Rove Calls McClellan A “Left-Wing Blogger” [LINK]

Bush Re-Elect eCampaign Director:”McClellan Savaged For Saying What Everyone Knows To Be True” [LINK]

CNN’s Jessica Yellin Says “Network Execs Killed Critical White House Stories” [LINK]

Murdoch: “I Think Obama Will Win… [LINK]

Rendell Doesn’t Think Clinton Can Win [LINK]

Sen. Coburn Not Happy With Obama [LINK]

NPR: Mich. Democrats Offer Plan To Restore Delegates [LINK]

Media Plays Up DNC “Chaos” This Saturday [LINK]

Delegate Dilemma…Seat Half? [LINK]

Pelosi’s Crystal Ball [LINK]

TIME: Team McCain Ready for Prime Time? [LINK]

I worked on the 2002 race up in Massachusetts and I’ve seen this play before. Days before the election, the Romney camp released an ad on television showing Mitt gallivanting around topless, playing with his sons and his grandkids . This television ad was widely credited as being one of the reasons he was able to beat out Shanon O’Brien for the Governor’s seat that year.

Now, six years later, Mitt is running again and while the office he’s seeking has changed, the tactics have not. As Michiganders head to the polls today to decide Mitt Romney’s fate, the question remains: are voters in 2008 looking for tried and tested or are they willing to take the best and the buffest?

Check out Gov. Granholm on DoubleSpeak.

Governor Jennifer Granholm
Democrat from Michigan

Senator Debbie Stabenow
Democrat from Michigan

Debbie Dingell
Candidate Wayne State Board of Governors and Political Activist

Music by Junkyard Empire and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm
Democrat from Michigan
Website

Jennifer Granholm was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1959. Her family moved to the United States when she was four years old and she grew up in California.

Granholm attended the University of California, Berkeley and received a law degree from Harvard University. After graduation, Granholm moved back to Michigan where she served in various capacities including as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan and on the Wayne County Corporation Counsel.

In 1998, Granholm was elected Michigan’s Attorney General, the first female to serve in that post, and in 2002 she was elected Governor.

It’s important to note that Granholm is one of two current Governors who appeared on the popular game show “The Dating Game.” Can you name the other Governor?

Sen. Debbie Stabenow
Democrat from Michigan
Website

Debbie Stabenow was born and raised in Baldwin, Michigan. She received her B.A. from Michigan State University and her Masters of Social Work also from Michigan State University in 1975.

Stabenow was the first woman elected to preside over the Michigan State House of Representatives and in 1994, she was elected to the State Senate. In 1996, Stabenow was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and in 2000 ran successfully for the U.S. Senate against Spencer Abraham.

Debbie Stabenow now lives in Lansing, MI with her husband, Tom Athans. She and Tom have two children, Michelle and Todd, and a stepdaughter named Gina.

Debbie Dingell
Candidate for Wayne State Board of Governors, Political Activist
Website

Debbie Dingell serves as Vice Chair of the Barbara Karmanos Cancer Center and serves on the Executive Committee where she co-chairs the Breast Cancer Committee and the Government Relations Committee.

Debbie has also has served as the vice-chairman of the General Motors Foundation and executive director of Global Community Relations and Government Relations at GM. She is a member of the Democratic National Committee from Michigan and chaired Vice President Al Gore’s campaign in Michigan in 2000. In 2004, she also helped seal victory for John Kerry in Michigan.

Debbie has been married to Michigan Congressman John Dingell for the past 24 years. John Dingell is the longest serving member of the United States House of Representatives.

MUSIC:

Junkyard Empire
“Hippies N’ Pimpz”

The first Saturday football game of my college career was a big day for me. I’m a football fan but up until that point I’d never had a college team to root for. We woke up with the band marching through the quad at sunrise, partied in the way that college kids do, and paraded down Spruce St to historic Franklin Field. And then the excitement wore off. It’s just hard to really be enthusiastic for a football game in a 65,000 seat stadium when there are only 5,000 people there. Suffice to say, Ivy Leave football is not that exciting anyway. I think that was the last time I attended an entire game at Penn.

Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan was the exact opposite as we partied with over 100,000 people for the Michigan v. Michigan State game. The streets had been packed with throngs of students and alumni the night before, but that still wasn’t enough to prepare us for the massive crowds of yellow bedecked Mich fans spread out all over town. Every front lawn became a parking lot and much like Broad St on New Years day, an open beverage became standard issue. After wandering up on OK Go playing a set (yes, they did the dance at the end of their set) we met up with Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Senator Debbie Stabenow. There’s a lot of excitement in Ann Arbor about these two women so stay tuned for their interviews.

Sunday was a partial work day but was mostly dedicated to watching one of the most exciting football games I’ve ever seen. That was an epic game from the Eagles defense. Donovan McNabb is the best quarterback in professional football.

All in all, it was a fun and exhausting weekend. Now we’re doing a day of driving as we head to Wisconsin. Watch out Madison, here we come.

To the girls of 920, thank you so much and we’ll be back soon.

Last week when Rep. Sherrod Brown, the candidate here in Ohio that we’re all hoping manages to knock off Bush-buddy Sen. Mike DeWine, voted for the pro-torture anti-habeas corpus bill I was pretty angry. It just didn’t seem to make sense. Stand up to the president and for American values and you will look stronger in Ohioans’ eyes was my thinking. But now, as we drive north towards Michigan after a few days in the state, I’m starting to understand why Sherrod thought it was necessary.

Up and down the East Coast the conversation is dominated by Iraq. There are of course, many other concerns as well, but the war is at the forefront. But as the busy roads of the Northeast give way to the open highways of the Midwest, jobs and the economy are much more of an issue. Things out here are not looking good. When you get out of downtown Columbus it’s really just miles of empty factories and warehouses.

A lot of people are out of work, and when you’re a Republican in charge and things are this bad there’s not much to fall back on except hate and wedge issues. Check out Peter’s post below to see how dependent the Ohio GOP is on fear of gay marriage and abortion to win votes. Maybe I’m stretching things here, but it seems like the Ohio electorate is pretty scared. And that’s why Sherrod felt he had to vote for this bill. His opponent is desperate, and with the undercurrent of hate and fear that is so prominent in the state’s politics, voting against the bill may have set him up to be (incorrectly) painted as pro terrorist. Of course, I still think he should have voted against the bill.

Ohio is a very different place.

Did that actually make any sense? Either way, we got a lot accomplished in the state, met some good people, saw the second largest Whole Foods in the country (wow!), and we’re now off to Michigan. Signing off now for Disc 2 of the Clinton book. Also picked up the live My Morning Jacket CD today. They’re the best band in America, IMHO.

-Josh

Polls have been neck and neck and it likely will remain that way until election day 2006. The latest poll from Detroit News/WXYZ-TV poll has Granholm up only four percentage points.

From the poll:

The lead is Granholm’s first since February, when DeVos started a nonstop TV ad barrage that to date has cost him more than $10 million. The Granholm campaign has yet to air a commercial, but the Democratic Party has spent more than $2 million on ads on her behalf.

Detroit News/WXYZ pollster Ed Sarpolus said the June launch of Democratic Party ads and recent news that Google Inc. and other companies will bring jobs to Michigan have combined to boost the governor’s campaign.

“People are starting to hear the other side,” Sarpolus said. “Is she out of trouble? No. She’s still under 50 percent support. But the trends show she has to tell her story.”

Good luck Governor, we’re pulling for you! Please visit Granholm’s website today and do all you can to help keep Michigan blue!