Mystery Dem: Golden Oldies

Since Mystery Dem seems to have run out of bright ideas with regard to Barack Obama, how's about going back to some golden oldies composed for John F. Kerry, Esq.?

"Mr. Bush and his henchmen have been going around making a lot of baseless accusations about me. Let me make things abundantly clear: I do not give a damn about being friends with the world. My only concern is for the safety and well-being of the American people. And I would not hesitate to stand alone against every other nation on the earth if it were in the best interests of America to do so. Mr. Bush has chosen to stand alone against much of the [civilized] world in his haste to invade Iraq. My question to you is: was it worth it? Was it worth $200 million, borne by us alone? Was it worth the far greater cost of a thousand American lives?"

Sept. 9, 2004

(Mystery Dem hadn't figured out how to make these bloggerations back then.)

Palin's Radical Associations

BREAKING NEWS!! MUST CREDIT MYSTERY DEM!!!

Sarah Palin has accused Barack Obama of associating with terrorists. But the facts are that Barack Obama ran against former Black Panther Bobby Rush. And where does Sarah Palin stand on the Black Panthers? Newly-discovered evidence suggests Palin and her husband have associations with Black Panther Huey Newton going back over twenty-five years.

The evidence speaks for itself:

When will Sarah Palin tell the American people the real story about her radical associations?

The B-Word

If I were Steve Schmidt, I'd be trying to turn this into Willie Horton tout de suite.

If I were David Axelrod, I'd try to get out in front of this. I know the fear is to make the story bigger, but maybe if Obama one-upped McCain's repudiation of his wingnut supporters in a general way, talked about how this election was important but we're all Americans and if there are people who are going to beat each other up based on their political views, he doesn't want their votes. How about that?

UPDATE: Maybe it's a hoax. Still, Mystery Dem doesn't see how Obama loses anything by vaguely disavowing impolite supporters.

UPDATE: OK, it's a hoax. Um, as you were.

Q.E.D.

Amazingly, even though Mystery Democrat hasn't had too much to say lately, Barack seems to be doing OK. But surely it is no coincidence that Obama's fortunes seemed to turn only after Mystery Dem broke onto the scene, no? Indeed, without MD's guidance from the sidelines, could the Obama campaign have produced as forceful and effective a piece as this?

(Un)live Blogging

Mystery Dem thinks McCain did better this time, but still came off as sour, and Barack was unflappable. 10:31pm

Mystery Dem is finding out if Michelle Rhee supports vouchers. 10:26pm

Mystery Dem is wondering if McCain is turning off his base by attacking Bush and not towing the line on abortion. Does he lose as many voters as he might gain? 10:09pm

If McCain loves private health insurance so much, why has he had public, taxpayer-funded healthcare his entire life? 10:05pm

Mystery Dem believes that Indonesia is south of the U.S. border. 9:53pm

McCain shouldn't say "cockamamie" and Obama shouldn't say "profligate". 9:46pm

So McCain was FORCED to run a dirty campaign because Barack wouldn't do enough town halls? 9:26pm

Why can't Barack just say, no, I haven't reached across the aisle to the Republicans for the last few years because they've been WRONG and ruining the country? 9:23pm

If Republicans can always say that this is the worst time to raise taxes on anyone, why can't Democrats say that this would be the worst time to cut spending? 9:22pm

So McCain is proposing a Neo-Hooverite anti-Keynesian economic death spiral? 9:18pm

Mystery Dem is glad that Barack decided not to wish Nancy Reagan well. Is that mean of him? 9:08pm

So he blames pro-home-ownership policies for the financial crisis (which is a lie, BTW) and his solution is... pro-home-ownership policies? 9:05pm

Bridge to the 20th Century

During the last debate, Mystery Dem wondered "why Barack can't bring up the prosperity under the Clinton administration. Is it just because he doesn't get along with Bill?"

Apparently, whatever problem Barack had with the 42nd president has been worked through, because he's name-checking Bill Clinton on the campaign trail.

While the initial judgment of Clinton's presidency, cast just after it ended, with the Lewinsky scandal and Marc Rich fresh in the mind, was one of disappointment that he did not accomplish more, considering that he had (has!) the rare combination of a wonk's grasp on policy and a seducer's talent for persuasion, in light of what followed it, his administration now seems like a remarkable success, with its peace, prosperity and quiet competence.

The chart at left, from the Boston Globe, pretty much says it all...

Liveblogging

Mystery Dem is glad that Barack rephrased "cost-benefit analysis" as "puttin' the squeeze on 'em," though it's of course blasphemy to suggest Iran might behave rationally. 10:30pm

Wasn't McCain calling for Russia to be dropped from the G8? 10:21pm

Mystery Dem finds McCain's refrain about how he "knows how" to do things unconvincing, but as he often notes, his opinion doesn't matter much 'round here. 10:18pm

OH SCHNAPP!! OH NO YOU DIDN'T!! WHO'S GOT THE BIG STICK NOW, BOYEE?? 10:14pm

Mystery Dem thinks it's rich that McCain, who supports needless and counterproductive belligerence around the world, is lecturing Barack. 10:12pm

CRUSH KILL DESTROY STRESS!! 10:11pm

Mystery Dem is impressed with the Pakistan sovereignty question, but he wishes BHO would pronounce Pakistan like an American. 10:09pm

Mystery Dem can't believe that McCain is trying to present himself as the cool hand! He's actually blowing his top while he says it, which sort of undermines the point. 10:07pm

Barack shouldn't have taken the bait on the "moral obligation" issue, but thinks his pivot seems good. 10:05pm

Mystery Dem is wondering whether Obama should point out that McCain opposed Kosovo and called instead for a ground invasion of Serbia. 10:01pm

The crowd is not in the mood for jokes. 9:59pm

Mystery Dem is thinking this is a good moment for Barack on health care. 9:57pm

Mystery Dem sort of wished that Barack actually answered this question about whether health care is a commodity, because it would be a good way to attack McCain's plan. 9:52pm

Mystery Dem is not impressed with Tom Brokaw's question. Should we have chocolate or candy? How about a bit of both? 9:48pm

Mystery Dem doesn't understand why Barack can't bring up the prosperity under the Clinton administration. Is it just because he doesn't get along with Bill? 9:41pm

George H.W. Bush & Bill Clinton raised taxes during a downturn and it led to the longest expansion of the century. 9:36pm

Oh, he did it! Yes we can! 9:35pm

Barack started strong on the sacrifice thing, but then kind of fizzled into small bore stuff. How about "I'm asking people making more than $250k to sacrifice a little bit of their large salaries for the common good, so that we can continue to build and maintain roads and schools and bridges. Senator McCain thinks that these rich people shouldn't be asked to sacrifice and the rest of us should sacrifice our roads, bridges and schools so that rich people can keep more of their money." 9:32pm

Whoa! McCain just touched the third rail! Maybe he'll get some energy out of it. 9:24pm

Barack shouldn't be afraid to say the word "Republican.". 9:21pm

This format doesn't stimulate a lot of interesting responses. 9:19pm

Mystery Dem notes that the "rescue" package didn't pass until Sen. McCain unsuspended his campaign. 9:13pm

Also, now Mr. Deficit Hawk who's not going to cut anyone's taxes is going to buy everyone's mortgage? 9:11pm

So where's the money to buy everyone's mortgage is going to come from. Oh yeah, earmark reform! 9:08pm

Erratic Maverick

Mystery Dem may have to hang up his spurs. He's got nothing to teach a campaign that could produce this withering character underminer. There is a teeny bit of vindication here, inasmuch as it tries to emphasize all the negative connotations of maverickism.

The angry white family is a little cheesy, but I think it's effective.

McCain & Palin: Taxes for Thee, Not for Me

Sarah Palin didn't pay taxes on $17,000 worth of per diem payments she received from the state of Alaska. The payments are intended to compensate state officials for travel expenses when they need to travel for state business, but Palin took per diems almost exclusively for days on which she stayed at her home in Wasilla.

Still, whether or not you think it's an appropriate claim for per diem payments, the McCain campaign doesn't think that these per diems constitute taxable income, and so Palin received them tax-free. Generally speaking, fringe benefits (like travel reimbursement, relocation expenses, business meals, &c.) are not considered taxable income.

But it's certainly notable that while Gov. Palin does not want to pay taxes on her (potentially improper) per diems, the McCain campaign is proposing that all Americans should have to pay taxes on employer-provided health care benefits.

Photo used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user herzogbr.

Post-hoc Live-Blogging

Also, why didn't we hear more about the Bush Administration? I know Palin had that "there you go again" schtick prepared to counter it, but I don't think that was a very strong defense. Lord, I know we all long for the once-in-a-lifetime political skills of Bill Clinton, but Biden, no stranger to the occasional plagiarism, would have done well to swipe Clinton's line from the Convention: "Republicans like John McCain and Sarah Palin want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more!" 10:44pm

Biden finished OK, but on the whole, Palin had the slight edge. She didn't even just exceed her low expectations, she was actually reasonably fluent after a slightly wavering start. Biden, on the other hand, seemed to have taken the strategy of adopting Palin's tortured sentence structures. Not that either one of them is going to be president of the Oxford Union, but I actually think if you look at the text, Joe Biden made less sense than Sarah Palin! Very bad, Joe. 10:36pm

Mystery Dem has had it with bipartisanship. How about we say that we'll work with people who have good ideas for America, regardless of party, but we're not going to work out those who want to follow the failed policies of the last eight years just so we can say we're "reaching across the aisle"? 10:28pm

Biden: "My achilles heel is that I talk too much. So I'll keep quiet and let Gov. Palin have another chance to actually answer the question." 10:19pm

It's shameful how Palin keeps plugging the idiotic "2 mavericks" slogan, but it'd be less effective if we'd pre-attacked the "maverick" brand as Mystery Dem proposed. 10:12pm

Why can't a Democrat ever say that the test for military intervention is whether it's in the American goddam national interest?!? 10:07pm

Biden STOP APOLOGIZING AND EXPLAINING! Best defense = good offense! 10:06pm

Biden, Biden: Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it. Ditto with McCain who wants to veto his own bills on immigration and the bailout! 10:05pm

How can Biden actually be less coherent than Palin. Oh Hillary, I take it all back... 10:03pm

I hate this debate format, and think Biden's kind of awful. 9:57pm

Re the diplomacy of "serious people" -- is it "serious" to sing "Bomb Iran?". 9:52pm

I wants to shake Biden and tell him to stop clarifying and apologizing! 9:50pm

Biden did pretty OK with the Iraq question. 9:45pm

Senator O'Biden. 9:35pm

Biden is barely more coherent than Palin. 9:30pm

Palin probably should bring up the phrase "rearing his head." 9:27pm

Ralph Stanley

Notwithstanding the racially complex history of the banjo -- or perhaps, in fact, precisely because of that history -- this Obama ad featuring bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley seems spot on.

Mystery Dem cannot resist hoping that we will not be in constant sorrow after election day...

Transcript: "Howdy, friends. This is Ralph Stanley, and I think I know a little something about the families around here.

"Barack'll cut taxes for everyday folks -- not big business -- so you'll have a little more money in your pocket at the end of the year. I also know Barack is a good man. A father and devoted husband, he values personal responsibility and family first."

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