“I think that the Republican party has to discuss this issue in as humane way as possible,” he said. He later added, “the enthusiasm on the part of Hispanics for President Obama is dramatically less than it was in 2008, because he has not fulfilled his campaign promises either. So I view the Hispanic vote up for grabs.”

McCain comment, on CNN’s “State of the Union,” is a warning to the GOP primary candidates who have mostly embraced a hardline on immigration, lest they be accused of supporting any kind of “amnesty” for the some 12 million illegal immigrants estimated to be living in the U.S. Newt Gingrich was most recently attacked by his opponents for saying he would grant legal status to those with longstanding family and community ties; he has since endorsed a South Carolina law that allows police to demand a person’s immigration status.

McCain said he believes the Hispanic vote could sway Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. The key, he said, was for Republicans to address immigration in a humane and pragmatic way that every voter could appreciate. More specifically, McCain said, GOP presidential candidates should find a way to address the status of illegal immigrants already in the country while finding a way to secure the border to deter others from crossing the border.

“It’s a careful balance of addressing this issue, which I think the majority of Hispanics would appreciate. . . . We have to have empathy. We have to have concern. We have to have a plan,” he said.

In 2008, McCain watched his own standing in the election suffer when he backed a plan to give some illegal immigrants an eventual path to citizenship.

Gingrich has challenged his GOP opponents to come up with their own plans for dealing with the millions inside the U.S. illegally.

“What is it that you’re going to do? Are you really going to go in and advocate ripping people out of their families?” he said.

In 2008, Mitt Romney had supported the idea of allowing some illegal immigrants to sign up for permanent residency or citizenship. More recently, he has said it would be a “mistake” for the GOP to allow anyone to “jump ahead of the line” and characterized Gingrich’s approach as a “doorway” to amnesty.

In the interview Sunday, McCain declined to comment on the position of individual candidates. “I respect the views of the voters,” he said.

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“I’d rather have [silence] McCain was consistent, he was [silence] we have Romney and Gingrich [silence],” she said, before realizing she had been bleeped and asking, “what did I say? Douchebag?”

To hear her speak like that about someone in her own party is not entirely shocking to some.  Shes had a long record of being disrespectful of many Democrats.  Not too long ago she was quoted as saying:

“I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo.”

As if that was not enough, Ms. Coulter took it to an entirely new level and went onto go after late Senator and political icon Ted Kennedy:

” Speaking again about Romney’s repeated policy shifts, she said, ‘I mean, you’re flipping from positions you held when you came within five points of taking out that human pestilence. Come on, give the guy a break!’”

After her most recent comments against Ted Kennedy and McCain, it will be interesting to see what leaders from within the Republican Party condemn her remarks.  Do you think Ann Coulter has burned a bridge within her own party?  What are the limits of “shock talk” if any? Tell us what you think!  Read the complete story on Ann Coulter in the Huffington Post.

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“We talked about a wide variety of issues,” McCain said later. “Obviously we talked about immigration, we talked about Egypt, we talked about fiscal issues.”

Aides to both men said the discussion centered on areas where they have shared goals, an indication of repositioning by both the president and the senator in the aftermath of the 2010 midterm elections.

Obama contacted McCain after the Arizona senator wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post praising Obama’s remarks at a Jan. 12 memorial observance in Tucson for victims of the Jan. 8 attack that left six people dead and 13 injured.

The meeting hardly signals a new friendship. There were tough words exchanged during the presidential campaign in 2008 and hard feelings lingered well after. During a bipartisan meeting on health care in early 2010, Obama pointedly rebuffed McCain’s complaints that health care legislation was being written “behind closed doors.” Said Obama: “Let me just say this John, because we’re not campaigning anymore. The election’s over.”

On Wednesday, McCain said his relationship with Obama has “always been cordial.”

“We look forward to working on some of the issues we discussed,” he said.

Asked how often they would confer, McCain joked, “Every morning.” He added that more meetings were likely in the future, “but they really depend on the issues.”

The White House, in a recap of the meeting, said that the two discussed ways to reduce the deficit and that the president thanked McCain for his longstanding opposition to earmarks, the special spending provisions for pet projects that Obama has said he will oppose in future legislation.

Last year, McCain ran for re-election as a tough conservative, a reflection of the tea party movement that was sweeping the country. But McCain’s stance seemed like an odd fit for a politician who made his reputation as a maverick who broke with his party on a number of issues.

“While, yes, it seems as though the relationship has thawed a bit, the fact is that these issues on the table are issues of mutual interest,” McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said.

Not all was perfect harmony between the two on Wednesday.

Following the meeting, McCain called for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to transfer power to a caretaker government immediately, saying the conditions in Egypt were deteriorating too quickly. The Obama administration has taken pains to avoid calling on Mubarak to step down immediately, urging instead for a swift transition to a new government.

Later, McCain said he did not tell Obama that he would call for Mubarak’s to relinquish the presidency. “I did not want to connect it to our meeting,” he said. “We did discuss the overall situation, but I didn’t argue for any position. The president makes his decisions. So I didn’t want to act like I was influencing his. But obviously we share the same concern.”

Washington (FinancialTimes)– According to the Financial Times, George W. Bush told a group of British dignitaries who asked him about his preference of candidates in the 2008 presidential election between Barack Obama and John McCain, that he would’ve endorsed Obama if Obama asked him to. When asked about McCain they claim he said:

Not a chance. “I probably won’t even vote for the guy,” Bush told the group, according to two people present. “I had to endorse him. But I’d have endorsed Obama if they’d asked me.”

Read The Whole Story

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WASHINGTON — The embattled head of the GOP isn’t getting an endorsement from Sen. John McCain.

McCain says party chairman Michael Steele’s recent comments about the Afghanistan war are “wildly inaccurate” and inexcusable.

The Arizona Republican says Steele needs to assess whether he can still function in his job and must make “an appropriate decision” about his future.

Click below to view photos of Black conservatives in politics:

At a recent GOP fundraiser, Steele called the U.S. commitment of troops in Afghanistan a mistaken “war of Obama’s choosing.”

The war began after the Sept. 11 attacks, when George W. Bush was president. McCain tells ABC’s “This Week” that it’s “America’s war and we can’t afford to fail.”

Some Republicans want Steele to resign because of his remarks.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will send 1,200 National Guard troops to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border, an administration official and an Arizona congresswoman said Tuesday, pre-empting Republican plans to try to force votes on such a deployment.

Obama will also request $500 million for border protection and law enforcement activities, they said.

The National Guard troops will work on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, analysis and training, and support efforts blocking drug trafficking. The troops will temporarily supplement border patrol agents until Customs and Border Patrol can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border, the administration official said.

Click here to view photos:

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of a public announcement, disclosed the plans shortly after Obama met at the Capitol with Republican senators who pressed him on immigration issues including the question of sending Guard troops to the border.

Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl have been urging such a move and Republicans planned to try to attach it as an amendment to a pending war spending bill.

In a speech Tuesday on the Senate floor, McCain said the situation on the border has “greatly deteriorated.” He called for 6,000 National Guard troops to be sent to the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I appreciate the additional 1,200 being sent … as well as an additional $500 million, but it’s simply not enough,” McCain said.

WATCH coverage of Obama’s troop decision here:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, said in a statement that the administration would announce the deployments later in the day Tuesday.

Homeland Security and Pentagon officials have been jousting over the possible National Guard deployment for the better part of a year. Pentagon officials worried about perceptions that the U.S. was militarizing the border and did not want Guard troops to perform law enforcement duties.

Members of the National Guard are civilians who train once a week and one month during the summer in units that can be mobilzed for military duty or emergency relief.

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LONGMONT, Colo. — Westward, uh-oh.

For Democrats, the newly minted crossover voters who helped elect Barack Obama president in 2008 are displaying a rugged individualist streak and echoing tea party-type distrust of all things Washington. This is haunting the party as it struggles to keep control of Congress.

Consider the perspective of Kevin Ladd.

Hundreds of Democrats crowded the stage recently in this northern Colorado town to see Vice President Joe Biden promote a factory expansion. But not Ladd, who sat on the back bumper of an electric vehicle outside the auditorium.

Ladd invested in the company that helped make the car and came to celebrate the expansion, financed in part by a federal stimulus grant. But the 47-year-old homebuilder says his business is down, and after abandoning his lifelong Republican affiliation to vote for Obama two years ago, Ladd isn’t sure about Democrats this year.

RELATED: An Open Letter To Swing Voters

Click here to view photos:

“I think a lot of swing voters are questioning their decision,” Ladd said. “President Obama promised change. I wish we saw more change.”

Democrats in the West are struggling to keep these new voters who helped the party turn Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico from Republican to Democratic in the presidential election just months after the party’s national convention in Denver. Westerners who also helped elect a raft of Democrats to the House and Senate now appear to be wavering.

They’re worried about federal spending. They’re anxious about a new health care law in a region where a doctor can be several hours’ drive away. They’re afraid that Democrats’ climate-change proposals will kill jobs in oil and gas fields. Illegal immigration dominates the debate, and opponents of Arizona’s new immigration law don’t see a salient alternative coming from Democrats.

Vulnerable Democrats can be found in every Western state:

_Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada is trailing in polls in his bid for a fifth term. The state’s home foreclosure rate is the highest, and the unemployment rate of 13.7 percent in April is above the national average – scary numbers for any incumbent.

_Democrats hold both of Colorado’s Senate seats for the first time since the 1970s. Sen. Michael Bennet, who was appointed to office to replace Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, was outpolled by challenger Andrew Romanoff at a state Democratic assembly last weekend, a result that party officials said they anticipated. The two will meet in a primary Aug. 10. The winner will probably face former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.

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_Colorado Rep. Betsy Markey, who joined Biden on the factory visit, ousted a three-term Republican in 2008, but the GOP still holds a registration advantage in her sprawling district. Markey’s votes in favor of the health care overhaul and a cap-and-trade climate plan could cost her in November.

_In southern New Mexico, Rep. Harry Teague voted against the health care overhaul but has been dogged by criticism over health insurance. As Congress was debating the plan, Teague dropped employer-based health coverage for 250 of his employees at Cavaloz Energy. Now Teague faces Republican former Rep. Steve Pearce, who gave up the seat that spans southern New Mexico to run for the Senate in 2008.

_Republicans think they can regain an Idaho district they narrowly lost in 2008. Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick has won an endorsement from the right-leaning Tea Party Express, the lone Democrat getting the group’s backing. But Minnick is the first Democrat Idahoans have sent to Congress since 1992. The GOP chooses a challenger Tuesday.

_Arizona Reps. Harry Mitchell, Ann Kirkpatrick and Gabrielle Giffords are all in their first or second terms and represent districts that chose Republicans John McCain and George W. Bush in the last two presidential contests.

The outlook has even left-leaning activists worried that the Democrats may be in for some tough losses this fall.

“We’re not really Democrat, we’re not really Republican. We’re independent, and we want results,” said Bobby Clark, head of the Denver-based ProgressNow Colorado group, a liberal group that played a role in turning out voters for Obama two years ago.

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Clark says it’s “absolutely possible” for Democrats to hold onto Western gains this campaign season. But he concedes that Democrats have their work cut out for them to keep Westerners engaged after two years of partisan wrangling in Congress.

“We’ve all had a front-row seat to the sausage-making in D.C., and that’s frustrating for people out here. They worked hard, they helped elect a Democratic majority and they want to see change,” Clark said.

Republicans insist that Westerners are so turned off by Democratic rule in Washington that they’ll swing hard to the right this fall. Joanna Burgos, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee whose district includes the interior West, said Republicans here are finding swing voters alarmed with the Democrats they’ve helped elect.

“The momentum in the West is different,” said Burgos. “People in the West are a little more independent, and they’re not as open to the government getting involved in their lives, from health care to energy. They’re seeing government intrusion, and they don’t like it.”

In her pitch to voters, Markey talks about her real-world experience.

At a Denver fundraiser with Biden after the factory visit, Markey highlighted her background as owner of a coffee-and-ice-cream shop and said voters here are more interested in thoughtful lawmakers, not partisan ones.

“I think that when people try to see the world through the tinged glasses of Democrat or Republican, that becomes an excuse to throw away critical thinking,” she said.

RELATED: Republicans Falter In Outreach To Blacks & Hispanics

From HuffingtonPost.com:

For the past few months, Sen. John McCain’s reelection campaign has operated on the assumption that if it can depict primary challenger J.D. Hayworth as fundamentally unserious, voters will recoil.

On Monday, the senator kept at it, releasing a new web ad — presented in the form of a spot created and approved by Hayworth himself — that can best be described as a “greatest hits” list of bizarre and brash statements by the former representative.

Billed as “A Special Message from J.D. Hayworth,” it paints the Tea-Party-favored Senate aspirant as someone more interested in confirming President Obama’s birth in Kenya (and stopping man-on-horse marriages) than tackling serious issues. In between, there are gratuitous references to Dracula, space aliens, and a Radar magazine article calling Hayworth one of the least bright members of Congress.

Click here to read more.

WATCH ad here:

Click here to view photos of Obama Haters:

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Sarah Palin has a new book. In the book she ignores to mention the fact that for a good deal of her political career, she was a member of  or closely affiliated with a radical secessionist Alaskan political party known as the AKIP. In this picture, Palin is holding a brochure with the title Con-Con Call.  This is short for the Constituitional Convention, an AKIP event. I believe the man in the picture is Joe Vogler, the founder of the AKIP. According to the New York Times, Vogler was killed in a plastic explosives deal gone wrong. Why did he want plastic explosives?

Here are a few quotes from the founder of the party, Joe Vogler:

‘The fires of hell are frozen glaciers (or cool breezes, per the Chairman of the Party, Lynette Clark) compared to my hatred for the American government.’

‘I’m an Alaskan first. Not an American. I have no use for America and her damned institutions.’

Palin tried to cover up her association with AKIP, even proposing to lie about her husband’s membership in the group to McCain advisers. Still Palin’s connections to the group are deeper than just being the wife of a member. For years members of the group considered her a member.

Here’s Video Evidence that Palin Was Sympthetic to if not a Member of AKIP

Former head of the AKIP, Mark Chryson, who seems to be a genuine right wing lunatic, had kind words to say about Palin ‘I have known her for over 15 years, been in her house and have had numerous conversations with her, in person, on the phone both for personal issues as well as political issues.’

Last year, I interviewed the head of the AKIP about Palin’s involvement. They seemed very uneasy and said they had received death threats and threatening letters regarding the situation. When I asked if Sarah Palin was a member, they said they thought she was until someone told them she wasn’t. When I asked who told them she wasn’t a member, they said they couldn’t reveal their source. When I asked if Sarah Palin was ever ‘sympathetic’ to their cause, they said, ‘no comment’.

They clearly seemed too afraid to speak and seemed, clearly, to be hiding something. If she was not member of the AKIP, she was definitely pallin’ around with them.

Below is a transcript from my interview with the Chairman of the AKIP, Lynette Clark(LC)
CG: Why did you change the website?

LC: I am telling you that as chairman of this party, when this all blew, and I realized that it was incorrect information, I submitted a press release. I made the changes to the site.

CG: Did she attend the convention? Did Sarah Palin attend any conventions?

LC: She was (sigh) — you guys muckrake all over the place.

CG: I’m just curious. I’m investigating…

Anon: She attended the 2006 Convention which was held in Wassilla, and it was a state-wide convention which is a bi-annual function.

CG: Okay.

LC: She took up the invitation that was given to all gubernatorial candidates which we have done for many years to have them come and speak to our memberships. It’s so we can have an idea of who these candidates are and what they stand for.

CG: In 2008, she had a video address. Correct?

LC: In 2008 she sent the convention — which was held here in Fairbanks, and you cannot attribute Dexter’s comment to that convention because that’s not when she was there…

CG: Have you had any contact with Sarah Palin or John McCain?

LC: I’ve had no contact from the McCain camp……. I apologized too for my misspeaking and I’ve been getting slammed with everything, including death threats.

CG: That’s horrible.

LC: That is bad. And since our first chairman was kidnapped and murdered, I don’t take threats lightly.

CG: No I know. I heard about the Joseph Vogler thing and it’s another thing I’d like to ask about. NY Times did say he was killed in a plastic explosives deal gone bad. I know NY Times.

LC: NY Times don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.

CG: Okay, that’s why I’m contacting you guys.

LC: He was shot in the back of the head with a bullet lodged in the left side of his jaw.

CG: Could you give me some background on that?

LC: Ask the Alaska state troopers about that.

CG: So what was the motivation for you taking it off? Just because of …you didn’t like seeing Sarah Palin being slandered?

LC: The motivation of taking what off? All I did was add to that page, and what I added to that page was factual. What’s factual is “Welcome to the home of the Alaskan Independence Party. Update September 3rd, 2008.” And it has been brought to our attention that there is a counterfeit site.

CG: In terms of your philosophy…I’d like to run some quotes by you. Vogler? Is that correct? I believe he said something to the effect of “the fires of hell are glaciers of ice compared to my hatred of the U.S.”

LC: That is an absolutely incorrect quote from Mr. Vogler.

CG: So why is it on your website?

LC: “The fires of hell would be COOL BREEZES…”

CG: Cool breezes, I’m sorry.

LC: Cool breezes — it was a video — cool breezes compared to what the founding fathers tried to build of this country. Listen to it a little closer. And that hatred for the American government is about fascism.

CG: And this is a quote I have from your website, it says: “I am an Alaskan first, not an American. I have no use for America or her damned institutions.”

LC: Yup. Yup. That’s true. Because those institutions are corporate partnerships that the government — and that is the finite definition of fascism.

CG: So Dexter believed he heard from friends that she was a member?

LC: Both of us did. Over a year ago.

CG: You heard it as well that she used to be a member?

LC: Both of us over a year ago were told.

CG: Were told that she was a member…

LC: By an individual that we knew and trusted.

CG: When did you find out that she wasn’t a member?

LC: I am not involved in that because there’s enough sewer laying around that.

CG: So no one can divulge who told she wasn’t a member?

LC: I know who it was. I’m not going to divulge it myself.

CG: But you could say who DID say she was a member. Can I talk to that person?

LC: No I’m not going to tell you who said that.

CG: But Todd Palin was a member from 1995-2002?

Anon: That’s what was on T.V. That’s what the Division of Elections says.

CG: Right.

LC: Because that’s where we get our information.

CG: So they say that Todd Palin was a member but Sarah Palin…

LC: Was not.

LC: Because she didn’t vote but did you feel like she was sympathetic to any of your views?

LC: I’m not going to comment on that.

CG: Why not?

LC: Because it turns into a bunch of garbage again.

CG: Okay. I’m just curious. I’m trying to get objective things. I actually don’t have any problem with you guys wanting to secede from the Union.

LC: We don’t wanna secede from the Union. What we want is what we were entitled to and that is a plebiscite, which is an archaic word for a vote. As Alaska came into the Union we were classified by the United Nations as a non-self-governing territory. And within that classification, there was a criterion of the United Nations that said that once these territories — and this was at attempt to end colonialism throughout the world and not just the United States but other major countries like France, Britain etc. who had colonies –but when those territories had reached a level within the criteria of self-government, we were required to be given a ballot that didn’t just say statehood up or down. It said that we were supposed to have four choices and that’s on the website.

CG: I’ve researched you guys and I don’t think you’re a bad organization.

LC: It’s our own political destiny that we should as Americans, period, have a right to. I’m trying to end the conversation, only because I have some place to go to.

CG:. I just want to know who told you she wasn’t a member.

LC: I’m not going to tell you that.

CG: You’re not going to tell me? Why not?

Glenn Beck thinks President Obama is better for the country than John McCain would have been, he said in an interview with Katie Couric to air at CBSNews.com Tuesday evening.

“I think John McCain would have been worse for the country than Barack Obama,” Beck told Couric in the debut episode of her new web show, @katiecouric.

Beck’s comment came in response to Couric’s question about Hillary Clinton, who Beck said he may have even voted for had she been the Democratic nominee against John McCain.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Beck said, “I think I would have much preferred [Hillary Clinton] as president and may have voted for her against John McCain.”

The Senate urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to pardon the late black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, who was sent to prison nearly a century ago because of his romantic ties with a white woman.

Senators approved the resolution by voice vote; it now goes to the House.

Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion in 1908 – 100 years before Obama was elected the nation’s first black president. The boxer was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for immoral purposes. The law has since been heavily amended, but has not been repealed.

The resolution was sponsored by Obama’s 2008 opponent, Arizona Republican John McCain. Similar resolutions offered in 2004 and last year failed to pass both chambers of Congress.

“One down, one to go,” said the House sponsor, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., in a telephone interview Wednesday night. “The fact that John got it through the Senate is great.”

He said that there would be “tremendous historic significance” in the nation’s first black president pardoning the nation’s first black heavyweight champ. King added that he hoped the House will take up the resolution early next month.

Neither McCain nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment Wednesday night. But in unveiling the resolution in April, McCain said, “We need to erase this act of racism which sent an American citizen to prison on a trumped-up charge.”

He also said he was sure that Obama would sign the legislation.

McCain and King are advocating the pardon along with filmmaker Ken Burns, whose 2005 documentary, “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson,” explored the case against Johnson and the sentencing judge’s admitted desire to “send a message” to black men about relationships with white women. Burns helped form the Committee to Pardon Jack Johnson, which filed a petition with the Justice Department in 2004 that was never acted on.

The resolution approved Wednesday says that the boxer should receive a posthumous pardon “for the racially motivated conviction in 1913 that diminished the athletic, cultural, and historic significance of Jack Johnson and unduly tarnished his reputation.” It says a pardon would “expunge a racially motivated abuse of the prosecutorial authority of the federal government from the annals of criminal justice in the United States.”

Johnson, a native of Galveston, Texas, won the 1908 world heavyweight title after police in Australia stopped his 14-round match against the severely battered Canadian world champion, Tommy Burns. That led to a search for a “Great White Hope” who could beat Johnson. Two years later, Jim Jeffries, the American world titleholder Johnson had tried for years to fight, came out of retirement but lost in a match called “The Battle of the Century,” resulting in deadly riots.

From Politics Daily.com:

If things had gone differently…..

John McCain, the oldest first-term president in history, is proving as rambunctious and pugnacious as the youngest one, Teddy Roosevelt. Of course, Teddy probably would have sent the Marines to Venezuela, while McCain had to make do with mugging for the cameras with an exaggerated grimace when he was forced by protocol to shake Hugo Chavez’s hand at the recent hemispheric summit.

Click here to read more about what McCain’s first 100 days would look like.

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Sen. John McCain wants a presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, who became the nation’s first black heavyweight boxing champion 100 years before Barack Obama became its first black president.

McCain feels Johnson was wronged by a 1913 conviction of violating the Mann Act by having a consensual relationship with a white woman — a conviction widely seen as racially motivated.

“I’ve been a very big fight fan, I was a mediocre boxer myself,” McCain, R-Ariz., said in a telephone interview. “I had admired Jack Johnson’s prowess in the ring. And the more I found out about him, the more I thought a grave injustice was done.”

On Wednesday, McCain will join Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., filmmaker Ken Burns and Johnson’s great niece, Linda Haywood, at a Capitol Hill news conference to unveil a resolution urging a presidential pardon for Johnson. Similar legislation offered in 2004 and last year failed to pass both chambers of Congress.

King, a recreational boxer, said a pardon would “remove a cloud that’s been over the American sporting scene ever since (Johnson) was convicted on these trumped-up charges.”

“I think the moment is now,” King said.

Presidential pardons for the dead are rare.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton pardoned Lt. Henry O. Flipper, the Army’s first black commissioned officer, who was drummed out of the military in 1882 after white officers accused him of embezzling $3,800 in commissary funds. Last year, President George W. Bush pardoned Charles Winters, who was convicted of violating the Neutrality Act when he conspired in 1948 to export aircraft to a foreign country in aid of Israel.

The Justice Department and the White House declined to comment on this latest Johnson pardon effort.

However, the idea has a passionate supporter in McCain, who has repeatedly said he was wrong in 1983 when he voted against a federal holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

“It’s just one of those things that you don’t want to quit until you see justice,” McCain said of Johnson’s case. “We won’t quit until we win. And I believe that enough members, if you show them the merits of this issues, that we’ll get the kind of support we need.”

Johnson won the world heavyweight title on Dec. 26, 1908, after police in Australia stopped his 14-round match against the severely battered Canadian world champion, Tommy Burns. That led to a search for a “Great White Hope” who could beat Johnson. Two years later, the American world titleholder Johnson had tried for years to fight, Jim Jeffries, came out of retirement but lost in a match called “The Battle of the Century,” resulting in deadly riots.

Johnson lost the heavyweight title to Jess Willard in 1915.

In 1913, Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act, which outlawed transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes. The law has since been heavily amended, but has not been repealed.

Authorities first targeted Johnson’s relationship with a white woman who later became his wife, then found another white woman to testify against him. Johnson fled the country after his conviction, but agreed years later to return and serve a 10-month jail sentence. He tried to renew his boxing career after leaving prison, but failed to regain his title. He died in a car crash in 1946 at age 68.

“When we couldn’t beat him in the ring, the white power establishment decided to beat him in the courts,” Burns told the AP in a telephone interview. Burns’ 2005 documentary, “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson,” examined Johnson’s case and the sentencing judge’s admitted desire to “send a message” to black men about relationships with white women.

Both McCain and King said a pardon, particularly one from Obama, would carry important symbolism.

“It would be indicative of the distance we’ve come, and also indicative of the distance we still have to go,” McCain said.

Burns, however, sees a pardon more as “just a question of justice, which is not only blind, but color blind,” adding, “And I think it absolutely does not have anything to do with the symbolism of an African-American president pardoning an African-American unjustly accused.”

Burns helped form the Committee to Pardon Jack Johnson, which filed a petition with the Justice Department in 2004 that was never acted on. Burns said he spoke about the petition a couple of times with Bush, who as governor of Johnson’s home state of Texas proclaimed Johnson’s birthday as “Jack Johnson Day” for five straight years.

Bush gave Burns a phone number which led to adviser Karl Rove, Burns said, but Rove told him a pardon “ain’t gonna fly.”

Rove doesn’t recall any such conversation with Burns, his spokeswoman Sheena Tahilramani said, and “if he had been approached, he wouldn’t have offered an opinion.”

John McCain recently defended Rush Limbaugh in an interview with Fox News.He was asked on what he thought about Obama telling republicans to stop listening to Limbaugh.

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The GOP Must Denounce Limbaugh

Top 10 Racist Limbaugh Quotes

From Peter Wallsten at LATimes.com:

Republicans signaled Sunday that they would not be daunted by President Obama’s soaring approval ratings, criticizing his proposed $825-billion economic stimulus plan, his strategy for closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay and his decision to exempt a top-ranking Pentagon appointee from new ethics rules.

Some of the sharpest criticism came from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the party’s challenger to Obama in the election and the recipient of aggressive outreach as part of the new president’s efforts to forge an image of bipartisanship.

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I truly believe that we dodged a serious bullet this year with the election of Barack Obama. While I cannot say for certain what would’ve happened if John McCain had won the election this year, here is an educated guess at what might have happened if the philosophies and attitudes of John McCain and Sarah Palin were brought into the current political climate of the US and the world.

November 3rd: McCain airs his Reverend Wright ads in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Sean Hannity plays the infamous “Whitey Tape” from Michelle Obama in which a woman reported to be Michelle Obama says “Whitey is so dumb, he about to elect my light-skinned husband to be president, so we can take over the country, make it socialist, and give away all the white jobs to our Black friends and pal around with terrorists.”

November 4th: Despite leading in the polls and decisively winning the popular vote, Obama loses both Pennsylvania and Ohio due to faulty voting machines in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. There are reports of voter suppression and intimidation in Virginia, Georgia, Ohio and North Carolina.

November 5th: At 2 a.m., Fox News calls the election for McCain. Obama and the Democrats call for a recount. Tensions erupt across the country as  police clash with protesters. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson make public pleas to the government to stop police brutality against the non-violent protesters. The New York Times reveals the Michelle Obama “Whitey” tape to be a fraud.

December 12th: McCain claims that the military will back him if the high court makes Obama president by decree, McCain. Barack Obama, fearing a civil war, concedes the election. The Supreme Court rules that Barack Obama’s request for a recount is illegal.

December 13th: Massive protests erupt in New York, L.A., Detroit and Philadelphia against McCain stealing the election. A twelve-year-old girl is shot in the back of the head by police in Philadelphia during a protest. Barack Obama addresses the nation and gives what the media calls “the speech of a lifetime,” telling his supporters not to give in to violence and to work to build a better America.

December 20th: McCain names Joe Lieberman Secretary of State, General Petraeus Secretary of Defense, advisor Charlie Black Director of Commerce, and Elizabeth Hasslebeck Press Secretary.

December 22: McCain gives his economic plan to the nation. Tax cuts for the rich, increased spending on the military, cutting of social programs, and corporate deregulation are highlights of his agenda. After McCain reveals his plan, the stock market crashes, the Dow landing below 4,000. Companies make massive layoffs the day before Christmas.

January 20th 2009: McCain’s inauguration is marred by a massive protest. 200 people are arrested. McCain is forced to use a decoy car while he uses an alternate route to the White House.

March 5th, 2009: McCain blasts Democrats for leading the country into a depression. He attacks liberal media outlets such as MSNBC and the Huffington Post for being anti-patriotic and driving the nation into chaos. McCain suspends contact between his staff and all news organizations, except for Fox News.

April 25th, 2009: The National Enquirer releases videotape of Cindy McCain kissing former rock-and-roll star and soap opera actor, Rick Springfield. A taped conversation between Cindy McCain and a close friend reveals affairs from both John and Cindy and a “terrible, hypocritical marriage of convenience.”

May 15th, 2009: With the U.S. in a grave financial crisis, John McCain cuts Headstart, after-school programs, welfare and funding to community colleges. Protests erupt across the nation. Social unrest occurs all over urban America.

July 4th, 2009: Citing intelligence, Israeli and American forces attack a suspected nuclear weapons site in Iran. 600 workers are killed in a steel factory.

July 11th, 2009: Iran retaliates against the U.S. and Israel, bombing US bases in Kuwait and Iraq. Iranian-backed Hezbollah invades Israel from the north, and fights a drawn out battle with many military and civilian casualties on both sides.

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July 25th, 2009: John McCain’s son is killed when his warship is attacked by Iranian missiles.

August 12th, 2009: John McCain launches a preemptive nuclear strike on Iran, killing 500,000 civilians in Tehran. Media everywhere declare the start of World War III.

September 11th, 2009: John McCain declares a draft and lowers the age of miliary service eligibility to 16.

September 20th, 2009: Massive student protests against the war. Hundreds of students are arrested at the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University in New York. A 19-year-old college freshman is killed when a tear gas canister fired by police hits her directly in the head at Indiana State University.

September 25th, 2009: Due to massive social unrest, John McCain creates a new position in his cabinet, Secretary of Un-American Affairs, and names Michelle Bachman to the post.

October 17th, 2009: Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid draft up orders for impeachment of John McCain.

November 8th, 2009: Barack Obama is arrested for high treason for trying to overthrow McCain. Obama is detained indefinitely.

November 9th, 2009: More protests around the country. Massive rioting in Philadelphia, Oakland, Detroit and Los Angeles. With no army or national guard to contain the riots, gangs begin take control of the cities.

November 10th, 2009: John McCain declares martial law in the United States and suspends habeas corpus.

November 22nd, 2009: Russia, China, India and Brazil impose sanctions on the United States, citing Human Rights violations and preemptive war with Iran.

December 4th, 2009: John McCain dies of a heart attack during a meeting at the White House.

December 5th, 2009: Sarah Palin is sworn in as President. She says she will continue John McCain’s fight against evil, and calls for the nation to rally against both domestic and foreign terrorists.

December 13th, 2009: Sarah Palin charges Russia and Vladimir Putin with arming the Iranians and trying to cripple the U.S. economy with sanctions.

December 21st: Sarah Palin claims she has had a vision from God to complete the fight of good over evil and threatens a nuclear attack on Russia.

December 22nd: Russia declares war on the United States. Troops are sent into Eastern Europe. The conflict has not gone “nuclear”

January 5th: Russia invades Alaska and is met with no resistance. They begin to move their forces through Canada into the U.S.

January 13th: American citizens, angry at the Republican despots, storm the White House and Capitol Building. Sarah Palin is arrested in a coup by several generals in conjunction with congressional dissenters.

January 20th: Russian, Cuban, Venezuelan and Bolivian forces invade southern Florida and begin making their way to D.C. With all of the U.S. army in the Middle East, they are also met with no resistance. The United States surrenders.

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ABC News has acquired a secret McCain campaign ad that never aired, attacking Obama’s relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Many Republican pundits believe that if that narrative had been fleshed out, the outcome of the election could have been very different.

According to the report, after the election Rev. Wright sent President-elect Obama a message that said, “As long as you are presiding over policy that grinds God’s people into Earth, I am coming after you.”

Watch the video here:

The meeting will be the first since Obama, the Democratic Illinois senator, beat McCain, the Arizona Republican senator, by an Electoral College landslide in the Nov. 4 election.

“It’s well known that they share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality,” Obama spokesman Stephanie Cutter said in announcing the meeting.

Advisers to both men say they do not expect Obama to consider McCain for a position in his administration, as he is with former primary rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for secretary of state. But he’d like to have McCain as a partner in the Senate on legislation they both have advocated on the campaign trail, like climate change, earmark reform and torture.

Cutter also said the two will be joined at Obama’s Chicago transition office by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a McCain confidant, and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois Democrat whom Obama has chosen to be his White House chief of staff.

In his first two weeks as president-elect, Obama has struck a bipartisan tone. He paired a Republican and a Democrat to meet with foreign leaders this weekend on his behalf in Washington, for example, and his aides emphasized the bringing together of both sides in announcing the meeting with McCain.

Republican and Democratic officials say Emanuel and Graham arranged in a postelection conversation to have Obama and McCain meet at the earliest possible time and Monday was it. Emanuel and Graham have worked together before on issues on Capitol Hill, and Graham jumped to Emanuel’s defense when Republicans criticized his appointment as Obama’s chief of staff.

Since the election, McCain has had few public appearances. He appeared on the “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno on Tuesday and campaigned in Georgia for Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who faces a runoff next month.

Obama met in Chicago with Clinton Thursday afternoon, said a Democratic official, who asked not to be publicly identified the information was not authorized for public release.

The motorcade of Clinton, who receives Secret Service protection as a former first lady, was seen leaving the office complex shortly before Obama left for the day. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines would say only that “Senator Clinton had no public schedule yesterday.”

Obama has surrounded himself with several former staffers of Bill Clinton’s presidency. Others are thought to be under consideration for secretary of state, including Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.

There has also been a significant racist backlash in the wake of the election results. Which is not surprising. After seeing videos of the hate mobs attracted to McCain-Palin rallies, I politely declined an offer to cover election day in Pennsylvania or Ohio out of fear of being attacked by some angry bigot.

One of my greatest fears after the euphoria faded was that the irrational Republican crowds who were drilled into believing that Obama was a terrorist, communist, Muslim traitor would continue their anger toward the President-elect and his supporters. The campaign was heavy with racial undertones, from Rush Limbaugh’s racist rants to Sarah Palin turning a blind eye to someone yelling the N-word at a rally.

Sure enough, a few pathetic racists and violent extremists have been lashing out. Since election night, there has been a string of disturbing firebombings, assaults, and incidents of vandalism directed at African-Americans.

A black church in Springfield, Massachusetts burned down on election night. While I would like to believe it was totally unrelated to racism or Obama’s triumph, I am fearful that it was. If this was a hate crime in liberal Massachusetts, it is a painful reminder of the destruction and terrorism that greeted the civil rights movement, in particular the bombing that killed four little girls in a church in Alabama.

A black family near Pittsburgh had their car torched right outside their house, while they were watching Obama give his victory speech on TV. Before the cowardly arsonists burned the car, they tossed the family’s Obama yard sign through a window and spraypainted “Obama” across the trunk. The blaze almost caught the family’s house on fire, leaving them afraid for their safety in a home where four generations of black Pennsylvanians have lived.

This can only be seen as an act of terrorism. Instead of a burning cross on the family’s lawn, there was a burning car, symbolizing the torching of our new African-American president. Carbombings are something you’d expect to happen in Iraq, not America.

There was another election night incident in Staten Island, New York where a 17 year-old Muslim, African-American male was beaten with baseball bats by a group of white men who repeatedly yelled, “Obama.” This brings back memories of Yusef Hawkins who was chased and beaten by an angry mob in Bensonhurst during the summer of 1989, which resulted in his death.

Ali Kamara, beaten on election night

At North Carolina State University in Raleigh, four students admitted spraypainting an entire campus walkway with racist and violent threats including “Shoot Obama” and “Kill that nigger.” As disgusting as that display of bigotry was, it was encouraging to see nearly 500 students and school officials including the chancellor rally against the hate. In Austin, Buck Burnette, a back up center for the University of Texas football team, wrote on his Facebook page, “All the hunters gather up, we have a Nigger in the White House.” Burnette promptly apologized and was kicked off the team.

Like the examples set by NCSU and the University of Texas, we all must condemn any post-election outbursts of hatred or intimidation. While Obama’s presidency is a great thing for the nation, it may trigger what remains of the lunatic racist fringe to resume their old tactics of bombings and assassinations. Already the FBI and ATF have broken up two plots to kill Obama, each originating with radical white supremacist groups.

Clearly, this election was a statement on how much progress black Americans have made in this country and how much tolerance, acceptance and even admiration whites have for an African-American candidate like Obama. The cynic in me would like to talk about how far we have to go to reach a truly colorblind society, but the optimist in me prefers to consider how far we’ve come.

I actually thought we’d see even more hate crimes both before and after Obama’s victory. Rather than being standard among whites, blatant racism in 2008 has been marginalized. This is not to say average white people don’t have their own prejudices and stereotypes, but the dehumanizing bigotry that defined America during the Jim Crow era is now discredited. Just like Bloods and Crips don’t represent most black people, and Al Qaeda doesn’t typify the Arab world, bigots and white supremacists do not in any way showcase the general feelings of today’s Americans.

But terrorism perpetrated by radical racist extremists must be taken as seriously as attacks from radical Islamic extremists. We must condemn the culprits and support the victims just as we did during 9/11. Our country has matured considerably, enough to enter the age of Obama, but the fight against racism is not over. We cannot tolerate the acts of a lunatic fringe still caught up in the outdated philosophy of white supremacy.

To send a check to the rebuilding fund for the church that was burned down in Springfield, MA:

Macedonia Church of God in Christ, c/o Greater Springfield Council of Churches, 39 Oakland St., Springfield, MA 01108

Donate to the charitable fund set up to support the carbombing victims:

Whiteside Family Relief Fund, c/o First National Bank of PA, 4140 E. State St., Hermitage PA 16148

(Casey Gane-McCalla is a writer, rapper, producer and actor, and the assistant editor for NewsOne)

The Latest Outrage editor Erik Ose, a blogger from Chapel Hill, North Carolina who also writes for the Huffington Post contributed to this report.

In a series of interviews in the wake of last Tuesday’s elections, Palin said she had no problem with Republican presidential nominee John McCain, but that she resents rumors she said were spread about her and her family by the Arizona Republican’s aides. She emphatically denied that she was a drag on the GOP ticket.

“I think the economic collapse had a heckuva lot more to do with the campaign’s collapse than me personally,” the governor said in an interview broadcast Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show.

Palin also said “There were a lot of times I wanted to shout out, ‘Hey, wait a minute, it’s not true.’ It’s pretty brutal.”

Nevertheless, the relatively obscure governor of Alaska, whose selection for the ticket by McCain last August brought excitement — and controversy — to the 2008 campaign, said she would be eager to do it all again under the right circumstances.

“I’m like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I’m like, don’t let me miss the open door,” Palin said in an interview with Fox News on Monday. “And if there is an open door in ’12 or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I’ll plow through that door.”

In the wide-ranging interview, Palin said she neither wanted nor asked for the $150,000-plus wardrobe the Republican Party bankrolled, and thought the issue was an odd one at the end of the campaign, considering “what is going on in the world today.”

“I did not order the clothes. Did not ask for the clothes,” Palin said. “I would have been happy to have worn my own clothes from Day One. But that is kind of an odd issue, an odd campaign issue as things were wrapping up there as to who ordered what and who demanded what.”

“It’s amazing that we did as well as we did,” the governor said of the election in a separate interview with the Anchorage Daily News.

“I think the Republican ticket represented too much of the status quo, too much of what had gone on in these last eight years, that Americans were kind of shaking their heads like going, wait a minute, how did we run up a $10 trillion debt in a Republican administration? How have there been blunders with war strategy under a Republican administration? If we’re talking change, we want to get far away from what it was that the present administration represented and that is to a great degree what the Republican Party at the time had been representing,” Palin said in a story published Sunday.

Palin has scheduled a series of national interviews this week with Fox, NBC’s “Today” show and CNN. She also plans to attend the Republican Governors Association conference in Florida this week.

Palin has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012. She also could seek re-election in 2010 or challenge Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Still uncertain is the fate of Sen. Ted Stevens, who is leading in his bid for another term but could be ousted by the Senate for his conviction on seven felony counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts, mostly renovations on his home. If Stevens loses his seat, Palin could run for it in a special election.

Palin and McCain’s campaign faced a storm of criticism over the tens of thousands of dollars spent at such high-end stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus to dress the nominee. Republican National Committee lawyers are still trying to determine exactly what clothing was bought for Palin, what was returned and what has become of the rest.

“I’ve been a North Carolina skeptic all year, did not believe Obama could win the state. And as of right now, I really think he’s going to. Things look good here.” – JONATHAN WEILER

A new video paints Barack Obama as Superman and Bush, Cheney and McCain as villains. It uses speeches and quotes from Barack Obama as well as George Bush, John McCain and Dick Cheney and footage from the Superman movie.

Watch the Video After the Jump

The world was riveted by the election drama unfolding Tuesday in the United States, inspired by Barack Obama or simply relieved that — whoever wins — the Bush administration was coming to an end.

From Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate to the small town of Obama, Japan, the globe geared up to celebrate a fresh start for America.

In Germany, where more than 200,000 flocked to see Obama this summer as he moved to burnish his foreign policy credentials during a trip to the Middle East and Europe, the election dominated television ticker crawls, newspaper headlines and Web sites.

Hundreds of thousands prepared to party through the night to watch the outcome of an election having an impact far beyond America’s shores. Among the more irreverent festivities planned in Paris: a “Goodbye George” party to bid farewell to Bush.

“Like many French people, I would like Obama to win because it would really be a sign of change,” said Vanessa Doubine, shopping Tuesday on the Champs-Elysees. “I deeply hope for America’s image that it will be Obama.”

Europeans had a sense of the momentous change that was about to unfold, whether the winner was Obama or Republican John McCain.

“America is electing a new president, but for the Germans, for Europeans, it is electing the next world leader,” said Alexander Rahr, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations.

“We see new challenges coming up, not only Islamic extremism, but a newly resurgent Russia, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea — everywhere there are fires,” he said. “And we, as Europeans, can’t solve these problems without America. A world without American leadership is, for most Europeans, a world of chaos.”

Germany’s mass-circulation daily Bild lionized the Republican as “the War Hero” and running mate Sarah Palin as “the Beautiful Unknown.”

In Berlin, Republicans Abroad organized a “November Surprise Election Party” to watch live “how the Republican ticket McCain/Palin comes from behind and leaves the ‘liberal elite media’ in Europe and the United States puzzled.”

In much of the Islamic world, Muslims expressed hope that the U.S. would seek compromise rather than confrontation.

The Bush administration alienated Muslims by mistreating prisoners at its detention center for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and inmates at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison — human rights violations also condemned worldwide.

“I hope Obama wins (because) of the need of the world to see the U.S. represent a more cosmopolitan or universal political attitude,” said Rais Yatim, the foreign minister of mostly Muslim Malaysia.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai pledged that Afghanistan “will remain a close friend of the United States” regardless of who wins.

“The new president will have an impact on the economic and political situation in my country,” said Muhammad al-Thaheri, 48, a civil servant in Saudi Arabia. Like so many around the world, he was rooting for Obama “because he will change the path the U.S. is on under Bush.”

Nizar al-Kortas, a columnist for Kuwait’s Al-Anbaa newspaper, saw an Obama victory as “a historic step to change the image of the arrogant American administration to one that is more acceptable in the world.”

Yet McCain enjoyed a strong current of support in countries such as Israel, where he is perceived as tougher on Iran.

Israeli leaders, who consider the U.S. their closest and most important ally, have not openly declared a preference. But privately, they have expressed concern about Obama, who has alarmed some by saying he would be ready to hold a dialogue with Tehran.

Taking a cigarette break on a Jerusalem street corner, bank employee Leah Nizri, 53, said Obama represented potentially frightening change.

“I think he’ll be pleasant to Israel, but he will make changes,” she said. “He’s too young. I think that especially in a situation of a world recession, where things are so unclear in the world, McCain would be better than Obama.”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown clung to convention by refusing to say which candidate he wants to see win. Regardless of the outcome, he told Al-Arabiya television while on a tour of the Gulf, “history has been made in this campaign.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson — a Conservative — felt less constrained about rooting for the liberal Obama.

“For those who have become disenchanted with America — including many Americans — (Obama) offers the hope of re-igniting the love affair,” he said.

And other Europeans made much of Obama’s ethnicity. “It’s a sort of pardon of America for its slave past,” said Alain Barret, a bank teller in Paris. “It lets America turn an important page in its history.”

“It would be fantastic to have a non-white president,” added Letisha Brown, a Londoner.

In Baghdad, a jaded Mohammed al-Tamimi said he didn’t think U.S. policy on Iraq would change. Even so, “we hope that the new American president will open a new page with our country.”

Kenyans made their allegiance clear: Scores packed churches on Tuesday to pray for Obama, whose late father was born in the East African nation, and hailed the candidate — himself born in Hawaii — as a “son of the soil.”

“Tonight we are not going to sleep,” said Valentine Wambi, 23, a student at the University of Nairobi. “It will be celebrations throughout.”

Kenyans believe an Obama victory wouldn’t change their lives much, but that hasn’t stopped them from splashing his picture on minibuses and selling T-shirts with his name and likeness. Kenyans were planning to gather around radios and TV sets starting Tuesday night as the results come in.

In the sleepy Japanese coastal town of Obama — which translates as “little beach” — images of him adorned banners along a main shopping street, and preparations for an election day victory party were in full swing.

Election fever also ran high in Vietnam, where McCain was held as a prisoner of war for more than five years after being shot down in Hanoi during a 1967 bombing run.

“He’s patriotic,” said Le Lan Anh, a Vietnamese novelist and real estate tycoon. “As a soldier, he came here to destroy my country, but I admire his dignity.”

If McCain wins . . . I’ll stare at the TV in shock. Then . . .

(1) War on Terror Version.

I’ll go down to my basement, bring up the hundreds of rolls of duck tape I’ve hidden there, and wrap it around my house.

I’d hug my family hard, as we hide out for four years.

Lucky for us, we have those tanks of water and cans of spam.

(2) Katrina Version.

I’ll cry so hard for hours and hours that it’ll start a flood.

My house will be ruined.

I’ll apply to FEMA, get a trailer and cover it with duck tape.

(3) Iraq War Version.

I’ll sign up at the local army office, and get shipped to Iraq.

If McCain wins, Iraqi politics will make more sense to me.

I’ll carry my duck tape with me.

Vijay Prashad is the director of International Studies at Trinity College and is the author of The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World.

And I voted for my grandmother, who left South Carolina for New York to work in a government job for 49 years, and then left it all to my mother and me. I looked up to her from behind that curtain, and all was ok…

Smokey D. Fontaine is the chief content officer of InteractiveOne, parent company of NewsOne. Watch for Smokey tonight on TV One! (Check your local cable TV listings for channel information.)

Democrats are poised to make major gains in the Senate, but getting to sixty will be a tall order. Right now Democrats have a 51-49 edge in the Senate, but that includes the vote of Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman, who still caucuses with the Democrats but has been a vocal supporter of John McCain and an increasingly disgruntled member of the Democratic caucus. If you include Lieberman with the Democrats, they need to pick up a net of nine seats to reach 60. Without him, they need ten.

Open Republican seats in Virginia, New Mexico and Colorado are a lock to become Democratic seats, where Mark Warner, Mark Udall and Tom Udall have commanding leads.

Additionally, four Republican incumbents appear headed for defeat. Democratic challenger Jeanne Shaheen is virtually certain to knock-off incumbent John Sununu in New Hampshire. Mark Begich is now in the driver’s seat over long-time incumbent and newly convicted felon Ted Stevens in Alaska. In Oregon, Democrat Jeff Merkle has opened a solid lead against Gordon Smith. Finally, Democrats are poised for victory in the ugly and expensive North Carolina Senate race, where incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole appears to be slipping behind Democratic challenger Kay Hagan.

This gives Democrats seven likely to certain pick-ups.

An additional possible net gain for Democrats is in Minnesota, where comedian turned Democratic challenger Al Franken is locked in a dead heat with Republican Norm Coleman in Minnesota. Another intriguing race is in Georgia, where incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss is in a surprisingly tough race with Jim Martin.

As has been the case in North Carolina, early voting has been extremely heavy in Georgia and African American turnout has been very high. If Blacks make up 30% of the votes in Georgia this year (this has been the early voting figure), Chambliss may lose his seat (and John McCain may lose the state). If Franken and Martin manage to win, Democrats would control 59 seats even without Lieberman.

Longer shots to secure a Lieberman-proof sixty seats include Carl Lunsford, running against long-time incumbent Republican Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, and Ronnie Musgrove, trying to unseat one-term GOP senator Roger Wicker in Mississippi.

Only one Democratic incumbent, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, faced a serious challenge this year, but she appears to be in command at this point in the race.

It’s no coincidence President Bush has been out of the public’s eye in recent days — that’s the way the Republican Party wants it. White House press secretary Dana Perino said Monday the incumbent’s invisibility is by design — because “the Republican Party wanted to make this election about John McCain.”

The president knows there are people in this country who want change and are looking for something new, Perino said.

“We’re realistic about the political environment that we are in,” she said. “What keeps him going is knowing that he’s done the right thing.”

With a 26 percent approval rating, Bush has only appeared in Democratic television ads that regularly tie him to Republican candidates. And that won’t change until after Election Day.

Since Bush endorsed McCain in the Rose Garden on March 5, the two have appeared in public only three times for a total of 12 minutes. That’s in stark contrast to the scores of fundraisers and rallies Bush did before congressional midterm elections in 2002 and 2006. Perino said the last time Bush and McCain communicated was before the president’s Cabinet meeting October 15.

As McCain and Democrat Barack Obama made their final pitches to voters over the weekend, Bush spent time at the Camp David presidential retreat. He has no public events on Monday or Tuesday, not even an Election Day photo op.

Bush voted in Texas by absentee ballot and plans a small dinner in the White House residence Tuesday night with two purposes: celebrating his wife’s birthday and watching “with great interest as the returns come in.”

The White House said Bush is busy with the financial crisis, two wars and the upcoming transition to a new administration. The economy and recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast prompted Bush to cancel appearances at fundraisers.

In early September after Hurricane Gustav, Bush scrapped his planned opening-night speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., and instead spoke via satellite.

What does the economic downturn mean for already struggling Black families?

In part two of our Bakari Kitwana’s discussion with Cornel West, Dr. West delves into the significance of the racist incidents and responses that reared their head on the campaign trial this year-from the McCain supporter’s taunts to John Lewis’ criticism. West points to the new danger posed by citizens willing to “sow the seeds” of racism of the George Wallace variety. The conversation then turned to the current financial crisis, including the budget challenges facing states and cities, and how Blacks will fare as the country seems headed to a second Great Depression. You know the saying, when white America catches a cold, Black America catches the flu? Here West carefully critiques what he sees as the 40-year economic depression that Blacks have suffered under for the last four decades in the US. For him, the economic downturn will only make matters worse-”depression on top of depression.” Once again, he says, Black churches, mosques and community centers will have to step it up, even as a Barack Obama presidency offers hope.

Cornel West is University Professor at Princeton University in the Center for African American Studies. The author of the 1993 groundbreaking Race Matters, his new book is entitled Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom (Hay House, 2008).

John McCain has a new working class surrogate. It seems as if he is trying to take some of the working class Latino vote by using Tito, a Hispanic construction worker. Tito first made waves when he was interviewed by Mother Jones outside of McCain rally where he angrily rallied against the media and ACORN.

Watch Tito the Builder After the Jump

Watch Tito the Builder Being Interviewed By John McCain

Watch Tito the Builder at a John McCain Rally

Watch Tito the Builder on Hannity and Colmes

In a bold move brimming with confidence, Democrat Barack Obama broadened his advertising campaign on Friday into two once reliably Republican states and further bedeviled rival John McCain by placing a commercial in the Republican presidential nominee’s home state of Arizona.

Obama’s campaign, capitalizing on his vast financial resources and a favorable political climate, announced that it was going back up with advertising in Georgia and North Dakota, two GOP states that it had teased with ads earlier in the general election campaign but then abandoned.

In what could be a final ignominy for McCain, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said the campaign would also begin airing ads in Arizona, a state McCain has represented in Congress for 26 years. Plouffe said the race has tightened in Arizona, Georgia and North Dakota. A recent poll from McCain’s home state showed the two candidates in a statistical dead heat.

In a slew of states, “the die is being cast as we speak,” he said. “Sen. McCain on Election Day is not just going to have to carry the day, but carry it convincingly.”

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis derided Obama’s moves: “We encourage them to pick other states that we intend to win” to spend their money.

McCain was spending a second straight day touring economically ailing Ohio, a swing state with 20 electoral votes that McCain aides acknowledge is central to a victory on Tuesday. McCain was behind Obama in polls in the state.

While the Obama campaign continued to tie McCain to the unpopular President Bush, McCain assailed Obama’s economic policies as recipes from the far left of American politics.

McCain told a rally in Hanoverton, Ohio, that Obama “began his campaign in the liberal left lane of politics and has never left it. He’s more liberal than a senator who calls himself a socialist,” a reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont.

Campaigning with McCain was former GOP rival and one-time New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who told the crowd, “John McCain was right about the single most important decision that had to be made in the last four years and that was to stick it out in Iraq.”

Earlier, in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” McCain said, “Sen. Obama’s economic policy is from the far left of American politics and ours is in the center,” McCain said. “He wants to raise people’s taxes — that’s clear.”

Obama is proposing tax increases on families making over $250,000 and individuals making over $200,000 and tax cuts for the 95 percent of workers making less than $200,000.

McCain also was to campaign Friday in Columbus, Ohio, with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In an interview with The Columbus Dispatch published Friday, Schwarzenegger made no effort to disguise the challenge facing McCain He told the newspaper it will be a “major struggle for him to win.”

But, he added: “I have seen him in those major struggles in the past when he has come back when everyone counted him out,” Schwarzenegger said. “During the primaries, he came back and got nominated.”

Obama was to spend the day campaigning across the Midwest, with a quick stop home in Chicago to see his kids on Halloween. His first stop was where his campaign took off, in Des Moines, Iowa, where he upset Hillary Rodham Clinton in the campaign’s first contest.

Independent polling in Iowa shows Obama consistently ahead in the race for the state’s seven electoral votes, but McCain’s campaign maintains the race is tighter than it appears.

As McCain sought to close gaps in states such as Iowa, Obama was expanding the field of play. His campaign plans to air two ads in Georgia and North Dakota — a tandem of positive and negative commercials.

One ties McCain to President Bush, showing a man adjusting a review mirror in a car as an announcer says: Wonder where John McCain would take the economy? Look behind you, John McCain wants to continue George Bush’s economic policies.”

The other relies on Obama’s message of “unity over division” and reminds viewers that Obama has been endorsed by mega-financier Warren Buffett and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Plouffe said that in deference to McCain, the campaign would only run the positive ad in Arizona.

“It’s Sen. McCain’s home state,” Plouffe said. “We’re cognizant of that.”

McCain is planning a midnight rally on Monday in Prescott, Ariz., and his election party Tuesday night in Phoenix.

Plouffe said the expanded ad campaign was not diluting their advertising in other battlegrounds. “We’re always looking for opportunities to expand the map,” he said.

After the Halloween stop at home, Obama was to head for a rally in Highland, Ind., a town in Democratic-dominated Lake County where Obama hopes to run up the vote to offset Republican domination elsewhere in Indiana.

Meanwhile, former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, were to campaign for Obama in Florida.

Sprinting into the weekend, Obama was headed to the West, hoping to claim Colorado and maybe more. McCain was flying to Virginia, usually friendly country for the GOP but another place where polls give Obama the edge. McCain aides said the Arizona senator was likely to swing west also, to play to his base.

There was nothing complicated about their closing arguments to voters, with the economy the top concern. Obama is focused on linking McCain to Bush and blaming both for the nation’s economic woes.

McCain had hoped the election would turn on issues like the Iraq war, where he could use his military background to convince voters he’s the best choice as commander in chief. But he effectively has conceded that it’s all about the economy and people’s financial struggles.

Morale is said to be low at campaign headquarters, with top advisors concerned primarily with sidestepping the blame for the presumed impending defeat. This early round of the blame game is yet another example of the lack of discipline that has characterized McCain’s campaign.

It is no surprise that the mood inside a campaign down seven points nationally and outflanked in almost every swing state-a campaign forced to spend furiously in defense of states they didn’t even think would be in play-is acrimonious. But it’s laughable that the McCain brain trust can’t even bicker quietly enough to avoid handing the Democrats yet another advantage.

A sinking-ship mentality will only hurt Republican voter turnout, something the party can ill afford.

In presidential politics, the party’s standard-bearer has obligations beyond his own campaign. He’s at the top of a ticket that also includes candidates for the Senate, for the House of Representatives, for state and local office. His turnout is their turnout. And his money is their money-the portion of it that comes from the party, anyway.

When Bob Dole realized he wasn’t going to unseat Bill Clinton in 1996, he diverted resources from his campaign to those of others running for office. Dole lost, but the Republicans picked up two seats in the Senate, and managed to retain a majority in the House.

The “Country First” candidate, on the other hand, doesn’t even appear to be putting his party ahead of himself. McCain’s only “October surprise” has been to veer even further off-message, blitzing Obama with as many as twelve simultaneous lines of attack in a desperate attempt to find one that sticks-from breathless accusations of “socialism” to recycled efforts to link him to Bill Ayers.

It’s as if nobody at McCain headquarters reads the polls: even as voters recoiled from negative tactics and demanded economic solutions, McCain amped up his attacks. As Obama’s team demonstrated its mastery of the electoral playing field by exploiting early voting and forcing McCain to spend heavily in states once considered safely red, the GOP candidate pulled his ads in swing states like Colorado and Nevada-all but conceding them.

And he let the media pick up on it, further dampening Republican spirits.

Looking back over the McCain campaign, one gets the feeling that the last words spoken at the conference table before each major decision were “f*@$ it, whatever,” uttered in the tone of a desperate gambler going all-in on a risky bet.

Should we go with Sarah Palin, despite her extremist views, lack of qualifications, ongoing criminal investigation and lack of vetting? Might be a game-changer… “f*@$ it, whatever.” How about we respond to the financial crisis by suspending the campaign? Could that work? “I dunno.. f*@$ it, whatever.”

Even in a divided nation beset by financial woe, it is uplifting to consider that, at long last, someone seems to have failed by overestimating the stupidity of the American public.

This time around, political smokescreens and stagey diversions have not worked.
Let us hope that it is not just McCain’s campaign that we can begin to autopsy on November 5th, but such tactics themselves.

When they talk about Iraq and Afghanistan, Barack Obama and John McCain speak with the certainty of men who know what they believe and what they plan to do. Good luck on that: Reality is sure to tangle and vastly complicate the next president’s job no matter who wins.

Obama says the Iraq war was a blunder from the outset and must be ended quickly, to free U.S. forces for an intensified fight against the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. McCain backed the Iraq war at its inception and wants to keep American forces there in pursuit of victory, although what that entails is ill-defined.

Both men say more troops are needed in Afghanistan, where violence has increased dramatically. Obama calls for an additional force of 7,000. McCain doesn’t say how many troops should be added.

The next president’s maneuvering room, however, will be limited by a world of complicated unknowns.

Chief among them: Stiff opposition in Iraq’s parliament to a draft agreement between Washington and the Baghdad government that calls for U.S. troops to leave Iraqi cities by the end of June and withdraw from the country by the end of 2011. Unless the government asks them to stay after all.

The agreement, now seen as unlikely to pass parliament by year’s end, is designed to replace the U.N. resolution under which American forces invaded Iraq and are allowed to be in the country. The new pact became necessary after Iraq said it would no longer seek annual renewal of the U.N. resolution.

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said he has told Iraqis that American forces will pull back to their bases on Jan. 1 if the agreement is not approved by the year-end deadline.

The Bush administration has warned of “real consequences” if Americans aren’t able to continue in Iraq past that date.

“There will be no legal basis for us to continue operating there without that,” said White House press secretary Dana Perino. “And the Iraqis know that. And so, we’re confident that they’ll be able to recognize this.”

McCain, for his part, insists that the so-called Status of Forces agreement is based on conditions in Iraq, gauging whether U.S. forces can be drawn down. But when asked directly if he would honor the agreement, McCain said, “I’ve always said we could be out based on conditions, and honor and victory, and not defeat.”

What precisely the conditions would be are not clear, and there’s plenty of wiggle room in such a response.

For Obama, the agreement, if it goes into force, comes closer to what he has been proposing all along. His 16-month deadline for pulling out U.S. troops would expire in May 2010. But that’s still more than a year and a half before what’s called for in the pending U.S.-Iraqi agreement. He also wants to leave in place a U.S. presence of unspecified size that would continue training Iraqi forces, protecting U.S. diplomats and other interests and standing by as a rapid-response force in case of a significant resurgence of violence. That position leaves him room to maneuver as well.

Early on, the Iraq war — and the Afghan conflict, to a lesser degree — promised to dominate the 2008 election, forcing both Obama and McCain to set out hard positions on what was then seen as the defining issue in their White House contest.

In the meantime, the economy stumbled under the weight of the home mortgage crisis that, in the final two months of the campaign, spawned the most unnerving financial and economic turmoil to face the country since the Great Depression.

But with the wars having cost a minimum of $800 billion and with a U.S. death toll approaching 5,000 and the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, the conflicts remain a huge financial and moral drag on the United States. A majority of Americans no longer back the war effort.

And while the extraordinary sectarian violence that shattered Iraq has been tamped down, the centuries-long estrangement of Sunni and Shiite Muslims remains and will probably flare again with the departure of U.S. forces. Kurdish desires for autonomy in the north of the country only complicate the seemingly intractable divide in the Arab majority.

Iraqi security forces — while larger in number, better trained and less beholden to one sect or another — remain unprepared to take over keeping the peace. Most military analysts don’t believe they’ll be ready for that job by Obama’s 16-month pullout deadline. That means the departure of U.S. forces would leave innocent Iraqis vulnerable to intensified bloodshed and misery well beyond the existing difficulties of just getting by in a country with a fractured infrastructure and failed economy.

Iraq’s leaders still have not agreed on a law to divide the country’s massive oil wealth among Sunni and Shiite Arabs and the Kurds. Nor is there resolution of potentially explosive Kurdish demands for control of the city of Kirkuk and the oil-rich region surrounding it. Failure to pass the so-called oil law produced a $79 billion surplus but no mechanism to distribute the wealth among the beleaguered citizenry.

Millions of Iraqis have fled their homes and remain in internal exile or outside the country. The most educated Iraqis — physicians, engineers, college professors and teachers — have left the country.

And the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is weak, with little administrative reach beyond Baghdad.

In the face of those realities, Obama argues that setting a troop pullout deadline will focus the Iraqis on solving their own problems instead of relying on the Americans. What’s more, he says, keeping U.S. forces locked in Iraq has allowed militants in Afghanistan — where he contends the danger to U.S. security is far greater — to regroup and threaten the undeniably weak pro-American government of President Hamid Karzai.

McCain, meanwhile, has a strong argument that a U.S. departure now could re-ignite the chaos that gripped Iraq until the second half of 2007. While the Arizona senator bases his position on matters of U.S. honor and national security, Iraq does remain highly unstable, its people deeply vulnerable.

Both candidates might want to remember that George W. Bush railed against nation-building before winning the 2000 White House contest. Then came Iraq, and the United States plunged into one of the largest such projects in American history.

The results help explain why the Democrat is pressing his money and manpower advantages in a slew of traditionally GOP states, hoping not just for a win but a transcendent victory that remakes the nation’s political map. McCain is scrambling to defend states where he wouldn’t even be campaigning if the race were closer.

Less than a week before Election Day, the AP-GfK polls show Obama winning among early voters, favored on almost every issue, benefiting from the country’s sour mood and widely viewed as the winning candidate by voters in eight crucial states — Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

“If you believe in miracles,” said GOP consultant Joe Gaylord of Arlington, Va., “you still believe in McCain.”

Despite a mounting chorus of Republicans predicting their nominee’s demise, McCain aides insist their internal surveys show victory is still within reach.

Indeed, polls are mere snapshots of highly fluid campaigns, and this race has been unusually volatile. McCain was written off prematurely last year, and Obama seemed poised for victory in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary just before Hillary Rodham Clinton thumped him.

Even this close to Election Day, racial tensions and the numbers of late-deciding voters identified by the AP-GfK polling leave room for doubt. But the surveys confirm what McCain aides acknowledge privately — their chances of winning are low.

The polling shows Obama holding solid leads in Ohio (7 percentage points), Nevada (12 points), Colorado (9) and Virginia (7), all red states won by Bush that collectively offer 47 electoral votes. Sweeping those four — or putting together the right combination of two or three — would almost certainly make Obama president.

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the White House. Obama can earn 252 by merely reclaiming states won by John Kerry in 2004. There are only two Kerry states still in contention — Pennsylvania with 21 votes and New Hampshire with four — and AP-GfK polls show Obama leading both by double digits.

Ohio alone has 20 electoral votes. Nevada has 5, Colorado 9 and Virginia 13.

In addition, Obama is tied with McCain in North Carolina and Florida, according to the AP-GfK polling, two vote-rich states Bush carried in 2004. Obama is throwing his time and money into the Sunshine State, which has 27 votes, part of a strategy to create many routes to victory and push toward a landslide of 300 or more electoral votes. North Carolina has 15 votes.

Independent polling suggests that New Mexico and Iowa, two traditionally GOP states, are out of reach for McCain. Other red states may be creeping away from him and into contention, including Montana.

The bottom line: McCain must overtake Obama in the many red states where he is trailing or tied — a tall order. Or he needs to gain some breathing room by winning Pennsylvania, where he trails by 12 percentage points, according to the AP-GfK poll.

Many of his own supporters say the race is all but over.

“I get the sense it’s shutting down,” said Tom Rath, a GOP consultant in New Hampshire where McCain trails by 18 points.

He added, “Where there’s a week, there’s hope.”

A couple of factors might cut McCain’s way.

First, there are still a good number of voters are open to changing their minds — from as low as 4 percent in Nevada to 14 percent in New Hampshire.

Second, the impact of race is a hard-to-measure factor as Obama seeks to become the nation’s first black president.

In three states — North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania — the number of white Democrats who said the word “violent” described most blacks hit double digits in the polling.

In those same states, Obama was having trouble winning over white Democrats — 20 percent of them in North Carolina said they were voting for McCain; 12 percent in Florida and 8 percent in Pennsylvania.

A senior GOP aide in Congress, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid angering his presidential nominee, said McCain’s advisers are being asked by some Republican leaders to focus the candidate’s travel on states with close Senate races — essentially abandoning his White House ambitions to help re-elect GOP senators.

But it’s Obama who may have coattails. Democrats lead the Senate races in Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia, according to AP-GfK polls. In North Carolina, GOP Sen. Elizabeth Dole is essentially tied with state Sen. Kay Hagan.

In all four of those Senate races, the Democratic candidate leads among early voters, a sign of a strong ground game driven by the top of the ticket. Obama easily outpaces McCain among early voters, holding about a 2-1 advantage in six of the states.

Obama is favored on almost every issue in every state, the polling says:

_Voters in all eight states gave him the highest marks on whom they trust to fix the economy and improve health care.

_Even on the question of “who would make the right decision about national security,” typically a strong suit for McCain, Obama holds a slight lead in Nevada and is running even against his GOP rival in Colorado, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

_By large margins, voters in each of the eight states consider Obama the likely winner Tuesday.

_Voters in each state believe McCain has run a far more negative campaign.

The political landscape tilts against McCain. Just 8 percent of voters in New Hampshire think the country is headed in the right direction. Three-quarters of voters in Pennsylvania disapprove of Bush’s job performance. Nine in 10 voters in North Carolina are worried about the economy.

“People will vote for change, and Barack Obama represents that change,” said Gaylord, the GOP consultant in Virginia. Speaking of McCain, he said: “And try as he will — and he has — to be the candidate of change, he could not. He could not overcome the weight of George Bush‘s failed policies.”

The AP-GfK Battleground State Poll was conducted from Oct. 22-26 in eight states. It involved interviews by landline telephone with likely voters in each state, ranging from 600 in Florida and New Hampshire to 628 in Nevada. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points in Colorado and Nevada, and 4 points in the other states.

From FiveThirtyEight.com:

“According to Michael McDonald’s terrific website, there are three states in which early voting has already exceeded its totals from 2004. These are Georgia, where early voting is already at 180 percent of its 2004 total, Louisiana (169 percent), and North Carolina (129 percent).

Hmm … can anybody think of something that those three states have in common?”

Click here to read the full post.

Republican John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin told a Pennsylvania audience Tuesday that “it’s wonderful to fool the pundits” and vowed to pull out an upset win over Democratic rival Barack Obama.

“I’m not afraid of the fight, I’m ready for it,” said McCain, continuing his sharp assault on Obama in a noisy rally opening his campaign day.

Palin defended the campaign’s harsh attacks on Obama.

“Our opponent is not being candid with you about his tax plans,” said Palin. “It is not mean-spirited, and it is not negative campaigning to call out someone on their record.”

The rally was interrupted briefly by Obama backers waving signs, a move Palin dismissed.

“When we get a protest like that I’m always tempted to tell security, `let them stay, maybe they’ll learn a thing or two,’” said Palin.

The campaign day was complicated by wintry weather, which forced the cancellation of an outdoor event in Quakertown. McCain was heading to North Carolina and Florida before the day was over. Palin was heading on her own to other events in Pennsylvania after the rally in Hershey.

Sagging in polls nationally and in battleground states, McCain worked to light a fire under his supporters.

“Nothing is inevitable, we never give up,” said McCain. “Let’s go win this election and get this country moving again.”

Most polls have shown Obama with a lead in the race for Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes, but McCain dismissed those surveys and urged a sprint to the finish.

“It’s wonderful to be back in Pennsylvania,” said McCain. “It’s wonderful to fool the pundits because we’re going to win the state of Pennsylvania.”

Pennsylvania is the only state won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004 where McCain is still mounting a full-scale campaign. Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are focusing heavily in the closing days on a few key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida and Virginia.

McCain continued to label Obama a traditional liberal Democrat seeking to redistribute the wealth.

“Sen. Obama is running to be redistributor in chief, I’m running to be commander in chief,” said McCain. “Sen. Obama is running to punish the successful, I’m running to make everyone successful.”

McCain also returned to the theme that he’s the candidate who is ready to take office, seasoned by a military career and his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He brought up their differences over the Iraq war. McCain opposes and Obama favors a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops.

“Have you ever heard the word `victory’ pass through Obama’s lips?” McCain asked backers. “My friends, we’re winning in Iraq.”

McCain left few openings untouched, even bashing Obama for airing a 30-minute commercial Wednesday night that will delay the opening of a World Series baseball game if the series goes to six games.

“No one will delay a World Series game with an infomercial when I’m president,” said McCain.

While Palin has caused some headaches for the ticket, she’s very popular with the Republican base and she added energy to a rally before nearly 10,000 cheering backers.

“You are such a welcoming and patriotic state,” Palin said. “I know we have many patriots in the crowd today.”

Palin also predicted a tight election: “It’s going to be a hard-fought contest and it’s going to come down to the wire.”

The Alaska governor reprised her standard criticism of Obama’s economic plan. Labeling the Illinois senator “Barack the wealth spreader,” she said, “Joe the Plumber said it sounded to him like socialism. Now is not the time to experiment with that.”

In what may be the biggest October surprise in political history several prominent supervillains have come out of hiding to endorse McCain. The endorsements come from as far as Cybertron to Springfield from a diverse range of power-hungry, evil maniacs. These endorsements may give John McCain an edge in the key evil villain demographic.

Mr. Burns Owner, Springfield Power Plant

I can attest to the character of John McCain as I remember looking up to him when I was but a wee lad in the country clubs. McCain would make sure those peasants in Springfield would not get a penny of my hard earned billions. McCain is also a good friend to the nuclear power community, so I’m sure I’d face no regulations from those pesky environmentalist and their three-eyed fish. I proudly speak for all greedy old geezers, when I endorse my old friend John McCain.

Megatron, Evil Leader of the Decepticons

My primary reason for endorsing McCain is his energy plan. Use up all the energy, and then invade another place for energon cubes or oil, with no regard to civilian casualties. Barack Obama reminds me of the bastard do-gooder Optimus Prime with his concern for life and desire for peace. On behalf of all Decepticons, I hereby endorse John Mccain for President of the United States.

Mumm-Ra, Ever Living Source of Evil, Third Earth

In many ways, I see myself in John McCain: old, wrinkled, bitter with a temper, and with a tremendous desire to cause mass destruction. Lion-Obama and his pesky Democrats are always foiling McCain’s clever plans to smear him, pointing to clever do-goodness, which I despise. On behalf of alI Third Earth mutants, I hereby endorse John McCain as president.

Cobra Commander, Founder and Leader of Cobra Command

On behalf of Cobra, I hereby endorse John McCain. While I am disappointed that the GOP did not endorse the most evil candidate they could in Dick Cheney, I am very satisfied with McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin reminds me of a cohort of mine the Baronness, with her desire for war and destruction. If only GI Joe was as dumb as the GOP and went war with Iraq instead of Cobra, I would not have to deal with Duke and his damn bunch of soldiers foiling my evil plans. It is with maniacal, evil pride that I give my full support for the GOP and John McCain.

The Baroness Sarah Palin

Stewie Griffin, Pathological Baby, Quahog Rhode Island

I much prefer the mean old men to the bright happy colored fellow. My main reason for supporting the lumpfaced man, is his delightful temper. I thought it was brilliantly clever when he told the young man he was drafted, and quite a show of misogynist wit when he called his wife a c-nt in front of two reporters.

Lex Luthor, Owner and CEO, LexCorps

As many people know LexCorp is one of McCain’s biggest donors. McCain and I have been friends since we took trips on Charles Keating’s yacht to the Bahamas. Under John McCain’s deregulation plan, LexCorps could continue its path to becoming a multinational corporation, eventually conquering the world. Whether it be Halliburton, Enron or Keating’s Savings and loan, McCain has always been a friend of the power hungry evil greedy CEOs.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he can’t imagine saying about an opponent some of the things that his Republican rival, John McCain, has been saying about him.

In an interview aired Thursday on CBS’ “The Early Show,” Obama points to recent charges on the campaign trail that he is “socialistic” and that he “pals around with terrorists.”

Obama says that the campaign for the White House has been tough — but he adds that he believes there is no equivalence between what his campaign has been doing and what the McCain campaign has been doing.

For his part, McCain has said that his TV ads and automated phone calls about Obama’s tax policies and his past relationship with a ’60s-era radical have been completely accurate.

Watch a Clip of Obama Discussing Visiting His Sick Grandmother on the Early Show

The Arizona senator said Obama had added a work requirement to his proposal to grant a 10 percent universal mortgage credit. A top Obama aide said the campaign added the requirement two weeks ago to avoid charges that the proposal provided “welfare” to non-working Americans.

“Thirteen days to go, and he changed his tax plan because the American people had learned the truth about it and they didn’t like it,” McCain told a crowd at lumber yard. “It’s another example that he’ll say anything to get elected.”

An Obama spokesman accused McCain of distortion and said the Democrat’s plan always included a work requirement, although it was discussed only within the campaign or to reporters who inquired about the particulars of the plan.

“Last week, Sen. McCain called Obama’s tax cuts for working people welfare. Today he’s claiming Sen. Obama doesn’t do enough to help the unemployed,” said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor. “The only thing consistent about these attacks is how dishonest they are. All of Sen. Obama’s tax credits only go to workers and they always have.”

While criticizing Obama, McCain also targeted his own party. He complained the Bush administration was not yet buying up mortgages so homeowners facing foreclosure could renegotiate them at a more favorable interest rates. The GOP nominee has proposed a $300 billion plan, but a similar one is included in the $700 billion Wall Street bailout recently passed by Congress. Both McCain and Obama voted for that plan.

“I call on the administration to act now and buy up these mortgages and keep people in their homes,” McCain said before singling out Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. “And why is the secretary of the Treasury not ordering them to do that?”

The charges came at the start of a bus tour targeting blue-collar Florida workers who are like the Ohio plumber, Joe Wurzelbacher, who has become the central thematic element in speeches by McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

From Ormond Beach on the Atlantic Coast to Sarasota on the Gulf Coast, McCain was criticizing Obama’s tax plans and promoting his own proposals to cut taxes for individuals and businesses. After his stop at All Star Building Materials, he was moving on to a doctor’s office, a restaurant and a farm.

“Whether it’s Joe the Plumber in Ohio or Joe over here,” McCain said, pointing into the crowd, “we shouldn’t be taxing our small businesses more, as Sen. Obama wants to do. We need to be helping them expand their businesses and create jobs.”

Obama, speaking Wednesday in Virginia, rebutted such criticism, arguing that his tax plan would not raise taxes on small businesses and working couples earning less than $250,000 a year.

“Let’s be clear who John McCain is fighting for. He is not fighting for Joe the Plumber. He’s fighting for Joe the Hedge Fund Manager,” Obama said. “If you make less than a quarter of a million dollars a year — which includes 98 percent of small-business owners — you won’t see your taxes increase one single dime.”

McCain’s route not only covered the vote-rich “I-4 Corridor” through Orlando, in central Florida, but included informal stops between the more formal rallies. The goal was to boost McCain in a state George W. Bush won in 2000 and 2004 but which Obama is threatening to seize despite a strong GOP machine and the Arizona senator‘s endorsement by Gov. Charlie Crist.

Florida offers 27 electoral votes, fourth-most in the country. A total of 270 is needed to win the presidency.

Recent polls show Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, with a slight lead over McCain. Nationally, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows McCain and Obama essentially even among likely voters, possible evidence of a tightened race 12 days before the Nov. 4 election.

McCain’s first stop in Florida, for coffee with Crist and three business owners from the Daytona Beach area, proved fruitful. Mike Murray, owner of the Starlite Diner, said he was concerned about both candidates raising taxes but planned to support McCain on Election Day.

“He’s got the experience,” Murray said as the candidate sat at a nearby booth. “I’m comfortable with him. I grew up knowing his name.”

The core of Obama’s plan would reverse tax cuts for Americans at the high end of the income scale that were passed during the Bush era. He noted that when those Bush-backed cuts were first proposed, his opponent for the White House, Republican John McCain, opposed them as irresponsibly targeted.

“Was John McCain a socialist back in 2000?” Obama asked at a news conference. Responding to the late-campaign line of attack repeated daily by McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, he said, “I think it’s an indication that they have run out of ideas.”

Obama made his remarks at a news conference after a meeting with foreign policy and military luminaries to discuss “urgent issues” facing the country from abroad, an attempt to inoculate himself against the fresh charge from the McCain side that he is too untested for the White House.

McCain and Palin have seized on comments from Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden that Obama would face a “generated crisis” within six months of becoming president because adversaries across the world would want to test his mettle.

McCain has said the statement from Obama’s own running mate illustrates the danger of electing Obama. Biden, however, reached a different conclusion: He said Obama would fare well in such tests because he’s “got steel in his spine.”

Obama said that what Biden meant was that either man who takes over from President Bush on Jan. 20 will face significant tests on the global stage and that the period of transition between administrations “is always one in which we have to vigilant.”

“Joe sometimes engages in rhetorical flourishes,” Obama said. “His core point was the next administration is going to be tested regardless of who it is. … The question is: Will the next president meet that test by moving America in a new direction, by sending a clear signal to the rest of the world that we are no longer about bluster and unilateralism and ideology?”

In a statement issued after the meeting, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said, “It’s not leadership for Barack Obama to promise to be straight with Americans, only to dismiss serious statements and concern from his own running mate as simple rhetorical flourishes.”

Obama sidestepped a question on whether he would attend a summit of world leaders the Bush administration has called for Nov. 15 to discuss the global economic crisis, saying he has ideas but doesn’t want to say much about them yet.

“We have one president at a time,” he said.

With 13 days remaining in the race, most polls show Obama leading in his bid to become the nation’s first black president. He was campaigning in Virginia on Wednesday as he kept to an itinerary devoted almost exclusively to states that voted Republican in 2004, an indication of his confidence about the state of the race.

At a rally after the news conference, Obama drew a foot-stomping crowd of 13,000 inside the coliseum in Richmond and an overflow audience of 7,000 outside.

Obama drew loud applause when he turned around McCain’s regular references to Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher’s face-to-face challenge to the Democrat about his tax plans. Obama says his proposals would actually reduce the man’s taxes, unlike McCain’s.

“He’s not fighting for Joe the Plumber,” Obama said of McCain. “He’s fighting for Joe the hedge fund manager. John McCain likes to talk about Joe the Plumber, but he’s in cahoots with Joe the CEO. So don’t be fooled.”

Both sides are nervous about what surprises could spring up to affect the race. McCain has had a perceived dominance on foreign policy issues over Obama, and the campaign wants to tamp down any impact of that issue.

Obama got a boost on that front over the weekend, when longtime Republican Colin Powell, a secretary of state under Bush, endorsed him.

Obama’s meeting called together over a dozen retired generals and foreign policy mavens from Capitol Hill and the diplomatic word, all campaign advisers at some level, and included Biden and others by phone. He was flanked by the group on stage as he spoke, and a “Judgment to Lead” sign hung from the podium to further reinforced the point.

Obama said the meeting had been scheduled for weeks and was not planned to try to stem any political damage from Biden’s remarks.

On taxes, McCain launched a new attack over the weekend, saying Obama’s plan to provide a $500 tax credit would include even those who pay no taxes and “convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in Washington.” McCain has accused Obama of favoring socialistic tax redistribution policies.

Obama’s response at the news conference did not address the $500 tax break. Instead, he said that overall, he wants to reverse the cuts that went to the wealthiest Americans when Bush’s plan was enacted in 2001 and use the revenue to give tax cuts to workers who make less than $250,000 a year.

“That does involve us spreading around opportunity and it means that for people like myself, making a lot more than $250,000 a year, paying a little bit more so that the waitress who is surviving on minimum wage can put a roof over her head,” Obama said.

Bush’s reductions provided across-the-board cuts for all income levels, and McCain opposed them at the time because they were not accompanied by spending cuts and because they went “to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans.”

Now McCain wants to extend those Bush tax cuts and argues that anything else amounts to a tax increase.

It seems as if the John McCain camp, its surrogates and supporters have been increasingly trying to divide America. They are attempting to divide and conquer the United States by stirring up fear and division by racism, xenophobia, distrust and hatred.

The McCain camp and their supporters have run one of the most negative campaigns in the history of the United States. If they lose, they will leave millions of Americans who believe the President is a Muslim, a supporter of terrorists, a socialist and a communist. If McCain wins millions of people who supported Obama will believe he won because of hateful, dishonest, negative and racist campaign.

In campaigning, the McCain camp has separated America into two different places: The good and decent Americans who love America, are deeply religious and live in small towns or white working class America and the rest of America that hates America, isn’t religious and does not see America as they see America. The other America is represented by the ‘liberal elite,’ ‘Taxachusetts,’ and ‘Hollywood.’ Urban areas are defined by ‘welfare queens,’ ‘gang members,’ ‘corrupt community organizers’ and ‘black extremists.’ Where are the rest of working class Americans who live in cities, work hard go to church and pay their taxes? McCain and Palin have done nothing to address these people

Recently a McCain surrogate said that, McCain support was strong in ‘real Virginia’ but not in northern Virginia where the DC elite had moved. Basically saying that anyone who didn’t agree with McCain wasn’t a real Virginian. Are people who work in DC not real Virginins? Maybe the country is changing and Virginians don’t have the same outdated, racist, right wings ideas that they had during the 60′s.

Sarah Palin recently said that she enjoyed campaigning in parts of the country that are Pro-America suggesting that areas in which she isn’t popular aren’t pro-America. It is almost fascist to suggest that anyone who opposes your views or positions are doing so because they aren’t real or pro-America. Its amazing that with her secessionist past, no one has called out Palin on her ‘pro-America’ hypocrisy. While Obama has developed a diverse coalition of people from many regional, ethnic, sociological and religious backgrounds, campaigning in many former red states, McCain and Palin have not reached out to any former blue states or any groups that fall out  of the boundaries of their ‘base.’

While Obama has attempted to unify the country regardless of race region, religion, McCain is trying to divide the country on those same lines. People from certain areas are good and Pro-America while people in other areas are part of a liberal elite.  McCain has also used traditional phrases connected with African Americans to scare working class white Americans from Barack Obama’s economic policies. McCain recently said that Barack Obama would turn the IRS to a welfare agency. This is basically a message to white people that Barack Obama will take their hard earned money to pay his lazy black friends.

Republican Rep. Robin Hayes said at a recent McCain/Palin rally in North Carolina that ‘liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God.’ Many liberals are also hard workers who achieve and believe in God.

The Republicans have made appoint of associating Barack Obama with things that are foreign and evil.  Right Wingers have a long history of labeling progressive black leaders as communist. Martin Luther King and many other members of the Civil Rights movement were attacked as communists by opponents of integration. Nelson Mandela was attacked as a communist by right-wingers who supported the Apartheid regime. This was also a tactic Nixon and McCarthy would use against political opponents, using the old red-scare tactics on anyone who did not support their economic policies.

The GOP is also vigorously attempting to connect Barack Obama to people’s fear of Islamic terrorism. The repeated emphasis on his middle name on right wing talk radio and McCain’s campaign rallies is a blatant attempt to connect him to the former arch enemy of the United States. The repeated attempt to connect Obama to Osama bin Laden by rhyming his name is another attempt to connect Obama to another of our country’s arch enemies. Virginia Republican Party Chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick compared Barack Obama to Osama Bin Laden on a radio program. When asked about it McCain at first said it was acceptable and then downplayed it.

Maybe I’m an optimist but I believe that the racist supporters of John McCain are not at all representative of the views of ‘White America.’ While many white Americans may still have stereotypes and prejudices about blacks, the outright hatred and dehumanization of African Americans has been limited to the fringe of the white population. However, it has been this fringe that John McCain has been actively courting.

When John McCain ran in 2000 against George Bush in 2000, he cried out against Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson calling them agents of intolerance. He also criticized South Carolina for still flying the Confederate Flag. McCain has since embraced the agents of intolerance, speaking at their schools and courting the ultimate agents of intolerance in Rush Limbaugh and Bill Cunningham. By letting Sarah Palin appear on both shows, he is condoning their racist, hate fueled behavior. By ignoring the mainstream media’s requests for interviews and appearing on the shows of known hate mongers  and bigots, McCain has placed his faith not in the judgement of the American people but in the racism and bigotry of the American people.

John McCain is using the same robo-calling firm that George Bush used on him in 2000. This is the same firm that said he was a traitor, who gave secrets to the Russians in Vietnam and had a child with a black prostitute.

The robo-calling which insinuate that Obama is a terrorist have resulted in a long time Republican state senator from Wisconsin announcing she is supporting Barack Obama.

“All of us should be extremely wary of the half truths and outright untruths that have been spread by the recent negative campaigning and shameful automated phone calls,” said Barbara Lorman of Fort Atkinson. “While my admiration for Senator Obama has grown with his positive approach to addressing the challenges facing our nation, my disappointment with the McCain campaigned has deepened. The negative tactics are inappropriate, downright dishonorable and have no place in the State of Wisconsin.”

It seems as if McCain is trying to take the country back forty years, where good Americans support the war, are very religious and hate socialists, radicals, progressive African-Americans and communists. McCain’s camp has done nothing to address the issues of African-Americans, Latinos and the only working class representative he has is a plumber who makes more then $250,000 a year.

McCain is disregarding the rest of the country for what he considers the GOP base. He is in effect trying to reinstate Nixon’s silent majority. However, America is a vastly different country now and Nixon’s silent majority has turned into an angry, violent minority.

McCain is attempting to win the election by splitting the country in two. He is dividing the country by race, religion, region, class and values. Let’s show him his cynical view of the US is all wrong.