Daily Tidbits: June 26, 2008

• Bad Economic News. Negative report on bank sector triggers Dow to drop 358 points to lowest level of 2008. Price of oil shoots to new high.
• Schwarzenegger goes off-script in Florida while appearing with Gov. Crist by criticizing offshore drilling. He said, “Anyone who tells you [offshore drilling] would bring down gas prices anytime soon is blowing smoke.”
• Texas Polling Massacre. Obama down by only 5 points in Texas, and GOP incumbent Senator “Big Bad John” Cornyn is leading by only 2 points over his Democratic challenger, Rick Noriega. Perhaps this video from John Cornyn’s campaign is partly to blame:

• Housing foreclosure and FISA legislation delayed by Senate until after July 4th weekend recess.
• In a shocking development, the AFL-CIO endorses the Democratic nominee.
• WaPo Uncovers McCain Sleaze Factor. McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, made his fortune lobbying on behalf of clients that needed McCain’s help in the Senate. There’s also an issue of self-dealing by Davis because he gave a 7-figure campaign contract to an IT company in which he is an investor.

• New Poll Shows Spike for Obama in Four Key States. A new Quinnipiac/WaPo.com/WSJ poll shows Obama leading by double-digits among likely voters in Wisconsin and Minnesota, effectively removing them from the “swing states” category (unlike 2004 when Kerry won them narrowly), and leading by smaller margins in Colorado and Michigan. Once again, McCain’s own numbers in the polls must be deeply demoralizing for Camp McCain: 37% (MN), 39% (WI), 42% (MI), and 44% (CO) (an average of 40.5%). For the candidate representing the incumbent party controlling the White House who has had his nomination wrapped up since March while his challenger was tied up in a nasty primary fight until the end of May, McCain’s ongoing struggle to eclipse 40% in key states is horrible news. How horrible? How about this nugget: among white men in Wisconsin, Obama leads by double-digits. Factors behind Obama’s support include the unification of the Democratic Party behind Obama, the growth in voters identifying themselves as Democrats, Bush’s sustained unpopularity, and Obama’s popularity among independent voters (which as a block seems to be a growing force in places like Colorado, to the detriment of the GOP). Poll also found that Hillary would be a divisive figure if selected as Obama’s Veep, and that Bill Clinton is now viewed fairly negatively by voters.

These results may influence McCain’s Veep pick. There’s been a lot of chatter about Governor Pawlenty as McCain’s Veep. The CW has been that by adding him, together with the presumed positive effect of having the GOP convention in St. Paul this year, McCain might be able to pick-off Minnesota. But this poll gives Obama a 17-point lead in MN, with McCain on life support at 37%. If the situation doesn’t improve in Minnesota for McCain, Pawlenty might get eliminated as a wasted pick. By contrast, with Michigan more hospitable territory for McCain than most Midwestern swing states, and with Romney’s political ties to the state, I wonder if McCain is already leaning towards Romney. Romney seemed to be auditioning while appearing on all the morning shows today bashing Obama.

• Novak: McCain campaign panicked over a possible Colin Powell endorsement of Obama (among other Obamacans).
• Bush Appeases Terrorist State – Part of the “Axis of Evil”. Bush announced this morning that he will remove North Korea from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism because, after direct negotiations with the terrorist state, North Korea agreed to provide the Bush Administration with some requested information. This change is a significant step towards liberalizing international trade and commerce with North Korea and would make North Korea eligible for aid and assistance, which it desperately needs. So North Korea is getting everything it wanted and needs, and we’re getting … some data about its plutonium on hand. The limited data is not expected to include any details on the nuclear bombs the North has already produced; its alleged attempts to produce nuclear arms by secretly enriching uranium, which triggered the ongoing crisis in 2002; and accusations that the North helped Syria build a nuclear plant. Look, I’m happy some progress has been made to bring this country into the global community — it’s basically a large, oppressive cult. But the hypocrisy of the Bush Administration is impossible to ignore. They’ve cut a deal with a country they labeled as one of the three worst terrorist nations in the world (by its own definition), after criticizing diplomacy with rogue states on the campaign trail. They essentially appeased the state, if you define the term as giving something up of value in return for a modest concession. Bush cannot start a domestic political fight in incendiary terms of “Nazi appeasement” and then immediately engage in such behavior himself without paying a political price. UPDATE: Many in the GOP are already bashing Bush for cutting the deal.
• Can’t Miss the Early Bird Smorgasboard. John McCain has only worked one weekend since early February.
• WaPo’s Buried Lede on Gordon Smith Campaign Ad. WaPo’s front page story about Senator Smith trying to use Obama’s image to help his reelection chances in a campaign ad was old news. What was newsworthy was the GOP insider’s admission that the Republicans prior attempts to use Obama as a negative in Congressional races backfired (i.e., the special elections in Illinois, Mississippi and Louisiana where the Democrats won seats held by the GOP in conservative districts) and is “dead” as a strategy to use in the future. That’s an admission that the Obama wave is just too big, so their choice is grab a surfboard or drown.
• How Not to Get a Job. Obama and Hillary are working with same DC lawyer to discuss variety of integration issues, such as whether Hillary can use a campaign jet when she travels on behalf of the Obama campaign as she sees fit and getting more of her staff hired by the Obama campaign. The article, and the leaks that gave rise to it, is yet another remarkable example of the sense of entitlement among some of the Hillaryland insiders. It’s a reminder of how disciplined and “anti-drama” the Obama camp is by comparison.
• Obama’s Power Point presentation outlining his campaign strategy.
• McCain is confounded by the Internets!