Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo observes the Road Map for McCain’s campaign against Obama. Hopefully, everyone can now see the McCain strategy for running against Barack Obama. Yes, we have some general points on taxes, culture wars and McCain as war hero who can protect us in ways that flash-in-the-pan pretty boy Barack Obama can’t. But that’s not the core. The core is to drill a handful of key adjectives into the public mind about Barack Obama: Muslim, anti-American, BLACK,...

Michael Bloomberg just wrote in the New York Times I’m Not Running for President, but … I have watched this campaign unfold, and I am hopeful that the current campaigns can rise to the challenge by offering truly independent leadership. The most productive role that I can serve is to push them forward, by using the means at my disposal to promote a real and honest debate. In the weeks and months ahead, I will continue to work to steer the national conversation away from partisanship and toward...

From Yahoo News I grew up on Firing Line. He made such an enormous contribution to educating the world about conservative thought and civil discourse. I often disagreed with him but he made me think. If only the GOP would stay closer to his views of restrained government, people could benefit from a higher-quality public debate on politics. Addendum: I was just reading about the divisive tactics of the Conservative talkshow host who introduced McCain yesterday. I occurs to me that I have far...

Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic comments on the implications of such a remarkable achievement and trend. “But if Obama gets 1,000,000 people to contribute $100 dollars for the general election, McCain will be forced to somehow construe that as a bad thing for democracy.”

In the Wall Street Journal A bipartisan group of eight House members offered a snapshot Monday evening of some of the potential legislative challenges and advantages the next president may face in dealing with Congress. …Republicans reiterated support for tax cuts and a heightened need to curb federal spending, while Democrats argued a bigger slice of the pie needs to go to the middle class and to reining in deficits that have put the U.S. in debt to China and other nations. At this time I...

Thanks to Thomas P.M. Barnett for this link to Chinese hackers crack Net censorship Just as one person’s Terrorist is another person’s Freedom Fighter, one person’s Computer Criminal is another’s Liberator.

The Burnt Orange Report did an analysis of early Democratic voting in the top 15 Texas Counties. 360,259 Democrats have voted in the primary through Sunday — 304,867 more than this point in time in the 2004 primary election. That is absolutely phenomenal.

Many of us visit The Moderate Voice because the rhetoric and performance of the party extremes do not seem to be a comfortable fit. We are looking for a different community with which to belong. Most of us like talk and performance that is moderate in tone and balanced in application. And it is a useful exercise to continually reflect on what we mean by moderate, extreme and balanced. It seems to me that each issue can be laid out along a spectrum from one extreme to another. e.g. Nationalized...

In Painful Past, Hushed Worry About Obama Many of us old enough to remember, fear the series of assassinations in the 1960’s of progressive leaders. There may still be people in our society who feel that murder is justified to obstruct social progress. And this is why I hope that Hillary accepts the nomination for VP; To create such a momentum for change that obstruction is futile. And for Obama to nominate a Technicolor Cabinet that includes all colors, genders and parties. Perhaps even...

Obama campaign attracting disenchanted Republicans Ronald Reagan had his “Reagan Democrats.” And now, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has turned the tables on the Republican Party with his “Obamacans,” disaffected Republicans who are flocking to the Democratic presidential candidate the way disenchanted Democrats backed Reagan, though in smaller numbers. …”For me, the Republican Party has become so ugly and so arrogant, I don’t want to have any part of it,”...

Thomas P.M. Barnett writes in Scripps Howard News about Foreign Direct Investment If you’re America waging a long war against radical extremism, then helping to create those estimated 100 million new jobs in Middle East and North Africa over the next two decades is of paramount importance. Otherwise, there are a lot of “idle hands.” Barnett, a national security expert, notices just how minor a role our military will play in bringing lasting stability to the region. Foreign direct...

Cascade of losses doesn’t end with death – Bankruptcies for medical reasons on the rise and expected to continue growing as economy dips. This is barbaric. My instructions to my wife are to not authorize any medical care for me that is not covered by insurance. I can’t bare the thought that after the tragedy of declining health I would leave my wife persecuted by creditors and an undignified quality of life. I am angry with the GOP for defending and perpetuating this ghoulish system.

I just came back from a local Precinct Meeting for Obama in preparation for the Caucus on Election night March 4. Of the the 10 of us there, half were not Democrats. Two of us were around 60. Two were around 20. 4 were women. One from Israel. One from Ethiopia…

Here is a summary of the relative positions of the leading Presidential Candidates and Public Financing of Elections We are realistic about promises and charges made in the midst of a campaign. We know all the candidates have made and will continue to make the pragmatic choices that best fit their strategy for winning the presidency. I wish I could tell if McCain is still likely to be the Champion of fair elections he has been in the past. It doesn’t look good right now. Obama seems like such...

State rethinks use of public money to help campaigns and causes In a move I would characterize as cutting off your nose to spite your face, The Florida Legislature may end the practice of giving public assistance to candidates for statewide office, as a remedy for a State budget deficit. Public financing — which took effect in 1987 — was supposed to limit the influence of special-interest cash by capping campaign spending and allowing a partial public match of contributions. If one...

I am sure that more will be posted about the McCain scandal. But at this time I am not nearly as interested in the alleged sexual liaison as I am in the favors he may have done for a lobbyist.

Robert Novak had this item in his political report yesterday: House Republicans showed how much they really care about losing their fiscal responsibility brand when they rejected Rep. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), the leading crusader against earmarks, for a vacancy on the House Appropriations Committee. They picked Rep. Jo Bonner (Ala.), a former House staffer and a consistent supporter of earmarks. Flake’s goose was cooked earlier when the House Republican Conference did not unilaterally impose a moratorium...

Commenter “loveourcountry” posted the text of Obama’s anti-Iraq war speech in 2002 in repsonse to another discussion about Campaign Finance, and it was the first time I had read it. It was courageous for Obama to take such a stand in a climate of revenge and deference to the President. And he was right. The President was a two term governor of Texas, his father a President and former director of the CIA, his VP a former Secretary of Defense and Chief of Staff to President Ford,...

In USA Today he explains that I will seek a good faith pact that results in real spending limits. His position seems reasonable to me, and perhaps a new standard for conducting races can be established.

Hat tip to the Talking Points Memo “As The Washington Post reported on Saturday, John McCain’s campaign struck a canny deal with a bank in December. If his campaign tanked, public funds would be there to bail him out. But if he emerged as the nominee, there’d be no need for public financing, since the contributions would come flowing. It’s an arrangement that no one has ever tried before. And it appears that McCain, who has built his reputation on campaign finance reform, was gaming the...

E.J. Dionne writes that Dems Should Challenge McCain on Terror If McCain’s central “transcendent challenge” to defeat radical Islamic extremists claim falls apart on close examination, the best rationale he has for his election would disappear. …Presumably, he’s saying that Islamic extremism is more important than everything else — the rise of China and India as global powers, growing resistance to American influence in Europe, the weakening of America’s...

David Brooks of the New York Times raises legitimate questions about Obama’s trans-partisanship: Barack Obama vowed to abide by the public finance campaign-spending rules in the general election if his opponent did. But now he’s waffling on his promise. Why does he need to check with his campaign staff members when deciding whether to keep his word? Obama says he is practicing a new kind of politics, but why has his PAC sloshed $698,000 to the campaigns of the superdelegates, according to...

Centerfield and Daniel Drezner have a discussion on whether Obama should accept the funding and restrictions of public campaign funds. Other than the fact that Obama took the initiative to publicly declare this intention; if the two candidates are restricted to public funds would not their supporters look for alternate paths? For instance the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Moveon.org, Actblue… Would not...

John Broder writes a brief overview and history of party delegates in Show Me the Delegate Rules and I’ll Show You the Party. He covers the differences between, and within, the delegate process of the GOP and Democrats. I would summarize one difference is that Democrats general aim for inclusiveness and fairness and proportional votes while the GOP aims more for and winner take all races. “Democrats, being the nice liberals they are, grade on a curve,” he said. “They give you delegates...

The Wall Street Journal article “Primary Sends Shivers Through Capitol Moderates” profiles the fate of incumbent Congresspeople who are perceived as straying too far from their party’s base. While the prodigal Democrats are targeted by MoveOn and ActBlue, the Republicans are targeted by the “Club for Growth.” “We’ll be working this fall for ‘more’ Democrats, but today we struck a blow on behalf of better Democrats,” wrote Markos Moulitsas...