Below The Beltway

Gordon Smith is a Republican Senator from Oregon and here is his rather extraordinary ad:

If that’s not a sign that the down-ticket knows that the GOP is in trouble this year, I don’t know what is.

They don’t necessarily mean a thing:
As hard as it may be to believe, Michael Dukakis (left) was leading the first George Bush by an average of 8.2 percent in June of 1988. Bush went on to win the general election by 7.8 points.
Mr Bush led the relatively unknown Bill Clinton by 4.9 percent In June […]

Further evidence that Georgia’s 15 Electoral Votes may be in play thanks to a guy named Bob Barr:
June 19, 2008 — A New InsiderAdvantage / PollPosition survey conducted June 18 of registered likely voters in the November presidential contest shows Sen. John McCain leading Sen. Barack Obama by a single point in Georgia, making the […]

Wherein I describe the reason that neither Barack Obama nor John McCain will get my vote in November:
 I am through with voting for the lesser to two evils. I don’t like Barack Obama, but I equally despise John McCain for his flip-flopping, his hypocrisy, and his contempt for the First Amendment. I said more than […]

The New York Times is positively apoplectic over Barak Obama’s decision to opt-out of the public financing system:
From the moment that the public financing system was created in the wake of the Watergate crisis, it was viewed as an imperfect way to rid politics of the excesses of special-interest money.
But now, with the decision by […]

It’s all about the Benjamins:
Sen. Barack Obama’s decision to forgo public financing for his presidential campaign clears the way for him to outspend Sen. John McCain by 3-to-1 or substantially more in the general election, a financial edge that dramatically rewrites the playbooks for both candidates.
With the possibility of spending perhaps $500 million just in […]

Barack Obama announced today that his campaign would be opting out of the public campaign financing system and relying solely upon private fundraising:
WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he would not participate in the public financing system for presidential campaigns. He argued that the system had collapsed, and would put him at […]

At least that’s the conclusion I reach after reading through the roster of Barack Obama’s “National Security Working Group”:
Obama announces his “National Security Working Group”

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Senator David Boren, former Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Secretary of State Warren Christopher
Greg Craig, former director of the State Department Office of Policy Planning
Secretary […]

There’s isn’t much that Mike Huckabee stands for that I agree with, but he’s right when he says that a campaign based on demonizing Barack Obama isn’t going to work:
Former US presidential contender Mike Huckabee urged his fellow Republicans on Wednesday not to denigrate Democrat Barack Obama, saying they should celebrate the historic moment of […]

The latest Quinnipac University poll shows Barack Obama surging ahead of John McCain in what will clearly be three of the most important states in the November election:
With strong support from women, blacks and younger voters, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the apparent Democratic presidential contender, leads Arizona Sen. John McCain, expected to be the Republican […]