Why Sen. McCain doesn't care about FactCheck.org — Tina Fey "likely" to play Gov. Palin on SNL tonight — Sen. Obama postpones because of Ike — Jason Recher to Palin trip director, adviser — Palin hurts McCain with white Ohio men — Campaign now admits Palin's Iraq trip was a brief stop at a border crossing — She does Sean Hannity next week — Notice how the campaign is still all about her — Bob Woodward pool report – Who Tucker Bounds looks like — Matt Mackowiak, Jon Downs b’days
SCOOP — OBAMA STILL IN THE $$$ — Bloomberg's Jonathan Salant: "Barack Obama may be playing possum. ... Obama's aides privately say they're keeping a low profile so donors don't get complacent, suggesting that August contributions — to be disclosed next week — will top February's one-month record of $55 million. And Palin, while energizing Republicans, has also motivated Democratic donors."
BULLETIN — St. Petersburg Times front page — Times Political Editor Adam C. Smith: “Florida may be falling from Obama’s grasp: He is losing ground to McCain despite a big push here.”
THE BIG IDEA — HOW MCCAIN PLANS TO WIN — Politico’s Jonathan Martin: “McCain’s tactics are drawing the scorn of many in the media and organizations tasked with fact-checking the truthfulness of campaigns. In recent weeks, Team McCain has been described as dishonorable, disingenuous and downright cynical. A series of ads — ranging from accusations that Barack Obama backed teaching sex education to Illinois kindergartners to charges that Obama called Sarah Palin a lipstick-wearing pig — have provoked a cascade of criticism of McCain’s tactics.
“The furor presents a breathtaking contrast to McCain’s image as a kind of anti-politician who plays fair, disdains politics as usual and has never forgotten how his 2000 presidential campaign was incinerated by a series of loathsome dirty tricks in the South Carolina primary. The defense from the candidate himself — heard only on ‘The View’ because he hasn’t held a press conference in over a month — is to essentially claim he’s savaging Obama because the Illinois senator wouldn’t agree to the series of town hall meetings McCain proposed at the end of the Democratic primary season. …
“Current campaign aides and other Republicans who’ve closely watched the race, however, have a very different response to the media elites and good-government scolds: we don’t care what you think. … ‘We recognize it’s not going to be 2000 again,’ said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers, alluding to the media’s swooning coverage of McCain’s ill-fated crusade against then-Gov. George W. Bush and the GOP establishment. ‘But he lost then. We’re running a campaign to win. And we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it.’”
DRIVING THE WEEKEND: A grim, dangerous morning across America’s southeast after Hurricane Ike made landfall at the barrier island city of Galveston, Texas, at 3:10 a.m. Eastern. The National Hurricane Center says Ike came ashore as a Category 2 storm with 110 mph winds, just 1 mile per hour short of Cat 3. It's now CAT 1 as it heads for Ark.
***Tomorrow’s front page today — Houston has the nation's biggest complex of oil refineries and petrochemical plants, and more than a fifth of U.S. oil production was idled in anticipation of the storm. Newsday warns of an IKE SPIKE in gas prices.
AP ON THE PRESIDENT THIS MORNING: "President Bush says Hurricane Ike is a huge storm that has caused a lot of damage in Texas and parts of Louisiana. Bush said Saturday morning at the White House that he just had a video conference with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and disaster relief agency chief David Paulison. He says Chertoff will go to Texas when weather permits to help coordinate state, local and federal recovery efforts.
The president noted that some people did not evacuate ahead of the storm even when authorities recommended it. He says rescue teams are prepared to get started once conditions are better. Bush also says officials are keeping tabs on a gasoline crisis so consumers are not gouged at the pump."
@ MIKE ALLEN on September 13, 2008 @ 9:16 AM
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