Republicans

They say that politics make strange bedfellows. Sometimes, however, the bedfellows are completely unsurprising. Politico has had some research leaked to them that links McCain chief strategist Charlie Black to very-recently deceased race-baiter Jesse Helms. From Ben Smith:

...here's a nice bit of quickly Neixised oppo. from the proverbial sources-who-have-requested-to-remain-nameless recalling McCain chief strategist's Charlie Black's work for Helms, and tying him to some of the former Senator's more racially charged, to put it nicely, campaign tactics. Here's the full memo, which was sent our way with the remark, "The connection is Charlie."

The piece goes on to explain that Black worked on several of Helms' re-election campaigns, and defended the infamous 1990 "Hands" ad.

There are some who would see a story like this as an attempt to paint Charlie Black, and by extension, John McCain, as racist. Indeed, I have written before about John McCain's complicated relationship with race issues. The fact is, many Republicans view the race-baiting wing of their party as an unavoidable, but shameful, corner of the Big Tent. Others stand a bit closer.

Here's a July 4 history lesson we should print on the back of the American Flag: If you hate long enough and hard enough, you can go to the very top of the Washington garbage heap.

Jesse Helms died today, 25 years too late, but the stench of his rotten career will always linger in the Senate, and over the South.

He was a hero to bigots and the cigarette corporations, a menace to the poor and downtrodden, and a mean little troll whose heart was so wrecked by wickedness that doctors had to patch it up with coronary valves from a pig.

Former Senator Jesse A. Helms, Jr., died today after a "period of declining health," according to a spokesman. He was 86.

He was born on October 18, 1921. He served in the US Senate from 1972-2003, after which he retired. During his Senate career, he was an outspoken, controversial figure. His name is synonymous with "Old South"-style politics.

The New York Times had this reaction, from former Senator Bob Dole:

"He was a conservative icon," Bob Dole, the former senator and Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview on CNN. "He was a good, decent human being."

But Mr. Dole, known for his wry sense of humor, acknowledged that Mr. Helms was not universally admired on Capitol Hill. "If there was a liberal meeting going on and someone announced that Jesse Helms was coming, the place would have cleared out in 20 seconds," he joked. He added that although he disagreed with Mr. Helms on civil rights, he did not consider the senator to be a bigot. "Was Jesse Helms a racist? I never spotted that in him," Mr. Dole said. "Jesse had black staff members. I could never quite figure it out."

MSNBC had this:

Greetings from Florida, where our governor, Charlie Crist, has just announced his plans to wed his girlfriend of nine months. Crist, who is 51 years old, has been single for the past 30 years. His first marriage ended after less than a year, giving way to a three-decade-long stint as a bachelor. His fiancé, Carole Rome, 38, is the president of (no kidding) a Halloween costume business.

Why does any of this deserve your consideration? Well, timing, for one thing. It's no secret that Crist is on McCain's short-list for Vice President, and, oddly, marital status seems to be something of a sticking point in the race to be number 2. In fact, America has not had an unmarried Vice President since 1852, when Franklin Pierce gave the nod to William King.

No date has yet been set for the wedding, and while the sound of church bells setting the mood for the Republican Convention in St. Paul may simply be a coincidence, some wonder if this marriage itself is not, in some ways, its own kind of costume.

Senator John McCain's campaign announced a reorganization yesterday that the pundits are calling a "shake-up," but which the campaign insists is business as usual. From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON - Senator John McCain's presidential campaign has gone through its second shake-up in a year. Responding to Republican concerns that his candidacy was faltering, Mr. McCain put a veteran of President Bush's 2004 campaign in charge of day-to-day operations, and stepped away from a plan to have the campaign run by 11 regional managers, Mr. McCain's aides said Wednesday.

The elevation of Steve Schmidt - who worked closely with Karl Rove - at Mr. McCain's headquarters represented a sharp diminishment of the responsibilities of Rick Davis, who has been Mr. McCain's campaign manager since the last shake-up nearly a year ago.

The McCain campaign said, through a spokesman, that they are simply rearranging the deck chairs...sorry, no, they put a cigar in the campaign's mouth and said, "I love it when a plan comes together."

The Times, and everyone else, are being extremely generous to the McCain campaign. In order for something to be shaken up, it has to first be in a non-shaking state. McCain's campaign has been trembling like an extra-innings Jenga game since the Democrats ended their primary fight.

Fox News has sunk to a new low. On Wednesday, the network displayed photos that its editors had doctored of two New York Times employees--reporter Jacques Steinberg, and editor Steven Reddicliffe. Media Matters has graciously provided us with the before-and-after evidence showing that Fox purposefully yellowed Steinberg's teeth, widened his nose and chin, and photo-shopped his ears stick out further.



Reddicliffe also received the yellow-teeth treatment, as well as dark circles under his eyes, and an exaggeration of his receding hairline.



Why has Rupert Murdoch's flagship television network stooped to such tactics? The Times had the audacity to run a piece about Fox's recent poor ratings performance.

I have a front row seat I tell ya, but I do think by November, we're going to be tired of ads. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer Openers blog:

With Barack Obama poised to raise and spend money unencumbered by federal campaign finance limits, the Republican National Committee says it will help remedy any imbalance suffered by John McCain -- starting with a $3 million ad campaign to run in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to an online news alert from Roll Call.

The independent expenditure ad campaign will highlight differences between the candidates' energy proposals. It will take advantage of the fact that the RNC has vastly more money than the Democratic National Committee: $53.5 million on hand for the RNC, compared with $4 million for the DNC.

"Following Barack Obama's decision to become the only major party presidential candidate in history to not adhere to campaign spending caps, the Republican National Committee has begun an independent expenditure campaign in accordance with FEC regulations," RNC I.E. consultant Brad Todd told Roll Call in a statement. Todd's firm, On Message Inc., produced the ad, which Roll Call says will run from this weekend through July 15.

It's a nice effort, but the problem is that the average age of the TV viewer is 50. And while they may be the most likely to actually vote, it appears that there is a whole new demographic that has quit watching TV. I just hope this isn't a portent that the GOP is fighting the last war with the last war's weapons.

Interesting column by Robert Novak on why the McCain camp may be worried about so-called "Obamacons," conservatives leaning towards Obama in '08. (Novak did not coin the term.) He names Chuck Hagel and Colin Powell as the most high profile members of the growing group, with people like Jack Kemp and noted supply-side economists Bruce Bartlett and Larry Hunter also possibly among the ranks.

So what is an Obamacon? Not what you think. They're not to be confused with the Obamamaniacs, those voters caught up in the primary frenzy, sporting buttons and spouting JFK comparisons. No, it's not that the Obamacons are so enthralled with the Illinois senator, and they don't even dislike John McCain. They're just so disgusted with the Republican Party and the Bush Administration that they believe the GOP deserves to be trounced in November. The idea I guess is to destroy all vestiges of the woeful Bush years and rebuild anew.

Explaining his support for the uncompromisingly liberal Obama, Hunter blogged on June 6: "The Republican Party is a dead rotting carcass with a few decrepit old leaders stumbling around like zombies in a horror version of 'Weekend With Bernie,' handcuffed to a corpse."

McCain should be concerned, Novak says, because on Election Day the "therapeutic electoral bloodbath could get out of control." What if Obamaconitis is catching and spreads throughout the party? What if Republicans by the throngs suddenly realize self-flagellation is the best way to repent for the sins of the past eight years?

Think that's unlikely? Here's something even more far-fetched. Novak ends the column by stating that Obamacons "should cause soul-searching at the Bush White House about who made the Republican Party so difficult a place for Republicans to stay." Soul-searching at the White House? That'll be the day.

It often seems there are few things agreed on when it comes to politics. But this year - whether it be the historical support Barack Obama has received on the campaign trail, the distance John McCain is trying to put between himself and President Bush on many issues to convince us a vote for him is not a vote for "more of the same," or the ousting of many congressional incumbent Republicans around the country - I think we can all agree that "CHANGE" is a good a theme as any in this year's elections.

So if any of you Democratic or Republican convention planners need a good theme song this year, I've got one for you: "It's Your Life" by 23-year-old Francesca Battistelli.

Battistelli, a Native New Yorker who now lives in Nashville, is like a breath of fresh air amid a political process becoming more filled with rancor every day. "It's Your Life" was influenced, in part, by the importance of this year's election and the need for everyone to get up and get involved in changing their own lives and the state of our country. She has a debut performance in New York City Tuesday, July 8. Details after the jump.

Here's what Battistelli tells Political Machine:

"Voting is so important, and it distinguishes our country from others in the world where so many people don't have a voice. It's a way to be heard and contribute to creating a better future on a local and national level.

The McCain campaign held yet another conference call today to defend their candidate against comments made by Gen. Wesley Clark on Sunday's Face the Nation. In attendance were Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Lt.Col. Orson Swindle, USMC (Ret.). Yes, the "Truth Squad" is composed of a "Swift Boat Veteran" and a guy named Swindle.

I've posted the audio of the call below. The McCain campaign released selected quotes, but not the ones where Swindle craps all over Wesley Clark's military service, calling it "less than stellar."

Also noteworthy is the beginning of the call, where Sen. Graham says that the US is "unique" because we elect our commander in chief. Maybe he just doesn't know what "unique" means. I wanted to ask him to name another western-style democracy that doesn't elect its commander in chief, but didn't get the chance. The campaign has not returned my calls for comment.