EaBo Clipper's blog

At 2:00 PM a live ustream of the Rebuild the Party, Massachusetts Federation of Young Republicans "New Media Summit" will be posted here.  The scehdule is shown below;

Republican New Media Summit

Confirmed Speakers and Topics:

Getting the Party Wired, New Media Changes to the Party's Operations Presented by ROBERT WILLINGTON E.D. for RebuildtheParty.com Former Executive Director of the Massachusetts Republican Party

Social Media & Viral Marketing Presented by Dan Zarrella danzarrella.com

The Jeff Perry Report. Using Youtube to effectively communicate your message. Presented by Representative JEFFRY PERRY, Author of MY GOP ElectJeffPerry.com/youtube.html

How the "Average Joe" can use Youtube to get his message to the world. Presented via Youtube by JOE "The Guy From Boston" LIGOTTI 96.9 FM WTKK Talk Show Host and TheGuyfromBoston.net

The New Media and Running for Congress. Campaigning and Issues. Presented by JENNIFER HORN Former Congressional Candidate and 1590 AM WSMNRADIO.com Talk show Host

The Campaign Web Page, the Virtual Headquarters for Constituents. Presented by Representative KARYN POLITO KarynPolito.com

How blogs can help our Healthcare System keep us more informed. Presented by CHARLIE BAKER, President and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and LetsTalkHealthcare.org

Upgrading the Republican Party Presented by Todd Herman Former Microsoft Executive Republican National Committee Internet Director.

The New Media and how it effects the Media and Politics Presented by MICHAEL GRAHAM, 96.9 FM Talk WTKK Talk show Host and Boston Herald Columnist

Post Event Networking Reception

Hosted by

MICHELE MCPHEE

,

96.9 FM Talk

WTKK Talk show Host

and

Boston Herald

contributor.

John McCain should shock the world and pick Newt Gingrich for his Vice Presidential running mate.  There is no one better suited to go to intellectual war with the Democrats.  Newt Gingrich would show Joe Biden to be the intellectual lightweight that he is.  Newt brings baggage sure, but Newt on the ticket is what I'm looking for.

This card was found in Obama's deck.

The Young Republican National Federation this past week gave a sneak preview to a new website, ThisIsMyParty.org.  This is My Party is a homegrown campaign to increase awareness among young Americans about Republican solutions to the problems that confront them.  It is being led by Karen Sautter of Massachusetts and Wil Westholm of Arizona. 

There is currently a sneak preview of the site up and running.  The site will go live on Friday, August 1, 2008.  “As young Republicans, we know that the Republican Party provides, not just innovative ideas, but the means for young Americans to achieve their goals today and tomorrow,” Ms. Sautter said. “We developed This is My Party because we wanted to tell young Americans our story – the unfiltered, unvarnished Young Republican story. We believe those stories will resonate with young Americans who will begin to see for the first time that the Republican Party offers real hope and meaningful change that will help them achieve the American dream.”

To get involved in This is My Party before the launch date either join the Facebook Group or fill out the survey to create a profile.

(disclosure: I am theYoung Republican National Federation Committeman from Massachusetts)

Rob Willington the ED of the MassGOP put together this video to advertise the MassGOP campaign trainings he runs. No more Yard Signs!

Promoted. Jim Ogonowski has actually defeated Jeff Beatty in the signature war, 22,000 to 17,000. (A source reminds me that Beatty had 17,000 signatures certified, while 22,000 is Ogonowski's uncertified total.) -Patrick

At this time Jim Ogonowski does not have the required signatures needed to make the ballot.  The Campaign has released a statement that Patrick has posted in the comments.  He has fallen 30 short.

Below please find an unedited letter to the voters from Jim Ogonowski as delivered to me in a press release.

Giving John Kerry a race is going to be a lot of fun. -Patrick

Jon Keller is reporting that a new Survey USA poll shows Jim Ogonowski with a commanding lead over Jeff Beatty 60-14.  It also shows John Kerry with some general election weaknesses.

If he can manage to squeeze out enough certified signatures, Dracut hay farmer Jim Ogonowski will start off with a big name-recognition boost from his run in the Fifth Congressional District special last year and a 60% to 14% bulge over Jeff Beatty. (Full disclosure: my adult son, now communications director for the Massachusetts Republican Party, worked on Ogonowski's 2007 congressional campaign.) With 26% undecided, that lead could fade fast; it'll vanish altogether of Ogonowski can't get on the ballot, an unpardonable organizational sin.

With all due respect to the game but hapless Republicans, the real issue is: are the voters sick of John Kerry? By a too-close-for-comfort 48% to 42%, they say he deserves to be re-elected. And the biggest warning sign for Kerry is that 49% of the voters say he "spends too little time on Massachusetts issues." Only 36% say he "spends about the right amount of time." This is a longstanding complaint about Kerry that he has been trying for years to dispel, with mixed success, apparently. It is far and away his most significant political weakness, exacerbated over the years by unflattering comparisons of Kerry's DC output with that of the king of federal-grant rainmaking, Ted Kennedy. I hate to say it, but the need to make up for the potential, hopefully avoidable loss of Ted's clout could be very much on voters' minds come November, forcing Kerry to make a more persuasive case to voters here that they really are job #1 for him.

Ogonowski will be on the ballot.  When he is I'll give an update and ask you all to donate a few dollars.

Well looks like John Kerry has put foot in mouth yet again.  This time he claims that the US was "basically at peace on September 11, 2001."

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) believes that on September 11 "we were basically at peace."

Asked to clarify his remarks, specifically asking about the attacks on the U.S.S. Cole during Barack Obama campaign conference call, Kerry said, "well, we hadn't declared war," The Hill's Sam Youngman reports.

Asked if al Qaeda was a threat at the time, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee said, "well yes, obviously they were a threat. But, fundamentally we were not at war at that point in time."

Kerry also called John McCain "out of step with history and facts."

So were we "basically at peace" on December 7, 1941 as well, Senator Kerry?  Jim Ogonowski has responded to John Kerry's comments in a press release.

"Either John Kerry is naïve or he is actually using this tragedy for political propaganda to capture more headlines for himself in this election cycle.

Does he know this was not the first attack on the very building taken down on September 11th?

Does he consider the bombings of our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and on American troops on the U.S.S. Cole as being "basically at peace"?

On the morning of September 11, 2001, America and the world were reminded that evil in the hearts of only a few men can cause harm to many. Those attacks were not planned in a day. Islamic extremists had long before declared war on America and American interests.

While September 11th was a day of peace to John Kerry, for me it was the day I lost my brother. I think it would be very appropriate for John Kerry to apologize to the victims and the families of those lost on that day for his remarks."

You want to get some juice back.  It's time to start governing.  If there is any here, here the Justice Department should act swiftly and forcefully to restore faith in this administration.  Crossposted at RedMassGroup

I have suspected for a while that the price of oil is being artificially inflated by hedge fund managers and others. I had no proof so I haven't blogged about it. However it seems the Feds think there is something amiss with the oil futures markets. I believe that the hedge funds and other money mangers which control vast amounts of institutional i.e. union pension funds, and endowment wealth have used oil to make up for their losses in the subprime market.

"Federal regulators are six months into a wide-ranging investigation of U.S. oil markets, with a focus on possible price manipulation. more stories like this The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday said it started the probe in December and took the unusual step of publicizing it "because of today's unprecedented market conditions." Crude prices, which on Thursday hovered around $127 a barrel, have risen more than 42 percent since early December. Gasoline prices are nearing a national average of $4 a gallon, up from about $3.20 a year ago. The commission said details of the investigation remain confidential, but announced a handful of other initiatives designed to increase transparency of U.S. and international energy futures markets. For example, the CFTC said it will immediately require monthly reports from institutional investors who manage funds designed to mimic the price of crude oil and other energy futures. The goal, the agency said, is to identify the amount of such index trading and to "ensure that this type of trading activity is not adversely impacting the price discovery process." The CFTC also said it has reached an agreement with its British counterpart and InterContinental Exchange Inc.'s Futures Europe to expand surveillance of energy futures contracts with U.S. delivery points, including the benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude, which trades on the New York Mercantile Exchange...........

.........A Senate subcommittee investigation last year found that hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC, which collapsed in 2006 after losing more than $6 billion in natural-gas trades, had shifted its activities to ICE from the regulated Nymex to avoid trading limits, and that the "excessive speculation" raised homeowners' heating bills. Speculation has been cited as one on many factors contributing to surging petroleum prices, along with assumptions about new supplies, limited demand growth, possible supply disruptions overseas and the dollar's depressed value against other currencies."

Hopefully this action will help to stabilize prices. Even OPEC said they can't figure out why oil isn't 60-70 per barrel because based on supply and demand that is where it should be. Another completely unsubstantiated hunch, Soros has something to do with it. I thought he did during the spike of 2004 and think so now.

I put this comment up in response to Patrick's article. I felt it should also be a post.  Here is my take on the Ogo signature story.