(This is actually a repost from some months ago, but I put so much time into hunting down the appropriate photos, I decided to repost it; besides, I'm depressed about not being able to make it to NN this year, so I wanted to post something light to cheer myself--and perhaps others--up a bit)

Several months back, Canadian Noise posted an Oscar-themed diary which speculated on the casting for a filmed version of the 2008 Presidential race.

Unfortunately, the diary didn’t get much notice, but I thought it was such a fun idea that I ran with it, and came up with the following. The only rule I made for myself is to take it seriously—no cartoon characters, no dead actors; all of the choices have to be current, professional film or TV actors. Feel free to toss your own ideas into the ring; I know that I’m way off on at least some of my choices, but what the hell...

Last night on Hannity (spit) & Colmes, Alan Colmes went after Rudy Giuliani on the Republican's plan to Save Us All with off-shore and ANWR drilling.

This interview is great for many reasons, and please take the time to pick it apart at your leisure and post about it. But I want to focus on the oil issue which Colmes takes Giuliani to task on and says the things we've all been saying and should keep on saying until the MSM picks up on it.

The latest developments on the question of whether John McCain has managed to remove his head from his ass indicate that the answer to the question is still a thundering "No."

The most recent guy promoted in an effort to revive McCain's stagnant national campaign?

Mike DuHaime, the man whose most recent claim to fame is running Rudy Giuliani's Presidential Campaign into the ground.

Rudy Giuliani is some special kind of stupid. Apparently not tired of having Joe Biden hand him his ass just about every time he speaks, he is now apparently trying to restart his campaign.

The Political Newsline took a look to see who still has debt from the presidential primary and who is free and clear.

Democrats

   * Clinton        $22,523,860
   * Kucinich       $1,177,644
   * Biden          $1,170,869
   * Dodd           $386,991
   * Edwards        $354,719
   * Richardson     $285,418
   * Gravel         $136,565

Republicans

   * Romney         $44,600,000
   * Giuliani       $3,124,113
   * Hunter         $222,447
   * Huckabee       $121,109
   * Thompson       $83,648
   * Paul           $0  
   * Tancredo       $0

Rich's op ed today is entitled If Terrorists Rock the Vote in 2008  and focuses on how irrelevant the twin themes previously used by Karl Rove are now, the fear of terrorism and the fear of gays.  Obviously his title refers to the former, relevant to discuss now because of Charles Black's comments in Fortune that another terrorist attack would be to McCain's benefit.  But would it?  Would not it undercut ideas like "fighting them over there means we don't have to fight them here", or "if we leave Iraq the terrorists will follow us home" or "the policies of Bush have kept us safe" or any of that rot?  To me that has always been obvious, that another attack would equal failure of the Bush approach, and undercut support for Republicans.  Let's look how Rich demolishes this Rovian argument, one of several services he does for us as he serves as the little boy in the fable of the Emperor's new suit of clothes.

Of course I don't mean people here. I mean your average voters who watch some news and make attempts to educate themselves on the candidates. Do they know?

I mean it's all so incredible. A man who was himself tortured -- endorsing torture? It is unbelievable in the most literal sense of the word. And yet that's John McCain.

Earlier today when I was piecing this diary together, I asked the community whether people realize McCain is pro-torture. Kossack AnnCetera said that they do not, but added that accurate information might help people see the truth -- so long as it's palatable.

Unfortunately there's nothing palatable about the fact that torture is now a campaign issue in the year 2008 in the United States of America. But what is worse perhaps is people who are against torture voting for a man who is not.

I'm writing today to pose a question to the community, and it's a question that I don't have an answer for myself. It's also a question that I think has a lot of meaning to the current battle for the White House going on between Barack Obama and John McCain.

The question is this: What happened in late 2007 and early 2008 that allowed John McCain to win the GOP primary?

Let us review the most recent occasion an insurgent won the Democratic nomination against bitter and organized establishment opposition. It was 1972 and George McGovern, caretaker of the Kennedy delegates after California in 1968, had been given the party rules committee slot that would have gone to RFK and, failing that, should have gone to Gene McCarthy. In the 1972 primaries McGovern used his knowledge of the rules to defeat the presumptive nominee, Hubert Humphrey, with an outbreak of enthusiasm Humphrey could hardly understand, much less emulate.

But then at the convention he tried to reach out to the establishment wing of the party by nominating a labor hack, Tom Eagleton of Missouri, as his running mate. It was a sickening blow that the old politics delivered straight to the reform breadbasket. It also showed that McGovern did not have the strategic cunning or the tactical brass to dance with who brung him.

Violent Rhetoric Watch (VRW) - Jun 20, 2008

Giuliani and Gingrich Sabotage Civic Debate Using Arguments From Their Best-Selling Books

This past week, America saw two familiar figures impose violent rhetoric into the Presidential debate on behalf of John  McCain: Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani.  It was a textbook example of the right-wing effort to use violent language not just to distract the public, but to undermine the attempt by citizens to have a pragmatic discussion with an eye towards solving problems.  

Rudy Giuliani has been on the war-path on behalf of John McCain these last couple days, including appearing on virtually every morning show this morning to say things like:

Giuliani repeated his message, saying Obama favors a "defensive" response to terror. Said Clinton was right when she called him "irresponsible and naive."

This is all comes in response to Obama's praising of the trials and incarceration of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing terrorists. That statement alone set off a fury of attacks from the McCain campaign that Obama sees this as a "law enforcement issue," something Rudy picked up pretty fast in his attacks.   So, wait for it...

I find this whole thing very disturbing. TPMis reporting:

In a conference call this morning, the McCain campaign is bringing out Rudy Giuliani as a surrogate for McCain on terrorism. Any bets on how many times Rudy says 9/11 in his comments on the conference call?

Now, I respect what Giuliani went through with 9/11, he handled it admirably. But how does getting attacked automatically make one a foreign policy expert on terrorism?

Republicans are hot-wired for pay-to-play, and Rudy Giuliani is the quintessential Republican. There's just no stopping the Real Rudy from emerging whenever he gets a whiff of cash.

With the Republican Party in need of money for the November elections, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has offered to appear at fund-raisers around the country for G.O.P. candidates. But there is a catch: He wants some cash out of the deal.

Mr. Giuliani’s aides have told the National Republican Congressional Committee and Congressional candidates that if he makes an appearance, he wants the candidates to help him get rid of his presidential campaign debt.

The unusual request underscores the financial predicament Mr. Giuliani finds himself in, after he ended his presidential bid this year with roughly $3.6 million in campaign debt. Traditionally, prominent party figures help lower-tier candidates by headlining fund-raising events in return for good will and future political alliances, but do not receive funds themselves.

This isn't unusual for Rudy. If there's a way for the former mayor of NY to find a way for others to pay for his mistakes, excesses or extravagences, Rudy will find it (see Giuliani's Mistress Used N.Y. Police as Taxi Service).

A reminder: McCain didn't win the GOP primary, people like Giuliani lost. This was the best Republicans had to offer. And because the Republican brand of Tom DeLay, Larry Craig, Mark Foley and Rudy Giuliani still hasn't cleaned house, they get to be almost as big an anvil around John McCain's neck as George W. Bush and the Iraq war. That's why they are in such deep trouble now.

Following Hillary's concession to Obama, I had a discussion with other kossacks about her offer to fundraise for Obama.  I felt that her enthusiasm to fundraise for Obama was extended also because she would be able to keep a share to help settle her own debt.

It had been my impression that it is possible and customary for those raising the cash to take a percentage for themselves.

My assumption was disputed with the argument that money raised for a candidate must only go directly to that candidate.  

Well, an article about Rudy Guiliani fundraising for McCain on Talking Points Memo answers the question (TPM in turn quotes New York Times):

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...

http://www.nytimes.com/...

It may seem a bit obvious that Ron Paul's presence has created headaches for John McCain and the GOP in general. He's been like an anti-war thorn in the side of the right wing radicals that have co-opted all good sense in the Republican Party and supplanted it with totalitarianism. Paul has served in Congress as a Republican over the years although his positions on key issues certainly would seem to stand at odds with the current administration.

His 1988 Libertarian Party run at the presidency fell a distant 3rd to George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, but he has attracted flocks of followers over the years for his ability to corner the market on a political identity that speaks to more than a few conservative minded citizens out there.

This morning i read Maureen Dowd's piece in NYT titled "All about Eve".

For those unfamiliar with it, it is the title of the award-winning classic from 50s that depicts a scheming, trojan-horse style woman intent on bringing down the life and career of the Broadway star who took her under her wings and placed her utmost trust in her.

What drew my attention in Dowd's insightful piece was the following:

Hillary knows that in politics, bimbos erupt. Tapes leak. Husbands disappoint. Friends commit suicide. Rivals get sick. Her Senate race against Rudy Giuliani suddenly turned in her favor when he got prostate cancer and dropped out.

All About Eve

1. King Henry IV, [Shakespeare]

2. King Henry V, [Shakespeare] to motivate his troops to attack:

"...The game's afoot:
..Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George.'"

3. Oh, ya Sherlock told Watson "The game's a foot" then something about putting his clothes on.

???. The game's afoot.
Who should be
Candidate for VP
McShame needs a mate
To complete his slate.

There were a couple diaries from yesterday discussing the Arizona Republic's article that Maverick (TM) John McCain isn't really an accurate picture of the presumptive Republican nominee. Conventional wisdom says brand Maverick (TM) is crucial to McCain's courting of independents in the fall, and if the value of the brand is diminished, so is his candidacy.

Follow that with my conversation Wednesday evening about Tuesday's results with my Terminix representative (necessary here in NC), who voted Hillary on electability.  Rory - now a citizen, but originally from Ireland - had an interesting perspective on McCain's VP choice. It is a perspective that brought up questions I thought might be worth discussing.

So, I've searched the site, and not found any specific diaries about this in the last 3 months so I decided to come out write my first diary. But I just joined three weeks ago and haven't mastered the search engine. How would Rudy Giuliani impact the election narrative, and McCain's chances to win in November?