Ditka: Country First

He is fired up and emotional. Watch:

Roe Effect Revenge?

Well, it's Dick Morris analyzing the latest FoxNews poll, via Gateway Pundit:

A massive shift in younger and older voters is roiling the presidential race according to new data from the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll concluded October 28-29. Younger voters — under 45 — once Obama’s base, now are evenly divided between the two candidates. But voters over 65 have shifted sharply to the Democrat in the past week.

Voters under 45 supported Obama by 52-38 in the Fox News poll of October 21-22. But this week’s survey indicates that they now break evenly with 45% supporting Obama and 46% backing McCain. On the other hand, voters 65 and over, who had backed Obama by 46-42 last week have now shifted decisively in his favor and he now leads McCain among seniors by 54-39. Middle aged voters — aged 45-64 — are largely unchanged in their views. Last week they backed Obama by 48-40 and this week they still support him by 48-43.

Overall, the Fox News survey shows McCain narrowing Obama’s lead from 49-40 (9 points) to 47-44 (3 points) over the past week.

Is it the Roe Effect revenge? The hand that rocks the cradle rocks the vote? Is it the 9/11 generation coming through for America? Keep the faith folks.

Barack Obama's Blackmail Factor

You know, we recently had a tape emerge, after years in the shadows, with Sen. John McCain. But there was nothing damaging there, it showed Sen. McCain as a prisoner of the Viet Cong. John McCain's life is an open book. But Barack Obama's? If there is an October surprise it will be of his own making, though he has practically the entire MSM doing damage control for him--PR for the Politburo in training. Claudia Rosett raises a very disturbing point:

There’s a huge and much-overlooked reason for filling in those gaps in Barack Obama’s resume, and letting America’s voters see any and all tapes, transcripts and other documentation of his career and friendships — and fast. It’s called the potential for blackmail.[snip]

This is not to accuse anyone of planning to lever any still-secret information into undue influence over the Oval Office. But the best defense against that kind of thing in politics has always been genuine and full disclosure.

Take, for instance, the mysteries surrounding the refusal of the Los Angeles Times to release the video of the 2003 Khalidi dinner – Obama’s toasts and all. The people who were there know what Obama actually said, or applauded — or whatever actually happened. The source who gave the video to the LA Times knows (and it’s an intriguing question, why, if nothing untoward took place, a source would want confidentiality for providing a video of a festive and well-attended dinner). Obama knows — he was there. But the American public does not know.

It is not John McCain and Fox News who should be left to argue the case for a public airing of that tape. In the interest of good faith in asking the trust of American voters, it is Obama himself who should be trying to dig up it up, unedited; and in public, let it roll.

Yes, Obama was there--he knows what happened--don't you Barack. Just like you didn't fess up that you were there and made a toast to Nadhmi Auchi at Tony Rezko's house in Wilmette--an event that finally came out when Stuart Levine testified about it during the Rezko trial. Now the convicted Rezko is facing sentencing--and has started singing. What else does Rosett mention? Barack Obama's dealings with Tony Rezko on the purchase of Obama's house. John Batchelor, Human Events credits GOP Mom, who has discovered the existence of a restrictive covenant for the side yard, um adjacent lot Rezko purchased. That lot was zoned for multifamily development, and the covenant was an add on to limit development to single family. Read it all.

You may recall Rosett was the leading reporter on the UN Oil for Food Scandal, which also involved Auchi. One comment on Batchelor's post sums it up:

Bottom line: The purchase of the lot by Rita Rezko was a gift to Obama -- not unlike the gifts Ted Stevens was just found guilty of accepting.

Barack Obama is already intimidating the press, throwing them off his campaign plane, but it would be a sad day for democracy and the Fourth Estate if they are complicit in this cover-up and we are only left to rely on one US attorney in Chicago... who can be fired by the next president.

McCain for Permanent Cap Gains Cut

McCain going for the investor class--100 million Americans, the ownership society. Political Radar:

John McCain altered his tax plan Friday, saying for the first time that he would like to slash capital gains taxes in half on a permanent basis -- not just for the next two years.

"Look," McCain told CNBC's Larry Kudlow, "I'm at 7.5 percent, I'd like to keep it permanently at 7.5 percent."

Watch it here.

Originally, McCain wanted to maintain the current 15 percent tax rate on long-term capital gains.

Seventeen days ago, as part of his "Pension and Family Security Plan," he proposed reducing the capital gains tax rate to 7.5 percent for the next two years.

McCain is now calling for permanently reducing the capital gains rate to 7.5 percent, according to McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.

The Arizona senator told CNBC that he wants to lower capital gains taxes and keep them low to encourage investment in difficult economic times.

60 Seats: Now That's Scary

NRSC ad:

Freedom

New McCain TV ad. The closer--freedom:

An Iraq Vet: Dear Mr. Obama

Now the number one download on YouTube:

I am Sarah Palin!

Am I scary? Happy Halloween!

The Chicago Boys

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The free-market Chicago Boys, "Why the Really Rich Love Socialists" (like Barack Obama--who wants to skew taxation even more to go after Joe the Plumber's American Dream):

This article [h/t Instapundit] shows that the U.S. has a more progressive tax code than the democratic-socialist states of Europe.

Such a state of affairs should not come as a surprise. Our own history shows that the very wealthy benefit from leftist policies of high tax rates, “targeted” taxation and industrial policy.

The ugly truth is that the really wealthy can manipulate the political system to their own ends better than ordinary people.

The hacks and crooks in Barack Obama's adopted home town. WSJ, "The Chicago Boys":

For the past seven years, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has time and again put the Chicago machine through the prosecutorial cleaners. Come next week, a product of the Windy City's political culture may be on his way to the White House. Now would be a good time to know if a President Obama would keep the pressure on his friends back home.[snip]

A year after his election, Mr. Obama bought his home in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood with Mr. Rezko's help. At the time, he was the subject of a (then rumored) federal investigation. The men together looked at a house listed at $1.95 million. The seller insisted an adjoining lot must be sold simultaneously, though it was bound by a restrictive covenant that severely limited what the purchaser could do with the lot.

Nevertheless, on the same day that the Obamas offered $1.65 million -- the highest bid on the property -- Mr. Rezko's wife put in for the lot at the listed price of $625,000. (Mrs. Rezko earned $37,000 a year at the time and had assets of $35,000.) In 2006, Mrs. Rezko sold a 10 foot wide strip of her property to Mr. Obama for $112,000 to expand his garden. He paid nearly double the assessed value, but the sale made the Rezko lot less attractive to develop.

Though Barack Obama said after Rezko's conviction, "this isn't the Tony Rezko I knew", as the Journal points out Rezko has yet to tell his side of the story on his relationship with one Barack Obama.

And then there's the Obama Rahm-a. You don't want this America.

Obama Disses Farming

The Des Moines Register is carrying this, which betrays Barack Obama's elitist attitudes and ignorance:

Washington, D.C. — Barack Obama appeared to link farming with some of the nation's leading health problems, including obesity and heart disease, in a recent interview.

Obama - citing an article by Michael Pollan, an author and outspoken critic of U.S. farm policy - told Time magazine that agriculture is "partly responsible for the explosion in our health care costs because they're contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in health care costs."

Look--you can't trust Obama--he says one thing in Des Moines and something else in D.C. No wonder Iowa may be in play (why is he spending precious time there, hmm in the tank Swamp?)--he won there before the Rev. Wright's racist rants and his own bitter clinger remarks became known.

Vote for Joe, America

Battleground, Strategic Vision (Pa.), RCP average, Obama under that critical 50th percentile. Sarah challenging in Pennsylvania. And in Missouri only 65% of blacks are for Obama?!! We're on the air, we're on the ground. Joe the Plumber from Toledo, on the stump in Ohio for McCain-Palin:

Then, Wurzelbacher took the stage with a passion that matched what the audience had shown for the candidate.

"The only thing I've been saying is just get out and get informed. I mean really know what you're talking about when you're talking about it,” he said. “Don't take everyone's opinions. I came to my own opinions by research. Get involved in the government. That way we can hold our politicians accountable and take back our government.”

After the rally, Wurzelbacher worked the rope line, shaking hands and signing autographs. Before a modest crowd in Elyria, later in the day, Wurzelbacher encouraged Ohioans to vote for McCain, who he called “a real American.” And in Mentor, Ohio, a 3,000-person crowd chanted “Joe the Plumber” until he took the mike.

The Obama campaign and their supporters tried to destroy Joe the Plumber. Obama and the Chicago Boys. Don't let it happen America, no, no, no--vote for Joe, vote McCain-Palin, vote for the America we know and love--the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Obama Praising McCain

New McCain ad:

Ditka Endorsement of Palin

FoxNews blog:

Former Chicago Bears coach and Pennsylvanian, Mike Ditka, introduced Palin and gave a hearty endorsement of the Republican ticket–and the crowd a pep talk.

“I’m not here because I’m a Republican, which I am, and I’m not here because I’m a conservative, which I am. I’m here because I am an American. It’s time in this country you put party lines on the backburner and you put your country first.” Ditka said, “When I was growing up, it was back in 1963. Then John Kennedy became president-he made a statement: ‘ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.’ Now, it seems to be just the opposite. This is the land of opportunity. It’s not a land of handouts. If you’re willing to work, you can find a job. I want to say how proud I am because I think Sarah Palin epitomizes all the good things, all the good values, of this country. She’s a wife, she’s a mother, she’s a hockey mom, she’s a part-time coach. She was a great leader and is a great leader in the state of Alaska, and she will make a great vice president of the United States, Sarah Palin.”

UPDATE: Gov. Sarah Palin on GMA. Byron York, NRO with Sarah Palin in Pennsylvania:

It’s connecting; this is an audience that knows its Bill Ayers from its Rashid Khalidi. But here in Pennsylvania, white working-class voters seem to remember one thing about Obama above everything else: his remark, made six months ago, that when the economy goes bad, people like them, in places like this, “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them.” That rankled them at the time, and it rankles them now.

“We were referred to as ‘bitter’ because we treasure the Second Amendment and choose to practice our faith on a daily basis,” Rob Kauffman, a local state representative, tells the crowd before Palin arrives. “Ladies and gentlemen, they just don’t get it.”

Huge cheers. And still more when Palin talks about “a candidate who would lavish praise on working people when they are listening, and then talk about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when they aren’t listening.” As the audience roars, she adds, “You know what I’m talking about! We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Shippensburg and another way in San Francisco!”

Here’s a tip for the McCain-Palin campaign: If you really want to win Pennsylvania, you might want to make sure that everyone in the state hears Obama’s “bitter clinging” soundbite at least once an hour from now until Election Day.

And while you’re at it, send Palin to central, southern, western, and northern Pennsylvania — pretty much every except Philadelphia. “I love her, and I was so thrilled when John McCain picked her,” a woman named Janice, from Mechanicsburg, tells me. “I think she’s more qualified than Barack Obama. They say she’s not qualified, but they ought to look at the top of their ticket.”

Obama Aunt Lives in Poverty

I guess charity begins at home is an old-fashioned concept. It was the UK press, not our MSM (surprise, surprise) who unearthed this--Dreams from my aunt.

Barack Obama: Red Star Rising

No nuance here, no, no, no. Obama supporters in Minnesota put a Red Star smack in the middle of his logo, obliterating his little over the rainbow lie. It's Red Star Rising--Barack Obama's hope and change, Soviet style. Stanley Kurtz, NRO gives us the straight talk on Obama's socialism:

A variety of evidence now indicates, with a high degree of likelihood, that Barack Obama was a member of the far-left New Party, which also endorsed him in his first run for the Illinois state senate in 1996. Obama’s New party ties graphically illustrate the connection between his troubling “associations” and the core economic issues of the presidential campaign. The New Party’s agenda was radically redistributionist. More important, the New Party’s specific strategy for achieving its economic goals precisely paralleled Obama’s now infamous 2001 radio remarks on “major redistributive change.”

Kurtz cites a number of sources, unearths some new ties with the founder of the New Party, and asks this question:

Are Obama’s radical plans all in the past? There is no reason to think so. Aside from the fact that 2001 is not very long ago, Obama shows every sign of hoping to build a base for long-term economic change from below. Obama’s has promised a massive national service program closely allied with the nonprofit sector. In conjunction with this, Obama plans to remove “barriers for smaller nonprofits to participate in government programs.” In other words, Obama plans a massive effort to funnel America’s youth into volunteer work alongside the likes of ACORN. Not only might Obama’s favorite community organizers soon be training your child, the ultimate goal is arguably to bring to fruition Rogers’s dream of “popular governance rooted in mass democratic organization.” Over time, that is, a substantial new public sector, composed of radical community organizers and politicized student “volunteers,” would form the nucleus of a newly “democratized” capitalism. Some might call this the New Party road to de facto socialism.

Let's recall how he started his political career in Chicago. Let's look at where he channeled money meant for education. Then there are Barack Obama's own words, beyond spreading Joe the Plumber's wealth, even more recently than his WBEZ remarks of 2001, his rant in Daily Kos after Katrina--let's purge the Democrat moderates. Let's fool the public--Alinsky in action. Let's overwhelm the system. Sounds like someone else, doesn't it, his spiritual mentor of 20 years--what else is it but radical racist class envy:What else is it but hatred for the America we know and love. Barack Obama sees a red star rising over America.

Mike Ditka for McCain-Palin

In Pennsylvania on Fox, Ditka's at a campaign rally right now with the Palin family. They're wearing Halloween costumes--he's not:)

P.S. Of course Gov. Palin goes as Tina Fey. McCain scores appearing on Saturday Night Live this final weekend before the vote.

Obama Punishes Skeptics

It's the new imperial Barack Obama regime already, punishing skeptics by pushing them off his campaign plane. Per Drudge:

The Obama campaign has decided to heave out three newspapers from its plane for the final days of its blitz across battleground states -- and all three endorsed Sen. John McCain for president!

The NY POST, WASHINGTON TIMES and DALLAS MORNING NEWS have all been told to move out by Sunday to make room for network bigwigs -- and possibly for the inclusion of reporters from two black magazines, ESSENCE and JET, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Despite pleas from top editors of the three newspapers that have covered the campaign for months at extraordinary cost, the Obama campaign says their reporters -- and possibly others -- will have to vacate their coveted seats so more power players can document the final days of Sen. Barack Obama's historic campaign to become the first black American president.

MORE

Some told the DRUDGE REPORT that the reporters are being ousted to bring on documentary film-makers to record the final days; others expect to see on board more sympathetic members of the media, including the NY TIMES' Maureen Dowd, who once complained that she was barred from McCain's Straight Talk Express airplane.

Um Maureen Dowd is not a reporter. As for the rest left on the plane...

At least there is some comfort--they can chronicle his defeat.

Rally with Joe in Ohio

Gov. Sarah Palin introduces Joe the Plumber at a rally in Bowling Green. Video:

Is this the tape?

Is this the tape they're suppressing?

Oops, guess not.

Reuters:AQ Sorta Endorses Dems

Newsbusters:

Reuters has reported today that an al Qaeda video calling for the humiliation of President George W. Bush and Republicans isn't really an endorsement of Barack Obama and the Democrats in the upcoming election. Huh? Does Reuters have comprehension skill problems or are they desperate to protect the Obama campaign from the charge that the best known terrorist organization in the world favors them? Read the Reuters story titled, "Qaeda wants Republicans, Bush "humiliated": Web Video," and you be the judge (emphasis mine):

DUBAI (Reuters) - An al Qaeda leader has called for President George W. Bush and the Republicans to be "humiliated," without endorsing any party in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to a video posted on the Internet.

Full post here.

P.S. We are to believe AQ is sorta non-partisan, as is Reuters.

Tito Tells it Like it Is

Via Hillbuzz. Tito the Builder tells off the MSM, tells it like it is. He got in a good quip too:) Watch:

Khalidi of the PLO

UPDATE: Free the tape!!! Photos and video outside LA Times***Obama's babysitter just another guy in the neighborhood Rashid Khalidi continues to deny he was a PLO spokesman when it was classified as a terrorist organization by the State Dept. Via LGF, Martin Kramer, Olin Institute Senior Fellow at Harvard:

As for Khalidi's denial, there are ample grounds to question it. In 2004, when he made it, Khalidi wrote that between 1976 and 1983, "I was teaching full time as an Assistant Professor in the Political Studies and Public Administration Dept. at the American University of Beirut, published two books and several articles, and also was a research fellow at the independent Institute for Palestine Studies." Khalidi claimed he had time for little else. "I often spoke to journalists in Beirut, who usually cited me without attribution as a well-informed Palestinian source. If some misidentified me at the time, I am not aware of it."

Now if someone misidentified me on the pages of the New York Times—Tom Friedman, no less—I'm sure I would be aware of it. So would you. Yet Khalidi did not seek a correction of Friedman's characterization at the time, although the Times regularly issues corrections of such mistakes, and presumably would have done the same for Khalidi.

The NY Times says so so it must be true...this time we will give them the benefit of the doubt. We still want to see the tape MSM. More from Kramer:

Khalidi's self-description as being a preoccupied professor while in Beirut also contradicts a statement he made in a 2005 interview. After listing the stations in his academic career, he was asked this question: "You were also involved politically as well?" Khalidi: "Well, yes. I was deeply involved in politics in Beirut."

It is worth explaining what it meant to be "deeply involved in politics in Beirut" during the civil war in Lebanon. It was not at all like community organizing in Chicago.

Not quite.

UPDATE: Jaw-dropper response from the LA Times. Gateway Pundit. Hugh Hewitt on the wreck that is the LA Times.

Obama Rahm-a

Rahm approached for White House chief of staff? The Chicago Way Obama administration rears its ugly head:

"Emanuel is among the most vitriolic and partisan people in American politics," said Alex Conant, a Republican National Committee spokesman. "Reports that Obama wants him to be White House chief of staff undercut any claims to unity and bipartisanship, and should alarm every voter."

I should say. They might have to hide the knives. From an earlier post quoting a Salon piece:

That night, on the northwest side, Rahm Emanuel was elected to Congress. A former Clinton whiz kid who'd gotten his start as a fundraiser for Mayor Richard M. Daley, Emanuel was connected -- in the three years after leaving the White House (where he'd helped push through NAFTA), he earned $16 million putting together Wall Street mergers. He was also zealously partisan. He had once owned a consulting business devoted to finding skeletons in Republican closets. At a Clinton victory dinner in Little Rock in 1992, Emanuel celebrated by reciting a hoped-for necrology of Democrats who had "fucked" the president-elect. After every name, he stabbed a steak knife into a table and screamed, "Dead man!"

He's a practitioner of vulture politics and a great buddy of Barack's. They share a hardball style. But what about that lurking Dem sex and corruption scandal, hmm Rahm?

What does this say about Barack Obama's judgment and character? (Especially after that boneheaded pick of Joe Hidin' Biden) Oh sure Hope and Change--the Obama Rahm-a duo is suspect.

Slippery Slope

New RNC ad:

Obama for Infanticide

Students for Life of America. "Planned Parenthood Admits Infanticide, Obama Defends" Video: These children can't sing songs for The One.

Obama's Chicago vs. America

As we know, Chicago is now the murder capitol of the country. VDH makes a passing reference to this in his column on America Compared to What?:

Fourth, the war in Iraq is no longer even a war in a traditional sense. Four times as many Americans were murdered just in the city of Chicago at peace in July than all those Americans who were killed in Iraq at war in the same period. The cost of deploying American troops in Iraq is nearing the expense to station them elsewhere abroad. As Iraqis continue to take over additional provinces, the American presence will further shrink.

So Barack--maybe you should have shown some kind of real profile in courage at home rather than jetting around the country making speeches congratulating yourself.

Bean Dropped the Ball on Fannie-Freddie

Melissa Bean dropped the ball on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--in fact her proposals would have made their eventual failure even worse. From the Steve Greenberg campaign:

Bean’s Ties to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Continue to Deepen

Attempted to Increase Fannie’s and Freddie’s Role in the Housing Market Despite the Looming Economic Crisis

LAKE ZURICH, IL 10/30/08 – Five months after undermining potential regulation of Fannie and Freddie with her “Bean-Neugebauer” amendment, Bean introduced a bill seeking to increase the portfolio caps of the mortgage giants by 10%. Bean’s solution to the mortgage crisis, HR 3777, was to “boost Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s investment in the roiling mortgage market”¹ at a time when regulators were attempting to restrict the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) to protect the economy.

Thankfully, the bill never even made it out of committee, but it further affirms Bean’s lack of economic foresight and her willingness to cozy up with special interests.

“My opponent has a troubling history of siding with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while ignoring the potential damage to hard-working American families’ pocketbooks,” stated Congressional Candidate Steve Greenberg. “Fannie and Freddie played a large role in leading our nation into this economic crisis, and if Melissa Bean had her way, the damage to our economy would have been even worse when they failed.”

Melissa Bean’s attempts to increase Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s portfolios cement her role in the economic crisis, as many economists point to the mortgage giants as major contributors to the economic downturn. Even former President Bill Clinton said, “I think the responsibility the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was President to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”²

Steve Greenberg is the Republican Nominee for Congress in the 8^th Congressional District of Illinois. A successful businessman from Long Grove, IL, Steve will reform Washington by giving the power back to the people, allowing them to make decisions for their own family. He will cut taxes, eliminate government waste, fight for lower gas prices and work to ensure the safety of our families.

1. http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/il08_bean/071010GSEHR3777.html

2. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/260301

Fess Up Jeff: Ties to Indicted Cellini

Brendan Appel is smart, hard-working, and principled. It's long past time for Democrat pay to player Jeff Schoenberg to go. The Appel campaign:

THE MATH ADDS UP FOR SCHOENBERG: $12,500 FOR BLAGOJEVICH, $1,000 FROM CELLINI CONNECTED GROUP & A JOB FOR HIS WIFE FROM TONY REZKO

Schoenberg Received Contribution From Cellini Group, Ties to ‘Pay to Play’ Culture Grow Stronger

KENILWORTH, IL — With today’s indictment of Springfield power broker William “Bill” Cellini on federal corruption charges, Senate District nominee Brendan Appel called on Senator Jeff Schoenberg to come clean about his ties, not only to convicted influence peddler Antoin “Tony” Rezko, but to Cellini and a contribution Schoenberg received from the Good Government Council, a Cellini-connected political action committee.

Cellini was indicted today, as a result of the ongoing “Operation Board Games” investigation by federal authorities into state corruption, on one count each of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe.

Disclosures to the Illinois State Board of Elections reveal Jeff Schoenberg has received $1,000 from the Ilinois Asphalt Pavers Association’s Good Government Council, a political action committee and organization that Cellini has run for the past several years. Schoenberg’s connection to the ‘Pay to Play” culture in Springfield grows ever stronger with the revelation yesterday that Schoenberg went to convicted influence peddler Tony Rezko to get a state board chairmanship for his wife, along with contributing $12,500 to Blagojevich’s campaign (Blagojevich and Schoenberg have not been accused of any wrongdoing).

“With only five days to go in the campaign, Jeff Schoenberg’s connections to the ‘Pay to Play’ culture in Springfield grow ever stronger,” said Appel. “His ties to Blagojevich, Rezko, and Cellini, while troubling, speak for themselves. Working families in the 9th District deserve better.”

Kirk Sweeps Endorsements

Mark Kirk receives every major newspaper endorsement. Ad: Saturday rally for Kirk:

Come with your family for the Saturday Rally for Your Family's Future

Our district has a proud tradition of electing thoughtful, independent leaders. Our community votes the person, not the party.Independence matters.We are social moderates and fiscal conservatives. We want lower taxes, clean government and reform-minded representatives in Washington. We value our relationship with our doctor and reject lawsuit abuses.Your family's future is at stake.In one week, voters will have a critical choice to make. Will we re-elect the 8th-most independent member of the House or will we turn our district over to party-line partisans? Will we retain a congressman the Chicago Tribune called "one of the most thoughtful, independent and effective members of the House," or will we opt for inexperience and uncertainty? Will we vote to keep our taxes low, defend our health care and clean up corruption, or will we back tax increases, government-run health care and a Rod Blagojevich-style commitment to ethics?

If you think independence matters, if you care about the future of our families, if you support our thoughtful, independent congressman, then now is the time to stand up and be counted.Please join us this Saturday, November 1st at 11:00 AM as we "Rally for Your Family's Future" and begin our march to victory on Election Day. We will meet at the Westin Chicago North Shore at 601 N. Milwaukee in Wheeling and hear from state representatives, local mayors and Congressman Mark Kirk in the final stretch of the campaign.

Get Directions to the Rally for Your Family's Future

Thank you so much for your hard work and support. Please call us at 847-513-9355 with any questions. We look forward to seeing you all on Saturday.

Yours truly,
Aaron Lawlor, Kirk for Congress

Seals Proud of Voter Fraud Group

Yes, Dan Seals thinks it's OK to troll for the Princess the Goldfish vote at our expense. Another hero of the common man.

Seals: "For the record, I've been endorsed by Citizen Action and I like the work that they do."

Watch Dan Seals on CLTV:From the Kirk campaign:

According to affidavit filed by Lake County Clerk, "work they do" is widespread voter registration fraud

ILGOP: Seals' comment "surprising and disappointing"

CHICAGO -- The Illinois Republican Party today released the following statement in response to Dan Seals' surprising and disappointing embrace of the group behind rampant voter registration fraud in Lake County:

"While the Lake County Clerk expresses grave concern over the integrity of voter registrations turned in by Citizen Action/Illinois, Dan Seals openly brags about the support his campaign has received from the group," said ILGOP Executive Director Jason Heffley. "Instead of condemning voter registration fraud and joining our effort to protect the integrity of this election, Dan Seals continues to stand by a group now accused of perpetrating one of the largest voter fraud efforts in Lake County history."

In an affidavit this week, Lake County Clerk Willard Helander said her office had already uncovered nearly 1,000 fraudulent voter registration applications submitted by an individual claiming to represent Citizen Action/Illinois and remained concerned about nearly 5,000 other new registrants sourced to the same group.

"Between mid-August and the close of registration on October 7, 2008, over 6,000 voter registration records were submitted to my office by Citizen Action/Illinois," Helander wrote. "The myriad problems exhibited by registrations such as these and the unprecedented volume of these registrations is of grave concern and is believed to be a serious threat to the integrity of the 2008 General Election."

Citizen Action/Illinois' former executive director is Robert Creamer, a convicted felon who went to jail for bank and tax fraud in connection with the group's activities.^[1] In 2005, Creamer was fined by the Federal Election Commission for involvement in illegal voter activities.^[2]

According to 10^th District activist Lauren Beth Gash^[3], Seals was recruited to run for Congress at a candidate training seminar conducted by Creamer in March 2005^[4].

Dan Seals' comment to CLTV can be found online here.

###

---

[1] http://www.ipsn.org/indictments/congresswoman_%20schakowskys_husband_indicted.htm

[2] http://eqs.nictusa.com/eqsdocs/00004482.pdf

[3] http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=314

[4] http://www.tenthdems.org/newsletters/0503_nl.pdf

Surgeon

New RNC ad:

Barry Obamski Obscurity

It's the endgame for the campaigns. The race is tightening as Americans focus on the stark choice this year. After encouraging his supporters to skip work or school while most Americans struggle to keep America working--Joe the Plumber, yeah!--The One splashes out the big bucks on a bland commercial that broke no new ground. I wouldn't say it was the closer he needed to convince America we can trust him when it counts. It was another Dear Leader lecture that tipped us off that Barack Obama as president would attack the American Dream and leave us defenseless to those who wish us harm.

My friend Eric, The Tygrrrr Express, out in LA, with his take "Larry King, John McCain, Rasheed Khalidi, and the Barack Obama Shamwow Infomercial". Good stuff, including this:

Barack Obama is simply a phony, but people know this and do not care. He does not even know the difference between “The Jeffersons” and “Sanford and Son.” I do. I am officially revoking Obama’s race. He is no longer black. I am declaring him white, so that guilty white liberals will judge him by the lack of content in the lack of his character, not the color of his skin. Barack Obama is as sincere as John Kerry. He is an effete nose in the air snob.

From now on, Barack Obama is no longer black. Now we can judge him on his lack of accomplishments.

For those who want a black President at any and all costs, Michael Steele is available, and so is Dr. Thomas Sowell.

Lack of accomplishments all right. Even your usually fawning AP finds you fall short. And where would you take us? Daniel Henninger, WSJ:

Push past the historic candidacy, however, and one sees something even larger at stake in this vote. One sees what Joe (The Plumber) Wurzelbacher saw. The real "change" being put to a vote for the American people in 2008 is not simply a break from the economic policies of "the past eight years" but with the American economic philosophy of the past 200 years. This election is about a long-term change in America's idea of itself.

Rasmussen shows Americans now trust John McCain more on the economy and taxes. (And the Trib sorta comes back to life after endorsing The One--how about releasing the Khalidi tape, Trib, what's the Chicago terrorist supporters party tape doing out in LA anyway?)

You blew it Barack, it's Barry Obamski obscurity for you, if Americans have anything to say about it. So stop trying to steal the election, stop trying steal our dreams. We know who you are Barack Obama, and we don't like it.

Preconditions

McCain ad: Via Hillbuzz, what might be on the Khalidi tape:

Saw a clip from the tape. Reason we can’t release it is because statements Obama said to rile audience up during toast. He congratulates Khalidi for his work saying “Israel has no God-given right to occupy Palestine” plus there’s been “genocide against the Palestinian people by Israelis.”

It would be really controversial if it got out. Tha’s why they will not even let a transcript get out.

This fits with what we heard Obama did at that dinner. It’s consistent with what Obama bundlers here in Chicago said was on that tape from the Khalidi dinner.

ACORN Obama

HotAir. Former ACORN employee: Obama's campaign gave us donor list. This is the Pennsylvania case. ACORN=Obama. (These women scorned are giving Obama grief this year.) Watch this non-partisan testimonial from one of ACORN's leaders:

Previous post: Obamobsters at ACORN

Obama's Pet Newspaper

Barack Obama's pet newspaper earns Sarah's scorn:HT Gateway Pundit who has some more clues on the Khalidi tape.

Where was your friend Rev. Wright?

Do we really want 8 years of Dear Leader lecturing us?

Got back from choir practice. Watched the end of the World Series. Read some stuff. Finally made myself watch Barack's interminable infomercial. Lots of stories. Lots of talk about yourself. But what I want to know Barack, is the rest of the story. Your other formative influences.

Where was your friend the Rev. Jeremiah Wright? Doesn't he have a story to tell? From the looks of this video it looks like he did pretty well:

P.S. The Barackstar on the Daily Show, via the LA Times (notes lack of comedic interest, plus recap):

Asked about his "infomercial" airing on four television networks tonight, Obama called it a "story about what's happening to families all across America. We've got four families that we feature. All of them have great hopes, but all of them are struggling too, and we want to talk about what the next four years would mean to them...

"These four families that have been featured remind me either of myself or people that I know, and I think they'll have a better sense of exactly what I want to do as president.

People that you know, yup. Hey Barack, where was your babysitter Rashid Khalidi?

P.P.S. And how about those friendly terrorist fundraisers for Obama? LGF:

Another big Barack Obama supporter: Hatem El-Hady, former chairman of the Toledo-based Islamic charity Kindhearts, closed by the US government in 2006 for terrorist fundraising: Terrorist Fundraisers for Obama.

El-Hady has now devoted himself to raising money for Barack Obama; he has a page at the official Obama campaign web site, with three “friends” listed on it: “Rick,” “Fatima from Toledo, Ohio,” and ... Michelle Obama.

Schoenberg Pal Rezko Got Wife Job

Tony Rezko sure gets around. How will these Dem machine pols do without their pal Tony Rezko now that he's in jail? Throw them out--dump Jeff Schoenberg!!!

From the Brendan Appel for State Senate campaign, Illinois 9th:

JEFF SCHOENBERG GOT HIS WIFE A STATE BOARD CHAIR POSITION THROUGH TONY REZKO

Schoenberg Appears on Infamous Rezko ‘Clout List’; Contributed $12,500 to Friends of Blagojevich

KENILWORTH, IL — Today, Senate District nominee Brendan Appel called on Senator Jeff Schoenberg to come clean about his ties to convicted influence peddler Antoin “Tony” Rezko and his efforts to make Schoenberg’s wife, Lynne Sered, Chairman of the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board.

During the federal corruption trial of Tony Rezko, prosecutors revealed a “clout list” was kept of political favors done for candidates on behalf of Governor Rod Blagojevich. Court documents reveal that Jeff Schoenberg approached Rezko in January, 2004 to obtain the chairmanship for his wife. (Neither Governor Blagojevich nor Senator Schoenberg have been accused of any wrongdoing.)

Lynne Sered was appointed chairman by Rod Blagojevich in June, 2004. Sered’s position currently pays $92,890 a year according to a 2007 Illinois Auditor General report.

Disclosures to the Illinois State Board of Elections reveal Jeff Schoenberg has contributed $12,500 over the last six years to Friends of Blagojevich. He has also voted with Blagojevich 93% of the time, according to an analysis of Illinois Senate legislative records.

“With families struggling to keep their jobs in a depressed economy, Jeff Schoenberg’s actions to secure a state government position for his wife, though a convicted influence peddler, is shocking,” said Appel. “As the national focus is about change this election year, we need to make sure our leaders are fighting for us. Sadly, Jeff Schoenberg is only looking out for his own self enrichment, not for working families in the 9th District.”

The 9th Senate District includes all of Evanston, Golf, Kenilworth, Northfield, Wilmette, and Winnetka; along with parts of Chicago (Rogers Park), Glencoe, Glenview, Morton Grove, Northbrook, and Skokie.

Brendan Appel, a successful local attorney, husband and father, resides with his wife, Doris, and their two daughters in Glenview.

The Hidden Costs of Collective Bargaining

From Americans for Prosperity, Illinois:

The hidden costs of collective bargaining

by Joe Calomino

From day one of his administration back in 2003, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich told the people of Illinois it wouldn’t be business as usual. He was right. It’s been business worse than usual. Calling himself a reformer and promising to shake things up, Blagojevich has found new and creative ways to benefit his own campaign chest while doing nothing to eliminate the perception of Illinois as the Wild West of politics.

Under the guise of extending union protection to individuals who work as home health care personal assistants and home daycare providers, Blagojevich created a whole new pool of people from which the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) could collect dues, a portion of which is used for campaign contributions – a union which at the time of his taking office had already given Blagojevich more than $800,000 in campaign contributions.

Less than two months into his first term, Blagojevich signed Executive Order 2003-8 to give collective bargaining rights to home health care personal assistants, which in turn chose the SEIU to represent them. Since that time, contracts negotiated for these workers have increased wages by more than one-third in five years. In Fiscal Year 2008 alone, the wage increase was 60 percent of the total increase in the home services line of the Department of Human Services (DHS) budget.

Then less than two years later, Blagojevich gave home daycare providers the same right to collective bargaining (Executive Order 2005-1). Again, the workers chose the SEIU, which has represented them well. In Fiscal Year 2008, home daycare providers saw $31.6 million more in wages and $7 million more for health benefits. And again, this increase is almost 60 percent of the entire child care line item increase in DHS’ budget.

It is not our argument that unions don’t play a role in the American workplace. Nor is it our argument that these workers, who previously were not considered employees under state law but rather contractors, did not merit a change in status. However, when a union which has so heavily contributed to the Governor’s campaign in turn negotiates such generous contracts for its employees – all at a time when state government can’t pay its bills – we believe taxpayers should be demanding answers. Why are hard-earned tax dollars, in the form of union dues pulled from state employees’ wages, underwriting the political war chest of the very same elected official with whom the contracts are negotiated? At the very least, these maneuvers put a new face on pay-to-play politics.

While the link between generous contract negotiations and generous campaign contributions seems obvious, the injury to taxpayers doesn’t stop there. According to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal (July 28, 2008), the SEIU is requiring every local give an amount equal to $6 per member per year to the union’s national political action committee on top of regular dues. Unions that fail to meet the requirement must contribute an amount in “local union funds” equal to the “deficiency,” plus a 50 percent penalty. According to the union, this formalizes policy that has always been in place, yet some believe the policy violates federal law. Contributions are supposed to be voluntary, and it is illegal for unions and corporate PACs to use money secured by the “threat” of “financial reprisal.” The Wall Street Journal states: It’s hard to see that an SEIU mandate enforced by financial penalties of 50 percent isn’t a “threat” or would qualify under any definition of “voluntary.”

Again, what does this mean for Illinois taxpayers? Will members of the SEIU in Illinois see their dues increased to cover the mandate from the national union? Will taxpayer dollars be used for campaigns across the country – campaigns which don’t affect the lives of the nearly 13 million people in Illinois?

In a similar vein, the SEIU is part of a coalition lobbying federal lawmakers to overhaul America’s health care system, moving it away from a free market enterprise. Health Care for America Now announced a $40 million national public awareness campaign this past summer. Again, we have to ask ourselves, are Illinois taxpayer dollars laundered as union dues being used to push this agenda? Americans for Prosperity strongly believes the nation’s health care system needs to be reformed, but feels changes can be made to the existing system to improve health care delivery and rein in costs without creating another government bureaucracy – or by using taxpayer money to promote a political agenda.

Americans for Prosperity isn’t anti-union nor are we anti-reform. In fact, we believe reform is exactly what Illinois needs: wide-sweeping reform of a system that allows a Governor to negotiate generous contracts with a union that pays him back just as generously; wide-sweeping reform that calls for transparency and accountability; and wide-sweeping reform that puts Illinois’ Wild West reputation for anything-goes- government squarely behind us and puts people before politics.

Joe Calomino is State Director of Americans for Prosperity-Illinois. Americans for Prosperity is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. For more information visit www.afpil.org.

McCain: Hero, Maverick, Friend

New RJC ad:

Obama: Lacking Leadership on Israel

New RJC ad:

Illinois Early Voting Ends Thursday

From the Illinois GOP:

Avoid Long Lines on Election Day

Last Day for Early Voting is Thursday

Now more than ever, your vote is critical. And there's no better way to vote than by voting early. But Thursday, October 30 is the last day for Early Voting in Illinois.

Voting early is the best way to avoid very long lines on Election Day and get your vote counted.

You must bring a government-issued photo ID (such as a drivers license) with you to vote.

For a list of Early Voting locations and hours of operation in your County or City Election Jurisdiction (Cities of Aurora, Bloomington, Chicago, Danville, East St. Louis, Galesburg, Peoria, Rockford), click HERE

Don't Wait . . . Vote Now!

In this busy presidential election year, please remember to vote for all of our Republican candidates at the federal, state and local level.

Some local elections may be decided by just a few votes so make sure you vote as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions about Early Voting, please feel free to e-mail us at info@ilgop.org

Thanks for your support and for your vote!

Move Over Crook County

Rush just highlighted this. He was amazed they did their own investigation. South Florida Sun Sentinel:

Mattie Lee Blitch has been dead 23 years but she's still registered to vote in Palm Beach County.

Recent college graduate Brett Ackerman is registered three times in two counties.

And convicted felon Joseph Muro just signed up to vote — from a state mental institution for the criminally insane.

With balloting well under way in the general election, the Sun Sentinel found more than 65,000 ineligible and duplicate voters on Florida's registration rolls.

They're having a felon voter surge down there, and this:

In Florida, felons can vote only after their rights have been restored through clemency. The newspaper found the state checks felons' criminal histories and clemency status only after they register and had a backlog of 108,000 still to be reviewed.[snip]

One new felon voter listed a West Palm Beach Catholic charity for the homeless as his address. Among the crimes on his record: voter fraud.

Rivaling Cook County in the corrupt voter stakes. Move over, Crook County. Because Barack Obama's Machine Democrat one-party state of Illinois is not a battleground any more. We lost the battle here. Don't let it happen to the rest of the country America.

Finally this:

An untold number of Florida's 1.8 million non-citizens are on the voting rolls. Non-citizens are not permitted to vote, but Florida has no way of checking citizenship.

Florida "does not have access to any federal database, if any exists, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for the Department of Homeland Security," said Jennifer Krell Davis, spokeswoman for the state Elections Division.

Obamobsters at ACORN

Rules are for everybody else with these Obamobsters at ACORN. ACORN owes millions in taxes. Amanda Carpenter, Townhall:

One of those organizations is Citizens Consulting, Inc, which was paid nearly $800,000 by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign to conduct get-out-the-vote activities during the Democratic primary.

While CSI raked in cash from the Obama campaign the IRS was preparing nearly a million in liens against ACORN. The IRS filed a lien on ACORN for $306,407 on March 6, 2008. A different lien was filed for $547,312 against ACORN on March 10, 2008 and another was filed on March 14 for $132,997.

Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R.-Ohio)and other Republicans have called on Congress to strip ACORN of their federal funding, which has received at least $31 million in various grants since 1998, because of ACORN's role in rampant vote registration fraud across the nation, but Democrats have not expressed any interest in doing this.

For now there's only one way to stop this deliberate attempt to steal our money, steal our vote and undermine our democracy--GOTV for America--get everyone you know to vote for McCain-Palin.

P.S. Latest criminal allegations against ACORN in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Seals Misleads on Health Care

Letter to the Editor, Daily Herald, "Seals Misleads on Health Care":

As a physician in the 10th Congressional district for more than a quarter of a century who has been involved in health reform and healthcare legislation, I am dismayed by the utter lack of scruples in the Dan Seals campaign and the naivete of those who believe Seals' baseless smears against Mark Kirk's health care record. Seals' claim that Kirk voted against children's health care not only betrays intent to mislead the public, but also a fundamental misunderstanding of the legislation in question. The CHAMP bill, which Kirk voted against, increased funding for the SCHIP program at the expense of Medicare. Medicare services such as wheelchairs and oxygen would have been cut in order to pay for increased SCHIP funding. Believing the children should have health care, regardless of their parents' wealth, Kirk later voted for a different bill that expanded SCHIP without abandoning seniors. The bill was passed initially in the senate and supported by Sens. Durbin and Obama.

Either the Seals campaign is willing to intentionally mislead the voters, or they never even bothered to read the bill. Thankfully for 10th district seniors, Congressman Kirk did read the bills. Mark Kirk is a strong advocate for improved access to health care in our district and a champion for doctors and their patients. If access to quality health care is as important to you as it is to me and my family, join me in supporting the re-election of Mark Kirk.

Jay Alexander

Bannockburn

Violent Crime Alert, Wilmette

The Wilmette Police Department is investigating a report of an attempted armed robbery with a knife, near 12th and Lake street on 10-27-08. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the police department at 847-256-1200.
Visit http://www.silentpartneralert.com/images/10vwpd/attemptedarmedrobbery102708.doc for the file.

Voter Fraud: Lake County GOP Sues

Lake Villa Review, Lake County, Illinois. The Princess the Goldfish, Voter saga continues:

The Illinois Republican Party and Lake County Republican Party filed a lawsuit today regarding alleged voter registration violations that have been identified by the Lake County Clerk's Office.

The lawsuit was filed in Lake County Circuit Court against Lake County Clerk Willard Helander, Terrence LeNoir and Citizen Action/Illinois. The lawsuit says Lenoir, who was working on behalf of Citizen Action/Illinois, delivered hundreds of "fraudulent, incomplete or illegitimate" voter registration forms to the Lake County Clerk's office between Feb. 5 and Oct. 6 of this year.

The lawsuit seeks an emergency injunction that would require that all ballot applications registered by LeNoir and Citizen Action/Illinois be separately coded by the clerk's office and those voters by required to cast provisional ballots until the integrity of the voter registrations could be verified.

The suit also would require the clerk to require all first-time voters to produce identification when they visit the polling places.

During a press conference at Lake County Republican headquarters in Libertyville, Illinois Republican Party chairman Andy McKenna said the party filed the lawsuit to protect the "integrity" of the election.

McKenna said the lawsuit was filed after Helander identified more than 1,000 questionable voter registration forms that had been submitted to the county clerk's office since August.

"We're very concerned that it could have a huge impact on the election results," said Dan Venturi, chairman of the Lake County Republican Party. "What we're talking about are fraudulent registrations that could tip the balance in a close election."

John Fogarty, an attorney for the state Republican Party, said they hope to get a hearing on the emergency injunction within the next two days.

Meanwhile, the Lake County State's Attorney's Office is continuing a criminal investigation into alleged voter registration violations but is not releasing any details of its investigation at this point.

Obama: Don't Judge Me

But what about Barack Obama's judgment? You be the judge folks. This is still America. Ramirez:

TV-Special

Jennifer Rubin, Ten Reasons Why McCain Can Win. And new McCain ad:

Smearing Joe

Powerline compares Barack Obama to mobster John Gotti. What gives rise to this reaction? The smearing of Joe the Plumber.

Related posts: Obama's Mob Operation ACORN, Barack Obama, Radical Thug, Fascist Obama Campaign

McCain Making Headway?

We're coming into the final stretch and it seems clear that John McCain is getting some traction over the last week, regardless of what you think of the accuracy of polling this year. Even Reuters/Zogby notes this:

McCain, a veteran Arizona senator, has sliced Obama's 12-point advantage by more than half in the last five days but he has not been able to break through the 45 percent support mark.

Well, we'll see. Obama is under the key 50% in their latest. I think Joe the Plumber, Joe foot in mouth on foreign policy Biden, and Barack Redistributionist Obama himself have helped change the game lately in McCain's direction. Obama's stated spread the wealth philosophy reminds people of his liberal record and his radical friends. Here's the McCain memo from their internal pollster:

In Joe the Plumber, the campaign seems to have found a storyline that sticks. Nearly six out of 10 voters in battleground states said they had heard “a lot” about that storyline, with more than eight in 10 saying they had heard “a lot” or “some.” The campaign has also succeeded in labeling Obama a liberal, according to McInturff, with 59% of respondents in battleground states describing him as such. [snip]

1. We are witnessing a significant shift across the battleground states.

The race has moved significantly over the past week, closing to essentially tied on the last two-day roll. These gains are coming from sub-groups it should be possible to sustain over the next week, including:

• Non-college men;
• Rural voters, both men and women;
• Right-to-life voters; and most encouragingly;
• We are beginning to once again get over a 20% chunk of the vote among soft Democrats.

Importantly as well, our long identified target of “Walmart women” – those women without a college degree in households under $60,000 a year in income are also swinging back solidly in our direction.

Finally, in terms of critical improvement, even as this track shows more Republicans voting for us than Democrats supporting Obama, we are witnessing an impressive “pop” with Independent voters.

As I said during our Sunday briefing, we do substantially more interviews per day than any public poll, but, given the shift we were witnessing, it was my expectation that by Tuesday/Wednesday multiple public polls would show the race closing. A quick glance at Real Clear Politics would indicate this is happening by today, Tuesday, and that’s good!

There's much more--have a look. RCP average here.

UPDATE: The Amazon indicator. Per Mick Stockinger here. Also too the Eyore indicator. Hillbuzz.