Thu, September 11, 2008 - 2:09 PM

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is calling on Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to force the resignation of an official who oversees the office accused by federal investigators of having illicit ties to the oil industry, and to fire others involved in the scandal.

The official, Randall Luthi, is director of the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service. At MMS, Luthi oversees an office that handles billions of dollars a year in royalties that oil companies pay for leasing federally owned lands.

On Wednesday, investigators with the Interior Department’s inspector general released a report accusing employees in the royalty office of having sex with energy company employees, accepting lavish gifts and rigging contracts to favored firms.

“Besides being a sad commentary on the failures of certain public servants, this case shows us how the oil industry can also do business improperly,” wrote Nelson, in a letter to Kempthorne today. “In fact, it raises lots of questions about the extent of the influence the oil and gas industry holds over our government.”

“I ask that you immediately terminate all employees identified in the above-mentioned report. I also ask that you request the resignation of MMS senior leadership, including Director Randall Luthi, and undertake a complete reorganization of MMS and its operations,” wrote Nelson.

The report was released just as Congress is readying for debate on expansion of drilling in coastal waters. Votes could come as early as next week. Nelson argues that the recent corruption revelations are reason enough not to lift the congressional ban on offshore drilling, and certainly not before a new administration takes office and breaks what he calls “all such illicit ties with big oil.”

-- Billy House

Rep. Alcee Hastings, the co-chairman of Florida’ congressional delegation, has just released a statement confirming what was reported in this morning’s editions of The Tampa Tribune -- that a comprehensive energy bill to be considered by the House won’t call for expanded drilling in the eastern Gulf.

Under the agreement reached between Florida Democrats and House leaders, Hastings says the bill will include provisions reinforcing a 2006 law that prohibited drilling off of Florida’s west coast within a 125-mile buffer until 2022, while making over 8 million additional acres outside of the buffer available for drilling. The law also prohibited oil and natural gas leases in any area east of the Military Mission Line also through 2022.

“I am very pleased that the unified Florida Democratic delegation was able to stand up for Florida and protect its coast from expanded offshore drilling. Florida Democrats today successfully preserved the state’s $65-billion-a-year industry as well as its beaches, coastal waters, fisheries and wildlife from potential catastrophic oil spills,” said Hastings. “In 2006, the House and Senate reached a carefully crafted bipartisan compromise. I am thankful that Speaker Nancy Pelosi honored her promise to protect this agreement and not overturn existing law.”

-- Billy House

In case you missed it, Barack Obama chatted with David Letterman last night.



Letterman goes in for the kill right from the start.

Letterman: “Let me ask you a question here. Have you ever actually put lipstick on a pig?”

Obama: “The answer would be no. But I think it might be fun to try.”

He better be careful. As Obama said, “this is sort of silly season in politics.” And John McCain might team with PETA to get after him for that one.

-- Amy Dominello

The economy is heading down the drain. The United States faces major foreign policy challenges around the world. The ranks of the uninsured are growing dramatically. And the national media and both campaigns just spent the last three days debating whether Barack Obama is sexist because he used a cliched, common phrase -- Lipstick on a Pig -- that both he and McCain have used multiple times on the campaign trail over the last year.

Are we in Bizarro World? Does anyone else think this is insane?

Apparently Mike Huckabee does. Just received this letter from the former presidential candidate's PAC:

Last night, while on Hannity & Colmes I cut Barack Obama some slack on his reference to "lipstick on a pig." Now I personally don't think he was referring to Gov. Palin, but if he was he should apologize immediately.

Almost twenty four hours into this new controversy and the accusations are continuing to fly from both campaigns. That's too bad.

Let's shift back to the issues. Barack Obama released an education proposal yesterday that has plenty of faults. Lets talk about it instead. Republicans have been arguing correctly for choice in our schools and adding accountability. Lets spend our time and energy focusing on what we stand for. There is plenty to talk about.

Where is the discussion on the continuing rise of healthcare costs in the nation? These costs are crippling families and combined with the high cost of gasoline, making it almost possible for working class families to save, with many pushed further into debt as they struggle just to get by.

Republicans should be trumpeting our openness to drill, conserve and use alternative sources of energy.

Republicans should promote our focus on preventative care to help cut health care costs in the long term. We need to advocate policies that will encourage the private sector to seek innovative ways to bring down costs and improve the free market for health care services. We have to change a system that happily pays $30,000 for a diabetic to have his foot amputated, but won't pay for the shoes that would save his foot.

Republicans know we can make health care more affordable by reforming medical liability; adopting electronic record keeping; making health insurance more portable from one job to another; expanding health savings accounts to everyone, not just those with high deductibles; and making health insurance tax deductible for individuals and families as it now is for businesses. Low income families would get tax credits instead of deductions. We don't need all the government controls that would inevitably come with universal health care.

A return to the issues is what the American people expect and it is a mistake to think that our Republican ideas somehow can't compete with the Democrats. And frankly, if anyone tells you otherwise, that dog won't hunt.


I want to hear from you on this. Leave a comment on my blog here and share this with friends and family.

With deep gratitude,

Mike Huckabee

***

--Sean Mussenden

The addition of Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket has helped John McCain to pull ahead of Democrat Barack Obama by 7 percentage points, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows.

The addition of Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket has helped John McCain to pull ahead of Democrat Barack Obama by 7 percentage points, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows.

The poll shows nearly one-fourth – 24 percent – of former Hillary Clinton supporters in the state now back McCain, up from 14 percent last month.

Overall, the polls shows 50 percent of Florida voters now favor McCain, to 43 percent for Obama.

Six out of 10 of the Florida voters said Palin, the Alaska governor, was a good pick as McCain’s vice presidential running mate.

The telephone poll of 1,032 likely Florida voters was conducted from Friday through Tuesday, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

-- Billy House

Tue, September 09, 2008 - 3:39 PM

Looks like the McCain-Palin ticket will draw a big crowd in Virginia tomorrow.

A 10 a.m. rally has been moved from Fairfax High School to nearby Van Dyke Park, due to what the campaign said is “overwhelming response.”

The rally will be Sarah Palin’s first campaign stop in Virginia, a battleground state.

Update: Maybe it was more than an "overwhelming response" that prompted the move.

-- Amy Dominello

Mon, September 08, 2008 - 12:39 PM

With a new McCain campaign ad touting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's stopping of the so-called Bridge to Nowhere, Obama aides pounced, alerting media to this picture of Palin supporting the $398 million bridge project and holding up a t-shirt that said “Nowhere, Alaska."

Well, before she stopped supporting the project and redirected federal money to other road projects, Palin campaigned for governor as a supporter of the bridge construction, saying the state had to act quickly while it had a senior congressional delegation able to draw down the federal funds for the project.

Palin and McCain will appear together at a 10 a.m. rally Wednesday at Virginia’s Fairfax High School.

--Neil Simon

The McCain campaign has been highly critical of Barack Obama’s celebrity status and has run ads comparing Obama’s popularity to that of celebrities like Spears and Paris Hilton.

But now the dynamics have changed. Walk into any newsstand or stand in line at the grocery checkout and you would think Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has replaced Britney Spears as the topic du jour for the tabloids.

Everywhere you look, there’s Palin staring back at you. She’s the most coveted interview in the country right now, which ABC’s Charlie Gibson has snagged.

Now that begs the question, will the Obama campaign strike back with ads on the celebrity factor? And can the McCain camp really keep running ads criticizing Obama’s celebrity?

-- Amy Dominello

Fri, September 05, 2008 - 1:18 PM

A Georgia congressman is under scrutiny for some comments he made about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., described Obama and his wife Michelle as “uppity,” according to The Hill newspaper.

The word is considered by most to have racial connotations.

According to The Hill:

Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.

"Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

Here, according to the Associated Press, is Westmoreland’s response to a controversy that will likely grow by leaps and bounds on the blogosphere:

In a statement Friday, Westmoreland — a white man who was born in 1950 and raised in the segregated South — said he didn't know that "uppity" was commonly used as a derogatory term for blacks seeking equal treatment. Instead, he referred to the dictionary definition of the word as describing someone who is haughty, snobbish or has inflated self-esteem.

"He stands by that characterization and thinks it accurately describes the Democratic nominee," said Brian Robinson, Westmoreland's spokesman. "He was unaware that the word had racial overtones and he had absolutely no intention of using a word that can be considered offensive."

-- Amy Dominello

Wired and Inspired is a good description of the last two days. I was in the hall and on the floor during Sarah Palin's speech last night. It was electrifying; it produced laughter, tears, and cheers. She touched the women on the floor, especially when she mentioned "the good old boys." Every woman I know have had bad experiences with the good boys and we knew exactly what she meant. The tension in the hall was huge while waiting for her. She started out a little slow but got much stronger and better. She is not going to be a push over. It was interesting before the speech to spend some time in the National Federation of Republican Women/Women for McCain box and talk with women from all across the country. All of them were furious at the unfair attacks on Sarah Palin by the leftist blogs and the MSM. It appears that her speech last night helped to tone down some of the nastier attacks. I left the Xcel Center last night totally exhausted, both mentally and physically. It was am amazing night.

Today I went to a Tribute Lunch for Cindy McCain. My seat was at a table about three rows from the back but I got moved up to the first row. My friend and I sat behind Judy and Charlie Black from the McCain headquarters and right next to Carly Firoina. We were two tables away from Cindy McCain and Todd Palin. The master of ceremonies was Elizabeth Hasselback from the View. John Voigt introduced Cindy after we heard from Todd Palin. He is a funny guy. I had an opportunity to talk with him afterwards and asked how he was holding up and he said fine. I said that I hoped when he came to North Carolina sometime in the next two months he still felt the same. After the lunch went down stairs where we ran into Richard and Brooke Burr and sat with them for a few moments and got caught up on things. It is always good to see Richard but he has been so busy traveling around the nation as a surrogate for John McCain.

The hall was full for John McCain's speech. Before his speech we spent some time in the women's box and the Republican Club lounge where we ate. I thought Senator McCain's speech was rather somber. But then again we are in somber times and perhaps it was fitting. He built up steam as he went and by the end he had the crown on their feet. Memorable speech, no. Did it do the job? Yes. But there is no doubt that Sarah Palin is the star on that ticket.

There were several Code Pink demonstrators in the galleries but they were swiftly removed. There were also a number of Ron Paul folks that just sat on their hands the entire evening.

Now we enter the final phase of this election season, the general election campaign. It is going to be a wild ride for the next 60+ days.

This was a full week full of some good speeches, some great ones, and some that were so forgettable that I don't even remember who they were. But those speeches were full of personal stories about the John the speakers know; full of personal testaments to him and Cindy; and full of speakers saying (to paraphrase Lloyd Bensen in the 1988 Vice Presidential debate with Dan Quayle) I know John and he is a friend of mine. These speeches were in stark contrast to the ones last week in Denver where there were no such speeches.

One final note, Republicans know how to do balloon drops much better than the Democrats. They came down on time, there were a lot of them, and the glitter included small round circles with McCain's picture on one side and the logo for the convention on the other.

-- Linda Petrou

Linda Petrou is an adjunct professor of communications at Wake Forest University. She's leading a two-week academic program tied to the political conventions through The Washington Center.

Thu, September 04, 2008 - 10:43 PM

Did Sarah Palin and her husband upstage John and Cindy McCain at the end of McCain’s speech just now?

There’s no question the Alaska governor left her presidential running mate standing awkwardly on the podium waiting for her, after the McCains took a sort of victory walk onto the convention floor amid the falling ballons annd music ,and then returned to the stage.

Trouble was, Palin and here hubby did the same walk after after the McCains did - only they seemed to savor the exercise a bit more. They certainly took a lot longer to finish it, shaking hands and talking to delegates, and seeming to love every minute of it.

As a result, the McCain’s were left waiting on the podium for Palin, and waited, and waited, and then—finally—gave up and went backstage without her.

I’d sure like to have been a fly on the wall when McCain or his aides greeted her back there.

-- Billy House

The GOP convention is over. And the general election begins in earnest. The election is in exactly two months. We'll see you on the campaign trail.

Good night from St. Paul

--Sean Mussenden.

The speech built and toward the end, the rhetoric soared. Others had told the story of his captivity in Vietnam, and now it was McCain’s time. In quiet tones, he described the hardship and talked about how his experiences molded his love of the country. And he called on Americans to join him.

Here’s the end of McCain’s remarks, as prepared for delivery:
“I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.
”If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.
“I'm going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I'm going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I'm an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me.
Fight for what's right for our country.
Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.
Fight for our children's future.
Fight for justice and opportunity for all.
Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.
Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.
Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We're Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.
Thank you, and God Bless you.”
Balloons drooped, confetti fluttered and the crowd roared.
-- Marsha Mercer

At the end of a newly constructed catwalk platform that reached into the crowd, McCain tonight accepted the Republican nomination for president of the United States.

Early in the speech, while he was thanking many people, he said he was grateful to President Bush for his leadership in the days after 9/11 and for keeping the nation safe from another attack many thought was inevitable.

He also praised Laura Bush for her grace and kindness. He also paid homage to the first President Bush and Barbara Bush.

McCain rolled out various general promises, familiar Republican crowd-pleasers including lower taxes, better education, energy independence, securing the homeland.

He didn’t make clear how his administration would differ from the unpopular president’s until he got to energy.
“My fellow Americans, when I'm president, we're going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much. We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now.
“We will build more nuclear power plants. We will develop clean coal technology. We will increase the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas. We will encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.
“This great national cause will create millions of new jobs, many in industries that will be the engine of our future prosperity; jobs that will be there when your children enter the workforce.”
-- Marsha Mercer

When you’re the delegate sitting closest to the stage at the GOP convention, there’s a good chance a TV camera will capture you doing something silly. That’s doubly true when you bring your own maracas, as Florida delegate Mildred Fernandez found out in this video. Press play to start.

--Sean Mussenden