The Blue State

Happy Halloween

Don't forget to brush your teeth.

Preview: Hillary would get trounced in the general election

On November 1st, tomorrow, I will write a column about how last night's debate performance pretty much ensured that Hillary Clinton would get beat in the general election if she becomes the nominee.

Hint: it has to do with immigration.

Due to Bush decision, 1.8 million Veterans without health care

Now here is an issue that John Kerry could have brought up in the 2004 race, but instead chose not to get his feet wet.

At least 1.8 million veterans don't have any access to health care, even though they put their sweat and blood on the line so all of us can sit here and enjoy life:

Nearly 1.8 million U.S. veterans are without health insurance, and more than half of them said they have no place to go when they are sick, Harvard Medical School researchers reported Tuesday.

The study also found that more than 25 percent of uninsured veterans said they could not afford prescriptions, while more than 20 percent said they could not afford eyeglasses.

So what seems to be the problem then?  Why aren't they on Medicaid?

The researchers said the uninsured veterans are primarily low- to middle-income workers, aged 44 to 64, who are too poor to afford private insurance coverage but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or VA health care.

OK, so why did the federal government let this happen?  Thank George W. Bush

The researchers said the main cause for the large number of uninsured veterans was the narrowing of eligibility for health care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2003, the Bush administration limited VA health care eligibility to veterans with combat-related health problems or those making less than $30,000 a year.

And four years later we finally get these numbers.  Absolutely disgraceful.  Conservatives who oppose single-payer, not-for-profit health care should try looking these brave veterans in the eye and telling them that to their face, instead of hiding behind the holier than thou 'moral majority' label.

Giuliani responds to Biden verbal shot

Towards the end of the presidential debate, Joe Biden said that as nominee he would stand up to Rudolph Giuliani:

"And the irony is, Rudy Giuliani, probably the most underqualified man since George Bush to seek the presidency, is here talking about any of the people here. Rudy Giuliani... I mean, think about it! Rudy Giuliani. There's only three things he mentions in a sentence -- a noun, a verb, and 9/11. There's nothing else! There's nothing else! And I mean this sincerely. He's genuinely not qualified to be president."

Mildly funny, but definitely true.  Immediately after the debate ended, Giuliani's campaign issued a response:

“Senator Biden’s comments were of particular interest. The good Senator is quite correct that there are many differences between Rudy and him. For starters, Rudy rarely reads prepared speeches and when he does he isn’t prone to ripping off the text from others. And, Senator Biden certainly falls in to the bucket of those on the stage tonight who have never had executive experience and have never run anything. Wait, I take that back, Senator Biden has never run anything but his mouth.

“Such a desperate attack from Senator Biden is to be expected considering I – Katie Levinson – have a better chance of becoming President than he does.”

And what did Giuliani actually do after 9/11, since that is what he is running on?  Oh yeah -- he spent more time at Yankees games than he did with 9/11 rescue workers.

Amid secrecy, some disclosure

For the first time since the formation of the CIA, intelligence funding is being disclosed to the public:

The Bush administration said it had spent $43.5 billion on spying in fiscal 2007, as it bowed on Tuesday to a law ordering disclosure of a figure the government has kept secret for most of the past 60 years.    

"Disclosure of the amount of the budget is a good first step toward accountability," said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, which has campaigned for publication of the annual intelligence budget.

The figure, which is roughly equal to the entire economy of Croatia or Qatar, dwarfs the estimated intelligence budgets of any other country including the closest U.S. ally, Britain, which spends about 10 percent of the amount, he said.

Now that the lid is off on intelligence funding, the debate will begin on whether spending nearly $50 billion per year is worth it.

Blue Radar

I post each morning, here are some of the political stories that might not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:

• CONGRESS Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering the idea of delaying the vote on the SCHIP bill.  "The push to delay action, perhaps until next week, came after closed-door meetings between House Republican leaders and key Senate supporters of legislation that would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)," reported The Hill.
• JUSTICE DEPARTMENT On Tuesday, Bush's Attorney General nominee once again refused to take a stand on whether waterboarding is torture.  Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are angry.  “Based on an initial review of his response to the letter, I remain very concerned that Judge Mukasey finds himself unable to state unequivocally that waterboarding is illegal and below the standards and values of the United States,” Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) said.
• SCANDAL Congressman John Doolittle (R-CA) is under investigation by the FBI.  However, Doolittle has received sizable contributions to his defense fund.  Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has donated $10,000 to the Doolittle defense fund.
• 2008 ELECTION James Carville on the Democrats' chances in 2008: "The Democrats enjoy a stable 13-point lead in which party voters say they will support for president (53% to 40%) and a stable 10-point lead in the named-ballot for Congress (51% to 41%) -- both essentially unchanged all of this year... The freshmen Democrats have consolidated their positions (ahead 55% to 37%), while Republicans in battleground seats are trailing."
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL Chris Dodd wants children to dress up like him for Halloween.  (It's maybe too late for that.)
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL The SEIU in New Hampshire has endorsed John Edwards for president.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL General election match-ups (Rasmussen): Colbert - 36%, Paul - 32%.  Colbert - 37%, Kucinich - 32%.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL Iowa Democrats (ARG): Clinton - 32%, Obama - 22%, Edwards - 15%.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL New Hampshire Democrats (ARG): Clinton - 42%, Obama - 22%, Edwards - 10%.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL South Carolina Democrats (ARG): Clinton - 41%, Obama - 19%, Edwards - 18%.

If we left something out, it's because we either wrote about it yesterday or are scheduled to do so in an individual post later today. Otherwise, feel free to add any stories to the comment box.

Blue Nightowl Clips

Following the Democratic debate, here are some of the political clips making their rounds on the blogs at this hour.

1. Alan Colmes accuses Coulter of anti-semitism
2. White House Press Briefing for Tuesday.
3. Edwards nails Hillary on Iran during the debate.
4. Barack on differences between himself and Hillary.

More clips tomorrow.  The Blue Radar, with all of the Wednesday headlines, will be posted at 4 AM, several hours from now.

Opinion: John Edwards Wins Democratic Debate

When you say, "Look how great it was during the 90s," and then refuse to release your records from that time, you cannot expect to get off easy.  On immigration, on Iraq, Iran and Social Security, both John Edwards and Barack Obama finally took a stand.  As I write this, many of the pundits are writing that Obama won the debate.  I would say that overall John Edwards got the edge -- although barely.  He was much more forceful, and came across as the more charismatic one.  Obama was strong as well, and had a moment when he physically turned towards Clinton and accused her of doublespeak.  Both Edwards and Obama were very strong.  Hillary Clinton played rope-a-dope, and survived only because of how far ahead she is in the polls.

Here's my debate rankings:

1. John Edwards: The line directed at Hillary, "We should be in tell the truth mode," pretty much summed up how Edwards confronted Hillary without hesitation.
2. Barack Obama: Close, but not first place.  Took Hillary to task on Social Security, the former First Lady's double-talk on immigration and schooled her on Iran.
3. Dennis Kucinich: As one commenter on this site wrote, if Barack Obama took the positions that Kurinich took in this debate (with the exception of the UFO answer), he would be winning in the polls.
4. Hillary Clinton: Clearly on the defensive the entire time.  Not an implosion.  But her Washington establishment roots and history of lying was exposed.
5. Chris Dodd: Much stronger than his other debate performances -- but that's not really saying much.
6. Joe Biden: Nothing doing there.
7. Bill Richardson: Not really impressive at all.  He defended Hillary Clinton, which was not smart because he needed to create a distinction with her.

One more note.  You can thank Hillary Clinton and all the other Senators who voted for the Iran bill for the recent spike in oil.

LIVE BLOG: THE DEMOCRATIC DEBATE

Welcome to The Blue State's coverage of the Halloween week Democratic debate from Philadelphia, which runs two hours.  We are experiencing temporary difficulties with our chat window, and do apologize.  As a last ditch effort, I will live blog it.  Just keep pressing refresh for updates.  Feel free to comment as well:

• And so concludes our live blog.  Sorry again about the chat window not working.  But we made the most out of it.  We will definitely fix those technical difficulties beforehand next time.  SO WHO WON THE DEBATE?
• 11:02: Barack Obama will be Mitt Romney for Halloween.
• 10:58: Why is Russert asking if there is life on other planets?
• 10:57: Kucinich says he saw a UFO (No joke!)
• 10:55: Obama and Edwards are double-teaming Hillary on the former First Lady's answer about drivers licenses for illegal immigrants.
• 10:50: Obama on air travel: "This is a problem that has been building for a long time" ever since deregulation took place.  "Anyone that has been flying commercial has known that service has gone down."
• 10:47: Obama says the reimbursement systemz for Medicaid and Medicare are not working properly.
• 10:40: Pretty much every candidate feels that children need to go to school longer.  Edwards proposed that children's health care should be free.
• 10:33: KUCINICH: It is time for the Democrats to move on the issue of impeachment.
• 10:29: OBAMA: "We've got a tax code" filled "with corporate loopholes."
• 10:22: The moderators are now focusing almost entirely on domestic issues.  Each of the candidates are given 30 seconds.
• 10:18: Edwards explained that America can be patriotic about other things in America besides war.
• 10:17: Edwards says he would use the arm of the Justice Department to investigate price-gouging on the part of oil companies.
• 10:12: They are on their second of two commercial breaks.
• 10:11: Obama says he is not fearful of Mitt Romney's swift boating of Obama's name.
• 10:09: Clinton claims there is little difference between herself and Obama on Social Security.  However, there actually is a difference.  Obama wants to raise the Social Security tax cap from $97,000 to $200,000.
• 10:07: Obama accuses Clinton is giving convoluted answers on Social Security.  OBAMA: "I am not fearful to have a debate about this (social security) with Rudolph Giuliani."
• 10:01: Biden is slamming Giuliani, saying that he is not qualified to be president.  As far as what Giuliani ever talkes about, it's always "a noun, a verb and 9/11."
• 9:59: Edwards again was strong, saying that we are not going to look our children in the eye and hand this mess over to them.
• 9:51: Edwards had a few great lines -- confronting Clinton on her defense industry connections.  Furthermore, Edwards courageously said that the 2008 race isn't about any of them.  It is about the next generation of children being better off than their parents.  Excellent!
• 9:49: I just got back into the room as Obama laid the smack down on Hillary for not releasing records, and prolonging the secrecy of the Bush Administration.  And then now Edwards is laying into her.  Edwards says that if you want the status quo, then vote for Clinton.
• 9:39: Commercial intermission.  I'm taking a quick break.
• 9:38: CLINTON: "I stand for ending the war in Iraq, and bringing our troops home."  (That's spin.)
• 9:36: EDWARDS: "We should be in tell the truth mode."  Edwards is really slamming Clinton!
• 9:34: CLINTON: "We've got to get the Iraqi government to understand its obligations, because there is no military solution."
• 9:31: Kucinich calls for the US to fully participate in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
• 9:30: Richardson wants an international agreement that we use diplomacy first.  RICHARDSON: "I went head-to-head with Saddam Hussein. ...I've done it (diplomacy)."
• 9:28: Chris Dodd says Pakistan more dangerous than Iran, especially if Pakistan falls.
• 9:26: BIDEN: "President's make wise decisions" based on "the situation they find themselves in the world."
• 9:24: CLINTON: "I intend to do everything I can to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb."  She was then challenged by Russert.
• 9:23: KUCINICH: "We need to reject" war against Iran.  "There is no basis for it whatsoever....When you say all options are on the table, you are licensing President Bush." (Excellent, Kucinich!!!)
• 9:21: RICHARDSON: "I am the only one up on this stage that has negotiated with a foreign country."  Kucinich interrupted in response, "That's not true."
• 9:19: Edwards slamming Clinton, asking, "Has anyone read this thing?" -- pertaining to the Iran vote.
• 9:18: Clinton is defending her Iran vote, saying that it gives Bush "carrots and sticks" to confront Iran.
• 9:18: CLINTON: "We will not permit him (Bush) to go take offensive action against Iran."
• 9:16: OBAMA: "This kind of resolution (Iran war resolution) sends the wrong message" to the world.
• 9:15: BIDEN: The Administration's actions have "driven underground every moderate in Afghanistan and Pakistan."

Obama's big night: Will it be a letdown?

Maybe the question of the day is why would you give someone a heads-up that you will confront them?  Hopefully that question and more will get answered tonight when the Democrats debate at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.

So what will end up happening?  Craig Crawford thinks that either we are in for a surprise, or the Obama team underestimates the rapid-response power of the Clinton Campaign:

For some reason, the Obama camp spends a lot of time telegraphing what they are going to do. This has allowed the front-running Clinton’s team plenty of opportunities to prepare counter-offensives or schedule news-making announcements that eclipse Obama’s plans.

In the days leading up to tonight’s debate, Obama and his aides have repeatedly predicted that he will come out swinging, detailing the issues that he will raise against Clinton, ranging from her policy views on Iran and Social Security to doubts about her electability. Not surprisingly, Clinton’s public schedule was cleared yesterday so that she can prepare in detail for all the attacks that Obama has been kind enough to preview.

Perhaps the Illinois senator — and runner-up to his New York colleague in Democratic preference polls — has saved something for a surprise. But so far, he has not displayed much savvy for doing that.

Join us for a live chat during the Democratic debate.