOP brand, including the so-called moderates on the issue. This seemed a stupid move then as Hispanics are the fastest growing group in America and may hold the balance of power in their hands as soon as this year.

All this is good news for Barack “si se puede” Obama. Let’s hope his people are smart enough to leverage Hispanics along with his black and upper class white support right into the White House. At least then, Hispanics suspect there will be a breakthrough on immigration. And that would help ensure Democrats control the country for years to come. 

Oh for the days of criticizing Obama for not having been to Iraq in a long time. Remember the quaint clock on the RNC website ribbing Obama? Now the two-faced GOP is supremely jealous of Obama’s attention and blasting him for a “stunt” trip. Jeez, what would make these guys happy? Oh I know, Obama getting photographed with his scrawny head sticking out of a tank. They would LOVE that.

Sorry guys, Obama is too smart to get caught looking stupid. Now he is soaking up big time adulation around the world. He’s done a good job of being engaged and listening to foreign leaders. The Iraqis want US troops out and gave him perfect cover for his withdrawal. Just today, he’s done the usual back-flips required to deal with Israel and Palestine. And soon he gets to go to Europe and party. Thankfully, most places have smoking bans in force so he won’t be tempted. Republicans would love to get a photo of him off the smoking wagon too…

If McCain was honest with himself, he’d realize that he has to do something to get attention. Tiny town hall meetings are not the answer. Come on big Mac, you wanna play with the youngster? First you have to prove you can keep up with him. So far, you’re not doing so hot.

GOP in Alaska recently has stood for “Go Palin” as the so-called reformer showed up in the capital for the express purpose of cleaning things up. She won a solid victory in the last gubernatorial race and seemed poised for the national stage. There were even whispers of her getting a VP nod as McCain looked to reach out to women. After the past week, that and possibly her career, has gone out the window.

The circumstances are still unfolding but it seems that Palin and her family had a vendetta against a certain state trooper who happened to be an ex-brother in law of hers. Her sister had a nasty divorce and apparently Palin pressured the Public Safety Commissioner to fire him. When the guy refused, he was fired. Now there may be an investigation.

This is bad news for the state GOP on many levels. Sen. Stevens and Rep. Young are both under investigation and State Rep John Cowdery is under indictment. The GOP brand in the state is fast becoming mud - and that plays into Democratic hands as both the Senate and House seats can flip come November. Even more shocking, Barack Obama is playing close to McCain in what was formerly an ultra-safe GOP state. So what happens if people get so fed up with the GOP they stay home or vote Democrat? Well, the slaughter is on.

McCain immediately scratched Palin off his list, to be sure, and now maybe he will look twice at young Mr. Jindal. You see, the worst possible scenario for a Presidential nominee is to have to answer allegations about a political neophyte who has not been well vetted. Hello? Geraldine Ferraro ring a bell? Youth is dangerous in presidential politics. And Ms. Palin may have signaled the end of Mr. Jindal’s chances for this go round.

Considering the growing disaster that is the GOP, it may be a good thing for Jindal to sit this one out. I can see him running for President one day and he certainly does not need to be tainted by this year’s trainwreck. For Ms. Palin, the writing may be on the wall. Or rather the stink from the cesspool that is Alaska politics may be in the air. Stick a fork in her aspirations, they are done.

John McCain really likes town hall meetings. In fact, the presumptive Republican nominee loves them. I don’t know why. First, there’s the obvious critique: town hall meetings hosted by a presidential candidate are probably ripe with sycophants; the kind of Hannity-esque “you’re a great American!” drivel that actually hurts any potential for real dialogue.

Per this from the Associated Press, Mr. McCain might want to rethink his strategy: Instead of a softball opening question from a fellow vet, however, McCain got a lengthy harangue, as the man insisted the senator had opposed better medical benefits for veterans.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with a politician reaching out to their supporters. But town hall meetings serve no real purpose. The so-called “real” voters that populate these asinine events are no more real than Bugs Bunny.

John McCain, stop these. You can do it. You’re a big boy.

If you don’t believe me, take a gander at this article in today’s Washington Post. Talk about extremism 101. The second an egg gets fertilized, it becomes human. Who knew? And along with being human presumably comes the basic rights that you and I enjoy.

You’ll forgive us if we think this is a bad idea. After all, why shouldn’t we have a democratic election to determine a biological issue? We are certain the electorate will be well informed, not to mention trained in biology and, of course, clued in to the mysteries of the universe. And there is no ulterior motive to this effort, right?

The scary thing is that this got on the Colorado ballot and the Colorado Supreme Court in its infinite wisdom ruled that it was legal. (Have I written lately how pointless I think these courts are?) Will this bring out the crazies and throw Colorado to McCain? Considering how close the polls are, who knows? In the meantime, people are wondering if this will be the law that makes it to the Supreme Court and overturns Roe v. Wade.

If it does, watch all heck break lose.

First, a video came out starring the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Was it lauding Obama as the first black candidate for president? No, it showed Jackson saying he wanted to cut Obama’s “nuts” off for “talking down” to blacks. Huh? Sure Obama has been tough on kids with hoop dreams and dads who abandon their families, but that only makes sense given that pesky thing we all call “reality.” Now Jackson is on Obama’s case and caught on tape? That makes little sense and his apology rings false to me.

Does this mean that Obama’s huge support among blacks will be in for a drop? I doubt it, but maybe for a reason that Jackson cannot quite fathom - the black community is tired of leaders who are all talk and no action except to hog the nearest video camera a la Jackson and Al Sharpton. Too bad for them, a new guy is in town and he’s going to make some demands of the black community

Then there was that FISA bill. Obama flipped and flopped on this one - though he did try to have it both ways by voting to strip immunity before voting for the bill with immunity intact. This infuriated the left-wingers who had propelled Obama to the nomination. On top of his previous assertions to confer with generals about troop withdrawal from Iraq, a whole lot of people suddenly stood up and say “wait a second.” An anti-FISA group sprung up on mybarackobama.com and became the largest group on the entire website. Obama tried to explain himself but in the end held firm in the face of criticism and did what he wanted to do.

Does this mean the kids and old lefties will flock to McCain? Of course not. But it does mean the honeymoon may wind up being over before it even technically starts. A word to the wise - Obama is a crack politician. If you expect him to listen to you or play nice with anyone in the way of his dream, you ain’t never seen a steamroller before. The guy plays politics Chicago style. And that means he has friends only as long as he needs them.

The DNC is in charge of the upcoming Democratic convention in Denver and that is turning out to be a disaster. The convention is already behind schedule and above budget in a variety of areas. Preparations up till now have been lacking, to say the least. Thankfully, Obama’s people are now involved and the hope is that they can get the convention together in a short period of time.

Unfortunately, the situation is currently a giant mess as the New York Times reported today. This is not good news as the convention is key to the Democrat’s image as capable of governing. Heck, if they can’t organize a convention, how can they run a country?

The question becomes will Democrats get their act together? A separate announcement today seemed to clue us in that they will - Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech in the 76,000 seat Denver football stadium. This will energize volunteers and spectators alike, highlighting Obama’s huge appeal to voters. Now we can only hope they get the food and parties and skyboxes right. Because if they don’t, the party will be a laughingstock and they will let another election slip through their fingers.

In preparation for the upcoming G8 summit, Bush had this to say - and no you can’t make this stuff up - “We’re strong dollar people in this administration and have always been for a strong dollar.”

Excuse me? The dollar has been sliding against the Euro since I can’t remember when. Heck, currencies around the world are kicking dollar ass - I mean really, the Polish Zloty? This is not exactly a sign of a strong dollar. Well, count me in as “strong dollar people”. I like traveling and feeling like I can afford a meal. I also like the illusion that we’re a first world nation, irregardless of all the Europeans buying up the property I can’t afford.

But Bush’s words made me do a quick internet search. Guess what I found? Bush is on record for years as saying he is a proponent of a strong dollar. Considering the dollar’s slide, that is unbelievable. But the proof is in the pudding, at least according to the Washington Post.

The issue comes down to economic policy and here the Bush administration has been deficient. High trade imbalances and massive deficit financing are not the things to prop up your currency, I don’t care who you are. The fact that the dollar’s weakness is contributing to the huge run up in oil prices is just one of the signs that Bush’s economic policies have run off the rails. In the end, it shows how little comprehension of basic economics the administration possesses and how little Bush actually has done to prop up the dollar, in spite of what Bush says.

But we can hardly count this as the first time that Bush says one thing and the results are something else entirely. Anyone look at the clock? 200 days till the end and counting.

Two major things held me back from Obama for a long time - his alarming hyper-faith and his addiction to cigarettes. Experience isn’t such a drawback for me at this point because people with experience are just as likely to bumble their way through a term in office as those with little (see Rummy, Cheney, et al).

Unfortunately, in America, while you are expected to give up smoking if you are a big important guy, giving up religion would immediately doom your chances of any sort of political career. So today, Obama went right, courting evangelicals hard. He actually said he would take Bush’s faith based office much further - for starters by renaming it. Granted this means he’d actually care about the poor instead of shoving abstinence down people’s throats. But it really makes me cringe to have religion continually be so important to electing public officials. I want smarts, competence and ability to think on his or her feet. I do not want blind “faith” in invisible deities. Of course, in America, this makes me decidedly in the minority. But I will continue to contend, until my dying days, that religion is not an issue and should not be a requirement for public office.

Granted this time of year is showtime, when we get people posturing and trying to be all things to all people. Lefties and righties both move to the middle. We get silly statements by surrogates and quick denouncements. We have guys riding in tanks. We have people downing beers. If we’re really lucky, someone screws up bad in front of a camera and it gets on YouTube. On and on, the circus goes.

When do they talk about the issues? Heck if I know. Maybe on a debate or two come October. In the meantime, we all have to grin and bear the show. Sure, it’s a load of crap. But that is all anyone seems to want to sell us right now.

In perhaps the furthest reaching decision of the court in a generation, a 5 - 4 majority essentially stripped out the phrase “a well-regulated militia” from the 2nd Amendment (not really but in essence). The ruling overturns Washington DC’s gun ban and was not a surprise. However, the far-reaching ruling said that Americans cannot be prevented from having guns and that is a sentiment I agree with but with this caveat - states should have a right to regulate guns and who owns them. That apparently is no longer the case. Or not. It’s such a broad decision, it basically unleashes the NRA to challenge EVERY GUN BILL ever written:

Let’s quote NRA head Wayne La Pierre, “"I consider this the opening salvo in a step-by-step process of providing relief for law-abiding Americans everywhere that have been deprived of this freedom.” Uh oh.

Clearly, this court is out of control and run with staggering incompetence. It also proves the blatant hypocrisy on the part of the right wing - who for years railed against “activist judges”. Well there is nothing more “activist” than stripping words out of the constitution and making it up as you go along. This Court is guilty of that and more. Predictably, Justice Scalia seems to have forgotten his originalist beliefs. “Putting all of these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation”. Excuse me, but context Mr. Justice? Shall we go back and review the videotape of your 60 Minutes piece where you said if it wasn’t in the constitution, it wasn’t legal. Well the constitution says what it says even if you argue otherwise. Arguing on meaning and interpretation is what people of your ilk fight against, isn’t it? Just another hypocrite, it turns out.

To review - the right wing is now the home of activist judges, the constitution means bupkus to conservatives when they want to get their way and states rights go out the window when conservatives want things the way they want them. The fact that DC is not a state but under federal dominion does not change the breadth of the ruling in my opinion - and on that point Mr. La Pierre agrees with me.

Of course, this is great timing for McCain who rolled out the ole “Obama-bitter” comment regarding guns. McCain will now bash Obama for months on the issue. Our response is to get out ahead of it and say that states, including DC, have the right to regulate themselves according to the constitution. Talk about how this opens up all sorts of gun regulations to court interpretation, possibly overturning the will of the people.

This sorry court is again showing that we need term limits on Supreme Court Justices. Their activism in overturning federal precedent is predictable and disheartening at every turn. Now we will have challenges to every gun bill known to man and the Supreme Court to overturn them. Then when the streets are awash with guns, people will die. Their blood will be on the hands of people like Alito, Scalia, Thomas, et al.

Perhaps we’ll be lucky and someone will take a shot at them. Maybe then they will learn with James Brady learned all those years ago.

Back in March, the New York Times reported on the Supreme Court’s surprising cohesion in business cases so today’s 5 -3 ruling in favor of Exxon Mobil should not come as a surprise. What is interesting is how this got all the way to the court. I always find it interesting when they rule not on constitutionality but in individual litigation cases. Aren’t we overstepping our boundaries a bit on this one folks? I wonder what the originalists on the court would say about that. After all, there were only a few corporations around when the constitution was written. And they were all monopolies. So what is the justification for even taking the case?

File under, “You Gotta Be Kidding Me” the classic Democratic cave on telecom immunity that legalizes Bush’s illegal behavior. The entire left-wing of the party is left standing at the side of the road after Steny Hoyer sold us out for nothing on an issue we had clearly won. The country had not collapsed and the telecoms were still in business. What was the point we all wondered of even continuing the conversation? After all, the Dems could have simply never voted on it again, right? Apparently not as a bunch of Dems colluded with Republicans and then announced a “compromise” better termed “bend over and take it like a dog.”

So our hopes became, will Obama vote against it and twist some arms? And lo and behold, after saying he would never support immunity, he agreed to vote YES. Get used to this folks, Obama will sell you and your mother to get elected. What he does in office may be so ruthless, we may all decide never to vote again. Sure he’s sold out his friends before, sure he opted out of public financing, crippling a system he otherwise supposedly supports. But this is beyond the pale. The guy has never taken a politically inconvenient position and this is just the latest. Maybe in his second term (fat chance), he will actually take a stand. Right now, the guy needs a wake-up call.

To make matters worse, the trainwreck that is corn ethanol subsidies is one of Obama’s big issues and he is far too cozy with the industry. Reformer indeed. The New York Times today details his support for this ruinous approach to “solving” our fuel needs. Stupid, shortsighted and disastrous consequences for the world all come to mind when it comes to this topic. Corn should not be fuel. Corn is food. The chain reaction of using corn for ethanol has been widespread across the globe. John McCain is actually the one who is right on the issue. (He’s also right in opposing farm subsidies.) Obama was launched to the nomination on the backs of corn growers in Iowa and he may ride the state all the way to the White House. But it doesn’t make him right on the issue.

Even worse, Obama is palling around with Tom Daschle, former Democratic Senate leader, who now sits on the board of three ethanol companies. How disgusting is that? Can you think of a more squirrelly loser than Tom Daschle? And he’s rumored to be on the VP list. UGH!

I’ll say one thing, Senator Obama had better get his act together. Otherwise a lot of people who were convinced he was the political savior of our times are going to stay home in November. The affection of the public is a fickle thing. The good Senator never managed to find a place in my heart and he certainly has not earned it with behavior like this.

Hey Senator, you have my vote because you are a Democrat and we need one in the White House. But don’t think I or anyone else is going to get into a sado-masochistic relationship with you. We ain’t stupid and we are watching you. Time for you to do the right thing. If you have any questions, call Spike Lee and he’ll tell you how it’s done.

Well Republicans aren’t exactly trying to kill Amtrak now. They just want to privatize it. Kind of hard to privatize something like rail travel when you look at the industry. Passenger rail never makes money and always the recipient of subsidies. Look at rail travel around the world and tell me where they make money without government help. Even worse, railroads generally don’t own their lines - Amtrak doesn’t. So where exactly is the business model here?

Amtrak ridership is up as is ticket revenue. May was a record month and the New York Times reported today that many trains are sold out for the July 4th holiday weekend. So what’s the problem?

Start with the fact that most Metroliner trains are 30+ years old. And the fact that adding capacity is tough when you only have 632 usable rail cars. Total. In the entire country. Chew on that number awhile America.

Amtrak remains in the grip of politics as usual, with Republicans hoping to privatize the system and Democrats trying to prop it up. Obama and McCain are on predictable sides of this battle, as they are on a bill to split costs 80/20 with states that start up new commuter rail service. Guess who plans to veto that movement even though many Republicans actually support it. In the meantime, there seems to be no plan at all for the growth of Amtrak or the replacement of its aging equipment.

So add another thing to the list of what we won’t get if McCain is president. At least we’ll get to see more stuff blow up. That’s always cool.

There are a ton of bills being held up in the Senate by Sen. Coburn - by one count it has reached 80. These are generally bi-partisan bills with enough support to overcome any potential filibusters. So what’s the problem? For starters, Coburn wants the right to offer amendments and Harry Reid wants to move bills through if they have lots of support. So the proceedings are grinding to a halt.

The Senate has tons of arcane rules that are rarely invoked. Coburn is using the privilege of the “anonymous hold” to stop bills. This ludicrous practice means that one Senator in a minority party can hold up whatever he wants. There is a way around it - recently enacted reforms gives a person 6 days to announce his hold in public and explain it. Of course, as soon as those requirements are met, another Senator can put an anonymous hold on it and delay it for 6 more days! Imagine this happening on bill after bill.

Reid and the Democrats plan to package bills together to force Coburn’s hand. It will also expose Republican stall tactics and, in theory, help make the case for more Democratic Senators. Considering the relative weakness of Reid’s reign, we are not exactly confident he will manage to maneuver around the machinations of Coburn.

McCain is going back to the past as Obama tries to push us to the future. It’s fascinating and making for a very tight contest when really Obama should be wiping the floor with old JMcIII.

In the past couple of days we have seen how McCain will campaign - a strong America! Woo hoo. Forget getting the crap kicked out of us in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention being in hock to the Saudis and Chinese and having a moribund economy. It’s the fantasy stupid (Obama folks feel free to use that line). What planet does John McCain live on anyway?

To solve our energy crisis - more drilling! To get the economy going, more tax cuts! To win the war, just stay the course! What a sad trainwreck. So far, we have not seen one new idea from the guy’s campaign. Sure he is a white war hero “maverick” dude, so of course he starts out at 40% no matter what. But really Senator, can’t you come up with one idea?

Topping it off, today he accused Barack Obama of having a “September 10th mentality.” Wow, bringing out the big guns early, eh? Let’s not forget that on September 10th the world was right side up and not ass backwards because some guys got a few planes and blew up a few buildings. Honestly, if you look at the 9/11 attacks in historical context, it is hardly on the scale of the great attacks of history. Germany blitzing Poland, Pearl Harbor, Fort Sumter… those are major historical events and 9/11 is a pinprick in comparison. We may well look back at this event and see a hugely disproportionate response. After all, we are bogged down in multiple wars with unclear outcomes due to the attack - the effects of which we may not know for decades.

The point is, Republicans are going to rely on simplistic, jingoistic thinking. That’s their specialty. That and selling a fantasy of America that does not exist. Trouble is, Americans like the fantasy and it is unclear if Obama can sell them the future when the warm & fuzzy past is much more their speed. Only time will tell.

A few months ago, Obama raised eyebrows by giving a speech in a black church about the need to respect gays. This went far beyond what he had previously said in public and, as a result, he was praised for being strong support for gay rights.

Today, in a predominantly black church in Chicago, Obama took on the absentee black fathers of the world. Unfortunately, more than half of all black kids grow up in single parent households, the vast majority of them overseen by mothers or grandmothers. Obama decried this tendency and took to task black men who, in his words, “have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.” About his own values, he said, “I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle - that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls.” Bravo.

So isn’t this the kind of family values we want in our society - the kind that Republicans hijacked years ago when painting liberals as anti-values? Now imagine John McCain taking on the welfare families of Appalachia, a core constituency of the Republican party. Ain’t gonna happen. Here’s hoping that Obama continues to give these kinds of speeches - because they change the playing field and expose McCain for what he is, another empty politician.

It’s a bit tragic or even pathetic that Obama will have to spend as much political capital as appears likely to woo back the Clinton voters to the Democratic fold when the Republican alternative, McCain, actually voted against equal pay for women. That Federal law was recently and greatly weakened by the Supreme Court, by the way.

A great many influential Clinton supporters want her on the ticket with Obama, which would tag the Democratic ticket with all of her negatives and completely undermine his anti-Washington message. But another perhaps equally bad idea is making the rounds of the blogosphere now, namely Virginia Senator Jim Webb. Unfortunately, former Republican Navy Secretary Webb has been around long enough to have acquired a record that is atypical even for a Republican in its misogyny. As recently as 1992, he opposed the investigation into the Tailhook scandal, which you might recall was a convention of Naval aviators that essentially turned into a semi-organized gang rape.

Maybe a less flamboyant choice like Virginia Governor Tim Kaine might be in order.