Fantasy Politics USA

Yesterday on Tampa radio station 970 am radio host Schnitt played a “coo coo” sound over a paid Ron Paul radio ad. The ad starts out saying “Who is Ron Paul?”, and at that perfect time a loud “coo-coo” sound could be heard. 970 am is part of the Fox family. Schnitt can often be heard calling supporters of Ron Paul crazy, and part of the fringe element. Today on his radio program Schnitt admitted he made the noise over the paid ad, and even played the ad again, but before and after the ad he made fun of Paul and his supporters. He even claimed that supporters have threatened his life. Schnitt claims the “coo-coo” sound was an accident. On his web site he has pictures of his fat hand accidentally hitting the SFX button which makes the “coo-coo” sound. Schnitt is a right wing nut who spends most of his radio time hating Hillary Clinton, making fun of Ron Paul and his supporters, and cheer leading for the war. He is no more than a Sean Hannity wanna be. You can email Schnitt at schnittshow@aol.com, or call him toll free 1-800-801-8999. You can also listen to his garbage on 970 am live. The Florida Ron Paul camp should have a talk with 970’s ad department, and at the very least get a refund for his ads. This type of activity is sophomoric and is a sign that the neo-cons radio hosts are getting a little afraid that their end is near.
Alan Cosgrove

Ron Paul had better get his independent run for President going, because he doesn’t seem to have a chance as a Republican. Paul came in a disappointing 5th in the Iowa caucuses behind John McCain and Fred Thompson. I call it disappointing because Thompson does not have a plan, and does not even want to run for President, yet he found more supporters in Iowa than Paul. With all his internet buzz, and money raised a 5th place finish within this lackluster bunch is nothing better than a poor showing. If Paul can do no better in New Hampshire, he should drop out of the Republican party and run as an independent, because he is wasting his time and money with these clowns. Besides, they won’t even let Paul play in their little debate games next week.
Alan Cosgrove

Chris Dodd is expected to announce that he will drop out of the race for 08 at a post caucus meeting. He had said earlier that if he did not finish in the top four in Iowa, then he would drop out of the race. With almost all the precincts reporting he is finishing seventh. His next big step will be to endorse one of the top three, and shoot for a V.P. spot. CNN is reporting that Joe Biden will also withdraw from the race for 08.
Alan Cosgrove

John McCain was the first candidate to release a statement to congratulate Mike Huckabee on his big caucus win in Iowa today. This isn’t surprising since Huckabee came to McCain’s defense when Mitt Romney was airing negative ads about both of them this week. This will help McCain in his battle with Romney in New Hampshire next Tuesday. McCain congratulated Huckabee and said, “The lesson (of Iowa) is one, that you can’t buy an election in Iowa, and negative campaigns don’t work.” McCain added, “they don’t work there in Iowa and they don’t work here in New Hampshire.” Romney outspent Huckabee about 20 to 1 in Iowa.
Alan Cosgrove

Barack Obama has been attacking John Edwards because of all the support he is getting from 527 groups. Edwards has in the past been critical of 527 groups especially the Swift boat group that aired negative and false ads about John Kerry during the last election. 527 groups are tax except groups that are named after a tax code. They are formed primarily to influence elections, and are not subject to the Federal Election Commission or it’s rules. There are several 527 groups that are running negative ads in support of Edwards in Iowa right now. According to a Obama spokesperson, “His (Edwards) campaign simply exploited the biggest loophole in the campaign finance system in order to get public matching funds while arranging through allies to benefit from a 527. That’s how they avoided the spending limits that are a condition of the public matching funds.” Edwards currently has the support of Alliance for a New America, a newly created organization headed by former Edwards adviser Nick Baldick. It receives a lot of support from labor groups mostly the Service Employees International Union. They are planning on spending over a million dollars in ads supporting Edwards in Iowa. Edwards is also getting a lot of support from another 527, Working for Working Americans, which is mostly the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Edwards dismissed Obama’s complaint saying, “I’m very proud of my record now, almost 10 years now … unlike other candidates including Sen. Obama, I’ve never take money from a Washington lobbyist, never taken money from a PAC.” He added: “If Sen. Obama and his campaign want to focus on negative attacks they can do that, but that is not what I’m going to do.” Edwards went on to say, “I’m proud to have the support of labor unions. Unless I’m mistaken what they are doing is just positive support for my campaign. But, I’ve said 527s should be outlawed, I stand by that.”
Alan Cosgrove

John McCain was in New Hampshire today telling the crowd that his campaign has showed some amazing resilience. It was just last summer that his campaign was given up for dead, and it has survived several ups and downs since then. “I’ve been declared dead in this campaign on five or six occasions. I won’t refer to a recent movie I saw, but I think I am legend,” McCain told reporters, referring to the latest movie from Will Smith. “Somehow we’ve had a Lazarus-like experience,” McCain said. “I think it’s because I’ve been telling the truth. I’ve been telling people the truth whether I thought that’s what they wanted or not.”