More than $1M in seven days

Rep. Ron Paul's campaign raised about $1.2 million in the last seven days before the third quarter fundraising deadline, according to the candidate's Web site.
As of 3 p.m. this afternoon, Edwards was close to raising $1 million over 10 days. The candidate reportedly has about $9 million on hand and has also enrolled in the public financing program.
Tonight, Bill Richardson reported raising $5.2 million.
Biden's Web site doesn't have fundraising information on it and press reports stated over the weekend that he was pulling staff out of every state but Iowa. The site is still targeting voters in three states - Iowa, New Hampshire, an South Carolina.
Dodd has no information about his numbers but his site does add Nevada to his list of "Around the States" and also has a link for Connecticut, his home state. Is that a future sign there?
Gravel sent out two mailers over the last week asking for small donations from key states in order to receive about $200,000 in public financing. According to the email, he is seven states from reaching the goal. He needs four $250 donations from people in Arizona, Connecticut, DC, and Maryland, eight from people in Michigan, five from Wisconsin and three from NH. After being in the race for about 15 months, Gravel finally has a somewhat irregular [instead of nonexistent] communication response to media and voters.

Quick links: The Rush Limbaugh hates the troops edition

Here are some things I've saved over the past couple of weeks which are worth looking at:
First, here is that idiot Rush Limbaugh going off on the troops again: ["Limbaugh: Service members who support U.S. withdrawal are 'phony soldiers'"]. I guess the only "real" soldiers are the ones who take joy in killing, right Rush? Some Christian you are. And more evidence and reasoning for why we need a fairness doctrine for all licensed media organizations.
Here is the response from a veteran's group:

Here is another vet responding, with photos, of him, as a "phony "soldier": ["The Real Deal"].
Here is an AP story about vets coming home to face financial problems: ["Wounded vets also suffer financial woes"].
I don't like the fact that this article kinda laughs at people who are worried about meteorites: ["Meteorite Crash Breeds Mass Hysteria"]
The Boston Herald has an update on the status of Howie Carr's contract dilemma: ["Stalled Carr urges judge to rethink radio ruling"].
Boston news hottie Bianca de la Garza has landed at Channel 5: ["Bianca de la Garza"]. I was wondering where she went to because there were rumors she was leaving FOX25. And then, poof, she was back on TV, co-anchoring the 11 p.m. WCVB-TV newscast. While Googling for some news about Bianca, I came across this site, which is pretty amusing: ["Ogle Boston's Hottest News Woman, Feel Creepy"].
For all you Halo 3 junkies out there, here are some tips: ["Halo 3: First Tips"].
I was wondering when this was going to happen: ["FCC proposes 'fake news' fine"].
They're at it again!: ["Clinton campaign kills negative story"].

Guess where Rudy was?

Well, well, well ... now we know why Rudy wasn't at the All-American Forum: He was hanging out at a fundraiser in California, getting the endorsement of former Gov. Pete Wilson. Via video from Robert Greenwald:

Gringrich is definitely out

AP has the story here: ["Gingrich Says No to White House Bid"]. I guess the money was too important to him than some of his ideas. Interesting.

WFEA celebrates 75 years

WFEA 1370 AM out of Manchester celebrates 75 years in radio. From Ed Brouder earlier today:

For those within earshot of Manchester, WFEA's hour-long anniversary special airs today (Saturday) at noon, and repeats Sunday night at 7:00.
It's cram full of as many WFEA airchecks as I could find dating back to 1937.
Ed Brouder (AM 1370 WFEA news editor)
Man From Mars Productions
Manchester, NH

Paul, Huckabee shine in debate

It's not like I have to say this again but I will: The GOP frontrunners missed a great opportunity to shine tonight in the All American Forums Debate. But, at the same time, it was nice to have fewer candidates on the stage. With only six candidates, they all got a chance to answer a bunch of questions. Many of the questions were similar to the ones asked of the Democrats at the previous debate. I'm also pretty shocked that some of the Republican answers were similar to the answers forwarded by the Democrats.
If audience response was a measure of who won the debate, Ron Paul would get the award. It was clearly his crowd but he didn't seem as sharp as in previous debates.
Mike Huckabee came across well, answering all the questions thoughtfully. And, frankly, he looked the most presidential of all of them on the stage. Huckabee shouldn't be so low in the polls.
Host Tavis Smiley did a fine job moderating. He had to keep telling Alan Keyes his time was up. No surprise there. Keyes is a great debater; but he is a Johnny one note. And he won't win. Duncan Hunter got the one reprimand of the debate, when Smiley interrupted him and told him to answer the question which he then did.
Lastly, the panelists and participants all asked quality questions about serious issues which are a concern of both white and black folks. It was a quality debate all around.

Pretty big men

I will be blogging about the Republican All-American Forums Debate tonight on PBS.
Right out of the box, I must say that I'm pretty proud of the six candidates who showed up: Brownback, Huckabee, Hunter, Keyes, Paul, and Tancredo. Nice job. When a candidate is invited to a forum which is broadcast nationally on television, they should show up, whether they think they will earn the votes of the attendees or not. You have an obligation - to all voters in America - to talk to them and to listen to them. Shame on those candidates who didn't show up.
I called into "Finneran's Forum" last week when he was complaining about Romney not going to this debate. I gave him two examples about why this was a stupid move, including the fact that blacks do vote for Republicans. Not in huge amounts. But they do vote for Republicans. I noted that during the 2002 campaign, I was shocked one night when I was walking down Centre Street in Jamaica Plain and I saw a bunch of black folks pounding the phones in a small storefront with Romney/Healey signs. Later, after the election, I went back and looked at the returns in Roxbury and was shocked to see how high the numbers were for Romney there. The point? Blacks don't just vote for Democrats. There are conservative blacks. In a tight race in Ohio, Florida, or Arkansas, how many of those votes are the difference between winning and losing? The frontrunners - Romney, Giuliani, McCain and Thompson - were stupid to not show up for this debate.
Second, during the introductions, Rep. Ron Paul got the loudest cheers, easily twice as loud as the other candidates. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee also received loud cheers. Rep. Tom Tancredo gets a jab in during the first question, noting that he was the only Republican to show up NAACP debate.

Update
Here is an update on the Daily Kos debate poll, with more than 8,600 votes cast: Edwards 31, Obama 20, Clinton 13, Kucinich 7, None of the above 6, Dodd 5, Biden 4, More than one of the above 4, Gravel 3, and Richardson 3.

Dodd clock!

Once again, here it is:

If this is accurate - and I have no reason to doubt it isn't - doesn't it say a lot? Russert, not unlike the other hosts, dominated a good chunk of time in the debate. Hillary, again, was given much more time than everyone else, almost twice as much as Dodd and almost three times as much as Biden and Kucinich. Gravel was limited, again, and didn't talk about his sales tax proposal, again!

Silly ending

A pretty good debate overall. But why, why must they ask those silly questions about baseball. What a waste of the last three minutes.

Who won?
OK, so who won. Well, I don't know. I think Biden, Dodd, Edwards, and Kucinich did the best. Clinton and Richardson did OK. No huge pitfalls but they weren't that impressive. Obama started slow and spotty but he improved later. Gravel was better than previous debates. I personally like the man but I'm sick of his yelling and screaming from the debate floor. There is no need for that. I can hardly wait for the Dodd time meter picture. I will have to go and find it and post it later.

Polls
Well, Drudge doesn't have one up but DailyKos does. Here are the results, with 295 votes: Edwards 30, Obama 16, Clinton 16, Kucinich 10, Dodd 8, None of the above 5, More than one of the above 5, Biden 4, Gravel 3, Richardson 2. MSNBC doesn't have a poll but they have a ratings survey. Interesting.

Another nurses ad!

Wow, two in a row. I wonder if they are only on NECN or also on MSNBC. Is it also paid for by Physicians for Social Responsibility or something. Interestingly, the California Nurses Association endorsed Ralph Nader in both 2000 and 2004.

Pour me one!

Gravel and Kucinich are for lowering the drinking age to 18. Wow. Kucinich says the voting age should be lowered to 16. Hmm.

Tough questions ...

Yikes, how about that round of questions. Gravel went bankrupt twice, in a business and personally, with credit cards. And his answer? Paraphrasing, I stuck it to the credit card companies to promote a national petition or something or other. Hilarious. Sen. Gravel, with all due respect, please stop yelling at the TV!!
Kucinich gets a question about bankrupting Cleveland and being driven out of his mayoralship. Of course, Kucinich gives is right back, correcting the story. Kucinich refused to sell the municipal light company when a bank tried to pressure him to do it. Today, Cleveland ratepayers pay smaller bills than most people do. He was right then and it cost him everything.
Richardson gets the Wen Ho Lee question and kinda dances a bit and then spins it. He did a good job but didn't really answer the question.
Russert is doing a kick-ass job tonight. These questions are really, really good and the debate is actually getting some of these people to answer some questions.
On another note, Obama seems a little loopy tonight. He seems to be stammering with his answers. Edwards, Dodd, and Biden are doing pretty well.

Nurses ad ...

I just saw a single-payer health care commercial sponsored by the California Nurse's union on NECN. Here is their Web site: ["Guaranteed Healthcare"].

Priorities

Guest Perspective/Ralph Nader

A society reveals its values, priorities and distribution of power in the way its rulers punish deviant behavior. Here are some examples for you to ponder:

Members of Congress were in an uproar recently over a MoveOn.Org political advertisement in the New York Times titled “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?” The following copy alerted readers to their belief that he may likely testify before Congress as a political General reflecting the rosy views on the Iraq war-quagmire by his commander-in-chief, George W. Bush.

How dare MoveOn.Org criticize a General in the midst of' Bush’s war of choice, growled Republicans and some Democrats as the Senators rushed to overwhelmingly vote for a resolution condemning the ad?

How dare those many Americans who criticized Civil War Generals, World War Two Generals, Korean War Generals (remember General Douglas MacArthur) and Vietnam War Generals (remember General William Westmoreland)?

This kind of criticism inside Army, inside the Congress and among the citizenry has been as American as apple pie.

How come a similar uproar has not come forth about the many female U.S. soldiers in Iraq raped or sexually harassed by male soldiers who are often their superiors? Where are the generals to crack down on these outrages? This story was documented in a long cover story in the New York Times Magazine some months ago, citing numerous sources, including the Pentagon.

Senators demanded the resignation of Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) caught in a toilet sting operation at Minneapolis airport. Senator Craig – he now says foolishly so – pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct. For doing what? As Frank Rich described the situation in the New York Times: “He didn't have sex in a public place. He didn’t expose himself. His toe tapping, hand signals and ‘wide stance’ were at most a form of flirtation.”

Conservative columnist, George Will expressed similar views.

The penalty for Senator Craig is likely termination of his Senate career but not one required by law. Just by pressure from his “pure” Senate colleagues.

Now contrast what should be required of George W. Bush by our Constitution, laws and international treaties to which the U.S. is a signatory nation.

Plunging our nation into an unconstitutional war of massive carnage and cost, and committing numerous, repeated crimes along the way, from widespread torture in violation of U.S. law and the Geneva conventions to spying on Americans without court approval (a felony), does not agitate the Senators as did the airport toilet tapping.

Added to the Bush presidency's serial and continuing crimes are his bungling and incompetence. He has enriched crooked corporations, burned tens of billions of taxpayer dollars and most seriously, deprived soldiers of sufficient body and humvee armor year after year, which has cost the lives and limbs of thousands of American GIs.

In a US court of law, such behavior would be judged criminal negligence.

Yet, there has been no demand from Congress for his impeachment, or his resignation, or even any support for Senator Russ Feingold's modest resolution of censure (S.Res. 302 and 303).

Bush's Justice Department has thrown the book at several plaintiff lawyers for paying people to be lead plaintiffs in securities fraud cases while not pursuing well over 90% of the corporate crooks who actually stole big money from investors and shareholders while paying themselves compensation beyond their dreams of avarice.

If the Department needed a bigger budget to go after this corporate crime wave, they should have requested it from Congress. The resulting fines and restitutions alone would have paid for such an enlarged law and order drive.

I am sure you can cite many examples of public hypocrisy, double standards and inverted priorities from your knowledge and experience. There are many explanations about why and how these powerbrokers and powerholders get away with such behavior.

But let us remember Abraham Lincoln’s observation about the power of “public sentiments.” We need to inform, focus and deliver a different quality and quantity of “public sentiments” directly to our allegedly public servants.

So that they start to sweat the big stuff.

Ralph Nader is a long-term consumer advocate. He ran for president as a write-in candidate in 1992, the Green Party candidate in 1996 and 2000, and as an independent/Reform/and other party candidate in 2004.

Debate ...

I'm finally getting a chance to watch a debate. I will be blogging about it tonight.