http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/105381/hardcore_neocon_goes_for_obama...

Hardcore Neocon Goes for Obama, Throws McCain AND Reagan Under the Bus

Posted by bmaz, Firedoglake at 9:27 AM on October 30, 2008.

Even the neocon nuts are fleeing John McCain and his campaign of shame. The latest surfer from the right to catch the Obama wave to the White House is Francis Fukuyama. That's right, the guy who literally wrote The End Of History has figured out that Barack Obama is history in the making and John McCain is simply ancient and erratic history. And Fukuyama nukes McCain, Bush and Cheney in the process. It is a brutally scathing takedown.

___________________
Freedom is an inside job

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/32...

Republican fears of historic Obama landslide unleash civil war for the future of the party
Senior Republicans believe that John McCain is doomed to a landslide defeat which will hand Barack Obama more political power than any president in a generation.

By Tim Shipman in Durango, Colorado
Last Updated: 3:25PM GMT 26 Oct 2008

Mr McCain is now facing calls for him to sacrifice his own dwindling White House hopes and focus on saving vulnerable Republican Senate seats.

Aides to George W.Bush, former Reagan White House staff and friends of John McCain have all told The Sunday Telegraph that they not only expect to lose on November 4, but also believe that Mr Obama is poised to win a crushing mandate.

They believe he will be powerful enough to remake the American political landscape with even more ease than Ronald Reagan did in 1980.

The prospect of an electoral rout has unleashed a bitter bout of recriminations both within the McCain campaign and the wider conservative movement, over who is to blame and what should be done to salvage the party's future.

Mr McCain is now facing calls for him to sacrifice his own dwindling White House hopes and focus on saving vulnerable Republican Senate seats which are up for grabs on the same day.

Their fear is that Democrat candidates riding on Mr Obama's popularity may win the nine extra seats they need in the Senate to give them unfettered power in Congress.

If the Democrat majority in the Senate is big enough - at least 60 seats to 40 - the Republicans will be unable to block legislation by use of a traditional filibuster - talking until legislation runs out of time. No president has had the support of such a majority since Jimmy Carter won the 1976 election. President Reagan achieved his political transformation partly through the power of his personality.

David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, told The Sunday Telegraph that Republicans should now concentrate all their fire on "the need for balanced government".

"It's hard to see a turnaround in the White House race," he said. "This could look like an ideological as well as a party victory if we're not careful. It could be 1980 in reverse.

"With this huge new role for federal government in the economy, the possibility for mischief making is very, very great. One man should not have a monopoly of political and financial power. That's very dangerous."

In North Carolina, where Senator Elizabeth Dole seems set to loose, Republicans are running adverts that appear to take an Obama victory for granted, warning that the Democrat will have a "blank cheque" if her rival Kay Hagen wins. "These liberals want complete control of government in a time of crisis," the narrator says. "All branches of Government. No checks and balances."

Democrats lead in eight of the 12 competitive Senate races and need just nine gains to reach their target of 60. Even Mitch McConnell, the leader of Senate Republicans, is at risk in Kentucky, normally a rock solid red state.

A private memo on the likely result of the congressional elections, leaked to Politico, has the Republicans losing 37 seats.

Ed Rollins, who masterminded Ronald Reagan's second victory in 1984, said the election is already over and predicted: "This is going to turn into a landslide."

A former White House official who still advises President Bush told The Sunday Telegraph: "McCain hasn't won independents, nor has he inspired the base. It's the worst of all worlds. He is dragging everyone else down with him. He needs to deploy people and money to salvage what we can in Congress."

The prospect of defeat has unleashed what insiders describe as an "every man for himself" culture within the McCain campaign, with aides in a "circular firing squad" as blame is assigned.

More profoundly, it sparked the first salvoes in a Republican civil war with echoes of Tory infighting during their years in the political wilderness.

__________________
Freedom is an inside job

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/24/MNU113NN0A.D...

GOP defections buffet McCain as end draws near
Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Republican nominee John McCain heads into the final week of a historic presidential election beset by a wave of high-profile GOP defections and the second-guessing and recriminations from ostensibly friendly quarters that losing campaigns attract like flies.

McCain still could pull out an upset on a last-minute wave of voter hesitation about Obama, much like Hillary Rodham Clinton came back in New Hampshire after the polls counted her out, but political professionals are putting their bets on McCain going back to Phoenix, not rising like one.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell's broadside on Sunday was only the first of the recent GOP defections. The latest arrived Friday from former Republican Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts, who had endorsed former Gov. Mitt Romney over McCain in the GOP primary. Now Weld endorses Obama, calling the Democrat "a once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our politics and restore America's standing in the world."

On Thursday, former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson of Minnesota endorsed Obama and ripped McCain in an essay for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Carlson said he saw in the Democrat "a remarkably disciplined and focused leader who has the potential to become a truly great president."

Just as striking as the tone of the GOP endorsements for Obama was the noticeable chill coming from the state parties in such McCain must-win states as Virginia and Florida.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, whom McCain considered and rejected as his running mate, said he had not appeared in any McCain ads because he wasn't asked. Reports aired that the state GOP is saving some of its war chest for the next election cycle. Similar tensions between the McCain campaign and the state party have surfaced in Virginia.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, also rejected for the vice presidential slot, offered that McCain's chances in his state would have been better if he had been on the ticket. "I think we'd be foolish not to admit it publicly," Ridge said.

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Freedom is an inside job

It would be nice to see a non-CFR on the list.

Pat

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20080616/cm_huffpost/107236;_ylt=Am9Czn...

Opinion
When McCain Drops Out Steve Rosenbaum
Sun Jun 15, 11:20 PM ET

When the Republicans choose their candidate on September 4th, there is a very real chance that they could throw the election into an unexpected chaos as they pull a genuine September Surprise.

I think there is every reason to believe John McCain won't be the nominee. Ok, let me say that again. McCain will not be the Republican candidate in November.

Here's how it could happen:

At some point in mid August, John McCain will announce that he has decided that he can not accept his party's nomination for president. The reason will be health-related, and that may turn out to be the truth. Anyone who's seen him on stage these days knows he looks like he's about to keel over. And anyone who's been on a presidential campaign knows the physical demands are grueling and can be a challenge for a young man.

But excuses or facts hardly matters. He won't be accepting his party's nomination. The reasons are simple. He can't win.

Now that Obama is the presumptive Democratic nominee -- the polls all show that McCain's pro-war stance and Bush endorsement make him a lost cause in November. That combined with soft stand on litmus test conservative issues make him an unpopular candidate among the base. I know some Democrats that think the Republicans are planning to let McCain lose and 'sit this one out' so that they can hang the democrats with a bad economy and a war that is a morass. But that just isn't how they play. They play to win every hand -- think about 2000 with a popular Democratic president and good economy and a solid VP running for president. Why did they put up Bush? And why did they fight so hard? Because, you don't ever throw a game. And they're not going to throw this one.

McCain won't be the nominee.

By August, they'll have done something to try and pick away at Obama's popularity. They'll emphasis race, or whatever they can to get him to appear less than perfect. Then, they'll bring out of the woodwork a surprise candidate who can shift the story fast. With just two months before the election -- the new candidate will have little time to be 'vetted' but will be shiny and new, and will get a lot of media attention as Obama's newness will have become -- by then -- tarnished or at least no longer the surprise that it has been as he unseated Hillary.

So, who will be the Republican candidate that faces Obama in the fall?

I've spoken to a number of friends who -- when presented with this set of facts respond: "but they don't have anybody else." That's simply not the case.

Joe Trippi, campaign consultant and most notably Howard Dean's campaign manager, said of McCain dropping out: "While crazy, this may be the best shot they have."

There are a whole list of Republicans who in many ways are more likely to energize the Republican base. One thing is certain -- there are candidates that will play to the core issues in ways that McCain simply can't.

Here's a list of names. Some you know, some you don't. But each of them knows their name is in play. Among them --

Condoleezza Rice (Secretary of State)
Colin Powell (fmr Sec. of State)
Marilyn Musgrave (Colorado Congresswoman)
Mitt Romney (fmr Massachusetts Governor)
Mike Huckabee (fmr Governor of Arkansas)
Charlie Crist (Florida Governor)
Tim Pawlenty (Minnesota Governor)
Bobby Jindal (Louisiana Governor)
Mark Sanford: (Governor of South Carolina)
John Thune (Senator from South Dakota)
Dick Lugar (Senator from Indiana)
Chuck Hagel (Senator from Nebraska)
MIchael Bloomberg (NYC Mayor)

Ok, go ahead knock them down. One by one. See if you can really remove ALL these names from a list of candidates that are more likely to give Obama a run for his money. They'll come on the scene late, with a press corps that is looking for a horse race and a new story. Obama's frontrunner status will be upset, and there will be a set of variables that need to be calculated -- and tested against a weary electorate.

*******************************
NOTICE THAT RON PAUL IS NOT AMONG THEM!

__________________
Freedom is an inside job

I hope that you understand that if I question AIPAC's importance in determining who will be our new President that I am not attacking Jews. My two favorite American intellectuals are both Jewish and both question Israel's policies regarding the Palestinians (Finkelstein and Chomsky...there are many others, less well-known). I question the fact that its (AIPAC's) contributions to our Congress is a paltry amount when one considers what Israel has gained from its influence and its contributions to our Congress...a very good ROI (return on investment) for Israel. The acronym "AIPAC" means "American-Israeli Political Action Committee". It is a lobby...a non-person, like a corporation. People need to know what the motives of this lobby are and I would wager you that 70% of Americans don't even know what AIPAC is. I detest the current policies of Israel toward the Palestinians and our unequivocal support of Israel (since we vetoed every U.N. resolution condemning the actions of that country defines it as "unequivocal" support, in my opinion).

I have seen the propaganda for war with Iran, just as I saw the propaganda for the lead-up to the war with Iraq. How can our lily-livered Congress not see it unless they are part of it? It's nice to sit back five years after Iraq and blame faulty intelligence or blame skewed intelligence or blame Bush when they (Congress) gave up their Constitutional authority to declare war. If they give it up again so that Bush can attack Iran before he leaves office, we should impeach them all.

Israel is not supposed to have nuclear weapons, but it finally admitted that it does. Some estimates are 300. If no one else in the Middle East has nuclear weapons, why do they have them? Saddam Hussein didn't have them and wasn't close to getting them, as we have painfully discovered. I submit that if Iran abandons its pursuit of nuclear technology that Israel should dismantle its nuclear weapons. That is what should be on the negotiating table, not the possibility of another war.

McCain has said (to AIPAC) that he is committed to insuring that Israel continues with its military/technological advantage...translation: more military transfers, accompanied by loans which have often in the past been forgiven. This practice amounts to "foreign aid", aid added to the foreign aid we have already given. Last week Obama said (to AIPAC) that he is committed to Israel and he proposes to give them $30 Billion over the next ten years. I am trying to determine who offers Israel more, McCain or Obama. If Obama's pledge of $30 Billion is to be added to our current $3 Billion per year in aid, I think he wins hands down. If McCain's pledge for more military transfers and debt for the transfers will be dissolved later AND the continuation of our $3 Billion per year in aid, he probably wins the big AIPAC pie. I am sure that there are those who are calculating at the moment who will offer most. Heaven help us!

That speech of McCains was painful to watch. The only energy the republican party can claim this year is Ron Paul's historic (and ongoing) canidacy. If the establishment doesn't open their eyes soon, November is going to be a KO.

"I'm Paying for what should be Free. But I don't buy what they're telling me."- Jack White

Hillary plans to help Obama with his bid for the White House, but she is going let Bill "help" McCain.

"And what is this liberty, whose very name makes the heart beat faster and shakes the world?" -- Frederic Bastiat