By: Suzanne Rosenberg In today's news from newspaper campaign blogs: The Obama haircut, Burnout Paradise billboards for Obama, and the Chamber of Commerce vs. Franken. Nader wants a seat to watch the debate, Buckley "fatwahed.?
The Obama haircutThe Swamp
The Chicago Tribune
By Frank James
Frank James reports that the Orlando Sentinel has found a barber in the Orlando area that is cutting haircuts with Obama's name, stars, and the candidate's likeness into kids? hair. The barbers are doing this upon request.
Obama looking for "virtual" votesBy Mark Silva
The "virtual maniac driver" voting bloc is the latest target of the campaign coffers of Sen. Barack Obama, notes Mark Silva, also of the Swamp. Gamers who play ?Burnout Paradise? for the Xbox 360 will notice that billboards within the game feature an advertisement from Obama that says early voting has begun, and has the URL of his campaign Web site. ?The Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout," according to Electronic Arts Director of Corporate Communications.
U.S. Chamber comes out swinging against Franken, others in local contestsTop of the Ticket
The Los Angeles Times
By Don Moran
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading an all-out attack on labor-backed legislation in select races. The Employee Free Choice Act, which is pending in Congress, will make it easier for unions to organize by allowing them to convince a majority of employees to sign cards supporting the union -- as opposed to holding secret ballot elections. Employers would have to remain neutral on organizing efforts in the pending legislation. While in the national campaign larger issues such as the economy, health care, and the war have dominated the discussion, Obama has supported the concept and McCain has come out in opposition. In local and state elections, however, the issue has been far more visible. Case in point: the Senate race in Minnesota between Norm Coleman, the Republican incumbent, and former comedian and SNL writer Al Franken, the Democratic candidate, who are locked in a tight race for the U.S. Senate seat. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent $1.44 million in Minnesota alone attacking Franken and his position in favor of the legislation. According to Don Moran, the Chamber is afraid that labor could push through the legislation in a Senate with a 60-40-seat Democratic majority, "which is where the Franken-Coleman contest comes in."
Nader and other third-party candidates want to at least attend final debatePolitical Intelligence
The Boston Globe
By Foon Rhee
The commission running the presidential debates evidently do not believe that third-party candidate Ralph Nader will meet the threshold of 15% national support, thereby allowing him to participate in the third and final presidential debate Wednesday evening. He has written a letter to the commission asking that he and the other third-party candidates at least be included in the audience. He suggests, according to Foon Rhee, that in the spirit of fairness they should be allowed into the debates since the commission does not make the secret polls that it uses to determine the threshold public and that the three other third-party candidates are on the majority of state ballots. Their inclusion in the audience is only "common courtesy," according to Mr. Nader.
Christopher Buckley" fatwahed"By Patricia Cohen
We reported here that Christopher Buckley questioned the "authenticity" of Republican candidate John McCain and therefore publicly endorsed Barack Obama. Yesterday, he resigned from the National Review, the political journal which his father founded in 1955 and where the younger Mr. Buckley has written the back page column. Patricia Cohen reported that Buckley asserted that he had "been effectively fatwahed by the conservative movement." He has been bombarded with hate mail at both TheDailyBeast.com where he made the Obama endorsement and at the National Review. As a result, he wrote to the National Review offering to resign. The offer was "rather briskly" accepted according to Buckley, who added, turning Ronald Reagan's quote about the Democrats on its head, "I haven't left the Republican Party. It left me."
Call for GOP poll watchers in WisconsinThe Trail
The Washington Post
By Mary Pat Flaherty
The local Wisconsin Republican Party called for Milwaukee area veterans, policemen, security personnel, and others to volunteer as poll watchers for election day at inner city and ?intimidating? polling places. The e-mail request fell into the hands of an Obama supporter, who then passed the message on to the Senator's campaign -- which made it public it after a news conference at which voter registration, education and voter protection were discussed. Mary Pat Flaherty reports in the Trail, that Kirsten Kukowski a spokesperson for the McCain campaign responded by saying, "This is much ado about nothing ? and that the release of the e-mail was an attempt by Obama to draw attention away from voter registration fraud problems."
Trail Mix's Featured Blogs:Chicago Tribune:
The SwampLos Angeles Times:
Top of the TicketThe Boston Globe:
Political IntelligenceThe Denver Post:
Politics WestThe New York Times:
The CaucusThe Wall Street Journal:
The Washington WireThe Washington Post:
The Trail and
The FixUSA Today:
On Politics
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