I'm watching Obama now, and geez Louise has he changed his tune.

[kstewart33]

A live townhall meeting in Raleigh NC is happening now (you can see him at http://origin.barackobama.com/live/) and he's gone after McCain like a pitbull. And Bush. And the Repub style of campaigning.

Finally, he's talking up McCain's 90% voting with Bush. And the crowd was screaming.

Barack, don't stop now. No more mr. nice guy.

I want every voter in this country on voting day to know one thing: 90%. 90%. 90%. That alone should do the trick.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Good! Politics ain't beanbag! Go for it! nt

[darius15]

2. I like this new Obama

McCain probably thought he could just get away with attacking Obama, because he's a Dem, and Dems are usually softer than marshmallows.

[The Magistrate]

3. If This Is How He Comes Out Of The Convention, Ma'am, We Will Do Fine

[geek tragedy]

7. The problem has been a lack of consistency.

And, a bizarre and irrational preoccupation with civility--an issue that influences maybe 15 votes in the entire country.

[democrat2thecore]

9. I agree - it's almost a bi-polar campaign style -nt

[TheWraith]

38. It's neither irrational nor unnecessary.

If you just go off swinging with no sense of restraint you end up doing your own image as much damage as the other guy's.

[Hekate]

4. Hot diggity dog. GOBAMA!

:bounce: :toast::

Hekate

[XemaSab]

5. .

:kick:

[TexasObserver]

6. Good. He cannot let the GOP take free shots at him.

[npincus]

8. Lord, I hope he keeps it up until Nov.

[Motown_Johnny]

10. 90% Umm.... I don't know how accurate that is or if it is an average, but this video lists

McGaffe's voting record and has it up to 100$ in 2008


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBfngOsvmA0&eurl=



Great little vid, if you have not seen it I strongly suggest you take the tme

[Gabi Hayes]

13. yep...they need to cut it down to 30 seconds, somehow, and play it

EVERY frickin day, all day long

MARRY that senile old prick to Bush

make them the Chang and Eng of 2008

[blondeatlast]

15. That is, when he could be bothered to show up. Arizonans on both sides of the spectrum

have despised his truancy for decades.

[Raster]

28. You speak the truth. My Raygun Democrat father can't stand McSame...

says he's been running for President for the last 25 years. Mark my words, my home state WILL be in play this November. Arizona looks so damn good in blue!

[blondeatlast]

33. I'm hoping for an Obama appearance here; even if he can't take AZ, he'll

easily outdraw--and thus humiliate--McCain.

Fingers crossed...

[kevinmc]

11. Maybe he read Krugman the other day and took some advice from it …. More Passion n/t

[Cha]

24. Obama doesn't need paul krugman to

know how he's running his campaign. Think about the timing..he's back from Hawai'i rested and rejuevenated and people are paying more attention to the campaigning.

Obama has true instincts..he's not some puppet to be taking advice from every know it all that pecks on the keyboards.

[ginnyinWI]

12. he's burning up my radio

He's on POTUS on XM right now, too. ;)

[MorningGlow]

14. I wonder if the Saddleback nonsense

pissed him off as much as it pissed us off. I should HOPE SO!

[opihimoimoi]

16. The Best news all week,,,oops, its only Tues....LOL

K&R

Its time to KICK ASS

[patrice]

17. Knowledge is Power! Teach the People, Senator Obama!

[justgamma]

18. It's called Rope a Dope.

I always thought that's what he was playing. Worked well for Ali.

[grannie4peace]

19. yes,it is :):)

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :patriot:

[anonymous171]

27. I see. McCain spent the entire summer swinging at Obama,

making bigger and bigger mistakes the longer he went on. Now Obama has tons of ammunition to use against him, plus the fact that McCain is lying about things almost daily, giving Obama a lot of opportunities to attack.

[endthewar]

31. Biggest reason: primary funding vs. general election funding

McCain needed to bait Obama into a bigger fight so that he could spend his primary money wisely. Once the general election funding kicks in, McCain will be on a much tighter budget.

[WilliamPitt]

34. Yup

McCain just spent a wad of dough, and it bought him a spot right in the middle of Obama's wheelhouse.

I love the smell of SMOOSH in the morning.

[goodgd_yall]

20. That means he won't choose an attack dog for his VP pick

It'll be Sebelius! Sorry, :D

EVERYTHING is a clue to the Vice President pick, it appears.

[Schema Thing]

21. Yes, but he's doing it in NC, so clearly he is picking Edwards

and is showing how they will metaphorically punch back at anyone who questions the Edwards love child affair.

[goodgd_yall]

25. Elizabeth Edwards more likely

Since Obama is in Raleigh. The city's namesake Sir Walter Raleigh lived during Elizabeth I's reign AND he was married to an "Elizabeth."

[Schema Thing]

26. dew che!

:P

[polichick]

22. Great to hear!!!

[tbyg52]

23. Yeee Haaaaa! nt

[Lisa0825]

29. He was just biding his time before taking his gloves off.

I'd been hearing that would be the case for a while now.

[endthewar]

30. It started at his New Mexico town hall

I was surprised by how much feistier he was then. Almost like a fire was lit into him during his Hawaii vacation.

Overall, the McCain campaign should have done more this week. Obama is picking up steam right at the time when the cameras will start focusing exclusively on him. I thought that she should have released another one of those Paris-like ads to try to interrupt his downhill momentum before it blew the McCain campaign out of the water.

[janet118]

35. Timing of Obama's anger is very good

I hope it extends into the convention and beyond with many surrogates echoing and expanding on it. Before this point, it would have been wasted or worse.

If Obama had been angry early on, without any apparent reason, he would have been dismissed. A lot of people told me that John Edwards was "too angry." Huh? And, of course, Howard Dean, was an "angry man." I worked with both candidates and they were both polite and kind to their volunteers and staff. But all it took was the perception. For Obama, this "anger" meme was even more of a potential mine field because he is black. An "angry black man" is very scary to many white Americans (see Rev. Wright). That said, I believe it is Obama's nature to be slow to anger.

Now that McCain (a TRULY angry man) has said many things that require an angry response, it is fitting that he gets one. It's like the heroic character who takes guff from some punk for a long time and finally warns him firmly to stop. When that warning is ignored, BOOM!!!!

In Massachusetts, when then gubernatorial candidate (and Obama supporter) Deval Patrick was taking a lot of hits from the Republicans, people urged him to go negative and get tough. He didn't and they started to think he was "wimpy." Then, there was a particularly heinous article about his sister leaked to the media and Deval went ballistic. It was shocking because he was so mild-mannered and calm. The anger was perceived as genuine and righteous because he was defending his family.

In Obama's case, the impugning of his patriotism by McCain deserves the strong response it got. Obama had every right to hit back when his honor is at issue. It also justifies Obama going after McCain harder on everything, except directly on "character." I expect to see a stronger, tougher Obama all the way to November.

[endthewar]

37. What was the story about Patrick's sister?

I live in Boston, but must have missed it.

[janet118]

40. Smear attempt in October of 2006

Patrick's sister Rhonda and her husband Bernard Sigh had been involved in a domestic incident which resulted in her filing a rape charge against him when they lived in San Diego in 1993. They remained married and had since moved to Massachusetts. It was alleged in the leaked documents that Bernard Sigh should be registered as a sex offender in Massachusetts. Patrick accused the Kerry Healey campaign of leaking the story to Boston papers. The Herald printed it. The Globe didn't. This is from the Globe article printed after Patrick's statement about the leak.

According to campaign aides, Patrick was incensed when he learned Thursday evening that the story about his brother-in-law was going to be in the newspaper. On Thursday night, Patrick and his sister each told their own children for the first time about the episode.

``I got into this race with no illusions," Patrick said in the statement. ``In a world where negative campaigns are commonplace, I expected to have my own accomplishments trivialized, my own judgments questioned, my life choices challenged. I haven't always liked it, but I knew it was a price I would have to pay to be an agent of change, not just in our policies, but in our politics.

``My sister and her husband went through a difficult time, and through hard work and prayer, they repaired their relationship and their lives," he said. ``Now they and their children, who knew nothing of this, have had their family history laid out on the pages of a newspaper. Why? For no other reason than that they had the bad luck to have a relative who is running for governor."

The usually unflappable Democrat, who has withstood weeks of attacks from his opponent, vowed yesterday to fight back more aggressively.

``We need a change," he said. ``Gimmicks, slogans, and dirty politics is no substitute for progress. The politics of fear is no acceptable alternative to the politics of hope. That's the change we need. And if anybody in the Healey campaign or in the public thinks I am unwilling to fight for that, they have badly underestimated me."

[HughMoran]

32. Smash McFuckinLiar!!

Go after that slimy weasel - woohoo!

[demokatgurrl]

36. Thank GOD. Now we just need the rest of the party

to join the attack.

[AngryAmish]

39. This shows he is a strong leader and will CRUSH his enemies

[azmouse]

41. kick