Link. I imagine they might. Here's my question - how is it funny? Maybe my stupidity is blocking my sense of humor here, but I do not get the funny.

This is an Open Thread. And I speak for me only. Maybe J or Chris think it is funny.

Jonah Goldberg learns. From his column today:

Now, facing John McCain's blistering ads, Obama seems unable to fight fire with fire. . . . Nonetheless, the Obama campaign has vowed, once again, to take the gloves off and go after McCain hard, linking him to President Bush and highlighting the fact that the Arizona senator is out of touch.

One flaw with this supposed course correction is that it isn't one. McCain-Bush-Economy has been Obama's message for months now. Indeed, ABC News' Jake Tapper wrote on his blog that this is actually the fourth time Team Obama has pledged to engage in a bracing round of fisticuffs.

Time to revise and extend those remarks Jonah. Of course, "the economy is fundamentally sound" may be a winning soundbite. But I doubt it. It did not work for Hoover.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Reports tonight are emerging that the Feds may bail out AIG by providing up to $85 billion in a bridge loan.

Doesn't that mean we, the taxpayers, ultimately are going to foot the bill? Adding that to what we will have to pay for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that's a huge sum of money.

The reason apparently is that AIG is just too big to fail.

Thoughts?

Here is video of "the speech"

Update (TL): Full text of speech here.

I haven't seen any news today, or even opened my e-mail, but I can tell from BTD's last post, it's still being dominated by Gov. Sarah Palin. I hope he noticed I did not write about the tanning bed even though I read about it last night -- I agree it's petty, silly and has zero to do with her governing, since her spokesman said she paid for it with her own money.

I'm still at work and the TL kid is coming over for dinner, so here's an open thread for those of you that were paying attention to the world at large today.

When you write posts like this, you forfeit the right to complain about the lack of substance from the Media. On a day when Barack Obama gives a fantastic speech on the economy, that is what some blogs choose to write about.

Somerby says:

WE’RE ALL SEAN HANNITY NOW: Josh Marshall’s descent into Hannity Land has been a dizzying ride. But even by Josh’s declining standards, this gruesome post by Kate Klonick represents a new low in rube-running. (David Kurtz linked to the piece, on page one.) Do you enjoy being treated like fools? If so, you’ll love Klonick’s opening: On the campaign trail, Sarah Palin likes to brag about how she put the Alaska state jet on eBay and fired the governor's personal chef. One item that doesn't appear in her stump speech, however, is the personal tanning bed Palin had installed in the governor's mansion.

Yep. You sometimes become that which you claim to hate.

Speaking for me only

I got the chance to watch Obama's speech on the economy in Golden, Colorado (on TV of course.) Great speech. Great delivery. As close to being like Bill Clinton on the economy as I have seen him. The Barack Obama I saw today will win this election easily. I hope to get a video up for you to see it yourself. Some of the text on the flip.

This is an Open Thread.

Screw your head down tight. You don't want it to spin off as you try to understand what John McCain thinks about the economy.

Yesterday McCain assured us that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" despite our "difficult times." Today he explained that by "fundamentals," he meant American workers are strong. Whether they have strong backs or strong stomachs, he didn't specify.

So the workers don't need fixing, but what about the economy? Yesterday McCain was all about reform. He was going to take care of the "greed, excess and corruption in Wall Street." But how? Today he explained: all we need is "a high-level commission to study the current economic crisis," kinda like the 9/11 commission. So maybe midway through his presidential term, he'll get some recommendations about what to do solve what he now acknowledges is a "crisis." Marvelous. Does this inspire your confidence in John McCain's ability to lead?

Who will he put in charge of the commission? Phil Gramm? Donald Luskin? Take a look at his economic team and try to find someone who cares about the strong workers McCain is trying to embrace.

The Daily Kos/R2000 poll (8/13-15) has Obama up 48-44, up 1 from yesterday. I won't be around until this afternoon to provide you the other tracker results. UPDATE - Ras ticks towards Obama, McCain's lead sliced to 1, 48-47. Hotline shows a big move towards Obama, 46-42, from a 1 point lead a day earlier. Gallup ticks towards Obama, McCain lead cut to 1, 47-36.

The internals of this poll seem quite plausible - McCain by 20 among whites, Obama up 94-4 among A-As and leading by 2-1 among Latinos. McCain leads among men by 4 and Obama leads among women by 12. Turnout models are determinative. Demography is, as always, political destiny.

A final note, on the legitimacy of the DKos/R2000 poll - R2000 is a legitimate and respectable pollster. It seems to have a slight Dem house effect. But those of you voicing the idea that Kos would fiddle with polls are being just plain stupid. I would stake my own reputation on Markos' integrity. I disagree with him a lot. But he would never ever fudge the numbers.

This is a polling Open Thread. Just about polls please.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers discuss the Netroots and its actions. Bowers uses the provocative title "Why Should Anyone Respect The Netroots?" It is a good question. I know I personally lost a lot of respect for the Netroots in the past 2 years. But Bowers rightly is not concerned about whether I respect him - he wants respect from politicians and the Media. But what does he want them to respect? The power and influence of the Netroots is what seems uppermost on his mind:

The point is that just doing something beneficial to a politician does not mean that politician will end up respecting you. This is especially the case when you are viewed as a bunch of amateurs who will work for free . . .

(Emphasis supplied.) Therein lies the problem. Most of the Left blogs work for politicians, not for issues. THAT is why the Netroots gets no respect. Stoller makes the point well:

TalkLeft discusses the Fair Pay Restoration Act here and here and here. Barack Obama supports it. John McCain doesn't. Maybe fair pay doesn't make a difference to voters, but it should.

Add one more misleading advertisement to the McCain campaign's lengthy list of lies and distortions. The McCain team is wasting its resources attacking Obama on immigration with a Spanish language ad on television stations in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.

A male announcer says: “Obama and his allies in Congress say they are on the side of immigrants, but they’re not. Reports in the press say that their efforts were like ‘poison pills’ that caused immigration reform to fail. The results: ‘No’ to the guest workers program; ‘no’ to a path to citizenship, ‘no’ to secure borders. The reform didn’t pass. Is that being on our side? Obama and his Congressional allies — ready to block immigration reform, but not ready to govern.”

This comes after McCain, during the primaries, disavowed the reform bill he once championed, saying he would now postpone policy reform until American borders are "secure". Does the McCain team think that targeting obvious lies to people who care about immigration reform will help him win this election? [more...]