BREAKING: Obama Makes Surprise Visit to Ohio Training

By Ari Melber

Barack Obama made a surprise visit to an Ohio organizer training on Friday afternoon, popping in at a statewide gathering of field organizers in Columbus, according to a Democratic source in Ohio.

Obama spent most of his day with much larger crowds, at rallies in Chillicothe and in Genoa Park in Columbus. (The two "Americans Jobs Tour Rallies" were on the senator's official schedule, but the pop-in was not.) By carving out time for his Get-Out-The-Vote team, however, Obama sent another signal to his staff and supporters that grassroots organizing is a priority -- from the top of the campaign on down.

For more about Obama's Ohio field organizing, check out this reported essay by longtime labor and netroots organizer Zack Exley.

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October 10, 2008

GOP Guru Predicts Obama Landslide (VIDEO)

By Ari Melber

Republican strategist Ed Rollins knows landslides.

He ran Ronald Reagan's 1984 campaign, helping the President win reelection by 49 states. As a loyal Republican, Rollins has served in several G.O.P. administrations, managed a slew of campaigns, and earned so much trust within the party, he still holds the honor of being the only non-member of Congress tapped to run the NRCC.

So it means something when an old hand like Ed Rollins unloads on John McCain, as he just did, declaring that the race is over, "no one cares" about McCain's Ayers attacks, and the GOP nominee must think about the fundamental question, "how do you want to end your career?" To hammer home the point on CNN, Rollins added, "this is going to turn into a landslide." It is must-see TV:

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October 10, 2008

McCain's Failed Debate Offensive

By Ari Melber

John McCain did not have the debate he needed on Tuesday night.

McCain's style was aggressive, disciplined and occasionally punchy. He heaped criticism on Barack Obama, blasting his record on taxes, health care and earmarks, and at one point derisively called the Democratic nominee "That One." McCain made over 14 references to the candidates' "records," pleading with voters to put aside Obama's words and inspect his history.

McCain's policy rhetoric was populist, reformist and sometimes contrarian. He floated the name of Obama backer Warren Buffet as a potential Treasury Secretary, and pledged that his administration would swiftly "buy up" all "the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes." (Obama's rapid response team immediately noted that the bailout bill already includes "authority" for the Treasury to buy residential and commercial mortgages.) After all the audience questions and Brokaw quips piled up, however, McCain still failed to upend the narrative. It's a major setback in a race that is trending towards Obama and running out of time.

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October 7, 2008

A Spicier VP Debate Hits YouTube (VIDEO)

By Ari Melber

Thursday's vice presidential debate was a serious and substantive affair. With superb moderating by Gwen Ifill, the conversation stuck to policy-driven sparring, but the footage is already taking a different shape on YouTube.

Before the debate clock had run out, spicier clips from the debate were piling up on YouTube. Two of the most passionate featured Biden, speaking about personal adversity and why the "past is prologue" when it comes to John McCain's record:

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October 2, 2008

Palin's Stunning Court Ignorance (VIDEO)

By Ari Melber

Some political moments require no analysis or commentary, even from those of us who cover the madness in real time. Despite the briefings, coaching and research, behold Gov. Sarah Palin's stunning ignorance of the Supreme Court:

And don't forget that other hardball from Katie Couric, either. Palin could not name a single newspaper or magazine that she reads:

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October 1, 2008

Huge Celebrities Tout Voting on YouTube

By Ari Melber

When celebrities push their politics, it's often annoying and rarely effective. A new YouTube video, however, has the makings of the kind of viral hit that could help -- yes -- Raise Awareness for something important.

There are only about five days left to register to vote in some key states, including Ohio, Florida and Colorado, and this video features a fleet of traffic-driving A-listers urging people to register before it's too late.

The public service announcement is packed with quips from Halle Berry, Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Sarah Silverman, Forest Whitaker, Leo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Usher and Demi Moore, to name only a few. Kevin Bacon is also in the mix, you know, to keep everyone connected.

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October 1, 2008

YouTubers Ask if McCain Swore at the Big Debate?

By Ari Melber

The first presidential debate may be long over, but it's now being relived, remixed and reinterpreted online, in what could be the most influential period for YouTube politics in the current election.

Since web videos often drive broadcast news coverage and shape which exchanges are depicted as the seminal "moments" of a debate, both campaigns rushed out "advertisements" hammering their message on YouTube. McCain struck first, looping clips of Obama agreeing with his Republican rival in a video uploaded before the debate ended. Powered by links from Fox, NBC and Huffington Post, the spot drew far more views on YouTube than Obama's first video, which showed an uninterrupted, split-screen excerpt of Obama telling McCain he was "wrong" on the core issues in the Iraq war. (Both below.) While the campaigns' top-down videos have drawn the most initial attention, YouTubers' homemade projects are more interesting.

YouTuber "ebaybenjidogg" posted a 27-second shot of McCain grumbling during a tense dispute over McCain's comments regarding meeting with the prime minister of Spain -- under the provocative title "John McCain Says HORSESH*T During the 9/26 Debate." The video appears to show McCain saying "horseshit" twice in response to Obama's criticism. "I don't know why the media is ignoring this so far. If someone has a better copy of this moment on video PLEASE POST IT," reads the description accompanying the video. Some commenters rebutted that depiction, arguing that McCain was saying "of course," perhaps sarcastically, or saying "of course not." A similar clip on MSNBC.com, "Meeting with enemies," can also sound like McCain is swearing just past the 4-minute mark.

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September 27, 2008

McCain Cuts and Runs

By Ari Melber

After calling for debates all summer, John McCain is cutting and running from the first one.

In one of the weirder political ploys of a long campaign season, McCain says he will "suspend" his campaign on Thursday. He is also pushing for a postponement of the first presidential debate. McCain says he is taking these dramatic steps because he wants to focus on congressional negotiations over the bailout. It's not clear how a national presidential debate -- the ultimate bully pulpit in this political season -- would detract from any effort to build national consensus on solutions for the economic crisis.

The debate, scheduled for 9pm EST on Friday, would have provided the first direct, extended exchange between the nominees on foreign policy, and presumably would have included economic discussions as well, given the current crisis. Both candidates could travel to Washington the next morning -- Obama is already scheduled to do so -- so McCain's decision to bail on the debate as his polling slips is odd. Today's Washington Post/ABC poll showed Obama taking a national lead, powered by voters flocking to him on economic issues.

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September 24, 2008

McCain BlackBerry Ad Hits YouTube

By Ari Melber

As the markets crash and the bailouts pile up, John McCain's BlackBerry gaffe continues to pick up steam. News stories mentioning "McCain and BlackBerry" topped 2,300 in a 24-hour stretch ending Wednesday -- that's almost half the number of stories mentioning "McCain and A.I.G." in the same period.

It's hard to quantify the news value of the McCain campaign's odd claim that he invented the Canadian technology, of course, but it definitely ain't half as important as A.I.G. The BlackBerry claim is perfectly symbolic, however, of a campaign that has spun, prevaricated and lied through the summer -- drawing protest from opponents and neutral observers alike -- led by a candidate who is often out of touch from the economic and technological changes rocking the country. Now, fresh from the Internet, (which McCain did not invent, either), here's a new homemade ad mocking McCain's claim to techie fame:

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September 17, 2008

Hillary and Joe Log On for Obama

By Ari Melber

On Wednesday night, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are trolling the web for women voters.

At 8pm Eastern, the Obama Campaign is broadcasting what it bills as "one of the largest women's web forums in history." Hillary and Joe will chat with women voters about "equal pay for equal work, reproductive health, expanding the Family Medical Leave Act" and Social Security, says the campaign, taking questions that were posted online over the past few days. The event even has a clunky title, "The Women for the Change We Need Week of Action Video Forum." Today the Obama Campaign is also circulating a YouTube video of a presentation from the Democratic convention about "Women for Obama."

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September 17, 2008