. . . because he just might get it.

Regardless of how you view media coverage of the presidential election, there is one thing we can all agree on: Barack Obama receives far, far more media coverage than John McCain.

The McCain campaign portrays this as a fawning press corps engaged in media bias.  However, increased media coverage also equals increased media scrutiny.

Yesterday, the RNC released a new web ad intended to prod the media back towards uniformly hostile coverage of Obama. With this ad, McCain's increasingly desperate staff hoped to cement the idea that "the media loves Barack Obama." Pathetically, their proof for this assertion was a couple of hyperbolic rants from Chris Matthews and some sarcastic comments from the likes of Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson. It was truly the saddest thing anyone could imagine coming out of a 90+ million dollar campaign. In fact, any idiot with basic video editing tools could put together an effective response ad. As it so happens, I'm just such an idiot, and with a little help from Google, I've put together what, by the McCain campaign's own loose standards, can only be interpreted as undeniable proof that the media is consumed by a collective infatuation with John McCain.

A title which sums up John McCain's quest for the Presidency.

 In an unprecedented move today the McCain campaign announced a stunning new cost-cutting measure intended to maximize the funds available for television ad buys in major markets and in the remaining swing state of Arizona.  Head strategists, long aware of the "ground they have to cover" in battling the natural leader and politician Barack Obama, who seems to be everywhere, have been brainstorming on ways to get their candidate  to the campaign stops he needs to make in this busy election cycle more quickly and efficiently than they have in the past.  Chief among the new measures, amazingly enough, is the decision to Fed Ex the candidate to most of his major campaign appearances.
 

Looking back, early June was a utopia. Barack Obama, the embodiment of change, a historic candidate, was racking up the delegates. His rival, Hillary Clinton, was about to capitulate. Obama rented out an NBA arena to claim the nomination. Poll after poll showed the Democrats had a great chance to win in November.

This is great, I thought.  I have never voted for a winning candidate for national office in any election in my life. It's going to feel so nice to win one.  

But then it was all taken away from me. I was not only mad, but dejected. For months, politics were simultaneously news, entertainment, a passion, and something to look forward to.

No longer.

I went on a self-imposed diet of no MSNBC...no Politico....no Kos...no Huffington Post.  There was nothing for me there.

But that's not where this story ends. This is a redemption tale. I have found a way to root for Obama again. Come election night, I will be happy. If you were feeling down on Obama, read on, because I have a way for you to get excited about progressive politics again.

Yesterday, John McCain made millions of people crosseyed while listening to him trying to clarify his statement regarding the surge and the sunni awakening. This is what he said:

Look at this picture of Obama (from a diary on the Rec List) and you will understand why  Republicans are scared shit-less by him:

Obama looks like he  already is President. The snarky caption  by the Right wing rag is not what catches your eye.  Or even the odd  expressions on his fellow Senator's faces. Obama understands the power of visuals and rhetoric  like no Presidential candidate since Reagan. He exudes a cool confidence not seen since  Reagan. Obama is the anti-Reagan.

And it is driving Reagan's acolytes up the wall. They can't oppose Obama effectively because he is using all of Reagan's tactics against them. At the same time, McCain is channeling Dukakis and Sen. Clinton, two of the worst campaigners in recent  history.

Yeah, she keeps making blatant sexual references in the title of her diaries; we all recognize those titles for what they are:  naked attempts to pimp her work.  

The truth is, she could just as well eliminate the tit-elation; her diaries would stand up of their own accord.  The are infused with intellectual Viagra.

But all of that is beside the point.

I'm writing because there is a side to OrangeClouds that you very well may not know.

She's a risk-taker, and for all the right reasons.

Follow me over the flip for the true dirt.

Update [2008-7-24 0:37:9 by Mike Stark]:  This diary will be effective only if you 1) read the whole thing; and 2) click on the rec button.  Do it for OC115.

Dear John:
You are not fit to be president. Mentally, intellectually or diplomatically.

You repeatedly lower the quality of discourse in American politics. The man who ran in 2000 has disappeared, unrecognizable, the face of Bush 44 has taken his place with these "Rovian" low blows. It is you who has always been the fair-haired boy of the press.

John, you have made a long series of substantial factual errors that will become a series of major issues every day until November 4. Whether the problem is age or sloppiness, partisanship or tiredness, on issue after issue you say things that are factually incorrect. You have flip/flopped on every single issue that is important to the 2008 election. You don't even know what you're for or what you're against, anymore.

John, the people who run your campaign are a who's who of the fleecing of America. You are measured by the company you keep and your company stinks to the lower depths of hell.

Yesterday, you as much stated that Barack Obama has committed sedition by advocating the loss of a war. Your statement was unforgivable and not the kind of behavior expected of a would-be president. You are disqualified. Go home to Arizona. Do America a favor, resign your senate seat. Retire in solitude. We're tired of your antics.

Billy Mays here...

I want to introduce to you the latest, greatest invention in the history of mankind!  It slices!  It dices!  It may even cook your dinner, kiss your wife, and tuck in the kids!  It's the amazing CBS Re-Answer-Ator™!

The CBS Re-Answer-Ator™ uses advanced narrative technology developed by the Pentagon to tell the "stories" of Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman!

Tell me, have you ever wanted a do over?  A chance to change your destiny?

With the CBS Re-Answer-Ator™, you can have that second chance at a first impression.

How many times have you been in an argument and that witty comeback enters your mind 10 minutes too late?

Through the magic of the CBS Re-Answer-Ator™, VOILA, timely comeback (with bonus laughtrack if you act in the next 10 minutes)!

Wine stains in your favorite shirt... just rub a little CBS Re-Answer-Ator™ on the stain, rinse in water, and VOILA, the stain is gone!

Quit going through all those lame pick-up lines and getting slapped in the face, the CBS Re-Answer-Ator™ lets you cut right to the sex.

...at least implicitly.

While Sen. McCain has been going off on a tangent accusing Sen. Obama of selling America down the river for political gain, there is a question that isn't being asked of the senior Senator from Arizona.

"If Sen. Obama is putting politics over the national interest, do you think your friend and Republican colleague, Chuck Hagel, whose policy proposals and words on Iraq have been almost indistinguishable, is doing the same?"

As you're all well aware, John McCain enjoys repeating over and over and over that:
-he will never surrender in Iraq
-we must achieve victory in Iraq
-Barack Obama advocates defeat in Iraq (Joe LIEberman frequently repeats this statement as well)
-Barack Obama cares more about winning an election than the wellbeing of the American people.

Of course John McCain has never sufficiently defined what victory in Iraq would look like, and even if he has done that to some extent, he certainly has not offered any course we can chart to achieve that victory. It is fairly obvious that McCain wants to stay the course of the last 5-6 years, hoping things will fix themselves.

Political Insider floats a potential McCain VP announcement as soon as this Thursday.

First, he cancels his press availability on Wednesday.

Then, he cancels a previously unannounced trip to an off-shore oil rig in Louisiana.

And now he abruptly changes his schedule to appear in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday. The press wasn't told until the campaign plane was on the tarmac.

VoteVets has a new ad featuring Brandon Woods, an Iraq War veteran from New York.

In the ad, Brandon says, "What did we fight for in Iraq? I have some idea. I fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom. And "freedom" means when the Iraqi people and their Prime Minister ask us to make a plan to leave, we do. But, Senator McCain would occupy Iraq indefinitely, against their wishes. That's not what freedom means. That's not what we fought for. Senator, I thought you would know better."

Here's VoteVets' statement releasing the ad:

Senator McCain once said that if the Iraqis asked us to leave, we would have to leave. Those of us who served agree with that. Senator McCain now either has to back off his refusal to set a plan to leave Iraq, as Prime Minister Maliki requested a number of times in the past week, or tell the American and Iraqi people why he would overrule Iraq's government and turn our troops into an indefinite occupying force. Those are his only two options. Our new ad makes that clear.

The American people, the Iraqi people, the Iraqi government all think it's time for us to leave. So what does "winning" mean now, Mr. McCain? Stubbornly staying put when you're the only one who wants us to stay?

I know Marc Ambinder is supposed to be the Atlantic's resident "objectiver reporter" guy, but I'm having trouble reconciling his zigs and zags on Surgegate.  

I'm sorry if this has been diaried. A quick scan and I didn't see it, but I'll delete if this is redundant. I also apologize for the brevity. This is just supposed to be a fun one.

So I guess McCain's feelings are hurt. Nobody's paying any attention to him! Everywhere you look--there's Obama's face! So, he's asking his supporters to vote for the "love song" that best describes the media's love affair with Barack Obama. No kidding. This is on the FRONT PAGE of McCain's site:

THE MEDIA IS IN LOVE
PICK YOUR FAVORITE SONG

http://www.johnmccain.com/

Colorado

Rasmussen. 7/21. MoE 4.5% (6/17 results)

The Pollster.com composite is 47.6 Obama, 44.9 McCain.

Michigan

EPIC/MRA. 7/13-15. MoE 4% (5/19-22 results)

The Pollster.com composite is 47.6 Obama, 39.1 McCain.

Florida

Rasmussen. 7/22. MoE 4.5% (6/26 results)

American Research Group. 7/19-21. MoE 4% (6/13-17 results)

Those Ras numbers are a little goofy. That's a big shift in a single month, and one seen in few other states. Then we have ARG giving us the exact opposite trendline, though we all know ARG sucks you-know-what.

Thank heavens we can fall back on the composite, which is less sensitive to wild swings and outliers. And on that front, it's really, really, really tight: 45.7 McCain, 44.9 Obama.

New Hampshire

American Research Group. 7/19-21. MoE 4% (6/13-17 results)

U of New Hampshire (PDF). 7/11-20. MoE 4.5% (4/25-30 results)

Two crappy pollsters, but let's plug their numbers into the composite anyway. Currently, it's 47.4 Obama, 40.4 McCain in New Hampshire.

Ohio

Rasmussen. 7/21. MoE 4.5% (6/17 results)

Did Ras juice their (D) sample this month? Or did Obama hit upon the holy grail of Florida and Ohio swing-state politics? I don't know if I buy these particular numbers, but there's no need to. The composite actually feels quite right: 45.9 Obama, 42.4 McCain. Give Obama the twitchy, very nervous lead. Essentially, this one's tied (like Florida, like every fucking election cycle, it seems).

Update: I reversed the Ohio numbers. It's McCain that's up.

Virginia

Public Policy Polling. 7/17-20. MoE 2.7% (6/26 results)

Just float within the MoE. The composite remains razor tight: 46.7 Obama, 44.1 McCain.

Other: Monmouth University reiterates that yes, Obama is crushing McCain in New Jersey 50-36 (PDF).

Over the last few days the McCain camp has started to get desperate with all the good news for Obama. So what does a campaign run by the architect of negative campaigning do?

Do some good 'ole negative campaigning of course. Here's a recap.