So, let’s really simplify things and say 20 people total are voting in a state the media says is statistically tied, and polling models this Obamedia use claim almost all Democrats are voting for Obama and almost all Republicans are voting for McCain. Completely ignoring PUMAs.
Look what happens when just a few Democrats cross the aisle and vote for McCain — the way all of us at HillBuzz (and our friends and families) have done. Look what happens when just 2 Democrats walk over to McCain:
Obama = 8
McCain = 12
10 + 10 = 20. 8 + 12 = 20. But, what was once tied, suddenly becomes a 4-point deficit for Obama, with just two Democrats leaving Obama’s column and heading over to McCain.
Every Democrat voting for McCain is 2 votes Obama loses. He’s lose only 1 vote if a Democrat sat home, but he loses 2 votes if they cross the aisle over to McCain.
So, every Democrat who was called a racist by Obama followers and now votes for McCain costs Dear Leader 2 votes.
Every Democrat whose car was keyed or whose windows were broken with rocks by Obama followers and now votes for McCain costs “The One” 2 votes.
Every Democrat who railed against the sexism and misogyny leveled against Hillary Clinton, and then Sarah Palin, who casts a vote for McCain costs ObaMessiah 2 votes.
Every Democrat who cried out when the DNC broke its own rules and handed Obama 4 free delegates from Michigan at the Rules and Bylaws Committee Meeting, after mishhandling the Florida and Michigan situations with gross incompetence, and casts a vote for McCain costs “The Lightbringer” 2 votes.
You get the picture.
So, basically, every nasty, undemocratic, vile, sexist, misogynistic, violent, vulgar, dirty, rotten, thuggish, dishonest, unethical, and revolting thing Obama and his followers did to Clinton and her supporters will come back to Obama and the DNC twofold, for every PUMA voting for McCain/Palin.
PUMAs don't believe the Mainstream Media Obama drone.
PUMA Power: One-Fourth of Democrat Party Used to Being Ignored by Maintream Media PUMAs are the One Group Who Has Already Gone Head-to-Head Against "The Obama Experience"
* The Mainstream Media Bias * ACORN Voter Fraud * The Blog Shutdowns and Intimidation Tactics * The "Fix is In" Frustration
PUMAs: Been There, Done That
These days, the most energetic investigations, the loudest warnings and the people most experienced with unpleasant Obama campaign tactics come not from the Republican Party, but from a segment of the Democrat Party: the PUMAs.
They represent a significant proportion of the Democratic Party--a portion the Mainstream Media is loathe to acknowledge, let alone report. Some became PUMAs after what they felt was unfair treatment of Hillary Clinton. Some because of the unfair treatment in the media of Sarah Palin. Some because they cannot support a candidate who Joe Biden said "wasn't ready" just months ago--before Biden became Barack Obama's running mate.
Party Unity My Ass (PUMA)
PUMA is a movement born shortly after Hillary Clinton conceded the Democrat nomination to Barack Obama. PUMA blogs and websites almost immediately popped up on the Internet.
An AP-Yahoo News poll claims that Democrats who backed Hillary Clinton in the primaries are still not warming up to Barack Obama. Fifty-eight percent of Clinton supporters now back Obama.
That was the same percentage who said they backed Obama in a June, when Clinton called it quits and the PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) movement was born.
The poll shows that while Obama has gained ground among Clinton's supporters — 69 percent view him favorably now, up 9 percentage points from June — this has yet to translate into more of their support.
In part, this is because their positive views of Republican presidential nominee John McCain have also improved during this period. Those supporting McCain have also edged up from 21 percent to 28 percent, with the number of undecided staying constant, the survey showed.
That was last month. Have things changed since then?
Hillary Clinton has been campaigning for Obama--and there are plenty of stories that report that the PUMAs practically don't exist.
That message seems to be resonating with Clinton’s former supporters. Interviewed at Friday’s event, a dozen of them said they all had swung behind behind Obama.
Margaret Miller, 64, of Oakdale, Pa., proved to be a typical Obama convert.
“I was very skeptical at first. We heard all the rumors saying he was an Arab, but now we know better,” said Miller, who added: “After getting to know Obama a little better and seeing his outlook for America, I decided he’s the one.”
In other words, the post-primary bitterness that spawned the “PUMAs” — the Hillary supporters whose acronym stood for “Party Unity My (lower part of my anatomy)” — virtually has dissolved. --Clinton stumps across U.S. for Obama in run-up to the election
Then apparently every PUMA runs a website, judging from the number of them.
The above article does concede that "it's been hard" for Clinton to support Obama.
Touting Obama is quite a turnaround for Clinton, who derided the Illinois senator as not much more than a speech-maker during their long primary battle. Clinton also famously ran a campaign ad questioning whether Obama was ready to be president.
Close your curtains, Lock your door's my fellow PUMA's. We're being chased by...by...HOUNDS.
Yup, The same party who Ignored us when we voted for Hillary, and stole delegates from her, and handed the Democratic nomination to NObama (Yup handed.... he didn't win it) Have sent Dog's after us PUMA'S. --To the Anti-PUMA websites: we still say NO DEAL!!!!
This reminder a few weeks ago from PUMA08 a few weeks ago:
PUMAs,
If and when you get polled, remember to let the pollster know that not only do you intend to vote, but that you are strongly committed to voting for: Barack Obama
If the story of the PUMAs in the Mainstream Media is that they are "virtually dissolved", Steven M. Warshawsky, Signs Pointing To A McCain Victory, takes a different view.
Remember how quickly the MSM jumped off the Hillary Clinton bandwagon and onto Obama's? Remember how annoyed and angry they became as Hillary refused to concede the nomination? The MSM decided that electing the nation's first black, socialist, anti-American president was politically and historically more important (and, for them, more exciting) than electing the nation's first female, socialist, patriotic president. And they are doing everything they can to achieve this goal.
Well, there is another story out there that the MSM refuses to address. A huge story. One that could, and I think will, significantly affect the outcome of this race. I'm referring to the widespread phenomenon of registered Democrats openly supporting John McCain. There are numerous "Democrats for McCain" type organizations. There are numerous websites and blogs written by Democrats touting McCain's candidacy. There are pro-McCain grassroots efforts being led by Democrats. And we all know friends or relatives who are Democrats, who voted for John Kerry in 2004, and who are no fans of President Bush - but who are going to vote for John McCain this year.
Yet, surprise surprise, the mainstream media is not talking about these voters, not talking about the real rift that is occurring within the ranks of the Democratic Party. Needless to say, if a similar rift were occurring in the Republican Party, it would be treated as the major story that it is. (Indeed, as such stories about the political fault lines in the Republican Party have been treated in the recent past.)
Others haven't quite pronounced the PUMAs dissolved, as well.
"...the PUMAs...oppose Barack Obama because they believe, in their hearts, that Barack Obama has amply demostrated, by his tactics and philosophy, that he is simply WRONG FOR AMERICA." --Ragnar Danneskjold, A Question to the P.U.M.A.s: Barack Obama? Hillary Clinton? WTF???
The PUMAs run a campaign separate and apart from the Republican one. Many produce their own anti-Obama videos and publish lots of information the MSM ignores.
PUMA sites run stories of voter intimidation that don't seem to make their way through the MSM "McCain-Palin: Hate and Racism" meme.
Twenty-five residents of a Gainesville neighborhood woke up this morning to discover their homes had been spray-painted with an obscene comment about the 2008 presidential race. Several businesses were hit as well.
“This is clear voter intimidation,” Corey A. Stewart, At-Large Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, said. “The residents targeted by these hoodlums all had McCain for President yard signs in their front yards.”
“Having your home defaced with obscenity because of political beliefs is a hate crime” Stewart said, “This is terrorizing the community.” --Obama followers vandalize homes in Gainesville
The PUMAs have seen it all before during the primaries: the media bias, intimidation and other unpleasantness.
What voter fraud you might ask? Some of the mainstream media still hasn’t asked, or asked enough questions. Some have only just started to ask.
A reader asks …
are you sure you want to do this Barry?
If you do, it could turn up some interesting answers. Like PUMA and Clinton Democrats have been saying all along, it is systematic fraud.
The PUMAs are also used to every report of unpleasantness being ignored--or worse, whitewashed--by Big Media in the ceaseless MSM drone for Obama.
Democrats vote early in higher numbers than Republicans in almost every state. And that’s not including the big persuasive push by Obama. Logic dictates with all the attention Obama’s put on early voting, that Democrats should be clobbering Republicans right now…if they vote early in higher numbers to begin with, and then Obama’s made a big push for early voting on top of that.
That’s not happening.
Republicans have a slight lead in early voting right now.
Where is all the enthusiasm for Obama the media keeps braying about?
And remember: not all of those Democrats are voting Obama. We know 30 Democrats right here in Chicago who voted early — and voted Republican for the first time in our lives. We bet there’s a higher percentage of Democrats voting Republican in Colorado this year than any year in the past. --Bad news for Obama in Colorado early voting
For their trouble, some have gotten trouble--from Obama supporters. DBKP knows how this feels.
The members of the Party Unity My Ass movement are used to the media misinformation: they remember the press calling--no, begging--for Clinton to drop out of the primary race after a string of early Obama wins. They also remember the MSM predictions of Obama victories in states where Clinton went on to crush the eventual nominee in the primaries.
That's one reason most of the PUMA sites visited for this article are not only skeptical of the MSM polls and reporting, they're convinced the MSM is not telling the truth once again.
Regardless of what the Mainstream press writes these days about them disappearing, the PUMAs have long memories of intimidation, dirty tricks and MSM "reporting". They have lived through one contest where it all occurred.
They're working hard to prevent it from happening twice in the same year.
Received Nearly Half-Million Dollars From Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae: Dodd, Kerry, Obama, Clinton, Kanjorski
Dodd, Obama got nearly a quarter-million dollars from Freddie, Fannie
It's like sending the foxes to fix the hole in the chicken coop.
Senators Chris Dodd and Barack Obama, among others, have stepped up to "fix" the financial crisis, brought on in large part by the implosion of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Dodd and Obama were two of the three largest recipients of Freddie-Fannie campaign contributions.
It's like sending the foxes to fix the hole in the chicken coop.
Senators Chris Dodd and Barack Obama, among others, have stepped up to "fix" the financial crisis, brought on in large part by the implosion of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Dodd and Obama were two of the three largest recipients of Freddie-Fannie campaign contributions.
The Freddie-Fannie Five
1. Sen. Dodd, Christopher J (D-CT) - $133,900 2. Sen. Kerry, John (D-MA) -- $111,000 3. Sen. Obama, Barack (D-IL) - $105,849 4. Sen. Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) - $75,550 5. Rep. Kanjorski, Paul E (D-PA) - $65,500
The top five received nearly one-half million dollars from the FMx2. Dodd and Obama received almost a quarter million from the failed quasi-government agencies between the two of them.
(For an updated chart that includes contributions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's PACs and employees to ALL lawmakers back to 1989, including to their leadership PACs, go here.) and data The federal government recently announced that it will come to the rescue of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, two embattled mortgage buyers that for years have pursued a lobbying strategy to get lawmakers on their side. Both companies have poured money into lobbying and campaign contributions to federal candidates, parties and committees as a general tactic, but they've also directed those contributions strategically. In the 2006 election cycle, Fannie Mae was giving 53 percent of its total $1.3 million in contributions to Republicans, who controlled Congress at that time. This cycle, with Democrats in control, they've reversed course, giving the party 56 percent of their total $1.1 million in contributions. Similarly, Freddie Mac has given 53 percent of its $555,700 in contributions to Democrats this cycle, compared to the 44 percent it gave during 2006.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have also strategically given more contributions to lawmakers currently sitting on committees that primarily regulate their industry. Fifteen of the 25 lawmakers who have received the most from the two companies combined since the 1990 election sit on either the House Financial Services Committee; the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee; or the Senate Finance Committee. The others have seats on the powerful Appropriations or Ways & Means committees, are members of the congressional leadership or have run for president. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate banking committee, has received the most from Fannie and Freddie's PACs and employees ($133,900 since 1989). Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) has received $65,500. Kanjorski chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs.
The airwaves yesterday were full of Barack Obama making statements and posturing on the crisis.
Nowhere in any of the Obama statements was any mention of his relationship with Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
The Obama campaign showed rare judgment in this decision.
Yesterday may not have been the right time to mention his failed benefactors.
Obama Offices Different, Separate and Apart From Democrat Party Offices Does Obama Campaign Not Trust the Democrats? Or is it Clintonistas?
Will Election 2008 be remembered as the first contest between Republicans and Obamacrats--or the first between the Obamacrats and the Democrats?
Senator Barack Obama is building a national organization separate and apart from the national Democrat Party apparatus--at least in any state where the outcome of the November election is at all in doubt.
In state after state, the Obama campaign, in a break with tradition, has opened up its own offices--which largely push Barack Obama, and only Obama--apart from the Democrat Party's own offices in those very same communities.
Obama has, literally, hundreds of these offices dotting the USA.
[ABOVE: Obama offices in Ohio--these are separate from local Democrat Party offices in the communities listed.]
The list goes on: Virginia, over forty offices; Georgia, thirty-eight; North Carolina, thirty-six; Indiana, thirty-two; Colorado, thirty; Iowa, twenty-three; Minnesota, twelve; West Virginia, six.
In states where the outcome is already pretty much decided, Campaign for Change operates few offices: one in Texas and California, for example.
Does Obama Trust the Democrats? Do the Democrats Trust Obama?
The Campaign for Change offices push one product: Barack Obama.
In our weekend visit to Obama offices, we found that local and state Democrat candidates did have a presence at the Campaign for Change offices--but not much of one.
Almost all of the usual campaign giveways were there: pencils, literature, stickers. They were all on a small table in the back of the room.
That small table represented all of the local, district and state Democrat candidates--combined. The rest of the spacious room was dedicated to Barack Obama. In almost every case, it was Obama without a meniton of running mate, Joe Biden.
The local Democrat campaign office, we were informed, was "down the street, around the corner."
One of the offices visited last weekend was in Ohio.
The Obama campaign and supporters will likely dismiss the separate offices as "smart thinking" and "targeting resources". But, each office sucks up resources: lease money, campaign materials and manpower. The Campaign for Change offices are staffed by volunteers, but a volunteer sitting behind a desk is a volunteer not knocking on doors.
But in this way, the Obama campaign is sure of one thing: the volunteer on the phone in a Des Moines Campaign for Change office will be talking about Barack Obama--not the local Democrat candidate for County Commissioner.
The Obama campaign is apparently charging fellow Democrats for Obama campaign materials. At a Democrat-sponsored booth at an event in Wheeling WV, local Democratic candidates manning the location complained about this sign of Obamaization. The booth featured many local and state Democrat candidates, but not much Obama signage or literature.
"We had to pay for them," a lady complained. "They don't give us anything."
Even Obama supporters have to pay the campaign for everything in the offices. "Al" who we spoke to at a local Obama campaign offices said he had to "pay for the lease out of my own pocket. All of the t-shirts, button, stickers here, I paid for."
So, if Obama volunteers are paying the campaign for everything and picking up the tab for leases, isn't this just a smart move?
Each Campaign for Change office becomes a cash cow: it not only pays for itself, it sends money to the national Obama campaign for campaign materials.
And, the staff isn't wasting time contacting voters about the other Democrat candidates. At Campaign for Change, it's All Obama, All of the Time.
Is there any other reasons why the Obama campaign built this network dedicated to the election of Barack Obama outside of normal Democrat Party channels?
The Spectre of Hillary Clinton
The Obama campaign may have set up all of those separate offices--in any state that might be the least bit in play--because of the woman Obama beat in the Democrat primaries: Hillary Clinton.
A Campaign for Change office is an office beyond any possible control of Clintonistas.
The preceding headlines come from the front page of PUMA08.com. They help illustrate the rift between some supporters of Hillary Clinton and the candidate that they claim was "selected, not elected" to represent the Democrats in November.
An AP-Yahoo News poll claims that Democrats who backed Hillary Clinton in the primaries are still not warming up to Barack Obama. Fifty-eight percent of Clinton supporters now back Obama.
That was the same percentage who said they backed Obamaa in a June, when Clinton called it quits and the PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) movement was born.
The poll shows that while Obama has gained ground among Clinton's supporters — 69 percent view him favorably now, up 9 percentage points from June — this has yet to translate into more of their support.
In part, this is because their positive views of Republican presidential nominee John McCain have also improved during this period. Those supporting McCain have also edged up from 21 percent to 28 percent, with the number of undecided staying constant, the survey showed.
Obama and many of his supporters haven't warmed to the Clintons.
The Clintons, and many of their supporters, haven't warmed to Obama.
It’s 44 days until the General Election as I write this and after a long and hard fought primary season the Democratic Party, and the Obama campaign specifically, are still unable to get over their terminal case of CDS. I can’t help but ask “Why”? For the uninitiated, CDS stands for Clinton Derangement Syndrome, usually defined as the uncontrollable impulse to rail against all things Clinton (Hillary, Bill, Chelsea, Hillary’s supporters, and basically anything connected to centrist positions).
Team Obama not only masterminded the overthrow of the Democratic Party to form the “New Democrats” (remember the May 31, 2008 coup when all semblance of the rules were overthrown at a behind-closed-doors meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee), they literally declared the nomination belonged to Obama despite the fact that:
Will Bower, of PUMA08.com, isn't buying the "Dump Biden" rumors.
"I believe that the "Dump Biden" rumor is exactly that -- a rumor."
Bower added that "I don't believe that Hillary would encourage Obama to do such a thing at this juncture. It would only serve to make him (accurately) look weak and indecisive."
Will then directed us to the following video.
The View: Bill Clinton Pretends He Wants Obama To Win
Will Obama win using his national network of Campaign for Change offices, which are separate from the local Democrat Party?
Will Obama have any coattails, helping local Democrats to victory in close local races?
Does it matter?
After all, Barack Obama--who may be described as having been in perpetual campaign mode--is building his own network of volunteers, fund-raising and organization. It's a network beholden to no one outside of the Obama campaign.
In case of an Obama win, it's a network that's already in place and can be expanded upon in 2012 for a re-election run.
In case of an Obama loss, it's a network already in place that can be expanded upon in 2012 for another run against all comers--Republican or Democrat.
Will the Obama organization supersede the Democratic Party? Or will the Clintons and their supporters be able to circumvent this looming obstacle?
2008 may be remembered as the beginning of a battle in which John McCain was only one opponent among many.
“If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me. Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are.” --Joe Biden, addressing the National Guard, Baltimore 9-22-08
Joe Biden told an audience of National Guardsmen about his the time his helicopter got "forced down" while traveling in Afghanistan--and also got to reference John McCain's "Gates of Hell".
It all started yesterday when Joe Biden was addressing attendees of a National Guard conference in Baltimore. The Democratic nominee for vice president recounted a harrowing experience when he was “forced down” over the mountains of Afghanistan.
“If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me,” Biden said. “Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are.”
"So there I was...Surrounded on all sides by snowballs!"
“[T]he superhighway of terror between Pakistan and Afghanistan where my helicopter was forced down…John McCain wants to know where Bin Laden and the gates of Hell are? I can tell him where. That’s where Al Qaeda is. That’s where Bin Laden is. It’s not in the country of Iraq.”
Jimmy Orr, Christian Science Monitor, points out, "In both retellings of his story, Biden seemed to have left out the part that it was a snowstorm that forced his chopper down, leading some to think that he was implying that it was brought down by hostile forces."
The McCain campaign reacted to Joe Biden being Joe Biden.
“Biden’s exaggeration of his Afghan helicopter ride is no surprise and reminds us of his daily assignment to embellish and fashion a record for Barack Obama where one simply does not exist,” said McCain spokesman Ben Porritt.
Supposedly, Biden's "health" will be used as an excuse for giving him the heave-ho. His past history with brain aneurysms has been cited as a possible excuse.
But, it might not be that difficult to ease Biden off the ticket.
This is just bad reasoning. The Obama campaign has been plagued by short supply and backorders of signage all year. It took us a couple of months to get a box of merchandise.
I'm guessing the low supply is why my sign was stolen out of my yard.
We may be guilty of speculating, rumor-mongering, reporting on shortages of campaign materials or that Barack Obama-only merchandise sells better than Obama-Biden merchandise.
But, bad reasoning?
As we reported, the only short supply of signage plaguing the Obama campaign--that we saw--was Obama-Biden signage. Also as reported, there were literally hundreds of Obama-only signs, buttons, stickers, t-shirts, hats and other Obamabilia available in the campaign offices we visited.
PTS may disagree with what we have to say, but our reasoning is impeccable.
Why is it when someone reports on something (the lack of Obama-Biden merchandise available) that's unpleasant to the Left, they're an idiot; or, "unsophisticated"--if the writer has more than a few seconds to think things through?
We're just asking.
From out of the UK, First Post has also heard all of the scuttlebutt, and quotes a variety of sources, both left and right, including our article at BNN.
Citizen news network BloggerNewsNet has also heard the rumours. A writer from the website visited three Obama campaign offices and discovered that there was "almost no Obama-Biden merchandise available". A visit to the Barack Obama official merchandise website meanwhile reveals that "there are over 100 T-shirts for sale on the site - only one of them mentions ‘Obama-Biden’."
As we've said, it's no big deal: we'll all know in a couple of weeks.
At that time, we will either be guilty of reporting a back-order problem--or a cynical political move.
The scenario: Sometime between October 2 and 5, Joe Biden will plead poor health and drop off the ticket. Hillary Clinton will then ride to the rescue of the Obama campaign that earlier spurned her. The Democrat ticket will then sweep to victory in an unprecedented, albeit Machiavellian move.
We received this email a few days after our last story:
I got this email over the weekend from retired USAF friend, have no idea as to its authenticity. Been told it's from excellent sources within the DNC:
"On or about October 5,2008, Sen Joe Biden will excuse himself from the ticket, citing health problems, and he will be replaced by Hillary R Clinton." This is timed to occur after the VP debate on 10/2.
Thinking, "this is how rumors get started," a little road trip seemed to be in order.
If Joe Biden were not the solid VP pick--and due to be replaced in the rumored "October Surprise"--it would seem that there wouldn't be much of an investment made by the Obama campaign in Obama-Biden campaign materials and merchandise.
We visited three Obama campaign offices in three different states, called several others in a few states picked at random and checked out Barackobama.com's online store to see what the situation was.
There seemed to be plenty of campaign material for Barack Obama, sans Biden. In fact, "Obama-Biden" didn't seem to be much on display at all in any of the offices.
It's been nearly a month since Barack Obama named Joe Biden as his vice-presidential pick: what's the hold-up with the Obama-Biden campaign materials? Why is there almost no Obama-Biden merchandise available?
This is a candidate who's campaign has planned for this race for months--some would say years.
As was stated, there is no end to the "Only Obama" campaign materials.
Joyce, in the Portland OR Obama office told us that, "No one has any (Obama-Biden campaign merchandise)".
"We don't have any Obama-Biden stuff. The national campaign says it's sold out and back-ordered. It'll be about two weeks until we get any."
Two weeks?
That would place the date around the 4th or 5th of October, incidentally.
Joyce did note that she herself was wearing an Obama-Biden T-shirt.
We talked to Paul in the Washington PA Obama office--which was busy at the time--and he told us that there wasn't any Obama-Biden signs, t-shirts or stickers in that office, at least right now.
We were told that there were "some Obama-Biden buttons. We're asking a $50 donation for them."
Paul noted that there were "street signs coming in on Monday" (September 22). He was pretty sure they were Obama-Biden.
We'll check back then.
Dan, at the Belmont office in Bellaire OH, said, "No, we don't have any Obama-Biden signs or T-shirts. They're supposed to be coming in the next couple weeks."
We talked to Al and Ramona in the Wheeling WV Obama office. They informed us that they were told "Obama-Biden merchandise would be available the first week of October".
Again, that "first week of October" date is cited.
Maybe the campaign offices are caught in a supply problem. Maybe not.
But, we're not conspiracy theorists, so we decided to check out Barackobama.com's store at the website.
On the right sidebar is a list of merchandise categories. The fifth one down is for "Obama-Biden". We skipped that category--for now--to check out the "New Arrivals" in Obama campaign merchandise. The merchandise is a major source of funds for the campaign.
Not only are all of the hats and t-shirts for sale, but also the signs, stickers and buttons. All of the Obama offices we visited were separate from the local Democrat Party campaign offices.
What's the 'New Arrivals' at BarackObama.com?
All of the "new arrivals", with the lone exception of a Obama-Biden yard sign, feature Barack Obama--by himself.
So, the Obama campaign's not exactly going overboard to promote the Obama-Biden ticket.
At least, that's our observation.
Then, the Obama-Biden section of barackobama.com was visited.
There are eight items in the section: a few buttons, a few stickers, the yard sign mentioned above and a thin paperboard rally sign.
There are over 100 t-shirts for sale on the site--only one of them mentions "Obama-Biden".
Since we last visited the site and took the above screenshots, more new merchandise is posted as available. What was it?
THE former president Bill Clinton is to ride to Barack Obama’s rescue in the coming weeks by holding joint events with the Democratic presidential candidate.
The Obama team hopes the “Bubba factor” - Clinton’s appeal to white, working-class voters - will revitalise its campaign and staunch defections to Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee.
A source close to the Obama campaign said: “Bill Clinton is on board. He’s making all the right moves and he and Barack Obama are going to campaign together.”
Is Bill the only Clinton who will "Barack Obama’s rescue in the coming weeks"?
It's been 30 days since Obama picked Joe Biden for the ticket--there are 44 days left until the election--almost the halfway point.
That Obama-Biden campaign materials will be available in the "next couple weeks" or "by the first week of October" is way past the halfway mark between the election and when Joe Biden was picked.
McCain-Palin signs were evident the first weekend that John McCain announced his pick for vice-president.
Despite Obama-Biden having almost a week's headstart on McCain-Palin, a visit to johnmccain.com shows the site has been transformed into "McCain-Palin". There nearly 30 McCain-Palin items for sale at the McCain website store. "McCain-Palin" is the first category of merchandise listed at the site.
A look at the websites themselves might be instructive.
McCain, who the Obama campaign paints as "Internet-challenged" has transformed the site into "McCain-Palin", with the ticket at the top of every page we visited.
Obama-Biden was featured at the top of every page but one at barackobama.com
That page was the online store: a campaign cash cow.
So, maybe the Obama campaign is simply going with what sells best.
"Obama" is a winner.
"Obama-Biden", not so much so.
Which is either grist for the rumor mill--or a sign of "CHANGE".
