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And only Only 32% of whites think Obama is "Very Patriotic" versus 77% for McCain. Another little gem. Guess which race will not vote for a black guy? Hmmmm.

Obama: Right Wing to Blame for Wife's Negs Amanda Carpenter In October’s installation of Glamour Magazine, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama blames conservative-leaning media outlets for driving up his wife’s negative ratings. “What happened was that the conservative press — Fox News and the National Review and columnists of every ilk — went fairly deliberately at her in a pretty systematic way,” Obama told Glamour’s editor-in-chief Cindi Leive. The women’s magazine published excerpts of the Obama interview on their political blog Glamocracy on Thursday morning. [Full disclosure, I blog there every Tuesday] “It took a toll,” Obama said. “If you...

What happens if it turns out that we've nominated two unelectable candidates for president? Do we get our money back? This illustration provided by The New Yorker magazine, the cover of the July 21, 2008 issue by artist Barry Blitt, shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist. The magazine says the cover is meant to satirize the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the presidential election to derail Obamas campaign, but Obama's campaign called it "tasteless and offensive." (AP Photo/New Yorker) Logic, common sense and the Constitution insist that either...

Bill Clinton, once his wife's greatest political asset, is now viewed by Barack Obama as such a liability that he is likely to scupper Hillary Clinton's chances of becoming the Democratic vice-presidential candidate. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton: Bill Clinton 'problem' rules out Hillary as Barack Obama's running mate Sources close to the Obama campaign indicated that Mr Clinton's reluctance to disclose who has donated money to his presidential library and even concerns about possible extra-marital affairs mean that his wife would not pass the vetting procedure all potential running mates have to undergo. "It is absolutely standard operating procedure...

OPE. CHANGE. Hope and change. Hope 'n' change. Say the words often enough and they begin to take hold, attaching themselves lichen-like to the psyche. Soon they take on a life of their own and assume human form. He is the one Democrats have been waiting for -- the agent, the beacon, the Everyman who can change the culture of Washington and restore hope to the disenfranchised. He even comes from Hope. Arkansas, that is. Or was. How quickly time passes, how urgently things stay the same. Not so long ago, Bill Clinton was the man of the moment, the...

Say what you want about Bill Clinton...the guy doesn't hold back. That was the case again during his recent interview with People magazine. Yeas & Nays has obtained an advanced copy of the June 2 issue (on stands this Friday) and here's what the former prez has to say: -Hillary Clinton's been "outspent, dismissed, denigrated, declared dead." -"I think most of the press people are in Obama's demographic. ... There have been times when I thought I was literally lost in a fun house." -On how he and Hillary will unite the party once a Democratic nominee has been chosen:...

Obama can't win. It's not that complex, really. He just can't win. A candidate who can't win over his own party certainly can't win over the country. The traits and flaws which make him an unacceptable candidate to roughly a third of Democrats will make him an unacceptable candidate to a majority of Americans. And that's how you lose elections. This isn't meant to bash him, it's just meant to be honest and lay the cards on the table. The nagging question from the Clinton camp -- Why can't he close the deal? -- is legitimate and haunting, and it...

Is it too early for Hillary Rodham Clinton to suggest Barack Obama as her vice president on the ticket? Yes, absolutely. The answer for Clinton, however, appears to depend on your definition of what "smidgen" is. Only "smidgens of difference," she said, separate them in the critical delegate count needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination. The operative word is derived from "smidge," or "barely detectable." For example, the 5,963,110 votes that Florida counted in the 2000 election allowed Gov. Jeb Bush to award his brother George W. a disputed victory. His margin of 537 votes - .0009 percent -...

From NBC's Chuck Todd As expected, one of the two major Democratic candidates saw a downturn in the latest NBC/WSJ poll, but it's not the candidate that you think. Hillary Clinton is sporting the lowest personal ratings of the campaign. Moreover, her 37% positive rating is the lowest the NBC/WSJ poll has recorded since March 2001, two months after she was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York..........[snip] As for the damage this controversy did or didn't do to Obama, it's a mixed bag. Yes, Obama saw some of his numbers go down slightly among certain voting groups, most...

While Obama supporters fall all over themselves extolling the campaign's "turnaround" following the Wright controversy (evidenced by a Gallup poll published today showing Obama up by three,) I'll just toss out a contrary poll from Scott Rasmussen that shows Hillary up by two -- a swing of three in her direction. And that's not all. On Saturday, Obama’s favorable ratings slipped a little further—46% favorable, 51% unfavorable. Before the Pastor Problem became big news, Obama was viewed favorably by 52%. One month ago, he was viewed favorably by 56%. McCain is viewed favorably by 54% of voters nationwide and...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton essentially even in the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. It’s Obama 46% Clinton 45% (see recent daily results). This reflects an unusually sharp change from yesterday’s results when Obama led by eight points and reached the 50% level of support for the first time. Daily tracking results are collected via nightly telephone surveys and reported on a four-day rolling average basis. Last night’s results were very favorable for Clinton and it remains to be seen whether this marks a lasting change in the race...

Just 24% of American voters have a favorable opinion of the New York Times. Forty-four percent (44%) have an unfavorable opinion and 31% are not sure. The paper’s ratings are much like a candidate’s and divide sharply along partisan and ideological lines. By a 50% to 18% margin, liberal voters have a favorable opinion of the paper. By a 69% to 9%, conservative voters offer an unfavorable view. The newspaper earns favorable reviews from 44% of Democrats, 9% of Republicans, and 17% of those not affiliated with either major political story. Of those who followed the story, 66% believe it...

While Hillary Clinton has not found a way to break the consecutive primaries losing streak against Barack Obama, now at 10 or 11 depending on whether one counts the expatriate poll, she has managed to force Obama to talk a little more specifically about policy. That apparently has cost Obama some ground, according to Rasmussen, although not so much against Hillary. His negatives have risen seven points in the last month, and now are ten points higher than those of John McCain: Thirty-four percent (34%) of all voters say they will definitely vote for John McCain if he is on...

Other than the standard; No fire in the belly, he got in too late, and the evil membership in the Council on Foreign Relations, what are his negatives? For the record, I am a Fred Thompson supporter.

Hillary Clinton? No, not reasonable. I concede her sturdy mind, deep sophistication, and seriousness of intent. I see her as a triangulator like her husband, not a radical but a maneuverer in the direction of a vague, half-forgotten but always remembered, leftism. It is also true that she has a command-and-control mentality, an urgent, insistent and grating sense of destiny, and she appears to believe that any act that benefits Clintons is a virtuous act, because Clintons are good and deserve to be benefited. But this is not, actually, my central problem with her candidacy. My central problem is that...

If you have any doubts as to whether this political campaign season has lasted too long and soured voters on the whole political process, look at the favorable/unfavorable poll ratings of the candidates. Premier pollster Scott Rasmussen's latest polling of likely voters nationally shows that most Democrats and Republicans have higher negative than positive poll numbers. -snip- Wednesday Rasmussen reported that among Democrats, Hillary Clinton scored 45 favorable/54 unfavorable, Barack Obama's numbers were at 52/45, John Edwards was 48/44, Joe Biden 38/37, with all other Democrats disliked more than they were liked by as much as 23 points. Republican hopeful...

Among the leading Presidential candidates, New York Senator Hillary Clinton and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney have the highest level of core opposition among voters. Forty-seven percent (47%) say they will vote against each of these candidates no matter who else is on the ballot. At the opposite end of the spectrum is Arizona Senator John McCain. For the second straight month, McCain finds himself with the smallest level of core opposition--just 33% say they will definitely vote against him. That figure is unchanged from a month ago, down from 39% a two months ago and a peak of 42%...

Hillary Clinton doesn't have the luxury Al Gore did of choosing to dump Bill Clinton on the presidential campaign trail. She's stuck with him, for better or for worse. And if she becomes president, so is America. People always questioned Gore's judgment to cut his umbilical cord from Mother Bill, some saying he had to do it to free himself of the taint of the scandals and others saying the move cost him the election because he was unable to capitalize as much on the Clinton economic record. There's doubtlessly merit to both arguments, and Gore was probably hurt some...

CORALVILLE, Iowa — It was a blunt question for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the end of a long campaign day. A young man said he knew a lot of people who just didn't like her, and he wanted to know what she could do about it. She agreed there are people who will never vote for her. "It breaks my heart, but that is true," she said, suggesting it's just part of the game when you stick to your principles. But with two weeks to go to the Iowa caucuses, her campaign is making a bigger effort to confront the...

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, trying to warm up an image some voters perceive as cold, starts a drive Monday to showcase her personal side with testimonials from friends, associates and constituents she has helped. The online and in-person campaign, complete with a website called TheHillaryIKnow.com, comes a day after Clinton won a key endorsement from The Des Moines Register and her chief rival in the Democratic nomination race, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, was endorsed by The Boston Globe. The rush of endorsements comes as candidates angle for advantage in Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses and New Hampshire's Jan. 8...

She's the ultimate professional woman. So you'd think Hillary Clinton's biggest source of support would be other alpha females. But as the New York senator's presidential campaign works to mobilize women executives, doctors and lawyers around America, it's getting a reality check: Many have resisted the call-up. So far, she's doing better among women of more modest means. Professional women are "much harder sells" than men. "They're tough." They are less inclined than men to see things in black and white, and seek more information before deciding, this adviser says. Events for businesswomen must be substantive, because they frequently ask...

On paper, they look an awful lot like Hillary Rodham Clinton. They are professional women of a certain age -- politically active Democrats, liberals, unabashed feminists who remember what it was like to be told they could not become firefighters or university department heads, let alone president of the United States of America. They are women of accomplishment who have bumped up against glass ceilings, sometimes breaking them, while managing marriages, raising children and trying to make the world their version of a better place.

Jane Fonda summed up this view best in which she called Clinton "a ventriloquist for the patriarchy with a skirt and a vagina." (It would be such a great quote, except when was the last time Hillary wore a skirt?)....... They are like her, but they don't like her. Such is the curious phenomenon of many educated, professional, liberal women of a certain age when it comes to Hillary Clinton, the Los Angeles Times reports. In fact, upper-middle-class women on the left are "historically her toughest crowd," the paper reports. Why is this? The Times offers a handful of possibilities:...

Both Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd have columns today. Rich has little to say about the Iraq War. He stresses Obama opposed it and Hillary did not. Presumably, this is enough for Frank Rich and Pinch to switch sides. Here is a quote from Rich: ”…But much like the Clinton campaign itself, the Republicans have fallen into a trap by continuing to cling to the Hillary-is-inevitable trope. They have not allowed themselves to think the unthinkable — that they might need a Plan B to go up against a candidate who is not she. It’s far from clear that they...

The honesty and transparency themes are driving much of voter sentiment in this election. It helps explain the surprising success of Republican candidate Mike Huckabee. And we see similar dynamics with the Democratic candidates. Consider a "The Economist/YouGov'' poll out last week. When Democratic voters were asked which phrases they would use to describe their candidates, results included the following: * Honesty: Obama 54 percent, Clinton 35 percent. * Moral: Obama 54 percent, Clinton 34 percent. * Religious: Obama 29 percent, Clinton 19 percent. * Says what he/she believes: Obama 60 percent, Clinton 39 percent. Clinton's growing image of untrustworthiness...

Clinton: I have best chance vs. GOP By AMY LORENTZEN, Associated Press Writer 56 minutes ago Hillary Rodham Clinton maintained Sunday that she's the best candidate to win against Republicans, saying she has more experience battling the GOP than any other candidate in the Democratic field. "I believe that I have a very good argument that I know more about beating Republicans than anybody else running. They've been after me for 15 years, and much to their dismay, I'm still standing," she said in answer to a woman's question about her electability. "I'm leading in all the polls, I'm beating...

They call it flyover country. These are the parts of the United States that the pundits and prognosticators of American politics see just occasionally - and usually from several thousand feet. It is a land where people shop at Wal-Mart, eat at Dairy Queen, work two jobs to make ends meet and have a Bible at home. They can decide on their vote with the help of talk radio, cable television and the internet - or from a combination of rumour, scraps of hard information and gut feeling. [Snip] It is in flyover country where the 2008 presidential election will...

Clinton’s Inevitability Evaporates in Iowa, while Thompson Fades Away About that inevitability thing . . . just kidding. Barely 50 days before Iowa, it matters about as much as Dick Cheney's approval ratings, or Barry Bonds' contract situation, or Robert Novak's newest secret source. Ladies and gentleman, we have ourselves a race. Toss out the 30-point lead in the national polls, the fundraising edge, the long list of endorsements, the bold predictions of Terry McAuliffe, Mark Penn, even Bill Clinton himself. The new ABC News/Washington Post poll has Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., up on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in...

Hillary’s dismal performance in the debate at Drexel University was followed by more bad news: Americans don’t like her. In the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll, only 35% of Americans say she is likeable—a key indicator for the future results of her campaign. Long before John Edwards and Barack Obama brazenly referred to Hillary as a flip-flopper and a liar, Insight Magazine, in a Washington Watch column, declared that Hillary will turn out to be the John Kerry of 2008. It seems that Democrats are beginning to agree: they have at last begun to realize that her flip-flopping will be...

According to the latest CBS News poll (Oct. 12-16), Hillary Clinton is receiving 46 percent of the love from her party faithful and leading the Democrat primary race for the 2008 general election. But according to the latest Zogby poll, she’s also leading the race for the most despised candidate in the country… Zogby asked the question, “Whom would you NEVER vote for, for President of the U.S.?” With the Presidents public approval rating around 30 percent and congress all the way down at 11 percent, what a great question! Zogby asked this question of 9,718 “likely voters” (Democrats, Republicans...

While she is winning wide support in nationwide samples among Democrats in the race for their party’s presidential nomination, half of likely voters nationwide said they would never vote for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows. The online survey of 9,718 likely voters nationwide showed that 50% said Clinton would never get their presidential vote. This is up from 46% who said they could never vote for Clinton in a Zogby International telephone survey conducted in early March. Older voters are most resistant to Clinton – 59% of those age 65 and older said they...

While she is winning wide support in nationwide samples among Democrats in the race for their party’s presidential nomination, half of likely voters nationwide said they would never vote for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows. The online survey of 9,718 likely voters nationwide showed that 50 percent said Clinton would never get their presidential vote. This is up from 46 percent who said they could never vote for Clinton in a Zogby International telephone survey conducted in early March. Older voters are most resistant to Clinton — 59 percent of those age 65 and...

Other top tier candidates in both parties win more acceptance; Richardson & Huckabee favored most While she is winning wide support in nationwide samples among Democrats in the race for their party’s presidential nomination, half of likely voters nationwide said they would never vote for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows. The online survey of 9,718 likely voters nationwide showed that 50% said Clinton would never get their presidential vote. This is up from 46% who said they could never vote for Clinton in a Zogby International telephone survey conducted in early March. Older voters...

CONCORD, N.H. - Don Schwartz, who describes himself as "a super-Deaniac progressive type," decided to back Hillary Clinton - whose centrist views, he concedes, do not necessarily match his own - for a simple reason. He wanted, finally, to be with a winner.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Long before the 2008 campaign began, Liz Belden thought she would support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). As a feminist, she believed it would be good for the country to finally elect a woman as president. Today, she supports Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), impressed by his intellect and what she believes is his capacity to unite the country. "I want a woman president who is the right person. I'm not convinced this one is," Belden said. "My problem with her is, too many times I feel she says things for political expediency." As Belden spoke, others...

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton's opponents are hyping this bit of conventional wisdom: If she wins the Democratic nomination, her high negative ratings in polls will make it difficult for her to win the general election in November 2008. Karl Rove, the guru behind President Bush's political career, framed this widely held view last month when he called Clinton a "fatally flawed" candidate. "There is no front-runner who has entered the primary season with negatives as high as she has in the history of modern polling," Rove told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. "She's going into the general election with...

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton's opponents are hyping this bit of conventional wisdom: If she wins the Democratic nomination, her high negative ratings in polls will make it especially difficult for her to win the general election in November 2008. "There is no front-runner who has entered the primary season with negatives as high as she has in the history of modern polling," Rove said. But some polling experts said Clinton's negatives — generally about 45 percent of people tell pollsters they view her unfavorably — may not be politically fatal or much of a drag. Unfavorable ratings in the 40s...

Edwards' wife talks of Clinton 'hatred' By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, says "hatred" of his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton would motivate Republicans to vote against her in the general election. "I want to be perfectly clear: I do not think the hatred against Hillary Clinton is justified," Elizabeth Edwards said in an interview with Time magazine out this week. "I don't know where it comes from. I don't begin to understand it. But you can't pretend it doesn't exist, and it will energize the Republican base. Their...

My friend Pat Curley of the excellent Brainster's Blog reports on a new Rasmussen Poll that asked voters who they defintely would never vote for. And the winner is...Mitt Romney by a hair: '...The Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 44% of Likely Voters would definitely vote against Romney if he’s on the ballot in 2008. That’s a point higher than the 43% who would definitely vote against Clinton. Only one other possible candidate surpassed Clinton in this category all year (former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who is not considered a candidate at this time). [snip] On a net...

Democrats face a potentially disastrous conundrum in the 2008 presidential nominating race: Sen. Hillary Clinton, the front-runner, is the most disliked candidate among her party's contenders. Despite her strong lead over her closest rivals, the New York senator draws the general electorate's highest negative ratings of anyone in the race, Republican or Democrat, when pollsters ask voters if they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each candidate. A Gallup survey Aug. 3-5 found 49 percent of the 1,012 Americans polled said they had an unfavorable opinion of her, while 47 percent were favorable. Gallup asks this question every year...

WASHINGTON -- Democrats face a potentially disastrous conundrum in the 2008 presidential nominating race: Sen. Hillary Clinton, the front-runner, is the most disliked candidate among her party's contenders. Despite the strong lead she holds over her closest rivals, the New York senator draws the general electorate's highest negative ratings of anyone in the race, Republican or Democrat, when pollsters ask the voters if they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each candidate. A Gallup survey conducted from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5 found that 49 percent of the 1,012 Americans they polled said they had an unfavorable opinion of...

Andy Arnold is the chairman of the Greenville, SC, Democratic Party. He was recently quoted in THIS ARTICLE by Ron Fournier of the Associated Press. "The argument with Hillary right now in some of these red states is she's so damn unpopular," said Andy Arnold, chairman of the Greenville, S.C., Democratic Party. "I think Hillary is someone who could drive folks on the other side out to vote who otherwise wouldn't." "Republicans are upset with their candidates," Arnold added, "but she will make up for that by essentially scaring folks to the polls." FROM THE FOURNIER ARTICLE: Unlike Crooks, most...

RAISING THE NEGATIVES: The Democrats Plan to Win in ‘08 By MHGinTN and grey_foxx39 In the 2006 election, Limbaugh and even the President thought that the base was going to be there supporting like they always do. But, that didn’t happen. WHY? Because the power rests with the people who vote. posted by Pan_Yans Wife Let’s take a moment to address that simple truth. What platform issues encourage people so they make the effort to vote and be counted in the determination of our future leadership? … Oh, wait! That’s not how elections are won or lost in this era...

Seeking recommendations on a 35 mm slide and negative film scanner in the < $300 price range. I have googled the following: 1- PrimeFilm 1800i USB Film Scanner 1800 dpi $100.00 2- Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Dual IV 3200 dpi $220.00 3- Plustek OpticFilm 7200 Film Scanner 7200 dpi $190.00 Any comments or recommendations on these three product or any other film scanner greatly appreciated.