Worst Line of the Convention
Rep. John Salazar (D-CO): "I've been a farmer all my life and when I look out on this crowd I see a silo of hope."
--David Kurtz
Emergency Room Paradise Update
Jon Cohn has continued to follow the saga of John Goodman, the McCain health care policy advisor, who has said that the ability to go to an emergency room is as good as having health insurance.
First, the McCain camp denied that Goodman was an advisor. Then, after being confronted with evidence to the contrary, they went on to issue what amounts to a non-denial denial and a repudiation of Goodman's emergency room statement. Here's the statement to Cohn in its entirety ...
Mr. Goodman volunteered his advice to the campaign in the past. However, his philosophy on health care--and especially on the urgency of the problems faced by 45 million uninsured American's--are clearly out of step with John McCain. Earlier this summer the campaign informed Mr. Goodman that his advice was not required and requested that he not identify himself as being associated with the campaign in any way, including as a volunteer. John McCain could not disagree more strongly with Mr. Goodman. John McCain believes that addressing the problem of the nation's uninsured is one of our most pressing national priorities. That's why the McCain health plan will, for the first time, bring health coverage within reach of every American.
Count me as highly skeptical. He's repeatedly been cited as an advisor. And as I said below, I don't think that citation gets put on a WSJ editorial without the campaign's consent, tacit or explicit. Also note that according to Jason Roberson, a business reporter for the Dallas Morning News, Goodman told the DMN that "he helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy."
Clearly, the McCain campaign wants this guy thrown overboard ASAP. But the sketchy nature of the McCain campaign's denial makes it clear that he was an advisor of some sort. And the citation in the WSJ, again, makes the denial highly dubious. More significantly, as Cohn notes in his reporting, the idea that Goodman's views are not in line with McCain's policy proposals is just not true to anyone who is well-versed in health care policy. They're actually right in line. As Jon notes, the problem is that Goodman stated explicitly what is implicit in McCain's plan, and that of other health care policy proposals that define the 'problem' in the health care debate as people having too much insurance coverage.
And what about Goodman saying he helped write the policy? Was he lying? Let's have a bit more on that.
--Josh Marshall
Let's Get The Show on the Road
Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls the convention to order. Most of the delegates have taken their seats on the field now. The stadium is filling up.
If it wasn't obvious yet from the banal observations of this post, this is mostly a long afternoon of waiting for the main event.
I really don't envy the TV guys who have to fill all this airtime.
Late Update: No Bruce Springsteen and no Bon Jovi. They'd been reported to be among the performers slated for the evening. Instead we have Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, will.i.am, and Michael McDonald. This is devastating news for TPMtv's Ben Craw.
--David Kurtz
Stickin!
TPM reporters score prime Invesco field press seats, pledge to die before relinquishing them.
--Josh Marshall
McSame Agonistes
Times to report Bush and sidekick haven't spoken since May.
Hmmm, wonder who would leak to the Times that McCain and Bush aren't chummy anymore? Have to put on my thinking cap for that one.
(ed.note: Alternative title for this post "Exile in Sidekickville".)
--Josh Marshall
Invesco Insanity
Ben Craw and I just arrived at Invesco Field in Denver, site of tonight's acceptance speech by Barack Obama. We were lucky enough to have grabbed the last couple of seats available in the press box.
An hour before the day's official convention schedule kicks off -- and six hours before Obama is scheduled to speak -- a scattering of people are already in their seats above the field. Delegates are filing in. They are seated on the field itself. It's a bright, sunny, not-too-warm day here, but that's a long time to be baking in the sun.
I hate to even comment on the set prepared for Obama for his speech. The ridiculous right wing meme that the set is a Greek temple to Obama is too mindless to deserve comment. The set looks like nothing so much as the East Colonnade of the White House.
The demand for press access to this event is so great that we're apprehensive about losing our seats here in the press box. We have seats available in the stadium itself as well as some access to the field itself.
We'll be bringing you reports as we are able, including video as the day unfolds.
--David Kurtz
Not Your Advisor? Please.
We've yet to have the McCain campaign return our calls about campaign advisor John Goodman's suggestion that everyone in the USA actually does have health care insurance in the form of access to emergency rooms where no one in need of immediate medical care can be turned away. But they're now telling TNR's Jon Cohn that he's actually not a McCain advisor.
Really?
Needless to say, we did some looking around before we put up our feature story.
On August 18th, the Dallas Morning News referred to Goodman as "a health policy adviser to McCain's campaign." Yesterday, on the 27th, they referred to Goodman as a McCain advisor "who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy."
Policy wonks can sometimes puff themselves up by giving people the impression they are advisors. Or a paper can get it wrong. But much more telling is the July 30th OpEd Goodman wrote (sub.req.) in the Wall Street Journal in which he is identified as "an unpaid adviser to the McCain campaign."
Given the Journal's role as the forum of record for statements of Republican campaigns and Republican policy wonks, there's simply no way that representation did not have the McCain campaign's sign-off.
I'm still curious to know more about what role he played in crafting McCain's health care plan. As the Journal states, he is an unpaid advisor rather than a member of the campaign staff. And I have no doubt they now don't want him as a named advisor. On that I don't need convincing. But I'm afraid, just saying he's not an advisor won't cut it. Absent some good explanation of why he has repeatedly been identified in the press as a McCain advisor, he and his claims about emergency rooms as de facto health care insurance are all theirs.
Late Update: My old friend Jon Cohn doesn't like getting fibbed to by the McCain camp. Jon got in touch with the reporter from the DMN who has the goods.
--Josh Marshall
Victim Complex
Karl Rove: Hurricanes like Katrina and Gustav just won't give us Republicans a break.
--Greg Sargent
Surrogate POW-POW-POW
New South Carolina GOP ad focuses exclusively on McCain's POW past as response to criticism of number-of-houses flub.
--Greg Sargent
Dog Town U.S.A.
Life expectancy has to be higher here in Denver. Everyone is lean and fit and looks like they just finished mountain biking, are on their way to yoga class, and might end the day with a run.
The other striking thing about the city is the number of dogs. There must be a city ordinance requiring all residents to own at least one dog. I'm not talking roving bands of stray dogs here, just everyone on the street with a leash in hand, and dogs that look very accustomed to hanging out in coffee shops, chilling in the shade of sidewalk cafes, and in general being part of the life of the city.
--David Kurtz
TPMtv: Obama's Big Night
We recap Day 3 in Denver and look ahead to what is likely to be complete chaos tonight for Obama's acceptance speech at 75,000-seat Invesco Field:
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
This is our last TPMtv episode from Denver so it's a good time to ask you for your feedback. Today's show was shot using our standard camera and upload process, but for much of the week, as I hope you've seen, we've been experimenting with using a camera phone and streaming video live or almost live via qik.com. We want to know how you liked those videos: Was the low resolution annoying? Did the speed and immediacy of the videos make up for the lower video quality? Was the content of the videos themselves what you were looking for?
We're very excited about the potential for this new technology and what it allows us to do, so we're very interested in hearing from you about this week's experiment -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.
--David Kurtz
Katrina's Little Brother
MSNBC just noted that with Gustav likely to hit the Gulf Coast next week this could be a "split-screen convention" for the Republicans.
A Gulf Coast hurricane disrupting the GOP's messaging during convention week -- three years after Katrina hit (the anniversary is tomorrow) -- the irony would be enough to make my head explode.
--David Kurtz
McCain Advisor: Insurance? Just Go To the Emergency Room
Why is TPM paying all that money for our TPM group health plan? It turns out everyone in America has insurance automatically, according to John McCain health care policy advisor. All you have to do is show up at the local emergency room for your coverage ...
From the Dallas Morning News ...
But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American - even illegal aliens - as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.
"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."
--Josh Marshall
More Kerry
Interesting addendum to the Kerry speech story. I hear on good authority that he wrote the whole thing himself.
--Josh Marshall
Pick the Scab
TPM Reader RT has an idea ...
They will get him hot under the collar precisely because they are his friends, because they are not getting over the top or into the gutter, because they know full well what they are talking about when they talk about his transformation. And because he knows they're right in everything they're saying about him.
--Josh Marshall
Sore Spot
Guess we shouldn't be so surprised that John McCain got hot under the collar with Time reporters when they pressed him to define honor in a political context.
--Josh Marshall
Righteous
TPM Reader GR reports in from the field ...
Just a small FYI about Kerry's speech. Kerry is running for re-election here in Mass. A couple of weeks ago he swung by my little town of North Adams and gave what was an odd stump speech. It wasn't about him or his primary/general election opponent. His speech, given while standing on a chair in a local restaurant, was very similar to what he gave last night at the DNC. It was almost exclusively about Obama and how odious John McCain's Bush-esque transformation has become. Only few moments were spent on the subject of increasing the the Democratic majorities in congress, and zero time was given to the subject of John Kerry.I got the sense that 2008 public Kerry is very different than the man I had voted for in 2004. He was full of determined righteousness and he wasn't going to take it any more. Sigh. If only....
--Josh Marshall
Election Central Morning Roundup
Obama's good luck streak continues: The weather forecast calls for a mild temperature and no rain during his big outdoor speech tonight. That and other political news in today's Election Central Morning Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
Obama's Speech: We're A Better Country Than This
With excerpts of Obama's prepared remarks released, will.i.am performed "Yes We Can" before the crowd.
McCain Adviser Sums Up Health Plan In Two Words: Emergency Room
McCain adviser John Goodman says the U.S. should not categorize any American as uninsured since they have access to emergency care.
- Obama Could Talk With Iran Over Nukes Next Year
- Carter: McCain "Milking" POW Time
- GOP Nixes Plans To Overhaul Primary Process
- Black Donors Form Backbone Of Obama Money Machine
- Biden: Obama Can't Win Without Pennsylvania
- Obama Camp Employs 2,504 People
- Dems Plan To Highlight McCain's Age With Birthday Parties
- US: 100 Militants Killed In Afghanistan
- Marine Found Not Guilty In Fallujah Deaths
- Professor Abramoff? Teaches Cinema Studies In Prison
- New Orleans Bracing For Tropical Storm Gustav
- U.S. Arrests Top Iraqi Official On Bombing Suspicion
- Bush Admin Worries About Codifying Afghan Rules
- Report: Contracting Budget In Iraq To Exceed $1.2B In 2008
- Altercation
- Andrew Sullivan
- Carpetbagger Report
- Conason
- DailyKos
- DemStrategist
- Eschaton
- JuanCole
- JamesWolcott
- MattYglesias
- Kausfiles.com
- ProPublica
- TNR
- WashMonthly
- WashingtonNote
Editor & Publisher
Josh MarshallManaging Editor
David KurtzAssociate Editors
Ben CrawJustin Elliott
Lila Shapiro
Reporter-Bloggers
Eric KleefeldKate Klonick
Josh Marshall
Greg Sargent
Deputy Publisher
Andrew GolisAssociate Publisher
Al ShawResearch Interns
Ezra Deutsch-FeldmanDaniel Gatti
Rachel Slajda
