Melanie Morgan

The Gray(Haired) Lady, the old media witch in charge of leaking top secret information in a time of war, is finding it's tenuous hold on profits slipping away.

Read here.

Show your appreciation for the troops who have been slandered by the Times ceaselessly here.

It is looking pretty good for the McCainiacs ...new polling out by Yahoo-AP shows a McCain 'surge.'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans are no longer underdogs in the race for the White House. To pull that off, John McCain has attracted disgruntled GOP voters, independents and even some moderate Democrats who shunned his party last fall.

Partly thanks to an increasingly likable image, the Republican presidential candidate has pulled even with the two Democrats still brawling for their party's nomination, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo news poll released Thursday. Just five months ago -- before either party had winnowed its field -- the survey showed people preferred sending an unnamed Democrat over a Republican to the White House by 13 percentage points.

via gopusa.com

 UPDATE: Reviews on debate mixed, Netroots furious over co-Moderator George Stephanopolous for asking topical questions (kinda.)

Little George defends his performance.

From Politico.com

Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters.org reports on the Bitter Family quarrels.

The debate is almost over and nothing surprising happened.

No questions about B.Hussein Obama and Jodie Evans of CodePink, close friend of Obama, who bundled $50,000 for his campaign from an avowed supporter of terrorists.

CodePink sent $660,000 to the families of terrorists, and hugs up Hugo Chavez.

Catherine Moy and I have written about this as exclusive information, and Ben Johnson at FrontPageMagazine.com follows up.

Hillary is yammering on about 60 days out of Iraq. The committment to withdraw is the fault of the Iraqi's --NOT the terrorists--it's disgusting. It's about the position of the U.S. in the world, and not about murdering bastards who are intent on killing all of us.

I can hardly bear to watch this.

Obama is re-iterating his support for Israel. Yeah, right.

No questions yet raised by Sister Toldjah and special interest financing that is fueling Obama's campaign. No one expects questions about the same subject concerning Hillary, because everyone knows what a special interest slime that she and her husband have always been.

And finally, guns and Hillary. She's going to bring back the COPS program, and a ban on assault weapons. COPS program has never been proved effective, and banning assault weapons is not going to get rid of assault weapons.

But, don't you know, that gun-owners are still GOOD people and she'll srike the right balance of constitutional rights.

Obama admits he hasn't looked at the issue closely. Really? He has come out in favor of gun control everytime he has voted on it.

Does Obama still favor the licensing of guns? Charley Gibson says his hand-writing was on the questionaire. Obama denies it.

Obama says we have to get beyond politics of gun control? How?

It's not possible. But remember, Hillary says it's all BUSH's fault, and Dick Cheney too.

Now Hillary says she doesn't know all the facts. Typical.

But she supports New York City gun ban...but admits it won't work in Montana.

Sheesh.

I'm bored with all of this ...it's the same liberal stupid positions, or non-positions that the Left has always has taken.

Summing up, Mrs. Clinton was looking strong tonight, especially in the early going.

Obama looked and seemed defensive, but improved later on. But he looks stressed to me....is it me, or are there dark circles under his eyes?

GRADING THE PERFORMANCE --I'm saying the debate goes to Hillary. Will it help her with Pennsylvania?

Probably.

B.Hussein Obama is the hoover vacuum cleaner of special interest money.

I am waiting for the debates to see if Sister Toldjah's commentary/reporting comes up.

The USA Today wrote about a subject I have tackled in depth here on a number of occasions, and that is Barack Obama’s penchant for grossly misleading people about his ties to lobbyists and special interests. They mention ads he is running in PA. He is running similar ads here in NC:

The episode underscores the pitfalls confronting a candidate who rails against special interests while raising $193 million and counting — the most of any presidential campaign. Obama’s fundraising tests the limits of his claim that he is independent of Washington’s influence industry because he doesn’t take money from federal lobbyists and PACs.

Other examples that strain against that claim:

•Obama holds fundraisers at law firms that lobby in Washington. Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor confirmed the campaign held five fundraisers at New York and Boston offices of three firms that lobby, including Greenberg Traurig, whose lobbying clients include gambling and handgun interests.

Obama counts lobbyists among his informal advisers, including Broderick Johnson, who heads the Washington lobbying practice of Bryan Cave, which represents Shell Oil, records show. Nine campaign staffers have been lobbyists, public records show. Johnson did not respond to requests for comment.

•Obama accepts money from spouses of federal lobbyists. In December, the campaign returned a $250 contribution from lobbyist Thomas Jensen of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, but a few days later, it cashed a $500 check from his wife, Sarah, records show. Jensen said his wife had “personally chosen” to contribute to Obama.

•Obama accepts contributions and fundraising help from state lobbyists. Florida lobbyist Russell Klenet hosted a fundraiser for Obama Aug. 25, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Two months before, Klenet had withdrawn as a lobbyist in Washington for a kidney dialysis company that relies heavily on federal revenue, Senate records show. Klenet did not return phone calls.

•Obama is raising more than his opponents from executives of some of the corporate interests he criticizes. Obama has received more money from people who work at pharmaceutical and health product companies, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. He’s taken in $528,765 through February, compared with $506,001 for Clinton and $139,400 for McCain, despite saying last July that “I don’t take pharma money.”

[Obama spokesman Tommy] Vietor declined to answer questions about lobbyists’ role in the campaign and the candidate’s decision to accept contributions from lobbyists’ spouses and partners. He called Obama’s policy an imperfect but important symbolic step. Vietor said Obama “has long believed that lobbyists exert far too much influence over the national agenda.”

Obama attracts small donors

Obama has called his refusal to accept PAC and federal lobbyist money “a multimillion-dollar” sacrifice, but his opponents’ numbers suggest otherwise. Clinton has raised about $2 million from lobbyists and PACs while McCain has taken in about $1.2 million, according to the center.

Obama points to his unprecedented success in raising small sums from tens of thousands of regular citizens. As of Feb. 29, he had raised 41% of his money in increments of $200 or less, compared with 26% for Clinton and 13% for McCain, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Campaign Finance Institute.

Yet Obama’s 20 largest sources of money, grouped by employers, are executives from major corporations and law firms with a Washington lobbying presence — including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Google, according to the center. Clinton’s and McCain’s top donors include executives from some of the same companies, such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

Toldjah So on numerous occasions.