Run It

Somebody, please. With the three top polls showing this a five point race, all that's needed is to get ads like this some circulation.

Its............ Great!

Tony the Tiger...

Chicago Way

Truth about Barack - a good ad from the GOP.

Barack throws up the shield, accuses McCain of taking the low road because it's the only route open.

Look Who's Talking

Tony is talking.

A federal judge canceled convicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko’s sentencing date today and one of his lawyers said he is working with federal prosecutors in hopes of getting a break for his client.

While it's easy to get excited - thinking that, perhaps, truth about Rezko's close relationship with Barack might see the light of day, this isn't likely.

The decision to postpone the Oct. 28 sentencing barely stopped short of confirmation that Rezko is spilling his secrets to federal prosecutors. Speculation that Rezko is telling what he knows about Illinois political corruption has swept through Chicago’s federal courthouse for weeks.

If Tony is talking, and bringing news that would be damaging to the Obama campaign, it's safe to assume that this would become a bargaining chip for Rezko, giving him more leverage over a system eager to protect Barack.

"We are trying to work toward an agreement that would affect sentencing," defense attorney Bill Ziegelmueller told reporters after the two-minute hearing before federal Judge Amy J. St. Eve. "But obviously no agreement is in place."

The better the dirt Rezko has on Barack, the more damaging it would be to his candidacy during the last few weeks, the less likely that we'll get to hear about it.

Rezko was a major political fundraiser who bankrolled campaigns of both Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama. But he did not supply any money to Obama’s current campaign and the Democratic candidate for president has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

That's the favorite line of Barack supporters - ie, the mainstream media - he has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Well, ya. When the facts are all buried, it's tough to make accusations.

St. Eve canceled the October sentencing date and set a date for a fresh hearing Dec. 16 — enough time to see how valuable Rezko’s information could turn out to be.

And, of course, enough time for the election to have taken place without the truth having a chance to get out.

Rezko was convicted in June of plotting with admitted fixer Stuart Levine to launch a $7 million scheme to use clout with Blagojevich’s administration to squeeze kickbacks out of a contractor and money management firms wanting state business.

Several of the convictions carry maximum sentences of 20 years. Rezko wouldn’t be expected to get that much time for a first offense but still would be looking at years in federal prison. Helping prosecutors could reduce the sentence.

Ayers Airs

Is the Obama campaign misrepresenting his strong ties to Bill Ayers? Of course. CNN, of all places, has actually done some reporting on this that adds some value.

This piece makes a couple of very important points. First, that Barack's political career was created by Bill Ayers, who, despite his utter lack of qualifications, made Obama Chairman of the Ayers controlled Annenberg Challenge. Second, that Barack was introduced to mentor Alice Waters at the home of Bill Ayers. A guy who happens to live in Obama's neighborhood.

Heels On

Is telling the truth about Barack and his scummy friends enough to pull the current campaign narrative away from the clutches of the economy? Barely, but I think it is. The challenge remains how to educate Americans about the Obamafia. Right now, the job of educating the public about Bill Ayers et al seems to have been assigned only to Sarah Palin.

Campaigning through Republican strongholds of Gulfcoast Florida today, Palin continued her weekend theme of tying Obama to Ayers, who was a founder of the violent Weather Underground group blamed for several bombings during Vietnam War protests, when Obama was a child. Obama has denounced those activities.

Ideally, the theme of Barack's shady character would be pursued by a third party, not by the McCain campaign. It's hard for a campaign not to come across as shrill and speaking only from self-interest when attacking during the final days. But it's still good to hear discussion about the bad guys who Barack made close bonds with.

And in an interview with conservative New York Times columnist William Kristol published today, the Alaska governor suggested that there should be more discussion about Wright, who was Obama's pastor of 20 years at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Obama has denounced the pastor as well.

But when Kristol pressed Palin about Wright, she replied, "I don't know why that association isn't discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country... To me, that does say something about character. But, you know, I guess that would be a John McCain call on whether he wants to bring that up."

Which must be done. Jeremiah Wright is the only member of the Obamafia known to the general public, but the hot pursuit at the truth about Barack's dirty past never materialized. While it may be too late now to bring it up with power, McCain can't let November 4 arrive without voters knowing about who Barack is.

And I guess we’ll soon know McCain’s call on whether he wants to bring Wright up — perhaps at his debate with Obama Tuesday night.

I asked at the end of our conversation whether Palin, fresh off her own debate, had any advice for McCain. “I’m going to tell him the same thing he told me. I talked to him just a few minutes before I walked out there on stage. And he just said: ‘Have fun. Be yourself, and have fun.’ And Senator McCain can do the same.” She paused, and I was about to thank her for the interview, but she had one more thing to say. “Only maybe I’d add just a couple more words, and that would be: ‘Take the gloves off.’ ”

Tomorrow night should be very interesting. How does McCain damage Obama without doing as much damage to himself?

Barack's Chicago Machine

McCain has started to go after Barack for being a Chicago machine politician. This attack on his friends doesn't mention the worst of them, other than Tony Rezko, but it does start down that important path.

“Barack Obama,” an announcer intones, “born of the corrupt Chicago political machine.”

The ad quotes Obama saying, “In terms of my toughness, look first of all, I come from Chicago.”

Then the announcer continues:

“His economic adviser, William Daley. Lobbyist. Mayor's brother.

His money man, Tony Rezko. Client. Patron. Convicted Felon.

His "political godfather." Emil Jones. Under ethical cloud.

His governor, Rod Blagojevich. A legacy of federal and state investigations.

With friends like that, Obama is not ready to lead.”

During a conference call with reporters, Steve Schmidt, a top McCain strategist, said the TV ad was a “real buy” that would air nationally and “will air across the depth and breadth of the battleground states.” Schmidt also belittled the media for not providing a “symmetry” to their probing of Obama’s background compared to the scrubbing that the team of McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has received.

Coming Home.... to Roost

Finally.

Don’t be shocked if you see the McCain campaign pull the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright out of mothballs in new attacks against one-time parishioner, Barack Obama.

Shocked? I've been eagerly awaiting the moment for months!

McCain advisers say that they see “attack by association” as fair game now, arguing that Obama’s campaign has been using that technique to go after McCain. In particular, the Obama campaign has hammered McCain on the stump and in TV ads on the number of one-time lobbyists working for his campaign. (The McCain campaign is also angry about a Spanish-language TV ad that ties McCain to Rush Limbaugh on immigration, without ever saying that McCain took on Limbaugh and others to fight for comprehensive immigration reform.)

Why would any justification be required? Never more than now, with a candidate uniquely unqualified for the office, is it necessary to judge a potential president by the company he's chosen to keep!

“They played it one way, we played it another way,” said one of McCain’s top advisers, Mark Salter. “Now we’re both going to play it the same way.”

I'd expect the 527's to be taking care of the Obamafia lineup, but if McCain has to do it for himself, let's get to it guys.

McCain began that effort this week by linking Obama to Democrats Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines, former executives at Fannie Mae. Johnson was named to head Obama’s vice presidential search before he stepped down amid controversy. Raines is a supporter of Obama (though evidently not an “adviser” as McCain charged at first).

Those guys are chump change. Brings us the big guns - Wright, Pfleger, Farakhan, Ayers, Dohrn, Rezko, etc.

Keyword - Home

Keywords.

The McCain campaign is programmed to respond to them.

Barack is attacking McCain for his bizarre response to a question on how many homes he owns, and McCain said he'd have to check with his staff.

So McCain is attacking Barack back on the keyword homes - Barack has his own vulnerability to the subject. Obama bought his home with a partner - the wife of his favorite convicted fundraiser, Tony Rezko.

Flipping Like Burgers

You have to respect Barack for one thing - he's learned from the mistakes of John Kerry, who was frozen in fear four years ago over accusations of being a flip-flopper. Barack gets the crap kicked out of him for just one week and he's flipping positions like they're tofu burgers on the grill in the yard that his felonious fund raiser's wife bought for him.

In early July, Barack said this:

"I do not believe that we should use this strategic oil reserves at this point," he said on July 7 in St. Louis. "...But the strategic oil reserve I think has to be reserved for a genuine emergency."

Today he said this:

"We should sell 70 million barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve for less expensive crude, which in the past has lowered gas prices within two weeks."

Just a few days ago, Barack changed his position on offshore drilling.

Sen. Barack Obama on Friday suggested he could support an energy package that would allow some offshore drilling, a shift from his previous opposition to lifting the congressional ban on such activity. In its lead story, the CBS Evening News reported last night that "critics" say the move is opening Obama "to charges of flip-flopping," and his "new stance could give" Sen. John McCain "fresh ammunition" to continue to hammer at him.

Race Gets Tighter

Why isn't Barack getting any traction? There are lots of reasons, but if you've been getting your news from the mainstream media, you're probably surprised by the tight race. After all, they've created the distinct impression that Barack is a shoe-in, haven't they? That the election is over?

Let's look inside the polls a bit to see why Barack is not the runaway favorite. First, here are the five most important issues this year according to voters polled by Rasmussen.

1. Economy
2. National Security
3. Ethics
4. Iraq
5. Healthcare

Which candidate do voters think has the best answers to these problems?

1. The economy is a tie - 45 each.
2. National Security goes to McCain by 12%
3. Ethics goes to Barack by 2%
4. Iraq goes to McCain by 12%
5. Health Care goes to Barack by 12%

You see - despite the perception that Barack is more in step with voters expectations, voters are evenly divided on the economy - which is far and away the number one issue. McCain's dominance on national security issues gives him the advantage, on average, on the rest of the issue. This is in stark contrast to the sense the media portrays that Barack is dominant in all catergories except Iraq.

At this stage in the 1988 presidential race, Michael Dukakis, the Democratic candidate, had a 17 percentage point lead over George H.W. Bush, who went on to win the election. John Kerry emerged from the 2004 Democratic convention with a strong lead over George W. Bush only to lose the election as well. In 2008, conventional wisdom says Mr McCain is running a much less effective campaign than either of the Bushes.

That only reinforces disquiet about Mr Obama’s inability so far to take a decisive lead.

The gulf between the strong anti-Republican leanings of the electorate and support for Barack continue to haunt Democrats.

The Democrats have moved further ahead of the GOP in newest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. If given the choice, 47% of voters would choose their district’s Democratic candidate, while 34% would choose the Republican candidate.

But Rasmussen shows the race getting even tighter between Barack and McCain.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that the race for the White House has become breathtakingly close. Barack Obama attracts 44% of the vote while John McCain earns 43%. When "leaners" are included, it’s Obama 47% and McCain 46%.

What happens in the fall, when voters are trying to sort through the meaning of the Obamafia - Reverends Wright and Pfleger, Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, etc?