President Barack Obama admitted Monday to a group of students in Shanghai, China that, while billed as the most tech savvy President in history, he doesn’t use Twitter.

When asked by a student if he was aware of China’s firewall blocking the popular micro-blogging service, Obama forewent his tech friendly reputation, saying, “I have never used Twitter but I’m an advocate of technology and not restricting internet access.”

President Obama’s admission of his unfamiliarity of the internet tool du jour would have been an altogether innocuous acknowledgement that the President is, well, old, were it not for the dogged efforts of his campaign apparatus in portraying the young then-Senator Obama as hip and tech savvy opposite the old and inaccessible Senator John McCain.

In explicitly making the case that McCain’s simple awareness of technology was not equivalent to Obama’s superior appreciation–and use–of technology, the Obama campaign launched a web ad in September of 2008 callously assailing McCain for his inability to use a computer and send an email. Were McCain elected, their logic went, the seat of the Free World’s power would run through the 73-year-old’s car phone and computer running on MS-DOS.

Of the ad, the Obama campaign said, “‘Still’ details why John McCain would just be another out of touch president offering more of the same.”

While the Obama campaign suggested McCain’s indifference to new technology was the result of the Senator’s age, Republicans were quick to note the real reason for his perceived tech-illiteracy: Senator McCain’s battle-field wounds limit the use of his hands. The Obama campaign never apologized, insisting McCain’s failure to make use of technology was due to his age and he was therefor unfit to serve as President.

President Obama’s admission that he’s Twitter-averse is not an acknowledgment that he’s old or even out of touch, like he suggested of Senator McCain. It is, however, emblematic of the duplicitous ends to which President Obama and his allies–complicit in this and countless other deceptive electioneering offenses–will go in the name of campaigning.

Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO-turned-McCain campaign advisor and surrogate, announced on Thursday the endorsements of eight Republican Senators, including conservative stalwart Senator Tom Coburn.

“Our nation is facing serious economic challenges because we keep rehiring the same failed career politicians who have proven themselves incapable of making hard choices,” read Coburn’s statement. “Carly’s common sense and fiscal conservatism will be a welcome addition to the United States Senate. I am glad to offer her my endorsement.”

Today’s announcement by Fiorina, who only formally announced her bid for Senate on Wednesday, comes on the heels of Senator Jim Demint’s endorsement of Fiorina’s Republican primary opponent, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

In addition to Coburn, Senators Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Jon Kyl, John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, and Olympia Snowe endorsed the former Silicon Valley executive.

“I am humbled to have earned the endorsement of each one of these distinguished Republican Senators,” Fiorina said of today’s endorsements. “They are all dedicated public servants and it is a true honor to have their support.”

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Promoted from diaries.  Want to keep interjecting, Senator Durbin? - Moe Lane

Instead we have a 2000-page bill from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

On the Senate floor, Sen. Lamar Alexander, Sen. Judd Gregg, and Sen. John McCain discussed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s massive health care reform bill. Sen. Dick Durbin had to drop in and hilarity ensued:

Former Congressman JD Hayworth is reportedly considering a primary challenge to John McCain. In explaining his rationale recently, he made a serious allegation about McCain’s loyalty to party:

Hayworth charged that in 2005 Salter tried to “blackmail” him into stopping his public criticism of McCain’s comprehensive immigration-reform bill. Hayworth said his chief of staff got an e-mail from Salter indicating that McCain might retaliate by commenting in the media about Hayworth’s links to the then-unfolding Jack Abramoff lobbyist corruption scandal.

Hayworth further suggested that Salter was responsible for planting false information in the Washington Times that said Hayworth was the “target” of an Abramoff-related Justice Department investigation. The Abramoff scandal helped Democrat Harry Mitchell upset Hayworth in 2006.

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Promoted from the diaries by Jeff

At one of the McCain-Obama debates in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, the candidates were asked in turn if health care were a right or a privilege. Obama answered unequivocally that it was a right, while McCain fumbled a bit and declared that it was a privilege.

I disagree with both answers.

The reason both were wrong last October is that neither appeared to understand the basic definition of a ‘right’: something the government cannot forbid.

A basic right which is implied but not mentioned in the Constitution is the right to travel. The government should not interfere in our movement from place to place. But there is no right to transportation, either to a specific form of transport or to have any provided, Cash For Clunkers notwithstanding. If there were, one couldn’t pass by a hitchhiker (and they would choke every intersection demanding that their rights be satisfied).

Similarly, the government should not be able to bar anyone from receiving health care. That is very different thing from supplying it to everyone, or forcing health care workers to serve anyone who appears before them.

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Background: Hot Air (Allahpundit), Hot Air (Ed Morrissey), The Weekly Standard, ConsiderThisNews (Pat Hynes), The Politico

Since everybody else is piling on, let me add my own comment to the fray.  If you were one of the people who participated in that Vanity Fair hit piece, and we find out your name, you will be a net drag on any national campaign for the rest of your professional career.  Not because you helped the Left go after Governor Palin, but because you are an untrustworthy sneak who is dedicated to propping up the elitist system in DC, not fixing it.   Any candidate that hires you will have to overcome the base’s natural reluctance to work with a campaign that would hire someone like you.  This can be done; but it’s much easier to hire people with your skill set and a name for basic party loyalty.

If you are a McCain staffer who did not talk to VF, I suggest that you find some way to demonstrate that you aren’t one of the people in the first paragraph.  Because until we know who talked, the default assumption is going to be that you may have talked.  This will not wreck your career, but it will blight it if the base has anything to say about it.  On the bright side, a simple and declarative denial will do; of course, if your denial is a lie and we catch you at it, brush up on your typing skills.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Question: What do these two stories have in common?

Iran Unrest Reveals Split In U.S. on Its Role Abroad

[snip]

Obama’s approach to Iran, including his assertion that the unrest there represents a debate among Iranians unrelated to the United States, is an acknowledgment that a U.S. president’s words have a limited ability to alter foreign events in real time and could do more harm than good. But privately Obama advisers are crediting his Cairo speech for inspiring the protesters, especially the young ones, who are now posing the most direct challenge to the republic’s Islamic authority in its 30-year history.

[Via The Campaign Spot]

US says hot dog diplomacy still on with Iran

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Monday its invitations were still standing for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at US embassies despite the crackdown on opposition supporters.

President Barack Obama’s administration said earlier this month it would invite Iran to US embassy barbecues for the national holiday for the first time since the two nations severed relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution.

[Via Weasel Zippers, via Hot Air]

Answer: Both demonstrate that the administration’s only real focus on any issue is its effect on domestic policy.

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According to the Hill, Congressional Democrats are planning to run up a trial balloon on comprehensive immigration reform in June, and then take a crack at passing a bill late this year or next:

Senate Democrats may be close to 60 votes on a measure that would represent the first step towards immigration reform under President Obama.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is a concept dear to Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) heart, and while health care reform may get this summer’s headlines in Washington, the DREAM Act may be a sleeper…

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It seems like the announcement came out of nowhere this weekend:

Governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr. will resign and accept an appointment as ambassador to China, ABC 4 has confirmed.

The official announcement came during a press conference held by President Obama Saturday morning at the White House in the Diplomatic Room.

President Obama asked the people of Utah to forgive him for taking their
Governor but called the China ambassadorship a job, “as important as any
in the world.”

Governor Huntsman said Saturday that he wasn’t looking for a new job,
but “When the President of the United States asks you to step up and serve in a capacity like this, that to me is the end of the conversation.”

The reaction by many shocked political junkies was, “What?” The reaction by most others was, “Who?” Huntsman had very little name recognition before the president’s announcement, but his name had surfaced in various places in the past few weeks.

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Recently I have been messing around with Twitter, the social media site of the day (shameless plug: see me as warnerthuston on Twitter). So, checking out some of the Old Media to see what they were saying about Twitter, I ran across Time Magazine’s attempt to seem cool with the Twitterers, er Twitterists, er Twits, er whatever they are called. Time was following some “Tweets From a Washington Dinner” and I found something amusing there. Time, you see, added the Tweet from a guy claiming to be a John McCain adviser that was outed as a fraud months ago; Martin Eisenstadt.

You will recall that this fake Martin Eisenstadt was the same nonexistent fellow that fooled the media for weeks into thinking he was part of the McCain campaign for president. This Martin Eisenstadt even pretended to be a “Senior Fellow of the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy.” But it was finally revealed that this Martin Eisenstadt was really a liberal named Eitan Gorlin. But it didn’t come to light before he was quoted by several Old Media news outlets as a legitimate McCain adviser.

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In April, New York Times reporter David Barstow received a Pulitzer Prize for his story on the Rumsfeld-era public affairs outreach program to former military officers then working as journalists (the so-called “military analysts).  The thrust of the article is that Mr. Rumsfeld and his subordinates used seductive perks like lunch at the Pentagon and access to top officials to manipulate these men into providing misleadingly positive (rosy?) media stories on the war in Iraq.
 
Thinking back it’s not clear that there was ever a positive media meme on “Bush’s War.” 
 
But on the theory that “This Outrage Must Not Stand,” the ever-ready Inspector General’s office at the Pentagon launched into action and investigated the matter.  Were reporters or the military analysts inappropriately influenced?  Were they cashing in on their connections with corruptible men like Generals David Petraeus and Ray Odierno in the service of the dreaded defense industrial complex?  Was the integrity of the media been compromised by DoD propaganda?  Of course everyone assumed the answer was a resounding “Yes!”  There might have even been some thought that hearings might have to be called on Capitol Hill, so we could see yet more of the moral preening and manufactured outrage that has become the staple of our elected representatives.
 
Then the wheels came off the bus. 
 

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After several years of missteps and dunderheaded RINOist policy proscriptions, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham got one right for a change. The unctuous pair published an Op Ed in the Wall Street Journal on May 6 that is spot on in its analysis of the dangerous road down which Barack Obama and the Democrats are taking us as far as the war on terror is concerned.

Because this issue is so important and so as not to waste time, we will take as a given here the poor standing that both Senators rightfully have with conservatives, set aside their RINOism, and move past their inability to “get it” on every other issue but this one. What McCain and Graham had to say in their WSJ piece is of supreme importance and it is an area where we can all agree upon in all the most important ways. So, let’s focus on the Guantanamo facility and the greater debate on the war on terror, shall we?

In the first paragraph of the piece McCain and Graham pinpoint one of the most injurious things that Obama’s possible upcoming “truth commissions” will have on future American administrations. Obama’s prosecutions of Bush officials for having given their honest council to the president will simply destroy the trust that future advisers will have to give their best council. If future advisers imagine that they can be hauled off to jail with ever new administration’s ascension to office, no adviser will ever feel safe. All will unduly hedge their advice for simple self preservation. This cannot help but hurt this country from this point forward.

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This morning I listened in on Eric Cantor’s conference call concerning the launch of the National Council for a New America (NCNA) hosted by Congressman Cantor and Senator John McCain.

One of the main points that the two men stressed is that this is “not a contract with America,” but a “conversation” with her. The GOP leaders also stressed that this is an “inclusive” effort with which they want to hear from all manner of Americans adhering to a variety opinions on today’s most pressing Issues. The two also said that this is not an attempt to “re-brand” the GOP.

The first townhall style meeting is to be held on May second in Northern Virginia and along with Cantor and McCain it is expected that Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush will be in attendance.

Additionally, several Governors past and present have joined this effort. Governor Haley Barbour, Governor, Jeb Bush, Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator John McCain, and Governor Mitt Romney.

Senator McCain also mentioned several times that they had contacted Governor Sarah Palin’s office and asked her to join them with future NCNA efforts. Senator McCain made sure to mention that fact several times.

The effort has thus far been broken down into five areas of discussion. The economy, healthcare, education, energy, and national security all will come into focus.

My impression is that it certainly is an attempt to refocus the GOP, maybe not necessarily “re-brand” it but certainly re-introduce Republican principles to the people.

It is sure that the “conversation” meme will be looked upon with skepticism, but let’s face it. They had little choice but to employ the terminology. The GOP is in a weakened state and something does have to be done to vivify the Party.

We shall have to wait and see where this goes, but I see no reason to unnecessarily scoff at the effort. Let’s give it a fair hearing, fellow Republicans, conservatives, Libertarians, Americans.

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I’m not a fan of John McCain. I was not a fan of his campaign for President. I think he tends to be a bully. But in the grand scheme of things, John McCain does not throw his own party under the bus as much as some of his colleagues in the Republican Conference.

2010 is going to be a tough year for Republicans to rebuild in the Senate. One seat shy of a filibuster proof Senate, we cannot afford losses and need resources to make gains.

I know there are a lot of people who think the GOP is no better than the Democrats. That’s fine. But they are full of crap and they should know it, though most of them don’t. And that is not an audience I’m writing for.

There is a difference and we should always work to refine our side to make the contrast with the Democrats better. But given the limited resources we have facing us heading into 2010, there is only so much we can do.

Given the choice between opposing John McCain with Chris Simcox in a primary or opposing Arlen Specter with Pat Toomey, I think our money is much better spent beating Arlen Specter.

We only have so much money, so many volunteers, etc. that we can put on the battlefield. And i believe, looking at the demographics of both Arizona and Pennsylvania, it is far, far more likely that Pat Toomey could win a general election than Chris Simcox.

It is also a no brainer that in a limited field, we need to pick off the worse of our side, not the guy who is mostly with us, but feels like poison ivy — we can cover ourselves in caladryl dealing with McCain. With Specter, we need to toss him because preparation-H only does so much.

So don’t expect RedState to get on the Chris Simcox bandwagon. I don’t have the energy to chase that rabbit down a losing hole.

The Hope for America caught Sen. John McCain’s recent appearance on Jay Leno’s show:

Leno: Who is running the Republican Party? Is it Rush Limbaugh? I mean…

McCain: We have, I’m happy to say, a lot of voices out there: Bobby Jindal, T… Pawlenty, Huntsman, Romney, uh… Charlie Crist. There’s a lot of governors out there who are young and dynamic. Uh… Mitt Romney did a great job and continues to. There’s a lot of good people out there, and I’ve left out somebody’s name and I’m going to hear about it (laughs).

Leno: Right.

Yes, the Senator is hearing about it. Not only did he omit the name of Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina from that list of young and dynamic governors, but McCain somehow managed to “forget” the name of the running mate of his own choosing, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. I’m sure the three months that she tirelessly campaigned with him and for him are just a blur to Maverick now, but the election was less than six months ago. This was either a thinly-veiled snub of two conservative Republican governors, or the onset of senility. You decide.

The video of this exchange is here.

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Liberals had a lot of fun last year picking on John McCain for having a short temper. It’s poetic justice that he seems to hold a grudge:

John McCain sounds angry and frustrated that, despite the risks he took in pushing immigration reform, Hispanic voters flocked to Democrat Barack Obama in last year’s presidential contest. McCain’s raw emotions burst forth recently as he heatedly told Hispanic business leaders that they should now look to Obama, not him, to take the lead on immigration…

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Lobbyists in the Administration = No Lobbyists Allowed

9,000 Earmarks in a Spending Bill = The First Step Toward Ending Earmarks

$2,000,000,000,000.00 in Debt-Growing Wasteful Spending = a Return to Fiscal Responsibility

Running Roughshod Over the Minority = True Post-Partisanship

We’re all familiar with these (and dozens more) examples of President Obama’s (D-IL) penchant for promising the opposite of what he plans to do, and then claming that resulting action is not only what he promised to do all along, but the same as that opposite promise he once made.

The latest case of this is with the public campaign financing system. You might recall that Obama joined Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in pledging to take public funding for the 2008 campaign — something which would cap contributions and spending during the election season. Of course, as soon as Obama saw how much money he could bring in from star-struck, besotted lefties who painted his blank canvas with whatever they wanted to see, he reneged on that promise and decided to go with private funding all the way (something he excused with the Orwellian claim that forgoing public funding in favor of private donations meant he was actually taking advantage of a “parallel public financing system”).

According to this Politico article, Obama’s “rejection of public funding for his presidential campaign is widely considered to have killed the Watergate-era reform” that was “intended to reduce the influence of big money in presidential politics.” Sen. McCain, who stood by his pledge to take public funding, certainly agrees with that sentiment, as he told The Washington Times on Friday that the system is now “dead.”

O(rwell)bama’s staff jumped all over that statement, and are using it to claim that McCain — not Obama, who wreaked havoc on the system during the last campaign — is responsible for destroying the public financing program by….well, what he actually did to destroy the program isn’t ever really addressed by the accusation-hurlers.

It’s amazing, really, what these folks will say in lieu of actually admitting or recognizing the truth. At this rate, it won’t be too long before it’s federally decreed that day is night, war is peace, America is the USSR reincarnate (actually…), and The Republicans are the Great Enemy who socialized this country, brought on the dark days of annual trillion-dollar deficits, demolished health care by nationalizing it, and drained the taxpayer coffers bailing out Detroit’s unions.

Just wait.

Just hours after the House Democratic leadership forced President Obama’s $3,600,000,000,000.00 budget for fiscal year 2010 through the House Budget Committee, the House GOP unveiled their alternative to the president’s astronomical spending bill (the GOP document can be seen here, courtesy of good friend and RS contributor Dan Spencer).

President Obama has pulled out all the stops in pushing his multi-trillion-dollar budget, which even USA Today has called “unprecedented in size [and] breathtaking in scope.” He has returned to campaign mode, mobilizing as much of his Obama/Organizing for America volunteer force as possible (a number which, it turns out, is significantly lower than that which was willing to help him get elected in the first place) and sending them door-to-door to evangelize for a document they haven’t read (and which will saddle them, their children, and their grandchildren with ridiculous amounts of debt). He has called for public input and participation in a TeleTownHall held today.

And, last night, in a move reminiscent of his actions during the actual campaign, Obama threw down the figurative gauntlet to detractors from his $3,600,000,000,000.00 spending plan, saying “To a bunch of the critics out there, I’ve already said, show me your budget! I’m happy to have that debate.”

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Now that President Obama has scared the Congress into authorizing the expenditure of more than a trillion dollars. A feat accomplished by  constantly talking the economy down and endlessly referring to the worse economic downturn since the Great Depression. Today, Obama put on his rose colored glasses and declared most aspects of the US economy “fundamentally sound”:

The last person I heard call the economy fundamentally sound was Senator John McCain, back in September. The mainstream media had nothing but derision for McCain’s fundamentally sound remark. The New York Times took special umbrage wondering if McCain had missed the downfall of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG.

Things are different now than when John McCain said things were fundamentally sound:

• On September 15, 2008, The Dow Closed At 10,917.51; Yesterday, It Closed At 7,170.06. (Google Finance Website, accessed 3/13/09)

• In September 2008, The National Unemployment Rate Was 6.2 Percent; Today, It Is 8.1 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics Website, accessed 3/13/09

• On September 15, 2008, The National Debt Was $9,634,090,464,815.55; Yesterday It Was $10,983,549,928,728,.74. (U.S. Treasury Department’s Treasury Direct Website, accessed 3/13/09)

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The 2008 presidential campaigns will long be remembered as historic.  Of course, one of the most remarkable thresholds crossed was the record breaking financial resources raised and spent through the process.  In fact our fund-raising for McCain-Palin 2008 raised over $450 million, by far the most successful in Republican Presidential campaign history.  The previous record was $260 million, set by Bush-Cheney in 2004.  Much will be discussed over the coming years on how political races should be financed.  With record shattering funds raised by both campaigns and political parties it’s easy to see why.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I had the distinct privilege of serving first as a National Finance Co-chairman and then as de-facto National Finance Chairman for Senator McCain these past two years. While I have served on many campaigns, in a variety of different leadership positions, this was the first time I focused most of my energies on finance.   Having spent the past few months reflecting on my time leading the finance team I would like to share a few of my observations, in a short series of posts over the next few days about this historic campaign.  I welcome any and all thoughts that you’d like to share.

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