Right On The Right

This is a unique ad that puts a hit to Al Franken without exactly putting a hit to Al Franken. Secret balloting is on the rise, and more workers are realizing they deserve to have a fair say without the guy upstairs knowing that he's the one that wanted a change. Beautiful:

Ohio readers, and astute readers in general, will know that back before the Ohio Primary Cycle I made two big endorsements. I decided to endorse Kirk Schuring for Ohio's 16th and Paul Phillips for Ohio's 18th. Kirk won his Primary by a hair and Paul Phillips lost out to Fred Dailey, the former Secretary of Agriculture here in Ohio. Since then, boy have there been problems with the Schuring campaign. I haven't received one press release since the victory back in March, and sources close to the campaign say it has to do with a big internal shake-up. Whether it be staff-related or money-related, I know that bloggers are being left out in the cold. I'm not the only one. I did a quick search of Weapons of Mass Discussion, a site known for having all the campaign news, and the last mention of the Schuring race was the night after primary night! Can you say media blackout? Meanwhile, from the Dailey campaign, whom I didn't endorse...:

Mount Vernon, OH) – Fred Dailey, Republican candidate for Congress in Ohio's 18th District, praised the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down the District of Columbia Gun Ban. This decision clearly protects the rights of U.S. citizens to bear arms.

"The Supreme Court made a common-sense ruling today to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms," Dailey said. "This decision affirms that our second amendment right is an individual right and that firearms will continue to be a part of the American culture. This decision also underscores the importance of having a Supreme Court that defends our constitutional rights instead of legislating from the bench."

And that's just one of about half a dozen press releases I've received from Dailey's camp. In all honesty, I thought Dailey would have a harder time reaching out to bloggers, but he obviously chose the staff to do it. Schuring has dropped the ball and is quickly losing the battle for blog coverage. I decided to investigate the Schuring problem, but the real problem is there's no one to talk to. It took me days of digging and all I've been told is the internal shake-up has left media advisories not being sent out to the blogosphere and staff unpaid. Stay classy Kirk, and good job to Dailey. ROTR endorses Fred Dailey for Ohio's 18th Congressional District, and I am left baffled by the events coming out of Schuring's HQ in Canton.

One of the big talking points of this campaign is that John McCain is simply "running for George Bush's third term", saying that he will continue to represent the same people and push the same policies. Conservatives surely know that John McCain is a very different politician that George W. Bush but Barack and his campaign keep pushing the line, as do various Democrat outlets across the nation. What does this story do to that talking point?:

In defiance of traditional party labels, Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, may ask the defence secretary of President George W Bush to stay on if he wins the White House.

Obama’s top foreign policy and national security advisers are pressing the case for keeping Robert Gates at the Pentagon after he won widespread praise for his performance. The move would be in keeping with Obama’s desire to appoint a cabinet of all the talents…

Richard Danzig, an adviser to Obama on national security and a former navy secretary, said: “My personal position is Gates is a very good secretary of defence and would be an even better one in an Obama administration.”…

Gates recently said Obama and John McCain, his Republican rival, were likely to take a “sensible approach” to Iraq because “the next president would suffer the greatest consequences if we do get the endgame wrong”. Retaining Gates would give Obama “cover” for adjusting his policy if necessary, while reassuring Republicans that withdrawing from Iraq would not imperil national security.

The last bit about political cover for changing the winning strategy in Iraq probably best explains Obama's motivations, but the entire story still presents a problem to the Obama strategy. Is he aiming for compromise with the Republican ideals that have been put in place over the past decade or so or is he aiming for "pure change" from what's been happening? As far as I know, he's selling himself as both of those things. Is Barack Obama the liberal Messiah or is he just running for Bush's third term?