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McCain and Al Qaeda: You Telling Me Y’all Believed That?
Firedoglake — ... ridiculous to believe that in its heart of hearts, al-Qaeda wants John McCain to be the president," Woolsey said. "It's ludicrous." But the only thing that's ludicrous is Woolsey's expectation that the American public will keep falling for this sort of misdirection by the same blinkered analysts who blundered the U.S. into Iraq in the first place. More from Greg Sargent & Eric Kleefeld at TPM and Dave Weigel at Reason. Crossposted to The Streak.

McCain campaign rattled by al Qaeda admission
Political Animal — ... who'll keep pursuing Bush administration policies. This is, obviously, an unwelcome development for the McCain campaign. The smart move for the McCain campaign would have been to ignore the al Qaeda message. Obama was unlikely to push it, and media attention on the story this morning was sporadic. But perhaps concerned that voters might take this seriously, and realize that McCain's policies complement al Qaeda's agenda, the McCain campaign scrambled this afternoon and hosted a " panicked " conference call. McCain's senior foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann made two ...

Perhaps The Most Important Endorsement Of The Election
Comments from Left Field — ... According to Spencer Ackerman who was in on a McCain campaign call, the folks over in Team McCain seem rather spooked.  Funnily enough, he further goes on to report that the McCain team didn’t actually address the al Qaeda argument at all, not necessarily defending their anti-terrorism policies, nor discussing arguments that perhaps al Qaeda really does want to see another neocon put into power. ...

The Q to his List
Obsidian Wings — ... The McCain camp is scrambling to contain the damage from the story reporting on al-Qaeda's alleged preference for John McCain over Barack Obama.  From Spencer Ackerman: ...

As Mid East Precincts Close
N/A — If Obama Osama Bin Laden favored  Osama Obama in this election, you would be sure to hear about it.  But no.   Looks like “Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election,” said a commentary posted Monday on the extremist Web site al-Hesbah, which is closely linked to the terrorist group.“ Where is the outrage?  Ancient history.  This must be a hoax. Or not.   When al-Qaeda announces it preferences and goes for the Democrat, treat it as ...

Al Qaeda hearts McCain
Martini Revolution — ... And Spencer Ackerman reports this has McCain’s people freaked out and they responded with their typical lack of candor or character by attacking the messenger: ...

Midday open thread
Daily Kos — ... Obama's numbers suggest he is slightly ahead in VA, slightly behind in NC and tied in FL. He appears to be slightly behind in MO and tied in OH. He appears to have established leads in CO, NM and NV. This is Obama's firewall. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, but it's good to keep such things in mind. File this under "Endorsements McCain Could Have Lived Without." And now we find out the McCain campaign is freaking out over the whole thing. Those of you near or in Madison, WI, you get ...

We must take al Qaeda at their word (except when they say things we don't like)
The Anonymous Liberal — ... Needless to say, the McCain campaign wasn't too pleased with this story and hastily convened a conference call with reporters to push back. ...

Crazy Day In The Endorsement Universe: McCain Gets Al Qaeda & The KKK, Obama Scores The World's Most Popular Evangelist, Dr. K.A. Paul
DownWithTyranny! — ... Spencer Ackerman was on a McCain campaign call yesterday and he wrote that the lobbyists who are driving the bus are freaked out and panic-stricken. ...

Country Elections First
Shakesville — ... and guarantee an expansion of U.S. military commitments in the Islamic world. "It will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaeda," said the posting, attributed to Muhammad Haafid, a longtime contributor to the password-protected site. "Al-Qaeda then will succeed in exhausting America."All of this leads to what will probably be my favorite post headline in this entire campaign: McCain Advisers Freaked Out by Al Qaeda Preference for McCain I just got off a ...

The Rabbi, the Terrorist, and New Jersey's Own Version of Michele Bachman
TPMCafe — ... ). And that's even before we mention al-Qaeda's recent flirtation with a McCain endorsement. It's easy to understand why the kind of belligerent, lump them all together, and don't talk to anyone policies, that Garrett favors, would serve only to strengthen the real radicals (by which I mean Salafi Jihadists, not Dennis Shulman). ...

Arianna Huffington: McCain Finds Americans No Longer Buying Into the Spec Market on Dread
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... McCain's surrogates went to great lengths to pooh-pooh the notion that al-Qaeda would prefer McCain's hawkishness to Obama's more reasoned approach to foreign policy. Yet, in the same breath, senior McCain foreign-policy advisor Randy Scheunemann announced, "John McCain will spend what it takes to win" in Iraq. An approach that fits perfectly with bin Laden's "bleed to bankruptcy" strategy. ...

Friday McBush/McSame Bashing (Home Stretch Edition)
Discourse.net — ... Defend Palin Ilan Goldenberg, Does Palin Know What a Precondition Is? HuffPo, Another GOP Senator Decries Ayers Robocalls Ann Bartow, Feminist Law Profs, “Feminists for Obama” Marc Ambinder, Palin: McCain Supports GOP Abortion, Stem Cell Platform Planks Crooks & Liars, Daily Show Flashback: McCain is a “socialist”, too! Spencer Ackerman, McCain Advisers Freaked Out by Al Qaeda Preference for McCain David Weigel, Reason, ...