Fantasy Politics USA

John Edwards went on detour from the one of the early voting states to stop in Columbus, Kentucky. Columbus won an online competition sponsored by www.eventful.com to have Edwards visit their town. Columbus only has a population of 229, but about 2000 showed up. “I grew up in a small rural town, so I’ve seen first-hand how the problems of rural America too often are forgotten by politicians living and working in far-off capital cities,” Edwards said.

Here is video from Edwards’ stop in Columbus, Kentucky;

Bill Richardson was featured on ABC’s World News Tonight with Charlie Gibson. They did a profile on Richardson that looks at the side of Richardson we normally don’t get to see. It was about Richardson’s early life, how he met his wife, his relationship with his father, and his school years in Massachusetts. We get to see what inspired Richardson to get into politics, and find out his real desire was to play professional baseball.
Alan Cosgrove

Here is Bill Richardson’s profile on World News Tonight;

Hillary Clinton is using President Bush’s veto of child health insurance legislation as an opportunity to launch a new ad campaign that shows she is the best candidate to provide universal health care. Her ad, which will air in Iowa and New Hampshire, doesn’t mention Bush’s veto, but the timing is not an accident. In the ad an announcer says, “Hillary stood up for universal health care when almost no one else would, and kept standing until six million kids had coverage.” The bill President Bush vetoed would have expanded the reach of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which was created during President Clinton. The ad also shows a contrast between Rudy Giiuliani and Clinton. “She stood by ground zero workers who sacrificed their health after so many sacrificed their lives, and kept standing until this administration took action,” the ad’s announcer says. Giuliani has been sharply criticized by ground zero workers for his actions before, during, and after 9/11. The ad then ends by showing a contrast between Clinton and all the rest of the Democratic candidates. “So now that almost every candidate is standing up for health care for all,” the announcer says, “which one do you think will never back down?” She managed to cover several bases with this 30 second ad. She seized on the health care buzz created by Bush’s veto. She showed she stood tall and supported the ground zero workers as opposed to Giuliani who claims he is the only one that can beat her. She also differentiated herself from the rest of the Democratic bunch when it comes to her health care plan.
Alan Cosgrove

Here is Hillary Clinton’s new ad ‘Stand by Us’;

Mitt Romney is facing attacks from the gay Republican group the Log Cabin Republicans. The group is airing an ad in Iowa and nationally on Fox News that points out Romney’s flip flopping. The ad has excerpts from a Senate debate in 1994 between Romney and Ted Kennedy. Romney is seen saying, “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country…I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years that we should sustain and support it.” He also distances himself from Republican hero Ronald Reagan by saying, “I was independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.” “Republicans deserve to know the truth about Romney,” said Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon. “Whether you’re a mainstream Republican, a libertarian Republican, or a social conservative, you just don’t know what he really believes.” The Romney campaign has responded to the attacks by saying,

“As Governor Romney has repeatedly made clear, like many other Republicans including Ronald Reagan, he wasn’t always pro-life. Governor Romney has said he was wrong and hopes he never stops learning from his mistakes or trying to do what’s right. This personal, negative attack was launched and paid for by a group recognized as having Mayor Giuliani as their ‘favorite’ candidate. Governor Romney supports a federal marriage amendment and so it makes sense that a national gay rights group would attack him. The advertisement misrepresents Governor Romney’s courage to admit that he had been wrong on this issue and the fact that he is proud of his strong record of defending the sanctity of life.”

The Log Cabin Republicans have responded to this by saying,

“The Romney campaign is trying to attack Log Cabin rather than address the Governor’s huge credibility problem. His response ignores the point of the ad. It’s not just abortion. He has flip-flopped on almost every major issue: taxes, immigration, education, gay rights, gun ownership, stem cell research, campaign finance reform, and other issues. It’s a matter of trust. Quite frankly, instead of a 30-second ad, we could have done a 30-minute infomercial on all his flip-flops. No one knows what Mitt Romney really believes.
It’s surprising the governor’s campaign would mention Ronald Reagan in their response to this ad, considering what Romney himself said about Reagan: ‘I was independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.’
This just shows that Mitt Romney will say whatever he thinks people want to hear. Governor Romney hasn’t explained his critical comments against Ronald Reagan. Romney suddenly became a fan of Reagan once he decided to run for President. President Reagan stood on principle. He knew what he believed. Governor Romney doesn’t seem to know what he believes.
Log Cabin isn’t planning to endorse a candidate before the primaries. Our ad has nothing to do with marriage because every major presidential candidate of both parties has the same position on marriage for same-sex couples as Governor Romney—they oppose it. If this was about marriage, we could be running ads against any number of candidates and the Romney campaign knows that.”

Alan Cosgrove
Here is the ad from The Log Cabin Republicans;

Ron Paul has surprised all the mainstream media by raising $5 million in campaign donations this past summer. He has the most passionate supporters of all the candidates, and is very popular online. Not only did he raise $5 million, he still has $5.3 million in the bank. So far since the start of the year he has raised over $8 million in campaign contributions which means he has raised more than candidates like John McCain and Mike Huckabee. He has called for an end to the war in Iraq saying it is an illegal war, and has called for an end to the war on drugs because it doesn’t work. It looks like his supporters are reaching in their pockets to back their words with their wallets. Republicans are still searching for the right candidate, and Ron Paul proves again he is still in the thick of it all.

Here is an ABC interview with Ron Paul about his fund raising efforts;

Libertarian candidate for President Steve Kubby has put together an animated campaign video to introduce himself to America. To learn more about Steve Kubby’s campaign to become President check out www.Kubby2008.com.

Here is Kubby’s animated campaign video The Kubby Chronicles, Episode One;