Bloomberg as Obama's VP?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/02/28/2008-02-28_barack_obamas_dream_ticket_mike_bloomber.html
We need to get connected with the Mayor's office in all available ways... Sen. McCain's positions on free trade, responsible immigration policy, school choice and climate change are much more moderate and independent than either Democratic candidate.
This is a big endorsement... it cuts across party lines... and it means something for a number of states (Mayor Mike's endorsement will be important in Florida and California).
Anyone reading this inside the Mayor's office?? Sen. McCain is the true independent choice...
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Mayor Mike lays down the independent gauntlet...
Mike Bloomberg has an op-ed in Thursday's New York Times, offering his support to the candidate offering an "independent" approach to solving the country's many problems.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/opinion/28mike.html?hp
He raises free trade, immigration, school reform and climate change as his four key issues in the first paragraph.
John McCain has been solidly and consistently pro-free trade, while Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton fought last night over who wants to take the biggest chunk out of NAFTA.
John McCain, against all pressure from the nativist urges of the right, held to a bi-partisan and comprehensive plan for pushing the difficult immigration issue toward a long-term solution.
John McCain is strongly in favor of new solutions for education, especially competition for public schools (including charter schools) and rewarding teachers with merit pay. In fact, Mayor Mike's programs that are working in New York are very much more in line with Sen. McCain than either of the Democrats old-style union backed approaches. For a solid description of his education views watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGnhQM3PRlQ
John McCain was an early sponsor for a market-based solution to climate change, while many in his party denied the scientific fact of global warming.
If Mayor Mike is looking for a strong and independent voice to support, he can do no better than the person who his friend, fellow independent and fellow tri-state leader Joe Lieberman is supporting: John McCain!!
Anyone have a contact in the Mayor's office? We should invite the Mayor's people to meet with the campaign pronto!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/opinion/28mike.html?hp
He raises free trade, immigration, school reform and climate change as his four key issues in the first paragraph.
John McCain has been solidly and consistently pro-free trade, while Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton fought last night over who wants to take the biggest chunk out of NAFTA.
John McCain, against all pressure from the nativist urges of the right, held to a bi-partisan and comprehensive plan for pushing the difficult immigration issue toward a long-term solution.
John McCain is strongly in favor of new solutions for education, especially competition for public schools (including charter schools) and rewarding teachers with merit pay. In fact, Mayor Mike's programs that are working in New York are very much more in line with Sen. McCain than either of the Democrats old-style union backed approaches. For a solid description of his education views watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGnhQM3PRlQ
John McCain was an early sponsor for a market-based solution to climate change, while many in his party denied the scientific fact of global warming.
If Mayor Mike is looking for a strong and independent voice to support, he can do no better than the person who his friend, fellow independent and fellow tri-state leader Joe Lieberman is supporting: John McCain!!
Anyone have a contact in the Mayor's office? We should invite the Mayor's people to meet with the campaign pronto!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Wow! Sen. McCain has a friend at the New York Times...
David Brooks begins to set the record straight on John McCain's 20-plus year record of fighting corruption and special interests today in -- of all sources -- the New York Times. Penance is hard... but it's nice to see that some at the Times feel they've smeared a hero.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/opinion/26brooks.html
Op-Ed Columnist
The Real McCain
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: February 26, 2008
You wouldn’t know it to look at them, but political consultants are as faddish as anyone else. And the current vogueish advice among the backroom set is: Go after your opponent’s strengths. So in the first volley of what feels like the general election campaign, Barack Obama has attacked John McCain for being too close to lobbyists. His assault is part of this week’s Democratic chorus: McCain isn’t really the anti-special interest reformer he pretends to be. He’s more tainted than his reputation suggests.
Well, anything is worth trying, I suppose, but there is the little problem of his record. McCain has fought one battle after another against lobbyists and special interests. And while I don’t have space to describe all his tussles, or even the lesser ones like his fight with the agricultural lobby against sugar subsidies, I thought that, amidst all these charges, it might be worth noting some of the McCain highlights from the past dozen years.
In 1996, McCain was one of five senators, and the only Republican, to vote against the Telecommunications Act. He did it because he believed the act gave away too much to the telecommunications companies, and protected them from true competition. He noted that AT&T alone gave $780,000 to Republicans and $456,000 to Democrats in the year leading up to the vote.
In 1998, McCain championed anti-smoking legislation that faced furious opposition from the tobacco lobby. McCain guided the legislation through the Senate Commerce Committee on a 19-1 vote, but then the tobacco companies struck back. They hired 200 lobbyists and spent $40 million in advertising (three times as much as the Harry and Louise health care reform ads). Many of the ads attacked McCain by name, accusing him of becoming a big government liberal. After weeks of bitter debate, the bill died on the Senate floor.
In 2000, McCain ran for president and reiterated his longstanding opposition to ethanol subsidies. Though it crippled his chances in Iowa, he argued that ethanol was a wasteful giveaway. A recent study in the journal Science has shown that when you take all impacts into consideration, ethanol consumption increases greenhouse gas emissions compared with regular gasoline. Unlike, say, Barack Obama, McCain still opposes ethanol subsidies.
In 2002, McCain capped his long push for campaign finance reform by passing the McCain-Feingold Act. People can argue about the effectiveness of the act, but one thing is beyond dispute. It was a direct assault on lobbyist power, and earned McCain undying enmity among many important parts of the Republican coalition, who felt their soft money influence was being diminished.
In 2003, the Senate nearly passed the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act. The act was opposed by the usual mix of energy, auto and mining companies. But moderate environmental groups were thrilled that McCain-Lieberman was able to attract more than 40 votes in the Senate.
In 2004, McCain launched a frontal assault on the leasing contract the Pentagon had signed with Boeing for aerial refueling tankers. McCain’s investigation exposed billions of dollars of waste and layers of contracting irregularity.
In 2005, McCain led the Congressional investigation into the behavior of the lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The investigation was exceedingly unpleasant for Republicans, because it exposed shocking misbehavior by important conservative activists.
Over the past few years, McCain has stepped up his longstanding assault on earmarks. Every year, McCain goes to the Senate floor to ridicule the latest batch of earmarks, and every year his colleagues and the lobbyists fume. For years, McCain has proposed legislative remedies — greater transparency, a 60-vote supermajority requirement — that were brutally unpopular with many colleagues until, suddenly, now.
Over the course of his career, McCain has tried to do the impossible. He has challenged the winds of the money gale. He has sometimes failed and fallen short. And there have always been critics who cherry-pick his compromises, ignore his larger efforts and accuse him of being a hypocrite.
This is, of course, the gospel of the mediocre man: to ridicule somebody who tries something difficult on the grounds that the effort was not a total success. But any decent person who looks at the McCain record sees that while he has certainly faltered at times, he has also battled concentrated power more doggedly than any other legislator. If this is the record of a candidate with lobbyists on his campaign bus, then every candidate should have lobbyists on the bus.
And here’s the larger point: We’re going to have two extraordinary nominees for president this year. This could be one of the great general election campaigns in American history. The only thing that could ruin it is if the candidates become demagogues and hurl accusations at each other that are an insult to reality and common sense.
Maybe Obama can start this campaign over.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/opinion/26brooks.html
Op-Ed Columnist
The Real McCain
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: February 26, 2008
You wouldn’t know it to look at them, but political consultants are as faddish as anyone else. And the current vogueish advice among the backroom set is: Go after your opponent’s strengths. So in the first volley of what feels like the general election campaign, Barack Obama has attacked John McCain for being too close to lobbyists. His assault is part of this week’s Democratic chorus: McCain isn’t really the anti-special interest reformer he pretends to be. He’s more tainted than his reputation suggests.
Well, anything is worth trying, I suppose, but there is the little problem of his record. McCain has fought one battle after another against lobbyists and special interests. And while I don’t have space to describe all his tussles, or even the lesser ones like his fight with the agricultural lobby against sugar subsidies, I thought that, amidst all these charges, it might be worth noting some of the McCain highlights from the past dozen years.
In 1996, McCain was one of five senators, and the only Republican, to vote against the Telecommunications Act. He did it because he believed the act gave away too much to the telecommunications companies, and protected them from true competition. He noted that AT&T alone gave $780,000 to Republicans and $456,000 to Democrats in the year leading up to the vote.
In 1998, McCain championed anti-smoking legislation that faced furious opposition from the tobacco lobby. McCain guided the legislation through the Senate Commerce Committee on a 19-1 vote, but then the tobacco companies struck back. They hired 200 lobbyists and spent $40 million in advertising (three times as much as the Harry and Louise health care reform ads). Many of the ads attacked McCain by name, accusing him of becoming a big government liberal. After weeks of bitter debate, the bill died on the Senate floor.
In 2000, McCain ran for president and reiterated his longstanding opposition to ethanol subsidies. Though it crippled his chances in Iowa, he argued that ethanol was a wasteful giveaway. A recent study in the journal Science has shown that when you take all impacts into consideration, ethanol consumption increases greenhouse gas emissions compared with regular gasoline. Unlike, say, Barack Obama, McCain still opposes ethanol subsidies.
In 2002, McCain capped his long push for campaign finance reform by passing the McCain-Feingold Act. People can argue about the effectiveness of the act, but one thing is beyond dispute. It was a direct assault on lobbyist power, and earned McCain undying enmity among many important parts of the Republican coalition, who felt their soft money influence was being diminished.
In 2003, the Senate nearly passed the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act. The act was opposed by the usual mix of energy, auto and mining companies. But moderate environmental groups were thrilled that McCain-Lieberman was able to attract more than 40 votes in the Senate.
In 2004, McCain launched a frontal assault on the leasing contract the Pentagon had signed with Boeing for aerial refueling tankers. McCain’s investigation exposed billions of dollars of waste and layers of contracting irregularity.
In 2005, McCain led the Congressional investigation into the behavior of the lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The investigation was exceedingly unpleasant for Republicans, because it exposed shocking misbehavior by important conservative activists.
Over the past few years, McCain has stepped up his longstanding assault on earmarks. Every year, McCain goes to the Senate floor to ridicule the latest batch of earmarks, and every year his colleagues and the lobbyists fume. For years, McCain has proposed legislative remedies — greater transparency, a 60-vote supermajority requirement — that were brutally unpopular with many colleagues until, suddenly, now.
Over the course of his career, McCain has tried to do the impossible. He has challenged the winds of the money gale. He has sometimes failed and fallen short. And there have always been critics who cherry-pick his compromises, ignore his larger efforts and accuse him of being a hypocrite.
This is, of course, the gospel of the mediocre man: to ridicule somebody who tries something difficult on the grounds that the effort was not a total success. But any decent person who looks at the McCain record sees that while he has certainly faltered at times, he has also battled concentrated power more doggedly than any other legislator. If this is the record of a candidate with lobbyists on his campaign bus, then every candidate should have lobbyists on the bus.
And here’s the larger point: We’re going to have two extraordinary nominees for president this year. This could be one of the great general election campaigns in American history. The only thing that could ruin it is if the candidates become demagogues and hurl accusations at each other that are an insult to reality and common sense.
Maybe Obama can start this campaign over.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Proud of your country? Say it for McCain on a T-Shirt!
Wilson, Brad and I had a conversation about making T-Shirts in response to Michelle Obama's "proud of my country" statement.
We have some connections to a T-Shirt guy, so if there is any interest in this, we should sell these. We have two possible designs here.
Design one:
Front: "I'm proud of my country..."
Back: "and it's not the first time."
Design two:
Front: "I'm proud of my country..."
Back: "always have been... always will be."
Below the letters on the back, will be "NY for McCain"
Ideas? Comments? Anyone want to pledge to buy the first 20??
We have some connections to a T-Shirt guy, so if there is any interest in this, we should sell these. We have two possible designs here.
Design one:
Front: "I'm proud of my country..."
Back: "and it's not the first time."
Design two:
Front: "I'm proud of my country..."
Back: "always have been... always will be."
Below the letters on the back, will be "NY for McCain"
Ideas? Comments? Anyone want to pledge to buy the first 20??
Thursday, February 21, 2008
We're up and running
All McCainiacs around New York City:
Welcome to NY for McCain! We hope this will provide a forum for information rallying McCain support around New York City, upstate and throughout the tri-state area.
We already have a crack group of volunteers that have logged substantial hours to get Sen. McCain through New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Super Tuesday. We need to keep that spirit alive, and hopefully this will be one spot to keep the conversation going.
More to come...
Welcome to NY for McCain! We hope this will provide a forum for information rallying McCain support around New York City, upstate and throughout the tri-state area.
We already have a crack group of volunteers that have logged substantial hours to get Sen. McCain through New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Super Tuesday. We need to keep that spirit alive, and hopefully this will be one spot to keep the conversation going.
More to come...
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