Top Items:
Washington Post:
McCain Slights Spanish Prime Minister — The Union Radio interview with John McCain on issues of interest to Hispanics was conducted in English and only later translated into Spanish for listeners. The audio above is of the English-only interview. — By Glenn Kessler and Ed O'Keefe
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, AMERICAblog News, Think Progress, The Raw Story, The Huffington Post, The Daily Dish, TalkLeft, Hullabaloo, Alas, a blog, PoliBlog (TM), The Impolitic, D-Day, MSNBC, Matthew Yglesias, Emptywheel, The Jed Report, Booman Tribune, Boston Globe, Obsidian Wings and Kevin Drum
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
EMBARRASSING — Well, we've heard the interview now. And John McCain either doesn't know who the Prime Minister of Spain is, thinks Spain is a country in Latin America, or possibly both. — In case, you haven't seen our updates from last night, yesterday John McCain was interviewed …
Discussion:
MoJoBlog, TPM Election Central, The Huffington Post, The Nation, First Draft, The Reaction, Gawker, Liberal Values and The Poor Man Institute
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
EL CID — IN ENGLISH — The original untranslated English version of John McCain's interview with Radio Caracol Miami has now been released. — Have a listen (the key passage about Spain starts at 2:58 in): — At first it sounds like McCain is taking a hard neocon line against Prime Minister Zapatero …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Right Wing Nut House, The RBC, Wonkette, Brave New Films blog and Political Machine
Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
McCain camp stands by tough talk on Spain — John McCain pointedly declined to commit to a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in a radio interview this week, sparking a major story in Madrid. — Talking to a Latino-oriented radio station in Miami Monday morning …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Sheunemann: McCain Just Doesn't Want to Meet With Spain's PM — Wow. I really thought that John McCain's Spain gaffe was just that, a gaffe, wherein he somehow got confused about what was happening and didn't understand that the question about holding a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
RANDY GIVES IT HIS BEST SHOT
RANDY GIVES IT HIS BEST SHOT
Discussion:
Comments from Left Field
Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:
McCain Flub? Republican Says He'd Fire SEC Chair as President — ABC News' David Wright reports: At a joint rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Thursday, Republican John McCain slammed the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for being “asleep at the switch” saying that if he were president …
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Washington Wire:
McCain Calls for Firing of SEC Commissioner — Susan Davis reports on the presidential race. — John McCain has two words for Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox: You're Fired. — “The chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the president and has betrayed the public's trust.
Joseph Morton / Omaha World-Herald:
Sen. Hagel doubts Palin's ready — WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska on Wednesday became the nation's most prominent Republican officeholder to publicly question whether Sarah Palin has the experience to serve as president. — “She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials,” Hagel said in an interview.
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Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Obama 48%, McCain 44% — Marks Obama's first statistically significant lead in two weeks — PRINCETON, NJ — The Sept. 15-17 Gallup Poll Daily tracking update shows Barack Obama with a 48% to 44% lead over John McCain among registered voters, marking the first time that Obama …
Ronald Brownstein / National Journal Online:
Key Bush States Might Flip — BARACK OBAMA IS DOING WELL IN FOUR OF FIVE BUSH-WON BATTLEGROUNDS POLLED BY ALLSTATE/NATIONAL JOURNAL. — Propelled by dissatisfaction with the country's direction but hampered by doubts about his readiness for the presidency, Barack Obama is forcefully challenging John …
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Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight.com:
State of the Race: Is McCain In Trouble? — One of the unpleasant things you discover when you sit in major league baseball press boxes from time to time is that the press — or at least the print media — actually do not like close baseball games. A walk-off home run or a blown save means …
SilentPatriot / Crooks and Liars:
Epic Fail: Palin can't answer softball question about national security experience at first town hall meeting — Probably because she doesn't have any. At all. Well, not unless you count the proximity of Alaska to Russia. Sarah Palin made her first unscripted appearance Wednesday …
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Kathleen Hennessey / Associated Press:
Obama mocks McCain in Nevada stops — Barack Obama sharpened his attacks on John McCain and mocked the Republican's recent calls for reform in two stops in Nevada on Wednesday after days of listening to nervous supporters fret about the Democrat's chances of taking the White House.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, The Corner, Gateway Pundit, Exurban League, www.redstate.com and Macsmind
Joe Milicia / Associated Press:
Biden says McCain's economic answers go nowhere — CANTON, Ohio - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday called Republican John McCain's answers to the current economic crisis “the ultimate bridge to nowhere” and said that paying higher taxes would be patriotic for wealthier Americans.
Learfield / Radio Iowa:
McCain/Palin Rally in Cedar Rapids — I arrived on scene about an hour and a half before the event is to start. The traffic along I-380 was starting to get dicey, folks waiting in line to enter the parking area and wait for a shuttle to the airplane hanger where the rally will take place.
Joe Klein / Swampland:
Incoherence — This is shaping up as a pretty bad week for the McCain campaign. First, the economic fundamentals are sound. Then we're in a major crisis. He talks about the excessive compensation that CEOs receive, but continues to have Carly Fiorina ($100 million for her failed stewardship …
Yuval Levin / The Corner:
McCain on the Economy — In Iowa today, John McCain discussed the causes of the financial crisis in some detail, noted his history of calling for Fannie and Freddie reform, proposed some further moves (like the creation of a mortgage and financial institutions trust and, in classic McCain fashion …
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Natalie Gewargis / Political Punch:
Oh, That Joe! (No. 12 in a Series) — Are You Ready for Some Football? — Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., joked today that he decided to run for vice president when he realized he couldn't play professional football. But that's not stopping the senator from making the sport a prominent part of his campaign …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Clarke: Cuba's No State Sponsor of Terrorism — One obstacle to the adoption of a more humane and sensible Cuba policy is that the country has found itself on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. It's pretty clear to anyone who thinks about it that this is a politically …
Discussion:
American Footprints
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Glen Johnson / Associated Press:
McCain aides: Obama ‘cheerleading’ market crisis — CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Top aides to Republian John McCain are claiming Democrat Barack Obama and his advisers are exploiting Wall Street's financial problems for political gain. — Aide Steve Schmidt, who worked for the Bush-Cheney team in 2004 …