Sorry I've been AWOL today—as I've said a few times the last few weeks, I've been busy suspended my blogging pending a resolution of the Wall Street crisis. Here's some links w/ commentary for the afternoon:
* Sarah Palin fielded questions at a press conference!
“Notice I wrote ‘fielded’ since she didn’t exactly answer them,” the reporter, Ken Vogel of Politico, wrote in his notes sent out to other reporters following the campaign.There's a transcript at CNN.
* The polls don't seem to like people playing games with the debates. By the way, it looks like McCain will actually show up.
* The Keating Five Scandal in 97 Seconds. Expect to see references to this more and more as we head into October.
* Obama is reaping the benefits of his quiet decision to unshackle the 527s; these ads from MoveOn (on Phil Gramm, Rick Davis, and the economic crisis) and Brave New Pac/Democracy for America (on McCain's health) are both deadly effective.
* Voter registration efforts in Florida are overwhelming the state's ability to process them—a very good sign for those who still think we can take the state.
* It's a good thing John McCain is in DC solving the financial crisis, as his understanding of basic economics is unparalleled.
BARTIROMO: Sen. McCain, has Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cut interest rates aggressively enough?At least the plane trip will give him time to read the three-page Paulson plan. As of Tuesday, he hadn't yet. Really. (Three pages.)
Has Ben Bernanke cut interests rates aggressively enough?
McCAIN: I’m not…I’m not…I don’t have that kind of expertise to know exactly whether he has cut interest rates suffiently or not. I’m glad that whenever they cut interest rates. I wish interest rates were zero.
* And Bill Clinton is still sort of a dick.
I'd just add that McCain voted -- twice -- to remove Clinton from office during the impeachment fiasco; McCain has publicly mocked Clinton's daughter for cheap laughs; and McCain repeatedly trashed Clinton's wife when he thought she would be the Democratic nominee.
But never mind all of that. This morning, McCain wanted to score a few points, grab a few headlines, and bolster his bipartisan bona fides, and Bill Clinton was anxious to give the Republican nominee a hand.
The former president is gracious to a fault, isn't he?
|