OBAMA CAMPAIGN HIDES THE CHAMPAGNE

"Hey, where’s the bubbly? The landmark feature at Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club in Manhattan is a dazzling, 18-foot champagne tower — 350 gold bottles in all, from what’s said to be his favorite brand, Armand de Brignac — a highlight of the nightspot’s $10 million renovation earlier this year. But at the hip-hop mogul’s fundraiser for President Obama Tuesday night, the wall of glitz was discreetly covered up under a dark dropcloth, reports our colleague Amy Gardner. Hmmm — an optics thing, you think?"- WASHINGTON POST

OBAMA CAMPAIGN CAUGHT IN ANOTHER LIE

"Oops? President Barack Obama's re-election campaign washed its hands Wednesday of an independent group's vicious (and misleading) ad effectively blaming Mitt Romney for the death of a laid-off steelworker's wife from cancer. Campaign officials flatly denied any knowledge of the facts in the case—but it turns out the widower told the same story on an Obama campaign conference call in mid-May."-  YAHOO NEWS

SOCIALISTS IN THE HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT?

"May Day is a day on which socialist party faithful and labor unions have traditionally held massive anti-capitalist protests, and on Tuesday some liberal organizers used the occasion to rekindle the Occupy Wall Street movement’s flames."-DAILY CALLER

You've got to wonder why an Obama Administration appointee working in Homeland Security would tweet “Happy May Day! #solidarity.”  But, Nate Snyder, the special adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for “Community Partnership and Strategic Engagement did just that on Monday.   And the Democrats wonder why so many people consider Obama a socialist after he puts people like Synder with his leanings into departments like Homeland Security. Of course he also appointed others like Van Jones into other positions in his administration so there is a pattern here.

And of course there is this:"Yesterday, the Obama campaign unveiled its new slogan, "Forward." As we pointed out here at Breitbart News, the slogan borrows not just from left-wing cable network MNSBC's "Lean Forward," but also from decades of communist iconography."   -BIG GOVERNMENT

Report from the Republican Convention

I've been here in St Paul for a week and have not had much time to blog or even do more than some walks around the XCEL convention center. Now that the Republicans have arrived and the convention begining there will be even less time. Things are starting to heat up on a number of levels. Security is getting tighter and we were advised yesterday to hide our credential when leaving the building because there were reports the more radical protesters aka anarchists were macing people and cutting the credentials from around there necks in an attempt to gain access to the convention. Stay tuned to see if they do succeed. I the meantime here are some images I took in the last week:

You knew security was tightening when last week you began to notice things like workers welding the manhole covers around the EXCEL center welding the manhole cover shut.

Last week the convention floor was filled with bags of ballons 100,000 of them before they lifted them up to the ceiling . I think one of the highlights for me at this convention will be when they drop them from the rafters it should be quite a show.

ALERT THE MEDIA!

The media has arrived! That's CNN's Wolf Blitzer with Bill Bennet and Donna Brazil.

Yesterday the delegetes began to arrive. It's about time to get this party started!

Micropolitics: Mark Penn out of Clinton campaign

"ALBUQUERQUE, April 6 -- Mark J. Penn quit Sunday as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief strategist, the second shake-up in her campaign's top ranks"-Washington Post

Looks like one of the smartest guys has just left the Clinton campaign. I recommend reading Marl Penn's book MICROTRENDS. In that book he was looking at the little changes that can mean in lot in the big picture. I ran into Penn a few months ago and told him how much I liked his book. I then told him to don't forget us Lou Dobbs Democrats that we are still out here. He had a surprised look on his face when I said that. It will be interesting to see what happens to the Clinton campaign from here on.

Sub prime McCain?

"By last November, John McCain's presidential campaign was broke. To survive, he offered his fundraising lists as collateral for a $3 million line of credit from a local bank. But obtaining the loan required an unusual extra step: He had to take out a special life insurance policy in case he did not survive the campaign."-Washington Post

Well at least it was not an adjustable sub prime loan. When it comes to politics it is always useful to follow the money. Here is another money quote on McCain's loan:

"Cleta Mitchell, a Republican campaign finance lawyer who has been a critic of McCain's, said she believes the arrangement raises serious questions. "Did they base this loan on the fact that, even if he lost, he would still be a sitting senator and able to raise money?" she asked. "In my mind, that raises questions about whether he complied with Senate ethics rules," which bar members from using their position to negotiate financial terms that an average citizen could not. "

So John McCain gets a loan from this bank using his political donor list as collateral. I wonder how much of a loan the average person could get if they used their Christmas list as collateral. File this in the Hmmmm file.

Is McCain riding the B.S. express to victory in New Hampshire?.

John McCain may be on a roll in New Hampshire but, not because of his "straight talk express". I was watching "highlights" of the Republican debate in New Hampshire. Although he tried Mitt Romney did not quite smack down John McCain on the immigration amnesty bill that McCain helped cook up last summer behind closed doors. But, it's not all Romney's fault because he and many others keep getting got the facts wrong thanks to the mainstream media where the Romney campaign are probably getting their debate points. Perhaps they should turn to the blogosphere where those of us who were following the issue pointed out how bad the immigration bill McCain supported really was. For example Romney tried to point out that the illegals would pay only %5,000 in fines if the the bill which McCain supported passed. WRONG! It was much worse than that! As I and others pointed out last year:
"The illegal immigrants under the Senate Amnesty Bill ONLY HAS TO PAY A FINE OF $1,000 to become legal to work indefinitely in the United States under the Senate amnesty bill. They ONLY have to pay the additional $4,000 IF the want to become a U.S. citizen."
If Romney had had his facts straight he could have put McCain away by attacking his Achilles heal which is his support for last years illegal immigrant bill. But, as I said it is not all Romney's fault. Even the mainstream media outlets like Time and the New York Times got the information wrong.

The Iowa butt kissing ends tonight.

I've been avoiding a lot of mainstream media hype of the Iowa caucus. Though I keep thinking about how all the butt kissing by the candidates and their spouses will end this evening and the state returns back to normal by morning. The campaign jets will have been warmed up by the time caucus begin whisking the candidates, staff and news media of to New Hampshire. I imagine the talk in many of cafes will once again turn to corn prices and spring planting. As it should.

Hillary Clinton's Jeff Gannon moment

Hypocrisy in politics? I am shocked. It seems the Hillary Clinton's campaign has been using people planted in the audience to ask questions at some of her campaign stops. Many Democrats including this one where outraged when the White House use a similar technique using "journalist" Jeff Gannon to lob softball questions to President Bush at a White House press conference. People should be equally outraged by the actions of the Clinton campaign.

The delusion of John McCain

"Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will launch a high-profile effort next week to convince Americans that the Iraq war is winnable, embracing the unpopular conflict with renewed vigor as he attempts to reignite his stalling bid for the presidency."-Washington Post

John McCain is done! Only the talking head Washington pundents, mainstream media and John McCain don't know it yet. It's not that he is standing behind blundering boy Bush on the Iraq debacle. He also lost his conservative base when he started tongue kissing with Ted Kennedy on amnesty for illegal immigrants. Something the mainstream media has been ignoring until recently. It's sad because I think John McCain would have made a good President had he defeated George Bush in the 2000 Republican primaries. But, between his stand on Iraq and his stand on illegal immigration amnesty he has become delusional and out of touch with the country as much as George W. Bush has been.

Have I got a Presidential candidate for you!

If you don't trust John McCain and Rudolf Giuliani to protect our borders and curb illegal immigration. If you are sick of the free rides offered by the mainstream media on the Obama bandwagon. If you are tired of waiting around for Hillary to admit she made a mistake about the Iraq War vote. If you know in your heart that their are much smarter people in Texas than President Bush. Then have a got a candidate for you!:

Congressman RON PAUL

Who is Ron Paul you say? Get a little taste by reading this.