Dem Campaign Chatter 8-1-2008

Today, Obama is in St. Petersburg, Florida - He is continuing his town hall meetings on the economy.

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A Ft. Detrick Scientist allegedly commits suicide as FBI continues to investigate Anthrax leads - Bruce E. Ivins has died in the Frederick Memorial Hospital. Anthrax tainted letters were responsible for the deaths of several people and hospitalized many others some years ago and investigations lead the FBI to Ft. Detrick located in Frederick, Maryland. The FrederickNewsPost.com has more here

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Unemployment rises to 5.7% - The highest in four years and this is the 7th straight month of increases with another 51,000 reported job losses. So much for the Republican "trickle down" theory. Read more here. Unemployment rising during summer months that traditionally bring lower unemployment (due to seasonal hiring) is not a good sign. Today, Obama responded with his emergency economic plan. ThePolitico.com has more here.

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McCain celebrity ads and the race card change the focus - If one was truly following the campaign, you could not help but notice the Obama campaign was driving the Train. That is to say they owned the media and all the attention was on Obama. The incredibly successful overseas trip by Obama certainly showed he was well equipped to handle the world stage. Unlike McCain, who sometimes can not seem to get his geography right or the sequence of international events correct.

Nonetheless, what all this recent ad war and race card discussion has done is "shifted" the focus of the media and slowed down the Obama train. Remember all the attacks by the Clinton campaign resulted in Obama limping to the finish line and the Democratic nomination with questions pertaining to can he close it out. Is Obama just an empty suit with star status who plays the race card when things get tough? These are the questions Republicans are deliberately putting out there for they knew they had to stop the train (momentum).

This is what all the morning talk shows are discussing. Thepage.time.com has more here.

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Montana now tied 47 - 47 between Obama and McCain - this state has only voted Democratic once in the last 40 tears. Recently, Obama was leading by 5 points 49-44. This Rasmussen poll now shows a tie. TalkingPointsMemo.com has more here. The Washington Post "The Fix" Blog has a post listing what they feel are the top ten states that have the potential from switching from how they voted previously. Read it here.

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Wal-Mart weighs in on the election - they have been informing management of their stores that if Democrats win this years, it will be easier for their employees to become unionized. The Wall Street Journal has a good read here. Isn't this the same company that has been embroiled in gender based lawsuits pertaining to wages?