October 2008
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Crystal Ball Breaker
By Sarah Scully on 10/30/2008
By Sarah Scully Wise Words From Karl Rove; Wiser Words From Jonathan Martin... As is often the case in the final days before an election, eager beavers and nervous Nellies start crafting narratives for how the race will be won (in either a monstrous landslide or a stunning comeback) based on the only thing they have to ease their anxieties: polling data. As former Bush strategist extraordinaire Karl Rove cautions in a WSJ commentary: many polls were wrong in 2000 and 2004. Pollsters may have improved their methods in recent years, and we now have statistician Nate Silver to assess... MORE »
The InfObamercial
By Sarah Scully on 10/29/2008
In case you missed it, Barack Obama took over several major networks tonight for a 30-minute spot (that at times looked more like a hybrid of a Ken Burns film and The West Wing than a campaign ad). Reviews are mixed as some were impressed, others were annoyed to have their regularly scheduled programming interrupted and a few people even found the the whole concept offensive. Here is Obama's 30-minute spot: Here is McCain's 30-second response: Let us know what you think...... MORE »
New Mexico: Snapshot of a Swing State
By Sarah Scully on 10/27/2008
By Sarah Scully Albuquerque, NM John McCain and Barack Obama both spent their Saturday in New Mexico. The state that went blue in 2000 and red in 2004 has become one of the key battlegrounds in the final days before the election. With the Obama campaign encroaching on old Bush territories, including Nevada, Colorado and most notably, Virginia, they now have several potential routes for winning the magic number of 270 electoral votes. McCain has fewer options at this point, as states once considered safe for the GOP are slipping away. The McCain campaign, much like Hillary Clinton's, seems to... MORE »
New Photos From The Trail
By Sarah Scully on 10/23/2008
The latest from the trail... Getting some wisdom from Dan Balz Getting some wisdom from Jill Zuckman Getting some wisdom from Jonathan Martin Axelrod doing what he does best McCain Camp Top Gun, Rick Davis Governor Granholm Proof of McCain' s youth support Chris Wallace being a good sport Howard Dean weighing in Chris Dodd weighing in Spin Room awaiting Spinners This is what a press filing room looks like Behind the scenes of Fox News Triumph and Mr. Met making mischief behind the scenes of Fox News All photos © Charlotte Rabbe... MORE »
FUN with the Electoral Map
By William Rabbe on 10/20/2008
Take a look at the state of the race and test potential outcomes on the LA Times electoral map calculator (click create your own scenario): Hmm.... not much calculating to do with these polls, considering they've already got Obama up by 48 electoral votes. MORE »
Boxers, briefs, diapers, or nothing at all...
By William Rabbe on 10/20/2008
John Kerry with a sense of humor, albeit somewhat risque! MORE »
Home Stretch Survival Guide
By William Rabbe on 10/20/2008
By Will Rabbe Since the news is moving faster than ever in the home stretch and yes, sometimes it's hard to pay attention to everything -- here are a few stories of note: First he's an "elite," now he's a socialist. The McCain camp has been hammering away at Obama's tax policy, likening it to socialism. What would Karl Marx say? Here's a take from a real commie. Close enough... Obama raises a shit-ton of cash this month, almost three times his previous record. Small donations are the name of the game. Some republicans claim he's accepted foreign money... maybe... MORE »
"My greatest strength is my humility. My greatest weakness? It's possible that I am a little too awesome." -Barack Obama
By Sarah Scully on 10/17/2008
"It's true that this morning I've dismissed my entire team of advisers. All their positions will be held by a man named Joe the Plumber." -John McCain Last night Barack Obama and John McCain put down the boxing gloves and put on white ties and tails for the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a bipartisan charity event named after the legendary New York Governor and first Catholic presidential nominee. The evening marked a 63 year-old tradition of politicians joining together to make light of their differences and raise money for underprivileged children. It's a particularly nice break... MORE »
Drinking Games are all the rage
By William Rabbe on 10/16/2008
Hilarious video from our friend Dana Milbank: MORE »
Debate Drinking Games End In Sobriety
By Sarah Scully on 10/16/2008
The final debate of this election cycle was also the most interesting. Whereas previous debates seemed more like over-hyped Broadway productions, this debate felt like a boxing match between two heavy weights. The repeated catch phrases and "message statements" were much less frequent and in their place, a gamesmanship with new strategies and, at times, a surprising pugnacity. Having broken into a double digit lead in many polls over the last 48 hours, Obama came in with the title to lose. McCain was tasked with opening up as many cuts as possible. McCain made the first move, tapping into the... MORE »
Politico Panel Discussion With Rosario Dawson
By Sarah Scully on 10/15/2008
By Sarah Scully Tuesday morning in New York, MTV assembled a diverse panel ranging from Hollywood to DC to discuss the impact of young voters on the election with an audience of college students from NYU, Pace and Hofstra. The end result was a refreshing examination of the myths surrounding demographic voting blocks and a frank conversation about concerns that are not often addressed in the media. Politico's Chief Political Correspondent, Mike Allen, moderated the discussion that started off with a rather dry analysis of data on young voters from HuffPo's Hillary Rosen but quickly picked up speed as the... MORE »
Debate Drinking Game PART 2 with suggested buzzphrases...
By William Rabbe on 10/13/2008
This time around we've included a blank debate drinking game scorecard so that you can fill in your own buzz-phrases: Suggested buzzwords and buzzphrases: "Middle Class" "Out of touch" "My friends..." "Financial Crisis" "Wall Street" OR "Main Street" "Reform" OR "Change" OR "Accountability" "Raise taxes" OR "Cut taxes" "Fundamental difference..." "Pork" OR "Earmarks" "Charles Keating" OR "Bill Ayres" MORE »
Youtube Tricks
By William Rabbe on 10/09/2008
By William Rabbe John McCain's new ad criticizes Barack Obama's association with former domestic terrorist William Ayres and a campaign press release this morning distributed the Youtube link. There's only one problem: the video has somehow been flagged as inappropriate by the "Youtube Community" and requires all viewers to verify that they are over the age of 18. Anyway, here's the video: Is Ayres a true concern to voters in light of the recent economic downturn? MORE »
Obama LOVES this trading market...
By William Rabbe on 10/08/2008
While the stock market is infuriating most Americans right now, there IS a market that Obama can be happy about. Really? Youbetcha! The Intrade bid for Obama following last nights debate is higher than ever -- at 74 points today. Yes, that means that people investing in the outcome of this election are betting that Obama wins... a 74% chance. MORE »
To Shake or Not To Shake...
By William Rabbe on 10/08/2008
By William Rabbe While last night's debate lacked most of my partisan buzzwords and phrases, the impression was created (for right or wrong) that McCain's disdain for Obama was so great that he could not even extend the most common of courtesies to his opponent: McCain didn't shake Obama's hand. Wolf Blitzer of CNN made much (probably too much) of the tensions between the candidates, even going as far as to repetitively question whether or not they would shake hands. In fact, his very first comment at the close of the event was, "All right. We're going to see if... MORE »
Trace's Drinking Game
By William Rabbe on 10/07/2008
Tonight's debate is a good excuses to get obliterated. MORE »
The Gift of Low Expectations
By Sarah Scully on 10/02/2008
By Sarah Scully What if the Biden-Palin debate showdown is not the "thrilla" the Washington Post is expecting? The Vice Presidential debate is arguably more anticipated than all of the McCain Obama debates combined but not because people hope to see a thought provoking, in depth interaction on policy. No, the reason most people are looking forward to this debate is pure schadenfreude. Sure, a few are hoping that the candidates will make up for their respective goofs over the last few weeks and surprise everyone by elevating the political discourse but most are eagerly anticipating seeing either Sarah Palin... MORE »
