Tory Burch, Vera Wang Design Obama Campaignware

Team Obama has unveiled a designer line of campaignware that will create a crisis of conscience for conservattive fashionistas.

I've never heard of many of them.  But Tory Burch and Vera Wang -- really?

Click here if you want to know which other of your favorite designers have gone over to the dark side.

H/t:  Drudge

What a Lousy Week For the President

This week should have made President Obama wonder why he was running for a second term: he showed the Reverse Midas Touch on every issue he came near. His former aura of brilliance looked chipped and faded.

First, there was the open mic deal he attempted to negotiate with Russian President Medvedev. Aside from the merits, and the fact that it evoked the villain in a cheesy James Bond knock-off, there was the question of competence. How did this happen? How does someone who has been president for three years not consider that the mic might be hot? And his staff? It's not like he was making small talk with a Medal of Honor recipient: this was the puppet of a regime that would like to pay back the U.S. for ending their quest for world domination. Even given that Medvedev is the puppet rather than the puppeteer, one would have hoped for a little more care, a little more caution in dealing with him.

Second, there was the Obamacare argument at the Supreme Court. The SG's bumbling performance reflected badly on the president who appointed him. To be sure, The SG didn't have much to work with in terms of either law or facts. But still, the question of what Congress cannot do under the Commerce Clause -- the limiting principle -- was asked almost verbatim 20 years ago in the Lopez argument. The SG, and Obama, knew it was coming. They had two years to prepare. Nonetheless they were speechless.

Finally, gas prices continued their steady creep upward. Americans will be very conscious of this fact as they fill up the tank for Spring Break, those who are fortunate enough to have a job and a little money to drive someplace warm. What if Obama gets his wish and we get European prices? As Mitch Daniels pointed out, this is the one domestic goal in which Obama is succeeding. Imagine five more years of similar gas price increases. We would have Jimmy Carter-sized inflation. And we would see a change in population trends for Americans. Simply, put, we would have less children, like Europeans.

The first time I saw all those tiny cars in Europe, I was mystified. Then I realized: there are no mini- vans because their families are so much smaller than American families and because gas is so expensive. The toy cars are all they can afford, and subsequently all they need.

So as we gas up our mini-vans this week, let's consider this one domestic achievement of the Obama administration and hope that by the time Spring Break ends, the Republican primary will also have come to a close.

The Day the Magic Died

President Barack Obama has been losing luster for a while. It didn't help, for example, that he lectures us to "eat our peas" and then sneaks a smoke. The ostentatious "date nights" and vacations in the midst of 9.2 percent unemployment seemed a bit tone deaf. His performance yesterday, however, has called into question his vaunted intellect.  This is a milestone, not seen since Jimmy Carter's donned a cardigan and told us to turn off the Christmas lights because of our "malaise."

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank -- no friend of Republicans -- had these words about Obama's press conference yesterday, in which he managed to take a volatile stock market and drive it further south:

No matter what some agency may say, we’ve always been and always will be a AAA country,” Obama said, as if comforting a child who had been teased by the class bully. . . .  It’s not exactly fair to blame Obama for the rout: Almost certainly, the markets ignored him. And that’s the problem: The most powerful man in the world seems strangely powerless, and irresolute, as larger forces bring down the country and his presidency.

Bret Stephens was even more pointed in the Wall Street Journal, quoting Forrest Gump that Obama is a case study in:  "Stupid is as stupid does."

Much is made of the president's rhetorical gifts. This is the sort of thing that can be credited only by people who think that a command of English syntax is a mark of great intellectual distinction. Can anyone recall a memorable phrase from one of Mr. Obama's big speeches that didn't amount to cliché? As for the small speeches, such as the one we were kept waiting 50 minutes for yesterday, we get Triple-A bromides about America remaining a "Triple-A country." Which, when it comes to long-term sovereign debt, is precisely what we no longer are under Mr. Obama.


Then there is Mr. Obama as political tactician. He makes predictions that prove false. He makes promises he cannot honor. He raises expectations he cannot meet. He reneges on commitments made in private. He surrenders positions staked in public. He is absent from issues in which he has a duty to be involved. He is overbearing when he ought to be absent. 

It is now clear that Obama will not lead, even leftward, because he lacks the ability;  leadership is just not in his skill said.  Given the effect his rhetorical skills had on yesterday's stock market,  it is in nation's best interest that someone hide his teleprompter until it's time for the concession speech.

This is So Harsh

Peggy Noonan can turn a phrase. What she had to say about President Barack Obama's post-election press conference actually made me wince for him:

Viewers would have found it disappointing if there had been any viewers. The president is speaking, in effect, to an empty room. From my notes five minutes in: "This wet blanket, this occupier of the least interesting corner of the faculty lounge, this joy-free zone, this inert gas." By the end I was certain he will never produce a successful stimulus because he is a human depression.

Obama, the human depression. I will be reminded of that description every time I see a commercial for Cymbalta or Yaz or whatever the pharmaceutical industry comes up with next.

Conway Throws Obama Under Bus

I'm sure it was a green bus, fueled by old waste or something. From last night's debate between Jack Conway and Rand Paul, via Politico:

But Paul responded then – as he did repeatedly through Monday’s forum – by linking Conway with his party’s leadership, including Obama, and its economic policies.

Later in the debate, Conway said that Kentucky can’t “afford” Paul’s policy prescriptions, giving Paul an opening to attack Conway for backing Obama’s policies.

“Perhaps they can’t afford President Obama’s trillion dollars spending – President Obama’s $2 trillion debt,” Paul said. “The leader of your party – the guy you supported in the primary, your kind of Democrat, you wanted President Obama – is a disaster for our country.

Conway said he didn’t back Obama his primary, saying, “He just made something up.”

Conway, the state attorney general, clearly senses a need to keep his distance from Obama, calling himself a “different kind of Democrat,” criticizing the White House for cutting a “sweetheart deal” with drug companies to pass the health care law, although he supported the plan. And he pointed out the White House should take a more forceful approach with Pakistan in its Afghanistan strategy.

But when the debate turned to whether to install a cap-and-trade proposal, Conway found himself explaining comments he’d made in the past saying he supported the plan by saying he opposes the idea.

Obama Claims That Bitter Israelis Cling To His Middle Name

How does one explain when others don't agree with your policies? Blame it on prejudice and ignorance, says President Obama. His reason for why Israelis are concerned about him? "Some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion," he said in an interview with an Israeli television station on Wednesday. That line is as much insulting to Israelis as was Obama's infamous line during the 2008 campaign with regard to voters in middle America who didn't support him: "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustration."
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

"Come Clean Mr. President"

RNC Chairman Michael Steele has a good re: line in a recent fundraising letter pointing out the lack of transparency in the Obama White House: "Come Clean Mr. President". Already the BP oil spill has seeped into the public consciousness as a metaphor for even more things characteristic of the current administration than simply ineptitude.

Obama Upside Down

Barely a year into his presidency, Barack Obama's unfavorables now exceed his favorables, 47-46, according to Gallup. No wonder: Obama thinks that he is so much smarter than the little people who oppose his health care takeover that he insists on trying to cram it down our throats. His upside down job approval rating is the gag reflux of the American people.

While Nation Grieves, Obama Gives A Shout Out

President Obama's My Pet Goat moment came yesterday. Robert A. George writes:

President Obama didn't wait long after Tuesday's devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.

After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.

But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner." Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?

Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks, explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for calm and patience until all the facts are in. That's the least that should occur.

Goerge's comments appear on the website of NBC's affiliate in Chicago, of all places. Mmmm. The White House hunt may need to expand to go after more game than just foxes.
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Getting To Yes

Republicans really do want to work with Democrats. That was the message conveyed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, as reported by AOLNews.com. The notable quote:

"No one wants him to fail," McConnell told Bloomberg, referring to Obama, and taking an indirect swipe at Rush Limbaugh. "But saying 'no' to bad policy is not saying 'no' to everything."

In its report, Bloomberg noted that McConnell outlined areas of potential agreement between the President and the Republicans:

In the interview, McConnell said one issue he and Obama might work together on is a possible move to recast at least one of the three major entitlement programs -- Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. At a White House health-care forum last week, he told Obama an accord would be easier to reach if a bipartisan task force of lawmakers made recommendations.

They also may find common cause on foreign policy, he said. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top-ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee agreed, saying the two might be allies if the U.S. and Russia begin to forge a new nuclear arms-reduction agreement.

For Republicans to say yes, however, Obama, Reid, Pelosi and company need to practice true bipartisanship: that is, meeting the Republicans somewhere in the middle, as opposed to requiring Republicans to toe the Democrat line completely.
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Is Obama Another Tricky Dicky?

Camille Paglia hits the nail (i.e., the White House) on the head in her commentary today on, among other things, the Obama administration's sophomoric taunts of Rush Limbaugh:

The orchestrated attack on radio host Rush Limbaugh, which has made the White House look like an oafish bunch of drunken frat boys. I returned from carnival in Brazil (more on that shortly) to find the Limbaugh affair in full flower. Has the administration gone mad? This entire fracas was set off by the president himself, who lowered his office by targeting a private citizen by name. Limbaugh had every right to counterattack, which he did with gusto. Why have so many Democrats abandoned the hallowed principle of free speech? Limbaugh, like our own liberal culture hero Lenny Bruce, is a professional commentator who can be as rude and crude as he wants.

Meanwhile, Rush is laughing all the way to the bank. For Obama to get so defensive about a radio show host suggests an insecurity in the Oval Office not seen since the days of Richard Nixon's enemies list.
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Deconstruct This

We knew the lefties are into deconstructionism, but check out Michael Shaw at the Huffington Post for its peculiar application to the picture above:

Regarding the photo itself, it is interesting how it reveals a polarization with the two right-wingers, with [Senate Republican Leader Mitch] McConnell and [Chief Justice John] Roberts lined up and balancing off the left half of the photo while [President] Obama and the waiter carry the other half. I'm hesitant to put too much weight on the racial split (although there was a joke going around during and right after the election -- among blacks, mostly, as far as I could tell -- that the black candidate was being brought in to clean up the white man's mess). Where there is a definitive parallel between Obama and the waiter, however, is in the way Obama -- in physically and socially extending himself to the Minority Leader -- finds himself in the catering mode.

Obama catering to the right? If only it were so.
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Obama's Miscues

It took a reporter for an English newspaper, Toby Harnden of the Daily Telegraph, to articulate what is already worrying too many Americans about President Obama:

During last year's epic election campaign, Hillary Clinton said that in the White House "there is no time for on-the-job training". Joe Biden, too, remarked that the presidency was "not something that lends itself to on-the-job training". Both were aiming barbs at their then primary opponent. Mrs Clinton has since brought what she would refer to as her "lifetime of experience" to the role of Secretary of State, while Mr Biden has traded 36 years in the Senate for the vice-presidency. And the rookie they derided is President.
. . . .
The White House is now in damage-control mode. After Robert Gibbs, Mr Obama's spokesman, was lampooned by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show as a non-answering automaton in the mode of President George W Bush's press secretaries, former campaign strategist David Axelrod was dispatched to television studios to make the stimulus case. However, this was tinkering around the edges.
. . . .
In the early days of his presidency, Mr Obama has seemed passive and uncertain. Instead of drawing up his own economic stimulus bill, he sub-contracted the job to Democrats on Capitol Hill. They opted to spend money on projects for contraception and beautifying the National Mall – their doorstep – and gave Republicans an plenty of ammunition against the package.

Slipped into the small print was a "Buy America" provision that sent shock waves through capitals from Brussels to Beijing and triggered fears of trade wars and a new American protectionism. It was hard for the President to defend a bill he perhaps didn't fully support himself. .It was hard for the President to defend a bill he perhaps didn't fully support himself. He neither championed the package as imperfect but essential, nor sought to make meaningful changes to it. Instead, he attempted to charm Republican centrists with his own personality and the trappings of the White House by inviting them over for cocktails and a Super Bowl party. It didn't work. Of 219 Republicans on Capitol Hill, only three voted for the bill. Introducing a $500,000 pay cap for some Wall Street executives was empty – and possibly counter-productive – populism.
. . . .
The activists who formed the backbone of Mr Obama's election campaign appear less than energised. Few answered his call for house-party gatherings at the weekend to build support for the economic stimulus plan. Mr Obama could be forgiven a little nostalgia. Saturday Night Live gently ribbed him, imagining a national address in which he breaks off talking about economic gloom to say: "Remember election night. Grant Park in Chicago. Nice weather. Oprah. That white guy Oprah was crying on. Good times."

Governing, as Mr Obama is finding out, is not like an election campaign. Mr Bush's failures will give him some leeway and his transformative appeal remains potent. But making decisions and operating the levers of power is something completely new to him. And it shows.

Ouch!
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

While He Was Krogering

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell celebrated becoming Kentucky's longest-serving U.S. Senator yesterday by letting Bill Goodman interview him for KET at the University of Louisville's McConnell Center.

In the course of the interview, McConnell noted that President-elect Barack Obama had called McConnell on his cell phone Friday while McConnell was grocery shopping at Kroger. That's the second time Obama has called McConnell at Kroger.

Many of us get phone calls at Kroger. Usually it's one of my boys calling to remind me to pick up the Tostitos. So the thought of strolling down the produce aisle and answering the phone to find the leader of the free world on the other end -- it's just surreal.

Barbadian Calls Kentuckians "Hillbillies" And Obama A Proverbial King Tut

Poor Kentuckians and Obama! We now are being called dumb "Hillbillies" by a Barbadian for not voting for Obama, who is called a "Pharoah". I'm not sure which nickname is worse, though apparently the writer intended Obama's new title to be a compliment. Check out this amazing piece of Obama oblation:

Blessings for US, Pharoah Barack Obama
Published on: 11/11/08.

GOD BLESS the United States.
The scales have fallen from her eyes as she travelled metaphorically on the road to Damascus. She has redeemed herself! For God has raised up a horn of salvation, to redeem our low estate from the abyss of slavery, by the enthronement of Pharoah Barack Obama in the House of White in the land of the United States. The God of our Forefathers has not forgotten the plight of our people, neither has he lent a deaf ear to the lamentations of the children of Africa. He has magnified us by this election!
President-elect Obama, who is really a Kabaka of one of the ancient princely houses of the Rift Valley of East Africa, ran a brilliant and finely tuned political campaign which attracted the young educated voters of the United States and the vast majority of all the various groups of voters who participated in that amazing election. The Hillbillies in Kentucky could not bring themselves to vote for a man of colour. But then that group of citizens is not known for cerebral considerations.
. . . .
I salute President-elect Barack Obama, Pharoah of the Upper Nile!
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Like A Rodgers and Hammerstein Song, "Getting To Know You, Getting To Know All About You"

From WhiteHouse.gov:

President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama walk the Colonnade to the Oval Office Monday, Nov. 10, 2008, as the President and Mrs. Laura Bush welcomed the President-elect and his wife, Michelle, to the White House. White House photo by Eric Draper

Update: Sorry we couldn't resist the Rodgers and Hammerstein allusion. As Hammerstein wrote for another tune, "[t]he corn is as high as an elephant's eye."

Will Obama Appoint The Justice To Overturn Roe v. Wade?

President Eisenhower once famously said that his nomination of Earl Warren to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was "the biggest damned-fool mistake I ever made." Warren (as well as his associate, Justice Brennan, another Eisenhower appointment) turned out to be far more activist than Eisenhower had expected, such as when the Warren Court recognized far more expansive constitutional rights for criminal defendants than previously understood.

Warren is one of many members of the Supreme Court who surprised the Republican presidents who appointed them. In fact, the majority of the Court in Roe v. Wade were appointed by Republican presidents. Ironically, given that Roe has become such a cardinal of faith for the Democratic party, one of the two dissenters in the case was a Democrat who had been appointed by President Kennedy -- Justice Byron S. White.

Here is a excerpt from Wikipedia regarding Justice White's dissent:

Justice White wrote:

"I find nothing in the language or history of the Constitution to support the Court's judgment. The Court simply fashions and announces a new constitutional right for pregnant mothers and, with scarcely any reason or authority for its action, invests that right with sufficient substance to override most existing state abortion statutes. The upshot is that the people and the legislatures of the 50 States are constitutionally disentitled to weigh the relative importance of the continued existence and development of the fetus, on the one hand, against a spectrum of possible impacts on the mother, on the other hand. As an exercise of raw judicial power, the Court perhaps has authority to do what it does today; but, in my view, its judgment is an improvident and extravagant exercise of the power of judicial review that the Constitution extends to this Court."

White asserted that the Court "values the convenience of the pregnant mother more than the continued existence and development of the life or potential life that she carries." Despite White suggesting he "might agree" with the Court's values and priorities, he wrote that he saw "no constitutional warrant for imposing such an order of priorities on the people and legislatures of the States." White criticized the Court for involving itself in this issue by creating "a constitutional barrier to state efforts to protect human life and by investing mothers and doctors with the constitutionally protected right to exterminate it." He would have left this issue, for the most part, "with the people and to the political processes the people have devised to govern their affairs."

Now, what does all of this have to do with President-elect Obama?

A column of Russ Pulliam published yesterday in The Indianapolis Star ruminates on what we might expect from the Obama administration, based upon comments from Senator Evan Bayh. Pulliam suggests that Obama surprisingly may try to govern from the center:

Almost always the man in the political middle, Sen. Evan Bayh hopes he can swing President-elect Barack Obama away from left-wing temptations.

Having spent two hours with Obama for a vice presidential interview this summer, Bayh came away thinking the incoming president will look for what works. Yet Bayh knows the liberal wing of his party in Congress may try to pull the new administration leftward.
"He's more of a pragmatist," Bayh said in an Election Day interview with the Star Editorial Board.

When Obama ran the Harvard Law School review, Bayh added, "He picked three members of the Federalist (conservative) Society to be masthead editors." Obama did that not necessarily to make all sides happy, but to have a good publication.

Obama appoints Federalist Society members to the bench? It just might happen, if Obama (like the predecessor he admires, President Kennedy) chooses judges based on merit rather than an ideological litmus test. Granted, not all Federalist Society members support overturning Roe. But Bayh's comments suggest that it is entirely possible that Obama's appointments to the bench will produce judicial surprises to rival what President Eisenhower experienced.
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Obama Wants Electricity Rates To Skyrocket

Not only does Obama want to bankrupt the coal industry (see Bridget's post below), but he also wants consumer electric bills to skyrocket. I know it sounds incredible that Obama would acknowledge that this is his energy plan, but in fact he made this admission in an interview in January 2008, as reported by Hotair.com. Here is his exact quote:

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.

(emphasis added)

So what little money we have left after taxes and Obama's "spreading the wealth" will go to pay our electric bills. Now, remind me again, why is it that any thinking person would want to vote for this guy?
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

The Governator Attacks "Girly Man" Obama

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned for Senator John McCain yesterday in Columbus, Ohio. Schwarzenegger did not call Obama a "girly man", but that was the clear inference from his remarks. AFP reports:

Muscleman-turned-actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger called on Barack Obama to beef up his his policies -- and his body -- at a high-voltage campaign rally for Republican John McCain Friday.

Schwarzenegger, the Hollywood action hero who is now the Republican governor of California, delighted a crowd of several thousand at a McCain campaign event in Ohio by ridiculing both Obama's policies and his slender physique.

The Austrian-born former Mr Universe has hosted a bodybuilding tournament in Columbus for several years, and opened his address by inviting Obama to participate in the next event.
"Every year in March I come here to organize the Arnold Classic, which is all about building the body and pumping," Schwarzenegger said.

"That's why I want to invite Senator Obama because he needs to do something about those skinny legs. I'm going to make him do some squats.

"And then we're going to make him do some biceps curls to beef up those scrawny little arms. But if he could only do something about putting some meat on his ideas.

"Senator McCain on the other hand is built like a rock. His character and his views are solid."

Schwarzenegger's best line of all was this:

"John McCain has served his country longer in a POW camp than his opponent has served in the United State Senate."
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

McCain's Incredible Growing Lead (Part 1): A Miracle In The Making

For many days we have chronicled Barack Obama's incredible shrinking lead. Today, we are happy to report that McCain's tortoise-like progress in the polls has allowed him to catch up with and now finally surpass the sputtering hare. The pollster Zogby has this to say about the latest numbers from the Zogby poll:

"Is McCain making a move? The three-day average holds steady, but McCain outpolled Obama today, 48% to 47%. He is beginning to cut into Obama's lead among independents, is now leading among blue collar voters, has strengthened his lead among investors and among men, and is walloping Obama among NASCAR voters. Joe the Plumber may get his license after all.

"Obama's lead among women declined, and it looks like it is occurring because McCain is solidifying the support of conservative women, which is something we saw last time McCain picked up in the polls. If McCain has a good day tomorrow, we will eliminate Obama's good day three days ago, and we could really see some tightening in this rolling average. But for now, hold on."

(emphasis added)

For those not enamored by the tortoise vs. hare analogy, how about this one: The McCain-Palin team is like the American men's relay team at the Beijing Olympics who did not catch up with the French team until the very end of the final lap to out touch them at the finish and bring home the gold for Michael Phelps and the other Americans.

This election promises to be a very special and historic one for the Republican presidential ticket.
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.