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Has anyone had their credit card hit twice for the same donation to McCain? This just happened to me. The correct one was about a month ago, then they hit me for a duplicate amount at the end of August. I've made a few phone calls, but still have not received a refund. I suspect this is not an isolated event, but something that may have happened to hundreds or even thousands of donors.

McCain Camp to Leave Convention With $200 Million, Aide Says Jonathan D. Salant Jonathan D. Salant Fri Sep 5, 12:01 am ET Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain's campaign expects to leave the Republican National Convention with $200 million in the bank and be able to match the Democrats' spending in the next two months, an aide said. McCain will depart from the St. Paul, Minnesota, convention with $84.1 million in federal funds and the Republican National Committee will have about $125 million, the campaign aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Fundraisers are working to bring in another $80...

According to Nicole Wallace of the McCain campaign, the American people don't care whether Sarah Palin can answer specific questions about foreign and domestic policy. According to Wallace -- in an appearance I did with her this morning on Joe Scarborough's show -- the American people will learn all they need to know (and all they deserve to know) from Palin's scripted speeches and choreographed appearances on the campaign trail and in campaign ads....

Today I would like to take a look at what I maintain is Senator Obama’s artful manipulation of sentiment to try to move past what many characterize as the “acrimonious” debate surrounding abortion. Obama told Planned Parenthood that the argument over the right to life is over, that they “can win that argument . . . .” He thinks he can do it by obfuscating the issue, by speaking generally, by “using the bully pulpit to frame the issues in a way that allows us to draw on the best impulses of the American people.” He wants to defeat the...

GENEVA (Reuters) - George Clooney has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama by headlining an exclusive event for Americans in Geneva, one of the world's most affluent cities. The Hollywood actor and director, fresh from the world premiere of the Coen brothers' comedy "Burn After Reading" in Venice, slipped without fanfare into the Swiss city on Tuesday for his first appearance on behalf of the Democratic nominee. Some 170 contributors have paid $1,000 a head to attend a cocktail party with Clooney at a museum in Geneva's Old Town on Tuesday evening. And 75...

The founder of Moms4Bush from 2004 has launched a new site for the 2008 Campaign. This group was instrumental in assisting with electing GWB to the White House. They ran ads in the swing states, had grassroots teams in 32 states, hosted rallies and kept the "Security Mom" issue on the front burner with the media. Of course the MSM always referred to them as the "So Called Security Moms......" This year they have returned. They still believe that our National Security and the war on terror are major issues for our next president.

???Somebody answer quick!

Palin should be compared with Obama in ads. The Democrat VP should not be mentioned at all. The proper comparison is of persons who could fill the top spot, not the second spot. Palin is far superior to Obama in experience and that is the juxtaposition that should be made. Please forgive the vanity. This is a a thought that I want RNC to see in case they have not thought of it themselves.

Obama tells those gathered in the Barackopolis: Gods bless America. Barack Obama, Democratic presidential contender and integral part of the mythic Greek pantheon, disclosed the true nature of his birth, or nativity. Obama admitted for the first time the circumstances of his actual multiracial background: he was born to the races of both man and the gods. According to Obama's soon-to-be-released community activist comic book, Dreams of My God Father, his true father is Greek God, Zeus, who met Obama's mother at a political rally on Cypriot rights in the early 1960s. "Zeus met a lot of hot chicks at...

The Edwards '08 Campaign for President has quietly refunded almost $4 million to individual contributors, a number of them, bundlers and big backers. This should be news to Warren Buffet who recently mused that Edwards' supporters should get together and file a class action suit. It seems another "class" has already had their contributions refunded--and it's not the "grassroots" little guys. We had no idea the campaign was handing out refunds until we happened to come across the information while perusing the site OpenSecrets.org and the data supplied to the Federal Election Commission by the Edwards' campaign. We were baffled,...

* The John Edwards' campaign has already refunded $3,831,398 to contributors--many who contributed the maximum of $2300. * 2,247 donors have already received money back from the John Edwards--many who are trial attorneys and political "bundlers"--and most received it back on March 24. * Refunds to small donors under $100 have accounted for only 1/5th of one percent, so far, according to Open Secrets.com. * The Edwards campaign still has $4,791,200 cash on hand, according to its July 31, 2008 filing. For any readers who gave money to the John Edwards' campaign and are now upset that perhaps that...

The economy is a higher priority than safety. But does anyone know enough about either of these issues to cast an intelligent vote this fall? According to Rasmussen polls, Americans are putting the economy as a bigger priority than the war on terror, with Iraq actually being placed in the forth spot. Americans are also saying that they trust the Democrats over Republicans with the economy by a large margin, although that margin shrinks when you compare McCain to Obama. Marketwatch also says that Americans are concerned about the economy and the price of energy in particular, but that both...

Cross the River to VictoryHere is something I wrote to one of our candidates:Your race and others make me think of where General Washington stood on Christmas Eve 1776. His men were nearing the end of their commissions many without shoes and frostbitten and where they did not suffer physically they suffered with the sheer heaviness of their previous defeats. They were worn down and most feared all was lost. Thomas Paine wrote the following during those dark days: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from...

a mind numbing amount of numbers, but here is the money quote! "Obama appeared to enjoy a 2 week bump, or at least a lull, where his official numbers didn’t change, and the count with leaners bumped him over the 300 mark again for 2 weeks, however, both of those numbers are now heading back down again. Obama now has his lowest Electoral College total since June 24th, before I made my methodology change, while the count with leaners is close to where it was 2 weeks ago, and back under 300. The only comforting news for Obama may be...

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has a more stalwart view of Israel's security needs than his Democratic opponent and would be better able to deal with Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Monday. "McCain has a much stronger view of how Israel must protect itself," Huckabee said during a visit to Jerusalem. "There is no naivete on his part about the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program." Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and Baptist minister, said that McCain would turn out to be the preferred candidate of "traditional" American voters, including, but...

Obama’s Creative Campaign Financing Adds Misuse of Tax Exempt Church Resources At a time when money from Washington lobbyists and special interests is polluting the political process more than ever, the question for campaigns isn’t just whether they can compete financially — it’s how they do it. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, E-mail of June 12 2007 We should indeed look at “how they do it” because this E-mail itself may have been an illegal lottery. Furthermore, one of last year’s “Dinner with Barack” lotteries announced a winner before the entry deadline, which suggests that not all participants had an...

“America is . . . uh, is no longer, uh, what it could be, what it once was. And I say to myself, I don't want that future for my children.” – Barack Obama, telling a seven-year-old girl why he is running for president. So in other words, Obama wants to lead a country he thinks is a disaster area. And that he could revert back to some previous time when America was better. Exactly when that would be, I'm not quite sure. Nor am I sure that there has ever been a candidate who makes such a point of...

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez joined local and state Republican political leaders in Ontario on Friday as part of an effort to build support among Latinos for Sen. John McCain's presidential bid. In his speech to about 100 people at Ontario's Doubletree Hotel, Gutierrez focused on broad economic issues and McCain's experiences as a prisoner of war and in Congress to make the case for why McCain is a better choice for president than Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Gutierrez did not stick to Latino-specific themes but talked instead about McCain's proposals on taxes, trade and energy. He said McCain, R-Ariz.,...

John Edwards, who won praise and sympathy as he campaigned for president with his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, admitted Friday that he had an affair with a woman who produced videos for his campaign but denied fathering her child. Dallas lawyer Fred Baron, who helped bankroll the former North Carolina senator's presidential run, told The Dallas Morning News that he paid for the woman, Rielle Hunter, to leave Chapel Hill, N.C., because she was being hounded by tabloids.

WASHINGTON - John McCain's campaign said Thursday it is returning $50,000 in contributions solicited by a foreign citizen. The move follows the disclosure that the money was being raised by a Jordanian man who is a business partner of prominent Florida Republican Harry Sargeant III, who has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for McCain.

For Wall and a few dozen others, Obama on the campaign trail often brings to mind Stanley Ann Dunham, Obama's mother and a strong-willed, unconventional member of the Mercer Island High School graduating class of 1960. "She was not a standard-issue girl of her times. ... She wasn't part of the matched-sweater-set crowd," said Wall, a classmate and retired philosophy teacher who used to make after-school runs to Seattle with Dunham to sit and talk -- for hours and hours -- in coffee shops. "She touted herself as an atheist, and it was something she'd read about and could argue,"...

Barack Obama is being ordered to distance himself from John Edwards amid allegations his one-time rival has fathered a love child. Mr Edwards had been touted as a possible vice president, but yesterday leading Democrats told the former North Carolina senator to come clean about the rumours of his affair with a campaign aide or stay away from the party convention. Party organisers are furious that Mr Edwards has refused to deny that he’s the father of Rielle Hunter’s baby daughter Frances and fear he is taking attention away from Mr Obama. Mr Edwards, 55, dropped his own bid for...

Clinton sets campaign dates for ObamaClinton to host events in Las Vegas and South Florida Wednesday, August 06, 2008 at 10:42 a.m. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to campaign for Barack Obama in Nevada and Florida this month. The events are expected to be her first solo campaign appearances on Obama's behalf since she lost the Democratic nomination contest. The Obama campaign said Tuesday that Clinton will host rallies and voter registration events this Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada, and again in South Florida on Aug. 21. In June, Clinton and Obama appeared together in Unity, N.H.,...

According to Federal Election Commission filings, Barack Obama has received illegal donations from Palestinians living in Gaza, a hotbed of Hamas terrorists.Obama received more than $24,000 in campaign contributions over a period of two months last fall from three Palestinian brothers from the "Edwan" family in Rafah, Gaza, which is a Hamas stronghold along the border with Egypt. The story was uncovered by Pamela Geller of the Atlas Shrugs blog. (see Federal Election Commission report) ..."The donations are basically through and through illegal -- that's number one. And number two is how the Obama campaign tried to conceal it," [Debbie]...

The Obama campaign is not just spending thousands on coffee. It's also racked up a fairly sizable bill for wine and assorted booze. In total, the Obama campaign has charged over $6,100 at Sam's Wine and Spirits in Chicago. And the luxuries don't stop there. They spent nearly $2,800 on 14 meals at an Italian restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa, each averaging close to $200. The Obama campaign spent another $2,200 on three meals at Smith & Wollensky in Chicago. They even spent $149 on a single meal at the uber-posh Stone Lotus, which calls itself a liquor spa. These...

Once it was clear Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee, several commentators had similar advice for John McCain: You must knock Obama off his pedestal. Here's how Fred Barnes put this advice in early March. [T]here are three things McCain must do that won't be easy. The most important is to bring Barack Obama down to earth from his pedestal in the heavens. He's still the likely Democratic nominee, after all, despite Hillary Clinton's primary wins yesterday. And he's mostly gotten away with campaigning as if he's on a mission to purify America, not merely running to capture the...

US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was apparently the recipient of nearly $30,000 in campaign contributions from a pair of Palestinian Arabs in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. While recently investigating online campaign contribution logs, Pamela Geller of the blog Atlas Shrugs discovered a curious set of entries from mid-2007 showing a series of contributions from two Arab men who listed their place of residence as “Rafah, GA.”

But what would an Obama presidency look like? What direction would he take the nation and the entire free world? Those are extremely difficult questions to answer for a very simple reason:

I would like to suggest to the McCain camp or the rnc that they should make an ad about obama making fun of his change theme First obama has repeatedly said he would raise taxes for social security, a gas rebate etc. etc. so show a dollar then show then show all the taxes he has said he would increase then show the 'change' from a dollar you would have left if obama is elected.

August 01, 2008 So Much for St. John By Eugene Robinson WASHINGTON -- It's awfully early for John McCain to be running such a desperate, ugly campaign against Barack Obama. But I guess it's useful for Democrats to get a reminder that the Republican Party plays presidential politics by the same moral code that guided the bad-boy Oakland Raiders in their heyday: "Just win, baby." The latest bit of snarling, mean-spirited nonsense to come out of the McCain camp was the accusation, leveled by campaign manager Rick Davis, that Obama had "played the race card." He did so, apparently, by...

As Republican presidential candidate John McCain weighs his running-mate options, political experts say Mitt Romney would energize fundraising and generate the most enthusiasm in the Rocky Mountain West. Speculation that Romney, who dropped out of the presidential primaries in February, tops McCain's vice-presidential list has burgeoned in recent weeks as voters rated the economy their No. 1 concern.

Dear TA3, During the campaign, Hillary and I didn't have the chance to eat together much because we were usually on the trail in different states. Now that the campaign's over, I'm glad we can share more meals again. Of all the people I've had the privilege to break bread with, the person I most enjoy is still Hillary. Now you have a chance to have dinner with her. And if you contribute today to help Hillary retire that pesky campaign debt, you and a guest might be sitting down to dinner with her soon. I think you should go...

As I predicted, this election will be a referendum on Barack Hussein Obama. John McCain is the Republican nominee because it was his turn, but he does not turn the Republican base on. Absent a compelling reason to vote for McCain, is there a compelling reason to vote against Obama? Will Americans trust Obama enough to turn a rock star into a President? I don’t think so, but I could be wrong. The press, which has been solidly supportive of Obama, is beginning to notice that their adoration of the Messiah is beginning to irk people. It’s like a parade,...

The story contained a florid description of Obama's physical attributes, praising his "well-trained arms," "his tight rear view," and how he lifted the masculine 32-kilogram (70-pound) dumbbells "first 10 times with his right arm, then 10 times with his left." (italics mine) And then there was the culmination: "Barack put his arm around my shoulders. I held him round the waist. Wow! He isn't even sweating!" And, lastly, there was Bonesky's conclusion: "What a man!" Obama Says He Didn't Know She Was a Reporter

Dear TA3, Summer is a time for simple pleasures: family vacations, baseball games, and dinner out under the stars. At least it is if you aren't running for president! It sure is nice having a little more time on my hands, and I'd love to spend some of it with you. Would you like to join me for dinner? During the campaign, I had the chance a few times to grab meals with supporters, but they were always rushed thanks to the frenetic pace of the campaign. This is my first chance to sit down and spend some real one-on-one...

As I watched last week’s campaign spectacle, our illustrious American press corps fawning like a bunch of eight year old girls at a Miley Cyrus concert, over the DNC’s empty suit international Messiah on tour, I found myself pondering… I don’t know which I find more disturbing? (a). The fact that Obama is so popular with international socialists who hope to see America knocked off its perch as the last remaining super-power, (b). The fact that he had to rely on beer, brats and a free rock concert in order to create that impression, (c). Or that the crowds were...

A statement by presidential contender Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) citing the contrast between himself and rival Senator Obama, drew cries of “foul” from the Obama camp. McCain compared his support for the so-called surge strategy with Obama’s opposition. “Many observers said my position would end my hopes of becoming president,” McCain recalled. “I said I would rather lose a campaign than see America lose a war. Today, the effects of the new strategy are obvious. The surge has succeeded, and we are, at long last, finally winning this war.” Obama characterized McCain’s support for the surge a “dangerous divergence from...

Focus on the Family is speaking out against a new pro-Obama radio ad airing on Christian radio. The ad calls for "a better Christian witness in politics." The new liberal political action committee Matthew 25 is running pro-Barack Obama ads on Christian radio. Salem Radio affiliate KBIQ 102.7 FM in Colorado Springs, Colorado -- home to Focus on the Family -- aired an ad that came in response to Dr. James Dobson’s recent criticism of the presidential candidate's theological views. Following is an excerpt from the radio ad: "You know it’s an election year when certain people start grabbing headlines...

The New York Times' refusal to publish John McCain's rebuttal to Barack Obama's Iraq op-ed may be the most glaring example of liberal media bias this journalist has ever seen. But true proof of widespread media bias requires one to follow an old journalism maxim: Follow the money. Even the Associated Press — no bastion of conservatism — has considered, at least superficially, the media's favoritism for Barack Obama. It's time to revisit media bias. True to form, journalists are defending their bias by saying that one candidate, Obama, is more newsworthy than the other. In other words, there is...

The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness. The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he...

Barack Obama’s campaign said Thursday that the Illinois senator opted not to visit U.S. troops at military facilities in Germany because it would be “inappropriate” to make such a stop on the campaign-funded leg of his trip.

Sen. Barack Obama stands next to the Eternal Flame at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in J'lem. Can I just say that I don't get the wreath thing. I know various leaders do this, but it isn't a Jewish custom to put flowers at a grave so I don't really get this. Obama and Bibi. Bibi looks cute, but it's hard to tell what he thinks about meeting Obama. Considering that Israelis favor McCain by 20 points and that Obama's fan club in Israel has only 57 members, probably not too much. Obama with clown Shimon Peres. Obama looks...

Things you never thought you’d see: Obama’s campaign manager begs for money posted at 1:46 pm on July 14, 2008 by Allahpundit I saw and duly dismissed as wishful thinking Karl’s and Patrick Ruffini’s posts last week speculating that St. Barack hadn’t released his June fundraising numbers yet because his money machine had finally broken down. After watching this, I wonder if they’re right. The obvious spin is that the sluggish contributions are simply an artifact of summer doldrums, but (per Ruffini) Kerry took in $30 million in June 2004, which would be slightly better than what Obama’s rumored to...

Conflict over Berlin Visit Becomes US Campaign Issue By Gregor Peter Schmitz in Washington, D.C. The heated debate over Barack Obama's planned appearance in Berlin appears to have crossed the Atlantic to become a campaign issue at home. It's unlikely now that he will appear in front of the Brandenburg Gate. If the American journalists covering the campaign trail didn't know all about the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin before, they certainly do now. On Sunday, Barack Obama mingled on a flight to San Diego with the pack of journalists who have been following him day in and day out. He...

Local toll road activist Terri Hall, the Spring Branch home schooling mom who's campaign against toll roads made her WOAI's San Antonian of the Year for 2007,. is taking her populist campaign nationwide. Hall is among the speakers for Saturday's 'Freedom March,' in Washington DC, organized by supporters of former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, and designed to keep alive his message of smaller government and vigilance against encroaching government power. "They wanted someone to speak about the Trans Texas Corridor, and what's happening here, and the eminent domain abuses, and how all these toll roads are tied to corporate...

The above is a fact. That candidate is not Bob Barr, Ralph Nader, or Chuck Baldwin. It certainly isn't Barak Hussein Obama. McCain's VP choice will define his intentions for this conservative. He must choose a viable conservative as his running mate. On the high end I'll accept a Jindal or Hunter with excitement. On the low end, I'll accept a man who's been trying to prove himself a conservative, Mitt Romney. Since VP is an opportunity for Mitt to grow in his conservative convictions, I'm OK with that. Neither Condi Rice nor Colin Powell are conservatives, and they don't...

John McCain is a man without a message. An undisputed war hero, a true leader on Iraq policy, a veteran Senate compromiser, McCain has the resume…what he lacks is a message that can connect to voters, and give them a rationale to go to the polls in November. As with any good slogan, it must be short and convey a clear idea - reflective of overall policy aims. Gopublius humbly submits for the use of the McCain campaign, the slogan: “Let McCain Fix It!” Barack Obama’s message is clear: change. However, even as slogans go, it’s particularly meaningless, since change...

Senator Barack Obama will accept the nomination of the Democratic Party on August 28 at INVESCO Field in front of 75,000 people. Tickets will be free and the event open to the public. Ten supporters who donate $5 or more will be flown to Denver with a friend to meet Senator Obama backstage and watch history unfold.

John McCain will spend the coming week talking about the economy, but the Republican presidential candidate isn't expected to say anything new. Rather, he will repackage proposals he has already outlined -- ones the campaign fears nobody heard. "We don't think we've made the case eloquently," Doug Holtz-Eakin, the campaign's policy director, said. The goal is to put out a consistent message each day that can penetrate voters' minds. The ability to control a certain story line through a 24-hour news cycle is seen as one element of a successful modern political campaign and, so far, Sen. Obama has been...

July 4, 2008San Francisco, California Wow, even days later, I am still so giddy I can hardly type!Have you ever taken a bong hit that melts away the worries of this world in a euphoric wave of Zen-like contentment? How about the intense pleasure of listening to your favorite Grateful Dead song while enjoying the aforementioned bodacious botanicals, followed by the exquisite pleasure of biting into a chewy, warm brownie right from the oven? While most enlightened liberals would consider these things life's ultimate pleasures, they pale in comparison to sitting at the feet of The Master and drinking in the sweet nectar of hope!Senator Barack Obama's San Francisco campaign stop...