Obama: "We Can't Solve Global Warming Because I Fucking Changed Light Bulbs In My House"
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Newsweek has released highlights from its Special Election Project: a team of reporters in the campaigns to gather the inside story, aided by an agreement with their sources that none of what they reveal will be published until after Election Day. Read the whole thing here; excerpts below. ...

Behind The Scenes: Newsweek On McCain In The Dark, Obama Threats, And More
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — Newsweek has released highlights of its Special Election Project, which allowed reporters to gather behind-the-scenes information on the presidential campaigns with an agreement that none of their reporting would be published until after Election Day. You can read a summary of their report here, and the first chapter of their book here. Below, some key excerpts -- including news about a cyber attack from an "unknown entity" that hit the presidential campaigns' computers in the summer, prompting an FBI investigation; McCain's advisers fuming at ...

Obama: "We Can't Solve Global Warming Because I F---ing Changed Light Bulbs In My House"
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... but let me ... answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f---ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'." Read more highlights here. Read Newsweek's story here. ...

Obama: "We Can't Solve Global Warming Because I F---ing Changed Light Bulbs In My House"
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... but let me ... answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f---ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'." Read more highlights here. Read Newsweek's story here. More on Barack Obama<br style="clear: both;"/> ...

Palin spent more on clothes than previously reported, McCain aides furious at her ‘outrageous profligacy.’
Think Progress — ... Newsweek reports that McCain “rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended.” ...

Campaign Post Mortems
Interesting Times — Now come the inevitable stories about "what was really going on" during the campaign. These are the stories that journalists have known about for months but didn't report for various reasons (promises to the campaign in exchange for access, security reasons, etc.). Newsweek is one of the first with a whole slew of fascinating revelations: 1. Both the Obama and McCain campaigns were seriously hacked in August, most likely by foreign agents trying to discover policy plans of the future administration. 2. Palin's shopping sprees were even bigger than previously reported and, ...

Might Learn To Like This Guy
Eschaton — Newsweek: When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, "I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, ...

Holy Moley
Suburban Guerrilla — Someone should probably remember this for future reference: NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin’s shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain’s top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores ...

Never Thought I'd Say This but: Read the Whole Newsweek thing
If I Ran the Zoo — I always think of Newsweek as news for your dentist's office--slightly less awful than the drill, slightly more pleasant than the mouth rinse. But this teaser for their "How'd the black guy do it???" series is astonishing. ...

Wasilla hillbillies loot Neiman Marcus
Newshoggers.com — ... By Ron Beasley Apparently Sarah Palin really porked out when told to buy a few suits: NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and ...

McCain Campaign Postmortem
Outside The Beltway | OTB — ... Newsweek shares several tidbits from their “ special election project ,” which gave them inside information that they couldn’t publish until after the fact. Palin’s Spending Spree NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin’s shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain’s top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential ...

Report: Threats To Obama Ruse As Palin's Crowds Grew More Frenzied
TPM Election Central — ... During the campaign the frenzied crowds at Sarah Palin rallies did seem indicative of something frightening in the air, and it turns out that there was a reason to conclude this, Newsweek reports: ...

She’s All Class
Balloon Juice — ... if we had a black president with a muslim name…) I fear that I am setting myself up for disappointment. By the time Republicans finish counting the tab that she ran up on their dime, those cries for Palin ‘12 might quiet down a notch. ...

'Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus'
Political Animal — 'WASILLA HILLBILLIES LOOTING NEIMAN MARCUS'.... There's plenty of time for the Republican recriminations to get completely out of hand, but in the meantime, would you believe McCain campaign aides are still fighting over Sarah Palin's wardrobe ? NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the ...

What really went on behind the scenes
BlondeSense — Great article over at Newsweek about the special election project which was kept under wraps until today. Hackers and Spending Sprees. Obama's computer system was hacked by a foreign entity. Newsweek also reported that Sarah Palin's shopping spree was much more extensive than was previously reported. She spent tens of thousands on the First Dude's clothes as well. Turns out that McCain hardly ever spoke to Palin and his aides didn't tell him how much she was spending on her clothes for fear he would be greatly offended. The GOP should be getting the bills shortly and will find ...

No More Mister Nice Blog — ... The teaser for Newsweek's forthcoming now-it-can-be-told special campaign report has a couple of juicy stories about Sarah Palin. The logical assumption is that McCainites have spilled the beans out of loyalty to the Maverick Man, in an attempt to restore his reputation. ...

Roger Ailes — Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars From Newsweek: According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An ...

Tip of the Iceberg: There May be Much More on Sarah Palin We Have Yet to Hear
The Washington Note — Bill Kristol says that he was off on a conservatives-only cruise to Alaska to see glaciers and icebergs when he discovered the high sizzle Murkowski-slayer Sarah Palin. Well, from this Newsweek piece, it seems that we have perhaps only seen the "tip" of the iceberg on Palin gossip: NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her ...

Sarah Palin, freeloader. Also.
Daily Kos — ... and groused that Obama's "socialism" would mean there was no incentive to work hard and succeed in earning more than $250,000 a year, even as he shopped around for an agent and a Nashville recording contract. (And excuse me -- what?! A recording contract? Based on what, Mr. Hard Work?)  Meanwhile, there was Sarah griping about pork and wasteful spending even as she tried to rip off the Feds for the Bridge to Nowhere, rip off the state for her per diem, and rip off the campaign for her clothes (and her husband's, and her family's). Yes, in the ...

Pile On
Talking Points Memo — From Newsweek ... NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family--clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman ...

The Palin Follies
Politics Daily — ... FOX comes what is sure to prove just the beginning of the full story of Sarah Palin's vice-presidential nomination. In today's chapter, we learn that when McCain's people started prepping Palin for the national stage, they discovered that the Alaska governor couldn't name the signatories to NAFTA (The U.S., Canada, and Mexico), nor did she realize that Africa was a continent rather than a country. Watch: And Newsweek has more on Sarah Palin's GOP-funded extreme makeover. Yes, it's worse than ...

Obamaweek Strikes Again
The Corner on National Review Online — Wednesday, November 05, 2008 [image] Obamaweek Strikes Again [ Mark Hemingway ] From Newsweek's "special election project": The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Funny, I always thought correlation is not causation. But clearly, Palin was stoking hatred. Thanks for keeping it classy, Newsweek . You never fail to dissapoint with your partisanship and ...

McCain Team Turning on Palin
TalkLeft — ... Newsweek reports, using McCain campaign sources, that Sarah Palin was, contrary to her denials, not only fully involved in her clothing expenditures, she spended far more than previously announced. ...

Angry McCain aide goes off on the "Wasilla Hillbillies"
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth — Newsweek: NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two ...

Clearing the Cache
techPresident — Some interesting stuff bubbling up today, so I thought I might inaugurate a quick link post: From Science Progress: how social software can power the transition. Sarah Lai Stirland makes her case for why the Internet won Obama the White House. Both Obama and McCain's computer systems were attacked. Larry Lessig gets on board with BigDialog. Twitter held up on election night. A bit dated, I know, but AOL users voted for McCain in a landslide. Commenters try to make sense of ...

Republican Circular Firing Squad of Flying Attack Monkeys
J. Bradford DeLong's Grasping Reality with All Eight Tentacles — ... Highlights: Newsweek's Special Election Project | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 | Newsweek.com: NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories ...

Palin greets McCain staffers practically nude
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth — From Newsweek (this article is a gold mine): At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys' club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. "I'll be just a minute," she said. ...

Palin: The Truth Trickles Out
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — Well, well, well: NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. ...

Newsweek notes: Breaches and threats
Ben Smith's Blog — Those pesky blogs have rendered the big newsmagazine lookbacks something close to obsolete, as the market for rich, illuminating detail and tiny scoops has grown. But Newsweek, which helpfully bullet-points the news in its account, has a couple of big stories and a couple of of nice tidbits. The big story is about foreign hackers breached both Obama and McCain campaign compuers, though they seem to have been after policy proposals (!?}: Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization ...

Hey, Alaska! This is who your next Senator may be. (And Republicans? She wants to be your nominee in 2012)
Brilliant at Breakfast — ... I think we need to come up with an appropriate term for someone as, well, trashy as Sarah Palin. In Yiddish we could call her shtik dreck, which as with most Yiddishisms, has a lovely onomatopoaeic quality to it. But we need an expression that will play in the heartland where Wasilla's answer to Leona Helmsley is likely to seek support for her 2012 run against Barack Obama. Because what else but "trash", "shtik dreck", or the ever-popular "POS" can you use to describe this: NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end ...

Correlation is Not Causation--But Shouting "Kill Him" is, in fact, a Threat
If I Ran the Zoo — Obamaweek Strikes Again [Mark Hemingway] From Newsweek's "special election project": The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Funny, I always thought correlation is not causation. But clearly, Palin was stoking hatred. Thanks for keeping it classy, Newsweek. You never fail to ...

The Palin Follies
Politics Daily — ... FOX comes what is sure to prove just the beginning of the full story of Sarah Palin's vice-presidential nomination. In today's chapter, we learn that when McCain's people started prepping Palin for the national stage, they discovered that the Alaska governor couldn't name the signatories to NAFTA (The U.S., Canada, and Mexico), nor did she realize that Africa was a continent rather than a country. Watch: And Newsweek has more on Sarah Palin's GOP-funded extreme makeover. Yes, it's worse than ...

Early Morning Swim: Special Schadenfreude Edition
Firedoglake — ... Randy Scheunemann, fired for kissing up to Palin. The battle between McCain and Palin. Shopping sprees and wet towels. Splitsville. The Anchor Baby lashes out; RedState starts an enemies list.  "Loser McCain" gets his own coffee. Merkley punks Gordon Smith. Nate says Toobz may still go down.

Might Learn To Like This Guy
The Hollywood Liberal — ... Newsweek: When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, “I don’t consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, ‘You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.’ So when Brian Williams is asking me about what’s a personal thing that you’ve done [that’s green], and I say, you know, ‘Well, I planted a bunch of trees.’ And he says, ‘I’m talking about personal.’ What I’m thinking in my head is, ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t ...

Palin: Too Big to Fail
Lawyers, Guns and Money — Everybody's having a lot of fun with the various rumors about the internal conflicts in the McCain campaign, and the efforts by McCain and Palin staffers to blame each other for defeat. Particularly hilarious is the following threat by Erick Erickson: RedState is pleased to announce it is engaging in a special project: Operation Leper. We're tracking down all the people from the McCain campaign now whispering smears against Governor Palin to Carl Cameron and others. Michelle Malkin has the details. We intend to constantly ...

The Early Word: McCain-Palin Post-Mortem
The Caucus — ... about why he thought Mr. McCain lost. One of Mr. Salter’s theories – the press was harder on his candidate than Mr. Obama. Newsweek reveals juicy details of Governor Palin’s candidacy, including the possibility that there were even more spending sprees for clothes and her upset over coverage of her rollout. Governor Palin returns to her day job on Thursday after taking once last ride on her campaign’s plane and touching down in Alaska last night. The Times’s William Yardley ...

The Daily Muck
TPMMuckraker — ... Just in case you missed this yesterday, Newsweek dishes on campaign secrets, reporting that hackers broke into both campaigns' computer systems in mid-summer and that VP candidate Sarah Palin actually spent more than $150,000 of campaign funds on clothing. Meanwhile uptight DC insiders were titillated -- I mean, scandalized -- by the thought of Sarah Palin greeting McCain aides Mark Salter and Steve Schmidt in a towel. (Newsweek) ...

Lipstick Confessions
Daily Kos — ... to her that Africa was a continent, not a country She was angry at staffers over the Gibson and Couric interviews, yet she previously refused staff requests to prepare for the interviews Just to repeat -- It had to be explained to her that Africa was a continent, not a country. One wonders whether the McCain camp even Googled her before selecting her for VP. There appears to have been no vetting process whatsoever. Newsweek teased today with a few Lipstick Confessions of their own. Among them: ...

Post-election crack for political junkies
pandagon.net - we are the public option — ... There’s some pretty fun stuff from the highlights, making me very eager to read the next 6 chapters of this feature story.  The best is something you’ve probably already heard: ...

Sarah Palin Is Toast, the Melba Kind…
The Moderate Voice — ... In “Hackers and Spending Sprees,” NEWSWEEK reports on the infighting, tensions and, in particular, on Sarah Palin‘s diva behavior and her lack of knowledge about even simple, elementary-school-level geographical, current events, and historical facts. ...

Sausagefest, Interrupted
Firedoglake — ... And.... NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers ...

The Palin knives come out
Jonathan Martin's Blog — ... to the drive-by media to destroy Sarah Palin," he lamented, arguing it was being done to destroy her future political prospects. My inbox is filling up with similar anger. Writes one top GOP Capitol Hill aide: "They don't realize that within the party they are viewed as the villains in this saga while Sarah Palin remains a popular and trustworthy conservative."  The battle for the future of the party begins. Newsweek:  -- Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than ...

Palin clothes spree bigger than we knew
The Swamp — ... with Palin we'd be talking less about Plunkitt's "honest graft", that is, using insider information to make big money off public projects, and more about buying up a wardrobe for herself and her family. Newsweek is reporting that Palin bought more clothing than the $150,000 we previously heard about. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that the Republican National Committee is considering sending lawyers up to Alaska to audit her clothing purchases. Newsweek reported the following: NEWSWEEK has also learned that ...

Daily Digest: Working to Catch the Presidential Ear
techPresident — ... From Newsweek's almost sinfully delicious peek behind the scenes at the Obama and McCain campaigns, it turns out that earlier this summer both Obama and McCain's were the victims of computer attacks by an unknown "foreign entity." The FBI and Secret Service came in to investigate, delivering to the Obama campaign the ominous warning that "a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system." ...

As Predicted, Republicans' Feminist Awakening Was Short-Lived
Shakesville — ... Everything about this video is disgusting. Bill O'Reilly affects minimal concern for Palin only as a bridge to get to Carl Cameron's next vicious report about her "tantrums," her ignorance, her "shopaholism," her greeting McCain campaign operatives wearing a bathrobe (the original report actually says "wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair"). O'Reilly offers a paternalistic, patently disingenuous defense after every new revelation, hardly able to contain himself from gleefully salivating at finally being able to throw Palin to the wolves after having ...

Political intelligence gathering
Belmont Club — ... loaded off your system.” Technical staffers working for Obama later speculated that the hackers might have been from China or Russia, the story says. It adds that a security firm retained by the campaign later plugged the security holes. What information might the “foreign entity” have gotten? The amount of information handled by the campaign computers may have been enormous and very granular. Just how granular was illustrated by the Obama campaign’s Project Houdini, described by Newsweek in its story on the campaigns and computer security as a system for checking off ...

A continent? In what respect, Charlie?
WTF Is It Now?!? — ... "Country first" my ass: to the surprise of no one with a functioning nervous system, Caribou Barbie sucked, majorly. It wasn't just being able to see Russia from her house, or the botched interviews, the lying, dimwitted smears that brought out the worst in everyone who came in contact with her. It was Bible Spice appearing almost naked to male ... ahem ... staffers -- ...

Both Candidates' Websites Were Hacked by a 'Foreign Entity'
Little Green Footballs — ... mistakes: Highlights: Newsweek’s Special Election Project. ...

Your Lengthy Guide To The Insane McCain-Palin Cold War
Wonkette » top — ... is literally creating a list of advisers to kill. Newsweek has a book’s worth of amazing anonymous crap that it will slowly release in chapters. This will go on forever. John McCain will grill ribs. ...

Hullabaloo — ... with a social safety net, rather than just socialism for the rich and connected. Through making sure that we have a health care system that provides access and treatment as a basic human right. Through defending the nation with diplomacy and international engagement instead of sending in the military at the slightest provocation. Through adhering to a Constitution that has been ignored and mocked the last eight years. I think Obama's instincts in this regard may be decent. The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for ...

"America Remains a Center-Right Nation"
Shadow of the Hegemon — ... majority in the Senate that they're waiting on recounts. Say that Obama has a mandate for change, and it ain't conservative change. Say that America's a more progressive nation than Washington, and Washington needs to change to match. And say that if America wanted Republicans in power, it wouldn't have turfed them out on their asses. Edit: Actually, dday said it well too, should have quoted him: I think Obama's instincts in this regard may be decent. The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for ...

Understanding McCain's Sense of Righteousness
The Stump — ... I'm coming to it a few days after the fact, but this nugget from Newsweek's behind-the-scenes campaign account caught my eye: ...

Did Palin Declare Her Clothes as Gifts?
MoJo Blog Posts: mojo — ... Sarah Palin is the gift that keeps on giving--at least to journalists. Newsweek got a pop this week when it disclosed new details of Palin's infamous shopping sprees: ...

Duprey, Schmidt deny Newsweek report
Michael Calderone's Blog — ... Two top McCain aides are denying parts of Newsweek’s reconstruction of the 2008 race, a 50,000-word behind-the-scenes view of both campaigns that includes reporting done under the precondition that it wouldn’t be published until after Tuesday. ...

Sarah Palin: The GOP’s Best Hope in 2012
Pajamas Media — ... effectively as she did, and yet somehow she doesn’t know who is in NAFTA and doesn’t know that Africa is a continent and not a country is laughable.” Then, there is the matter of the wardrobe malfunction to the tune of $150,000. While the campaign complied with the Federal Election Commission requirement to disclose the total amounts spent, unnamed GOP insiders alleged to the media that the expenditures included spray-on tans and clothing for her husband Todd. One anonymous McCain aide described the purchases as “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman ...

Palin on McCain Aides Saying She Didn't Know Africa Is a Continent: 'Those Guys Are Jerks'
Political Punch — ... Palin on McCain Aides Saying She Didn't Know Africa Is a Continent: 'Those Guys Are Jerks' November 08, 2008 10:41 AM Meanwhile, back in Alaska... Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, returned to the 49th state and denied reports that during debate prep she didn't know which countries were part of NAFTA and seemed unaware that Africa is a continent, not a country, as Fox News's Carl Cameron reported. Newsweek also adds that the shopping spending spree is even more troubling than originally reported . An angry aide characterized the Palins as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus ...

No More Mister Nice Blog — Sarah Palin’s Displacement Problem From Newsweek (Chapter 6 of "Secrets of the 2008 Campaign"): There was grumbling that Palin had jumped the gun by bringing up [William] Ayers at her rallies before the campaign could properly do the groundwork with a rollout strategy and ads. (At one rally, she had talked about Obama "palling around with terrorists.") Palin was mad at her handlers. Reportedly, she felt that [Nicole] Wallace and [Steve] Schmidt had poorly coached and advised her. One adviser later speculated that she ...

The Future of Campaign Technology: The Ground Game
techPresident — ... Data integrity: Apparently both the McCain and Obama campaigns’ databases were compromised, perhaps by foreign agents. And rumor had it that the competing campaigns in the primary muddied competitors’ supporter data, leading to total segregation of the database by candidate. But it doesn’t take ill intent to screw up data, just sloppiness. ...

Should Chinese Government be Hired to Obtain Bush Administration E-mails?
BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash — ... . There are also indications that the Chinese have hacked into the computer networks of both the Obama and McCain presidential campaigns . Even ...

Secret Service blamed Palin for sudden spike in Obama death threats
Orcinus — ... All of the talk about the special Newsweek report describing the backstage events in this year's presidential campaign has focused on various revelations about Sarah Palin's astonishing lack of knowledge about global and national affairs, as well as her spending sprees. ...

Did Palin Use GOP Funds To Buy Her Children Underwear?
Think Progress — ... from high-end stores. More recently, however, it has come out that after campaign aide Nicolle Wallace told Palin to “buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist,” the governor “began buying for herself and her family.” In the end, she spent “‘tens of thousands’ more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost.” ...

Scott Shrake: Shrake's Own Secrets of the 2008 Campaign!
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... In the same spirit as Newsweek's Special Secrets Project, here are some of the things I did, thought or wrote in the last year that never made it to being published... ...

Winter Companions, Old Men Lost in their Overcoats
Hit & Run — Newsweek's Tale of Genji-length wrap-up of the presidential campaign has been picked over pretty well for McCain and Obama secrets and the thinking behind decisions like "hey, that Alaska woman with the Fargo accent can be president one day." I was struck by how much time McCain spent with South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, whom if only scattered fragments of this story are available in 100 years would be remembered as a modern ...

Adele Stan: Palin on "Today":Not goin' anywhere
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... That commitment now wiped off the slate by reality's eraser, Palin has set off on a charm offensive that will serve her well should she choose to toss her hat back into the ring of national politics. In this morning's "Today" show interview with NBC's Matt Lauer, Palin came off as endearingly combative, calling the unnamed leakers quoted in Newsweek "cowards", and cooking a halibut and salmon casserole for Lauer -- while being interviewed. ...

Meacham defends Newsweek reporting
Michael Calderone's Blog — ... last night with Jon Stewart before explaining why the magazine permits embargoed campaign reporting, the basis for its 50,000-word, election postmortem. ...

Hullabaloo — ... - the one whereby political actors pretend they have no power or even minor role in the arenas they are elected or hired to participate in. This fable has been most prevalent in the Democratic Party's posture toward the Iraq War and the bailout - they claim, rather idiotically, they have no power to stop the war or fix the bailout. But now, as I am three-quarters of the way through Newsweek's 7-part story on the gossip, innuendo and palace dramas behind the presidential campaign, I see that this Innocent Bystander Fable may be just as powerful inside the media itself. ...

Sarah Palin’s Campaign Trail Blazer: Where Did She Get It?
Deceiver.com — ... However, there was never really a follow-up to confirm that the wardrobe made it to charity. For what was a huge story in October, that is pretty unusual, and you’d think that her handlers would be pushing photos of La Palin stuffing those clothes into a Goodwill bin the minute she left the parking lot. I, for one, would love to know if she really followed through and what happened to many of those designer outfits that were “lost,” as Newsweek reported last month. ...

How the GOP Can Court Black Voters
Pajamas Media — Conservatives like Michael Steele should help make headway in the African-American community. [image] Republicans wondering what happened to cause John McCain’s election defeat got a sharp confirmation of their worst suspicions November 5 from Newsweek ...

For the Bible Tells Me So
The Mahablog — ... I’m of mixed views on this. What the weekly news magazines can sometimes do very well, when they try, is in-depth reporting like the recent “Secrets of the 2008 Campaign.” But I don’t subscribe to any of the weeklies any more. I don’t remember why I stopped getting Newsweek — probably because I never had time to read it — and I canceled Time because of the infamous Ann Coulter issue of April 25, 2005. Oh, and because I decided Joe Klein is a dork. ...

Pulling Off Houdini's Trick
techPresident — ... which of the potential voters field organizers work so hard to identify as supporters have actually made it to their polling place when it finally counts. Called "Project Houdini," the campaign planned to used technology to vanish voters from its highly-cultivated contact lists in real time. If it could pull of the trick, the campaign could gain a strategic advantage by not wasting critical resources (people, vans, etc.) to pulling in votes that had already been banked. Newsweek's Special Election Project described what Project Houdini aimed to do: ...

Rachel Sklar: Sarah Palin, You Owe The Media An Apology
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... soon. (She didn't.) Did she promise at one point to have a nice chatty sit-down with Sean Hannity? Oh, well, that she did. Yes, this was before she took a prank call from "President Sarkozy," before she whipped up campaign crowds into a sorta-scary frenzy against Barack Obama; before she went rogue. It was before she was expertly skewered by SNL, before people learned what aerial wolf hunting was, and before she tried to speak during John McCain's concession moment. It was before the turkey-video ...

Palin's Ayers Line Was Scripted By McCain Campaign
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... In a Newsweek election postmortem, members of John McCain campaign staff said VP candidate Sarah Palin had defied them with one of her most vicious attacks on Obama -- that he "pals around with terrorists." ...