Posted by Bob Lord I think this may be the first time I took a vacation from a political campaign, but I may make it a regular practice.  My best read over the vacation was Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich, by Christia Freeland, which I think was just released a few weeks … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Election Protection Coalition includes a number of organizations who provide poll observers to protect the right to vote againstvoter suppression efforts. Election Protection · You Have the Right to Vote. You may be familiar with their: Voter Protection Hot-Lline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE The Democratic Party also provides poll observers for Voter Protection – … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Two Three GOTV events this Sunday.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Announcement from the Dr. Richard Carmona for U.S. Senate campaign: Dr. Richard H. Carmona17th Surgeon General of the United States andCandidate for United States Senate   Dr. Carmona will be at an event or venue near you this weekend.  Come join a canvass or a town hall discussion and then cap off … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On Friday, President Obama sat down for an interview with MTV News' Sway Calloway during MTV's "Ask Obama Live: An Interview With the President":

Sitting down with MTV News' Sway Calloway in the White House, Obama didn't have long to prepare. Within the first minute, he was getting grilled about lowering the cost of higher education — a hot topic among the young voters we've been speaking to on the road with our Power of 12 campaign — and was asked if he had a "game-changing idea" to help out students loaded with debt.

"One thing I want folks to know, right at the onset, is that an investment in a college education still pays off. The unemployment rate for college graduates is half for somebody who didn't go to college," Obama said. "But … the costs have gone up so much faster for a college education that young people are coming out with an average of 23 to 25 thousand dollars' worth of debt. So here's what we've done: We have already put in place an expansion of Pell grants [and] keeping interest rates on student loans where they were; they were scheduled to double.

"What we've also said is, we now have to go directly to the source, the colleges and universities, and say, 'You've got to work on cutting tuitions,' " the president continued. "And we're going to reward those schools who do a good job, providing good value for their students while keeping tuition low, and we'll stop directing federal aid to those colleges and universities that that are loading up their students with debt."

Obama also spoke about rewarding graduates who want to start their own businesses by eliminating the capital gains tax and making it easier for young entrepreneurs to raise money through the Internet. And he touted the successes of the Small Business Administration, pointing out that Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank once got a hand from the SBA and now runs a company with revenues near $1 billion a year.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Dr. Richard Carmona for U.S. Senate campaign is up with a new ad entitled "Confirmation," featuring the glowing endorsements from Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl at Carmona's confirmation hearing for U.S. Surgeon General in 2002. (Video below the fold).

Naturally, Arizona's twin embarrassments are none too happy about their own glowing endorsements of Dr. Carmona being used against their partisan pony in this race, The Flake. The GOP duo pushed back late Thursday with a hard-hitting joint statement in which they called the new Carmona spot "deeply dishonest" and part of a "shameful" effort to try to deceive voters that demonstrates Carmona's lack of credibility. Carmona TV ad provokes McCain, Kyl pushback.

The Carmona campaign has responded to McCain in a press release:

Carmona campaign responds to Sen. McCain

Carmona for Arizona communications director Andy Barr released the following statement in response to Sen. McCain:

"The only thing career politicians like Jeff Flake, John McCain and Jon Kyl care about is whether you have a 'D' or 'R' next to your name, not what you'll do for the people of Arizona."

"Rich Carmona is the same person with the same values Arizona Republicans have praised for decades. When they believed they could exploit Rich Carmona’s life story for partisan gain, they were his biggest supporters. Now, they're trotting out false attacks. Our ad illustrates just how disingenuous and patently false their character attacks have become."

"During Rich's last year as Surgeon General, he was asked to run as a Republican for Congress by Jon Kyl. Now, while Rich Carmona is locked in a hotly contested battle for Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat, Congressman Flake and his allies are trying to re-write history."

###

UPDATE: As E.J. Montini of the Arizona Republic says, Only in politics would being completely honest be deemed “deeply dishonest.” McCain, Kyl honestly (or dishonestly?) upset:

Sorry, senators, you said what you said.

And because you’re honorable men, I can only assume you were being … honest.

Video below the fold.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

KAWC Colorado River Public Media and Arizona Western College Television Services hosted the final Arizona U.S. Senate debate between Dr. Richard Carmona and Rep. Jeff Flake in Yuma on Thursday, focusing on rural issues.

Video below the fold.