Will copying Obama’s campaign tactics work in Ireland or not? Mulley does a pretty good job bringing together the reasons why the answer is no if you think that the tactics merely involved lots of bells and whistles courtesy of the Facebook.
Here’s the one stat you need to know to understand why Obama schooled McCain: [...]

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Ok, so you can’t really resist the temptation of the lates poll data on the presidential race? Nate Silver breaks down each of the 8 national tracking polls, and what time of day they’re released. It’s something special.
I’m still waiting to see the tightening, and Pollster’s average says maybe a little:

But the tastiest bit for [...]

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So, how is it exactly that a scheme initially budgeted for €19m a year has grown to €250 million a year?
Lest anyone think they are holier than thou on this issue, here’s Fine Gael in 2005:
Extension of medical card to over 70s/nursing home charges
The absence of financial controls and accountability for money spent on [...]

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Just got word confirming that next Tuesday there will be a Presidential debate sponsored by the UCD Law Society. (No link, time or venue as of yet.)
But I now know the panel includes myself, Kate Fitzgerald of Democrats Abroad, Kings College academic Rory Miller and…drumroll…Senator Mike Gravel, currently of the Monster Raving Loony Party.
So, [...]

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First Colin Powell, now Google. Seriously: “Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt will hit the campaign trail this week on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, signaling Mr. Schmidt’s push for a greater voice in politics while giving the Obama campaign a boost from a highly desirable constituency.” from the WSJ piece, which also [...]

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The McCain campaign spent the last three days telegraphing that they needed to change the subject from the economy to culture war issues - Ayers, Wright, “terrorist“, “treason”, “kill him“.
But nothing from McCain to push it in that direction tonight (a fact that is turning the dead-ender right in knots). Why?
Did McCain wake [...]

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Will Wilkinson: “Obama owned it. This election’s over unless he murders and eats the flesh of a child on live television.”
Sabrina Dent: McCain raises army…of Dead White Guys. Awesome.
[McCain]’s standing there on stage next to a vibrant, engaged, youthful opponant[sic], and the political references McCain made were to:
Herbert Hoover - Born August 10, 1874. Current [...]

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I Tivo’d the debate, which was good because I woke up late. Now I’m reviewing the first part, so I can get something towards why Sullivan describes this as a “mauling” of McCain. Certainly I’ve never seen dial groups pinned to the ceiling for as long as Obama had the women watching at the top [...]

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David Gergin makes a point on CNN I’ve been thinking…Obama helped himself with women, if the dial groups are any guide.
Did the town hall setting advantage McCain? Not as much as we’d thought. Obama got comfortable quickly and started walking the floor like a cat. McCain looked like that robot vacuum that goes in a [...]

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3.40 - Obama and McCain haven’t shaken hands. Have they? Has McCain even looked at Obama?
3.35 - Did Rumsfeld just email a question about unknown unknowns? Excellent Obama parry bringing in Michelle and bringing it back to biography - my character helps me deal with uncertainty. Emotionally intelligent answer. Not surprisingly, females in dial group [...]

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