OBAMA GIRL SWITCHES TO RALPH NADER IN NEW WEB-SERIAL

The Ralph Nader and Obama Girl show, debuted yesterday on YouTube. Set in a tiny office, the first web installment, Ralph and Obama Girl talk about how Ralph has been “excluded” from the debates.

MCCAIN SHOWS REAL LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS

26, 2008

COMMENTARY

STEVE HUNTLEY:: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

Well, it was nice of Barack Obama to take a break from his debate prep to fly to Washington to help address what he calls the biggest economic crisis facing the nation since the Depression. Of course, it did take a presidential invitation to jolt him into action. In contrast, John McCain, on his own initiative, suspended his campaign to offer aid in achieving bipartisan consensus on economic rescue legislation.

What we are talking about here is leadership in a time of crisis. Maybe there was a political calculation in the McCain campaign as the Republican presidential nominee, whose poll numbers have sagged, made his decision. But wasn't his surprise announcement completely in character for the maverick senator? Be it campaign finance regulation, immigration reform or climate change, he has never hesitated to take a leadership position on an issue he sees as critical to the country.

With George W. Bush being a lame duck president whose influence is declining among Republican lawmakers, McCain is the head of the GOP. By the same token, Obama has replaced former President Bill Clinton as the leader of the Democrats. In what everyone believes is a critical governing moment for the country, both men -- who are, after all, members of the Senate -- should be at the center of decision-making. It's a simple matter of all officers on deck in the heat of battle.

As it turns out, McCain was encouraged by forces outside his campaign. The Wall Street Journal reported that in a Wednesday meeting with some of the "financial titans" of Wall Street, he was told of the pressing need to pass the rescue package soon. "We urged John to get all over it, that this is a national security issue," one executive told the Journal.

Also, it was apparent that GOP lawmakers were looking to him for guidance, especially since many of their constituents harbor doubts about the rescue bill. No less a figure than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said McCain's support was necessary to pass the bill. But once McCain's announcement came, Reid switched signals and claimed he wasn't needed in Washington. Talk about cynical politics. Reid recognized McCain was exercising leadership that the Democratic nominee wasn't, and he tried to demean it.

Obama was no less dismissive. Calling for the campaign to continue, he said, "It's going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once." That's certainly glib. But it ignores the obvious fact that we are in a time of extraordinary challenge that requires concentrated focus by our nation's leaders to meet it.

Obama finally relented and left his preparations for the debate (scheduled for tonight but in doubt because McCain has suspended his campaign) after Bush invited him to join McCain and congressional leaders for a meeting Thursday. The idea of a presidential session to work toward a bipartisan solution was suggested to the White House by McCain. That's a pretty clear picture of the veteran senator trying to play a helpful role.

There was some heated rhetoric about presidential politics being injected into the economic rescue deliberations. As if politics is ever far from anything in Washington. Political risks exist for both sides. McCain could end up with little to show for his intervention and Obama could be branded as reluctant to act in a time of national crisis. Whatever the political fallout, the voters will learn something about both candidates as they ponder the decision they must make Nov. 4.

BIDEN HIRES LOBBYIST—AS OBAMA ATTACKS MCCAIN LOBBYIST TIES

[USATODAY.com]

As Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama targets his Republican rival Sen. John McCain for hiring former lobbyists to work on his campaign, a key member of Obama's campaign is paying a Washington lobbyist for legal advice: his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, USA Today reports.

Lobbyist William Oldaker continues to represent the Delaware Democrat in his simultaneous bid for Senate re-election, serving as legal counsel just as he has for Biden's campaigns for the past 25 years, the newspaper says.

Oldaker is an election law attorney and partners with Biden's son Hunter at the Washington firm, Oldaker, Biden & Belair. He is also an appropriations lobbyist who represents lawyers, American Indians, and educational and health care institutions and who drew fire in 2005 for serving on numerous fundraising committees that donate to the lawmakers he lobbies, USA Today notes.

Obama's campaign launched a multimedia assault on McCain last weekend, with two television advertisements, a new website, www.mclobbyist.com, and a Web video highlighting the seven former lobbyists who serve as McCain's top advisers.

However, the McCain campaign has required all paid staff to cease all lobbying activities or resign. Not so with Obama’s running mate Biden.

SARAH PALIN’S EMAIL ACCOUNT HACKED IN MODERN WATERGATE

Politico’s Jonathan Martin reports:

“Without knowing the content, it seems like the news that Sarah Palin's personal email has been hacked will only give Republicans more fodder to paint her as a smear victim.”

Oh, how A-MU-S-ING. Someone committed [a] felony offense[s], and stole Sarah Palin's emails, and then (how F-U-NYY). Gawker PUBLISHED the stolen data.

My God. The Press, in its unbridled, unabashed lust to see Obama elected, has abandoned all decency.

Under what fanciful scenario does anyone envision that Sarah Palin is not the "victim" of hacking, theft, and invasion of privacy?

Not one ounce of even qualified, pretend outrage here?

Could you be more transparent about your patent anti-Palin bias?

We are literally sick to our stomach.

This is a modern-day Watergate-style break-in, and rest assured this will be investigated.

RIP Richard Wright

Richard Wright, Pink Floyd Founder, Keyboardist, Dies at Age 65

Pink Floyd - Have a Cigar

CLINTON BACKER AND DNC MEMBER TO ENDORSE MCCAIN

From CNN Political Editor Mark Preston, Extra

Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter and member of the Democratic National Committee’s Platform Committee, will endorse John McCain for president on Wednesday, CNN reports.

According to CNN, Forester’s announcement will take place at a news conference on Capitol Hill, just blocks away from the DNC headquarters. Forester will “campaign and help him through the election,” the spokesman said of her plans to help the Republican presidential nominee.

CNN points out that Forester was a major donor for Clinton earning her the title as a Hillraiser for helping to raise at least $100,000 for the New York Democratic senator’s failed presidential bid.

In an interview with CNN this summer, Forester did not hide her distaste for eventual Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

“This is a hard decision for me personally because frankly I don't like him,” she said of Obama in an interview with CNN’s Joe Johns. “I feel like he is an elitist. I feel like he has not given me reason to trust him.”

Forester is the CEO of EL Rothschild, a holding company with businesses around the world. She is married to international banker Sir Evelyn de Rothschild. Forester is a member of the DNC’s Democrats Abroad chapter and splits her time living in London and New York.

OBAMA FETED BY STARS AT $9 MILLION HOLLYWOOD FUNDRAISER

[AFP]

Oscar-winning singer and actress Barbra Streisand will perform at a glittering and lucrative Hollywood fundraiser for Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday, the AFP reports.

Obama will attend a dinner in Beverly Hills costing attendees 28,500 dollars each and Streisand will then sing at a reception at the swanky Beverly Wilshire hotel, costing attendees $2,500 per person, campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday. Under US law, the first 2,300 dollars of donations can go to Obama's campaign and anything over that will go to the DNC.

Politico.com has reported that upwards of 250 donors would attend the star studded, celebrity events expected to raise nine million dollars, which would be the most amassed by any candidate in a single day.

Apparently, the economy is not crimpling Obama’s fundraising style.