DAILY TRACK ON THE U.S. ELECTION

Since the end of both the Democratic and Republican conventions, McCain, who has been excoriated by the press for lying about Barack, took the lead in polls, fanning seeds of discontent among Democrats.  Well, the tide seems to have turned again, and Obama leads in the polls, though it is not really significant.  As has been suggested by two people, the polls shows nothing but racism as a factor in the race.

OBAMA REGAINS POLL LEAD

PRINCETON, NJ—The Sept. 14-16 Gallup Poll Daily tracking update shows Barack Obama regaining a slight, although not statistically significant, edge over John McCain, 47% to 45%, among registered voters, marking the first time since the week of the Republican National Convention that McCain has not held at least a one percentage point margin over Obama.

CNN’S JACK CAFFERTY: ONLY RACISM EXPLAINS THE CLOSE POLLS

Race is arguably the biggest issue in this election, and it’s one that nobody’s talking about.

The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain couldn’t be more well-defined. Obama wants to change Washington. McCain is a part of Washington and a part of the Bush legacy. Yet the polls remain close. Doesn’t make sense…unless it’s race.

Time magazine’s Michael Grunwald says race is the elephant in the room. He says Barack Obama needs to tread lightly as he fights back against the McCain-Palin campaign attacks.

GOVERNOR SEBELIUS OF KANSAS:  “RACE MAY BE A FACTOR”

By JOHN DEETH 9/16/08 8:31 PM
IOWA CITY — Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius publicly considered the possibility that Sen. Barack Obama’s race might be a factor in this year’s presidential election during an appearance here Tuesday.

“Have any of you noticed that Barack Obama is part African-American?” Sebelius asked in response to a question about why the election is so close. “That may be a factor. All the code language, all that doesn’t show up in the polls. And that may be a factor for some people.” - The Iowa Independent

OBAMA RAISED A WHOPPING $11 MILLION IN ONE NIGHT

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Senator Barack Obama stood beneath the stars – surrounded by the ones from Hollywood – and tried to soothe the concerns of worrying Democrats here on Tuesday as he held the biggest fund-raising night of his campaign.

“A lot of people have gotten nervous and concerned. Why is this as close as it is? And what’s going on?” Mr. Obama said, speaking to about 300 people over dinner at the Greystone Mansion. “We always knew this was going to be hard – this is a leap for the American people.”

In back-to-back receptions, one that featured a brief performance by Barbra Streisand, Mr. Obama raised about $11 million for his campaign and the party’s general election efforts. Democratic fund-raising officials confirmed the figure, which exceeded a previous one-night record for the campaign of $7 million last month....read whole article here.

CLINTON CANCELS EVENT TO BE ATTENDED BY PALIN

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has canceled an appearance at a New York rally next week after organizers blindsided her by inviting Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, aides to the senator said Tuesday.....read whole article here.

LET’S TALK ABOUT IMMIGRATION, FINALLY

Obama Spanish-Language Ad Ties McCain To Anti-Immigrant Limbaugh
By Eric Kleefeld - September 17, 2008, 3:36PM
The Obama campaign has a new attack ad running on Spanish-language TV, attacking John McCain for having dos caras (two faces) on immigration, and being in league with the likes of Rush Limbaugh and other Republicans who routinely insult Latinos:...read whole article here

SUPPORTERS ASK OBAMA TO GET TOUGHER, STOP BEING SO COOL

I wrote about this a couple weeks ago, that Obama should stop being so cool in the face of the onslaught against him from the McCain camp.  Now, so many others are joining.  We want to see Obama’s sweat, he should embark on a cros-country run if that would help him to sweat and so passion and emotion.  It’s getting sickening, this cool stuff.  The whole world is looking up to him to save the world from further disaster and he is behaving as if he has already won the election.  He should hire some of those Hollywood people to show him how to get emotional and passionate about something, he is no longer in the class room, and this is not debating Clinton.  See the article below from the AP:

Obama supporters say get tougher, more passionate
By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
34 minutes ago
ELKO, Nevada - Worried Democrats want Barack Obama to get tougher, show more passion. Why is he so calm, supporters ask, so close to an election that looks so tight. “Just keep steady,” Obama tells the nervous Nellies. “I’m skinny but I’m tough. I’m from Chicago,”

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Obama hears the concern, from senior Democrats and big-money contributors, from columnists and supporters along the rope lines at campaign events. He heard it again as he stood in an hour-long receiving line in Hollywood to pose for pictures with donors who paid $28,500 to be with him Tuesday night.

“I know that a lot of you, just in conversations while we were in the photo lines, had all sorts of suggestions,” Obama said. “And a lot of people have gotten nervous and concerned. `Why is this as close as it is? And what’s going on?’”

“We always knew this was going to be hard, and this is a leap for the American people,” Obama said. “And we’re running against somebody who has a formidable biography, a compelling biography. He’s a genuine American hero, somebody who served in uniform and suffered through some things that very few of us can imagine.”

Urging Democrats not to worry about his cool demeanor, Obama said, “The reason I’m calm is I have confidence in the American people.”

But many of his supporters are upset that polls show the race is pretty much even, even with Obama running against a Republican who used to brag that he voted 90 percent of the time with the unpopular President Bush. The economy is teetering, and the country is still at war, but seven weeks from Election Day the race is far from the slam-dunk that Democrats dreamed about.

And there does seem to be more bite in Obama’s daily remarks.

With unemployment rising and big financial firms failing, Obama and Republican rival John McCain both have pushed the economy to the front of their speeches. “The entire campaign has shifted,” Obama said.

He bought a two-minute television commercial to speak to voters on Wednesday, attempting to empathize with people struggling to pay for groceries, gas and health insurance. Taped in a living-room-like setting, Obama spoke directly to the camera and did not mention McCain.

But this week, Obama has noticeably toughened his speeches and sharpened his criticism of his rival. He still comes off as cool and unflappable, but there is more heat in his rhetoric.

On Wednesday in Elko, a conservative, rural mining community, Obama mocked McCain’s response to Wall Street’s meltdown.

“Yesterday, John McCain actually said that if he’s president he’ll take on — and I quote — `the old boys network in Washington.’ I’m not making this up,” Obama said. “This is somebody who’s been in Congress for 26 years, who put seven of the most powerful Washington lobbyists in charge of his campaign.

“And now he tells us that he’s the one who’s going to take on the old boys network,” Obama said. “The old boys network. In the McCain campaign that’s called a staff meeting. Come on.”

“Then John McCain went on to say how angry he was at the greedy corporate interests on Wall Street,” Obama said. “He is so angry that he wants to punish them with $200 billion worth of tax cuts for them. And if they’re not careful he’ll give them even more tax cuts for shipping our jobs overseas. I mean, who’s he getting these lines from, the lobbyists who are running his campaign?”

Some in the audience said they were perfectly satisfied with Obama’s tone.

“I think he needs to keep doing exactly what he’s doing, which is speak softly, show it through,” said Paul Barnhart, a retired real estate appraiser in the Elko crowd of about 1,500 people. “I think most Americans are pretty fed up and sick and tired of the bickering and the battling back and forth. I am.”

Holly Black, a special education teacher in Elko, agreed. “I don’t believe in the trash-talking. I believe he is aggressive.”

As for the tight campaign, David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, said, “We never anticipated anything but a close race and now (after the political conventions) it’s settled back to where we expected it to be, which is a very close, competitive race.”

“We have a lot of targets of opportunity in states that were Bush states in 2004,” Axelrod said. “We expect to battle right to the end.” He also said Obama has started preparing for next week’s first of the three campaign debates that will help Americans decide.

“He’s been doing a lot of reading,” Axelrod

PALIN ATTRIBUTES ELECTORAL SUCCESS TO KENYAN WITCHHUNTER

The pastor whose prayer Sarah Palin says helped her to become governor of Alaska founded his ministry with a witchhunt against a Kenyan woman who he accused of causing car accidents through demonic spells.

At a speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God on June 8 this year, Mrs Palin described how Thomas Muthee had laid his hands on her when he visited the church as a guest preacher in late 2005, prior to her successful gubernatorial bid.

...read whole article here.

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