You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1093)

PLAYS: (4339)

Boy, you stay classy, RNC. We already noticed the assassination fantasy at play in the RNC's new ad attacking Nancy Pelosi, but Taylor Marsh highlights the ad's crude sexism too:

At the end it says “Democrats Galore.” Imposed with a naked woman behind the tag line. Get it? Subtle it is not. But check out the video at around :40 seconds; a split screen that says it all. “Pussy Galore” is shown with “Starring Nancy Pelosi the Speaker” over “Pussy’s” image.

But hey, it’s good to have a sense of humor about these things right? And who doesn’t love the Bond films, especially those Sean Connery classics?

The RNC, however, is not celebrating the women in these classic movies, even by 1960’s standards. Nor are they empowering women through utilizing one of the the cunning female villains who parade around in them by equating her with Speaker Pelosi. I shouldn’t have to spell it out any further, though if the RNC doesn’t have women in their leadership ranks or men who get this stuff and know bad taste when they see it, the Rush, Newt and Cheney Party (as they were aptly called on “Hardball” yesterday) is truly nothing more than a frat boy institution. No offense to fraternities meant.

That a woman, let alone Speaker of the House, should never be hinted to in any public way through the use of “Pussy” insinuations should be obvious. That this is being used by a once major political party in the 21st century is stunning.

Sadly, I don't find this as stunning as Taylor does. This is just par for course from a party stuck in some mythical timeframe where "Father Knew Best" and minorities and women knew their place. That this went through Lord knows how many layers of bureaucracy at the RNC with nary a hitch just shows you how tone deaf these guys will forever be.

DOWNLOAD (53)

PLAY (87)

From Hannity and Colmes Nov. 10, 2008

COLMES: Why do you think you’ve been unable…[to] close the deal with the people of Georgia in terms of what happened on Election Day?

CHAMBLISS: Well, listen, we have, for the first time in the history the our state, a 30-day advanced vote period, and let’s give the Obama people credit. They did a good job of getting out their vote early.

There was a high percentage of minority vote, and I am tickled to death that as many Georgians as did examined their right to vote. That’s what make our election process the envy of the whole free world, but we weren’t able to get enough of our folks out on Election Day. That's a challenge to get them out in a run-off but we look forward to that challenge and I'm pretty excited about looking towards Dec. 2nd.

COLMES: Is there anything you would have done differently in your first term to have maybe created a different result on election day?

CHAMBLISS: You know there really isn't, listen I've never stared a controversial issue in the face and run the other way. I think people of Georgia sent me to Washington to solve problems and we've made an attempt to do that and it's not always the popular thing to do but I think it's the right thing to do.

COLMES: You came under fire of course for that ad against Max Cleland and people have talked about that ever since, the one where there was an image of Osama bin Laden. If you had it to do all over again would you still have run that ad?

CHAMBLISS: You know that ad is a myth, it just hangs around. If people had seen the ads that were run against me by my then opponent they would think that was a light-weight ad, but you know politics is a contact sport. It's a game in where you have to define your opponent and we're going to continue to work hard to address the issues that are important to Georgians. We did then and we're going to do it again.

COLMES: So you would have run it, that, knowing what you know now you would have done the same thing and run the same ad?

CHAMBLISS: Listen that ad was very fair and it pointed out defficiencies in the voting record of my opponent.

John McCain complained Wednesday night that Barack Obama's mean health care "attack ads" hurt his feelings and interrupted his Sunday football viewing.

MCCAIN: "Every other ad -- ever other ad was an attack ad on my health care plan. And any objective observer has said it's not true. You're running ads right now that say that I oppose federal funding for stem cell research. I don't."

Here is the ad in question:

Continue reading »

Download | play    Download | play   (h/t Heather)

Many of McCain's Media have grown disenchanted with their BBQ and doughnut buddy over some of his recent tactics and Stephen Colbert agrees that the "Celeb" ad may have backfired in an unintended way.  To him, it highlighted a far more attractive potential nominee:

Last week, Senator McCain unveiled a new attack ad called "Celeb". Jim:

[runs snippet of "Celeb" ad; Voiceover: "He's the biggest celebrity in the world.  But is he ready to lead?"]

Exactly.  Electing a celebrity is something the Republican Party would never do.  Now, critics are saying this ad appeals to the lowest common denominator and that it smacks of desperation.  The ad even led to a furious phone call from Paris Hilton's grandfather.  Apparently, when he heard McCain had made a video with Paris, he assumed the worst. 

Yes, the entire media is calling this ad a mistake.  For once, they are right.  Which brings us to tonight's Wørd.  We the People.  Folks, this ad is a disaster for the McCain campaign.  Sure, it gets its facts right.  For instance, the fact that all celebrities are exactly the same.  So, clearly there's no difference between Sen. Obama, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

First, all of them are hounded by the press.  They all look great on camera, and all three were professors of Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago.  They had very popular classes.  And who can forget Paris's stunningly honest memoir, Cash From My Father?  So, everything in the ad was true, but it was still a mistake for McCain.  Because while I already knew I'd never vote for Barack Obama, I didn't realize how much I'd love to vote for Britney Spears.  She would be the perfect Republican nominee. 

As the McCain ad proves, she's just as qualified as Barack Obama and she's got the same strong policy positions as John McCain. 

[video of Britney Spears: "I think we should just trust our President in every decision that he makes." ]

What a maverick.  Of course, they aren't exactly the same; I think Britney knows the difference between Sunnis and Shi'ite.  Plus Britney has got the necessary toughness.  McCain may have been a prisoner of war for five years, but Britney was a Mouseketeer.  Plus, Britney appeals to young people, and southerners and she's very pro-family. 

So I say, Republicans, it is not too late to draft Britney.  Imagine the thrill at the convention when she accepts your nomination and then tongues Kay Bailey Hutchinson.  Sen. McCain, because of your own ad, your only hope is to accept this nomination while wearing an albino snake. If nothing else, it will make you look tan.

And that's The Wørd.

  AmericaBlog:

The trend of the tracking polls hasn't been good of late. Rasmussen, which is a quite reputable poll, has Obama and McCain tied today -- and with leaners (basically people who haven't made up their minds, but are forced to choose for the poll), McCain is up by one point. This is the first time that McCain has tied or beaten Obama in the poll, Obama has always been up. Not anymore:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows the race for the White House is tied with Barack Obama and John McCain each attracting 44% of the vote. However, when "leaners" are included, it's McCain 47% and Obama 46%.

This is the first time McCain has enjoyed even a statistically insignificant advantage of any sort since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on June 3 (see recent daily results).

I've had a bad feeling about the direction of the campaign for the past couple weeks. We've been saying for months that McCain and the GOP would go negative, very negative. No surprise. That is what's happening. Karl Rove and his crew are at their best destroying people and they're running the show now. The latest tracking polls seem to indicate that McCain's negative attacks are having an impact. The corollary is that Obama's response hasn't been working, or at least it hasn't been enough. That needs to change, fast.

Granted, this is a national tracking poll and, as we've written many times, this election is about the states, because it is. I'll be monitoring FiveThirtyEight.com for any movement on the state polls.

For those who think it's too early to be worried, here's some historical perspective: the first Swift Boat ad attacking John Kerry was launched on August 5, 2004.

Cenk Uygur has some suggestions for Obama to break the stalemate:

Instead, right now the only conversation is about whether Obama is qualified to be president or not. I think McCain's ads in this regard have been comical. They have flat-out sucked. But that doesn't matter. Because the only thing that matters is the conversation itself.

If Obama doesn't change the topic, he gives up an enormous advantage he has, which is the American people are grossly dissatisfied with the Republican Party (even the chairman of the NRCC is telling Republican Congressman to run away from their own party). Make the election about Republicans.

Secondly, Obama has not attacked at all. This is the same mistake Kerry made. He could have pounded Bush for all of his mistakes; instead he hardly laid a glove on him because he wanted to run a positive campaign. That's ridiculous.[..]

Should Obama go after McCain for voting with Bush 95% of time last year and 100% of the time this year? He would be an absolute idiot if he doesn't. Who cares about the nuances? That's not what voters remember. They'll remember that McCain voted with Bush almost all of the time, for whatever reason.

Obama wins simply by having this conversation. If the question is -- does John McCain blindly follow George Bush -- Obama doesn't even need to win that debate. He wins simply by having that debate. What is stuck in people's mind is how much McCain voted with Bush.