For those who want some comfort in this apparently tightening race, take heart that McCain seems to consistently poll below 50% in general election matchups with Obama in his home state.  This is rather pathetic for someone who served as Arizona's senator for over 20 years.  He should be coasting away to victory in his home state.  But alas, no...

There are some items up on News Unfiltered that may interest the community.

DNC calls on the FEC for a new investigation into McCain's campaign finance violations:

With the Federal Election Commission scheduled to address John McCain's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the federal matching funds program on Thursday, the Democratic National Committee today called on the Commission to remove that item from its agenda and instead proceed with a full investigation of the charges made against McCain in the administrative complaint filed by the DNC in February. In a conference call with reporters this morning, DNC General Counsel Joe Sandler discussed a letter he sent to the FEC last night that argued that the Commission should not consider McCain's decision to withdraw from the matching funds program because there is no request for permission pending and the Commission hasn't yet conducted an investigation as required by the law.

Read more.

They sure have to do a lot of clarifying in the McCain campaign, don't they?

McCain set off a firestorm last week when he suggested that the 86 year old agreement that allocates the scarce resource of the Colorado River among the seven states of the Colorado Basin "obviously needs to be renegotiated" because of "new realities of high growth, of greater demands on a scarcer resource," he didn't mean it should, you know, be renegotiated, really, to make sure that the high growth states of California, Nevada, and Arizona got more of that scarce resource. But that's sure how it sounded to the people of Colorado.

So here comes the McCain campaign with what he "really" meant:

Tom Kise, the McCain campaign's Colorado spokesman, said McCain was not proposing that the 2007 agreement be reopened or any immediate talks on the compact.

"He's talking about ongoing conversations, conversations that happen this year, next year, 10, 20, 30 years down the road," Kise said.

Kise said McCain knows global warming is changing water conditions in the West, and that means the states need to talk. "As long as water is going to be an issue in the West, there should be an open conversation among all parties," Kise said.

Ah, so the states need to talk, that's all he was saying. Only problem is: they have been.

Considering he's a Senator from one of those seven states in the compact, you think he'd have somewhat of a better grasp of the actual policy making on the issue in his state. See, the seven states' governors came together last year to address current changing water conditions. In fact, they came up with an agreement:

The agreement was signed April 23 in Las Vegas by representatives of the Colorado River basin states of Colorado, Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The agreement proposes reducing deliveries of Colorado River water to Arizona and Nevada when storage in Lake Mead drops below certain set levels, thus reducing the risk of shortages in Colorado. The agreement would reduce the risk of shortages in the lower Colorado River by coordinating Hoover and Glen Canyon dam operations. The agreement also proposes a system for storing in Lake Mead water saved through conservation efforts or the development of new water sources.

In addition to resolving current Colorado River disputes, the agreement reduces the likelihood of future litigation among the seven Colorado River basin states by encouraging cooperation and consultation between the states. "Litigation pitting state against state over the Colorado River would cost taxpayers millions, and the likely result would not please anyone," said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. "Thanks to the hard work of the parties involved, we can now work with - not against - other states to resolve our water disputes."

Into the middle of all this stumbles McCain, ignoring--or completely ignorant of--the fact that the seven governors (including California's, Nevada's, and Arizona's) decided that those states needed to work on how to find some of their own water, ignoring the fact that this was a complex and difficult set of negotiations.

Between this and his long support of using Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste dump, McCain's shown that he's pretty much completely out of touch with what is going on in the West. He's just not much of a westerner anymore.

Since Virginia is in play this year and has 13, possibly deciding, electoral votes it may not be a bad idea for Obama to announce his running mate there. Speculation is running rampant with the convention just a week away and thus far Obama's last announced appearance this week is in Martinsville, Virginia.

Since he'll be there Wednesday everyone has been speculating about Tim Kaine getting the nod. But there are a few other possibilities with Virginia relations.

On Thursday, Rasmussen reported a 2 point lead for McCain over Obama in Colorado, 47-45.

If they repolled today, chances are very good that slim gain would be gone. Because there's one thing you do not mess with in Colorado, and that's water.

In an interview yesterday with the Pueblo Chieftan, McCain committed what could amount political suicide in the state by saying that the 1922 water compact negotiated between seven western states should be renegotiated to give Arizona, Nevada, and California (the Lower Basin states) more water. That's unlikely to make Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico (the Upper Basin states) any happier than it's made Colorado.

There's nothing more controversial in the West than water, and the single water issue that is most pressing is what happens as the Colorado drainage continues to experience drought and demand continues to grow. California's water rapaciousness was the issue in 1922 that brought the seven states' governors to negotiate the compact, and California's huge thirst is still the problem. But massive population growth in and around Las Vegas and Phoenix have the Lower Basin states--and the Republican nominee for president--eyeing a greater share of the Colorado.

Reaction in Colorado has been swift and incensed. Here's Ken Salazar:

"Senator McCain's position on opening up the Colorado River Compact is absolutely wrong and would only happen over my dead body," Salazar said. "It's an anathema to the fundamental principles of Colorado's water rights and our compacts."

The senator said that when the state's compacts with the lower basin states were negotiated, everyone knew at the time that those states would grow in population faster than Colorado. As a result, the upper basin states' water rights needed to be protected.

"We did not want California to gobble up all of the water supply on the Colorado River, and they would have done that under the doctrine of equitable apportionment," Salazar said. "In my view the compact is sacrosanct. I will fight tooth and nail to make sure that it is not opened up."

Even Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer had to attack his party's standard bearer on this one:

"Over my cold, dead, political carcass," Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer said.

"The compact is the only protection Colorado has from several more politically powerful downstream states," Schaffer added. "Opening it for renegotiation would be the equivalent of a lamb discussing with a pack of wolves what should be on the dinner menu."

The Denver Post was particularly snarky:

Memo to: John McCain.

From: Five million thirst-crazed Coloradans.

Subject: Forget about winning our nine electoral votes next November. We don't vote for water rustlers in this state; we tar and feather them! ...

As a senator, McCain has long represented a state, Arizona, that would love to steal Colorado's water. But now, he wants our votes. Apparently, nobody bothered to brief the candidate who Paris Hilton called "that wrinkly, white-haired guy" that stealing Colorado's water to benefit Arizona, California and Nevada isn't as popular an idea in Colorado as it is in Arizona, California and Nevada.

And ColoradoPols says McCain just lost Colorado.

There's nine electoral votes in Colorado (the state's unofficial motto: "Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting) that are a lot less likely to be swinging in November. It's probably safe to say New Mexico's five aren't going to be up for grabs now, either. It sure as hell isn't going to give McCain California, though it might shore up his chances in his home state. Maybe that's what this was all about after all, trying to make sure he doesn't lose Arizona. Because there isn't any other way to explain it.

You know John McCain must be desperate in this election when he doesn't advocate for someone in his home state who should be in his voter demographic.  Please meet Shirley Freeda Preiss, who is the latest victim of Republican efforts in the state of Arizona to disenfranchise voters in this upcoming election:

Arizona is among the states that have a robust citizen's initative history. Oft the bane of legislators, who prefer to have their laws crafted in accordance with their particular special interest obligations, citizens' initatives often run roughshod over lobbyist efforts. But the practice isn't perfect.

The Homeowners' Bill of Rights is a progressive measure sponsored by the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association and the AFL-CIO that enjoys the widespread backing of 80 percent of Arizona's voting age public.

Current Arizona law, passed in 2002 by a GOP dominated legislature, took away any reasonable degree of protection against deceptive sales practices and construction defects in the Arizona homebuilding market.

I have officially challenged John Shadegg to three debates that will give voters the opportunity to have a clear understanding of our positions on the important issues facing Arizona and our nation.

My campaign mailed a certified letter (view letter) to Shadegg’s campaign on July 30, challenging Shadegg to debates. Shadegg's campaign confirmed receipt of the letter.

There are many interesting and important lessons in the history of a vote for a particular law or bill, including the vote to establish the Martin Luther King Day national holiday. Among these lessons is that persistance sometimes pays off - the proposal was first established in 1968 and was eventually passed, fifteen years later, in 1983. Another lesson is that racists - i.e., a good chunk of those opposing this holiday, will hide behind rhetoric, unless they are like Jesse Helms, and are rewarded by their voters for parading their racism (and right wing lunatic fringe beliefs). And another lesson, key for us now, is that John McCain, opposing the bill, was a profile in pandering, dishonesty, and insensitivity. And he still is.

Could there be an October surprise for McCain in his home state? I ran across this juicy tidbit regarding the campaign in Arizona:

There is a wall of silence surrounding potential plans by the Barack Obama campaign to extend its reach into Arizona, which state Democrats have insisted will happen eventually but which so far hasn't materialized.

While rumors are circulating that a state director for the Illinois senator's Arizona efforts has been chosen, neither the Obama camp nor the Arizona Democratic Party is talking. The national campaign has failed to respond to numerous requests for information regarding its designs for the state, and Emily DeRose, the state party's spokeswoman, flatly refused to answer any questions on the issue, even declining to say why she couldn't talk about it.

Me likes the sound of this...

Last week I had a huge influx of readers interested in my piece on Eric Cantor. Seems I'm not the only one thinking McCain might just pick Cantor. I think it's a longshot, but possible.

Things are getting very hectic personally. This may be the last newsletter for a few weeks or more. We will be on vacation in California for a couple of weeks and I will have Grand Jury duty after that. Plus work is exploding for me and Joy's dissertation is overdue. Even politically, I will need to put some extra effort into my friend, Devin Cohen's primary election September 9th. But this newsletter I cover some pretty critical stuff.

Ahh, the wingnutosphere's favorite wingnut, John Shadegg, is wasting campaign time by playing make-believe Congress in Washington D.C.

The Republican takeover of the out-of-session U.S. House will continue into the foreseeable future, said U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix) Wednesday.

"We're going to keep it going as long as we can," Shadegg told PolitickerAZ.com. Shadegg, the most senior Republican in Arizona's House delegation and a close ally of the GOP leadership, said the minority Republicans plan to continue to take to the floor of the House throughout the summer recess in protest of inaction on the expansion of domestic oil production, even though the House remains officially out of session and is not scheduled to resume legislative business until Sept. 5 [...]

Shadegg was one of several Republicans who stayed behind Friday after the House floor's lights were turned off and the public address system shut down to continue to press for attention on the domestic production front. He was the one who managed to turn the PA system back on by successfully guessing the code required to access its control.

So these Republicans are looking for any excuse to stay in D.C. with their oil industry lobbyist pals rather than go home and face their constituents. Yet they were singing a different tune not too long ago.

Shadegg, in fact, joined many of his Republican colleagues to try and adjourn the House on June 24.

Twice.

In total, 12 of the 25 Republicans at their lobbyist-fueled DC party were hypocritical enough to have supported that early adjournment, while now crying about the House's regularly scheduled adjournment.

Shadegg fancies himself a future leader of his caucus. He's certainly the conservative blogosphere's top choice for the job, as they supported his unsuccessful bid against current minority leader John Boehner. He retired because of boredom, but was talked back into the race, likely with promises of future leadership roles (Boehner won't be safe in his perch if Democrats hand Republicans another expected ass whooping this December).

Hence, while Boehner plays golf back home in Ohio during this Republican "revolt", Shadegg is practicing his "leadership" chops.

The plan is for Democratic challenger and O2B candidate Bob Lord to short-circuit Shadegg's and his supporters' dreams, and so far on that front, so good.

On the web:
Bob Lord for Congress
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

This article by Amy Silverman detailing John McCain's shortcomings as a man and a politician was published in Phoenix New Times News today. It's about the length of War and Peace, so I'm going to quote from the snarky Wonkette summary of it.

Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns and Nathan Henderson-James

We spend a lot of time in these news updates showing how charges of voter fraud are used to discredit voter participation efforts and prime the pump for voter suppression efforts, such as the passage of voter ID bills, pushing for proof of citizenship, engaging in draconian voter purge efforts, and imposing sever restrictions on voter registration drives. We have also spent a lot of time carefully delineating the politics behind these efforts, starting with our March 2007 report The Politics Of Voter Fraud and continuing on in these diaries to name but two venues.

Many of you may be familiar with Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  He's more publicity hound than law enforcement officer, more racist than Tom Tancredo, and he's both loved and hated by the dichotomy that is Arizona.  And he's been racially profiling by pulling over anyone remotely brown, getting his deputies federally deputized so they can enforce controversial immigration laws, and generally acting like an racist bigoted ass.

A few weeks ago, while he was doing a publicity tour in Tucson (way outside of his jurisdiction of Maricopa County) a local immigrants rights groups protest got a little rowdy.

Off with his head after the jump.

Watching John McCain explain his 1983 "no" vote on a federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is like watching an episode of Cops! where a drunk tries to talk his way out of a sobriety test. There’s enough in this YouTube clip to diary about for a week, but let's look at three of the Senator’s explanations, all of which fall flat: 1) He didn’t understand "the issue" or appreciate King’s contribution, 2) the holiday wasn’t "an issue" in his home state of Arizona, and 3) he had to work against a governor from his own party. I'm not holding my breath, but it’d be nice if someone in the press asked him to clarify these three responses. To put McCain's comments in context, over the jump I'll begin with a brief chronology:

John McCain:  Confused Racist Puppet

Some political analysts and Republican strategists have questioned thenegativity of the McCain campaign at such an early stage of the general election, as if the campaign has a positive platform to run on.  The tactics employed by Steve Schmidt and Karl Rove's other disciples come as no shock to anyone who payed attention in 2000 and 2004.  The incredible nonsense beginning to emanate from John McCain's campaign constitutes the only possible way the far right can get their ancient, pasty excuse for a candidate elected.  Meanwhile, Obama's campaign has dismissed the advertising with logic and dignity, an approach which has demonstrably failed against Rove's dirty politics in the past.

More after the flip.