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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Lokness who wrote (74524)	7/2/2008 5:29:38 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 543533

it is their country and their oil, so who are we to tell them how to think? Who's telling anyone how to think? The oil companies are trying to negotiate a deal, not getting the US army to sorround the Iraqi oil minister with M-1s and Apache's and ordering him to sign. As for my comments, well saying "that's a foolish thought" isn't saying "you can't have that thought". Another issue is I'm not so sure that that particular thought is nearly as common among Iraqis as you seem to think it is. If your point is that it may be a problem, well it might be Then let the oil companies pay for the war. I don't see any connection between your conclusion and the words before it. If the oil companies could and did pay for the war that wouldn't change the nature of any potential problem. And if the cost is somehow associated with their trying to get these contracts than they will just drop out of them and you will have companies like BP and Total get the contracts, or if they had to pay to get the contracts as well, then you would just continue to have an inefficient socialist oil industry in Iraq.

To: Steve Lokness who wrote (74524)	7/2/2008 5:42:50 PM
From: Sam	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 543533

Steve, you've expressed frustration with the Obama campaign. Some Republicans are expressing frustration with the McCain campaign. McCain game plan worries insiders By DAVID PAUL KUHN \| 7/1/08 6:18 PM EST Text Size: Four months have passed since John McCain effectively captured the party nomination, and the insiders are getting restless. Top GOP officials, frustrated by what they view as inconsistent messaging, sluggish fundraising and an organization that is too slow to take shape, are growing increasingly uneasy about the direction of the McCain presidential campaign. While the practice of second-guessing presidential campaign decisions is a quadrennial routine, interviews with 16 Republican strategists and state party chairmen — few of whom would agree to talk on the record — reveal a striking level of discord and mounting criticism about the McCain operation. “It’s not just message or not having just one single meta-theme to compete with Obama,” said a veteran Republican strategist with close ties to McCain’s top advisers. “It’s not just fundraising, which is mediocre. And it’s not even just organization, which is [just] starting or nonexistent in many states.” “McCain’s campaign seems not to have a game plan. I don’t see a consistent message,” said Ed Rollins, a veteran of Republican presidential campaigns. “As someone who has run campaigns, this campaign is not running smoothly. But none of this matters if they get their act together.” Indeed, some Republican officials who spoke to Politico noted that there is still time for the campaign to find its footing and that no campaign is without its detractors. But the bulk of those interviewed expressed serious concern about what has appeared to be an aimless campaign so far, one that has failed to take advantage of a four-month head start on Democrats and has showed little sign of gaining traction. “Here is where the problem is: We had a nomination gap between when McCain was nominated and the Democratic race completed,” a swing state Republican Party chairman said. “I think [campaign manager] Rick Davis and his team did not have an understanding of how the grass-roots, organizational part of the party works. They did not use what the [Republican National Committee] had done, or how groups like the [National Rifle Association] could have helped the McCain campaign locally. “They are just now opening up campaign operations in most states. The RNC was ready to go in most states in March,” the state chairman continued, listing off grievances ranging from the campaign's “dictating” the members of various RNC committees to the state party's having been “threatened” that, though McCain “couldn’t afford not to play in our state,” the campaign would not “recommend us for resources” if the state party did not abide by its requests. One frequent criticism surrounds the widely held perception that the campaign has failed to define or convey a consistent narrative against Obama — something that many Republicans insist should have begun right after Obama captured the nomination. “What’s the political strategy when you allow your opponent, who has just had a grueling four months, time to catch their breath, regroup, fundraise and start to define himself?” asked a Republican strategist who helped lead a past presidential campaign. “It’s politics 101.” Several consultants from past GOP campaigns were even more frustrated by what they viewed as a reluctance to attack — textbook strategy for an underdog. One GOP consultant said that if McCain wanted to define Obama as “too inexperienced, too liberal and too risky” then “why wouldn’t your message every day have something to do with these three problems?” Other insiders expressed frustration that there is a lack of consistency in defining McCain as well, pointing to the recent launch of an ad touting his challenge to the president’s position on global warming — at the same time that McCain traveled to Texas to advocate lifting the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling. “It’s hard to see a thematic message,” said another GOP strategist who has worked on past presidential races. Several Republicans said it remains unclear whether McCain will run on experience or attempt to redefine Obama’s message of change. Some critics cite a litany of minor but nevertheless maddening incidents as evidence that the McCain campaign is failing to execute the basic blocking and tackling maneuvers that mark successful teams. politico.com