Recently in 2008 Election Category

This month's Harper's Bazaar features Tyra as Michelle Obama.  And a delicious hottie named Roman as Barack Obama.

Man, ever since that Obama cat learned to text, he's been thinking he is just 2 cool 4 school.  He's been blowing up our phone left and right!  (Well, maybe just left...)

Anyhow, the technocrat told us (via text, of course) that he will announce his vice presidential pick via text message between now and the DNC convention which starts August 25th.  If you want to be the first to know who will be rolling with him to The White House (or trying to roll, anyway), text VP to 62262 or go over here.

Michelle Obama is fast becoming one of the fashion icons of our day.  When Michelle wore a  Maria Pinto purple sheath dress  with a black Azzedine Alaia belt to her husband's "I am the likely nominee" speech, everybody and their momma wanted one the next day.  When she sported a black and white print dress by Donna Riccio on The View, the dress immediately sold out and Riccio had to make 3,000 more to meet demand.  And now, Vanity Fair has named Michelle to its International Best Dressed List. 

Will Michelle officially become America's First Fashionista?  We'll find out on Novermber 4th.

Photo: Michelle Obama in Donna Riccio with co-hosts of The View.

Michelle Obama is on the cover of Ebony this month.  She talked to the magazine about her style, getting in some me time, her husband and kids, and of course, politics.  You can listen to excerpts of her interview over here.

Also in this issue is an interview with Michelle's mother, Marian Robinson.  Mrs. Robinson talks about Michelle's childhood and the road to The White House.

John McCain is a shoe slut, and he'll pay big money to get some.  The Senator has been spotted big pimpin' Ferragamo Pregiato Moccasins, which retail at Neiman Marcus for $520.

Some other media outlets have poked fun at McCain for his high fashion expenditure, but we won't go there.  We understand that like food, water, air and sex (uh... not the premarital kind, of course), fabulous shoes are a basic human need.  As Carrie Bradshaw, esteemed lobbyist for the right to Choos, once said, "Sometimes you need really special shoes!"

So to John McCain, we say, "Go 'head, sole brother!"

Shoe ho in Ferragamo.  Photo credit: The Huffington Post.

Meghan McCain poses for the September issue of Glamour

The September issue of Glamour dishes all you need to know about Meghan McCain.  For starters, Meghan's not interested in dating a guy who wants to get closer to her dad than her:

I don't want to be an accessory to a guy's impending political career, and unfortunately I get that a lot. I'm not attracted to guys with political action committees, I'm sorry.... I'm attracted to men whose realities are different [from mine]. You'll get a lot further with me talking about art and music than you will talking about politics.... And I'd really hate myself if I dated a journalist.

Meghan has no interest in dudes who lack game, particularly the guy who tried to pick her up with this lameness: "Baby, I could totally give you a tour of the Capitol."  Imagine the deflation of that guy's ego if Meghan told him her dad is John McCain, so she can see the Capitol any ol' time.  And who uses pick up lines like that anyway?  Alas, as we know all too well from personal experience, every other guy....

If even a potential first daughter can't escape weak game, what hope is there for the rest of us?

Extra Extra!  Read all about it over here!  The Washington Post reports that Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is at the top of Obama's short list for veep. 

So who is this Tim Kaine guy anyway?  Read on.

• Gov. Timothy Michael "Tim" Kaine was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1958 and raised in Kansas City, Missouri.  He is 50 years old.
• He is a graduate of the University of Missouri (economics major) and Harvard Law School.
• He took a year off from law school to work as a Roman Catholic missionary in the Honduras.  There he served as principal at a school that taught carpentry and welding skills to youth.
• He practiced law in Richmond, Virginia for 17 years, representing people who were denied housing because of their race or disability.
• Prior to becoming Governor, he served as a Richmond City Council Member, Mayor of Richmond and Lt. Governor of Virginia under Gov. Mark Warner (who is currently running for U.S. Senate). 
• A Roman Catholic, he opposes abortion rights and capital punishment.
• He is married to Anne Holton, daughter of former Virginia Governor A. Linwood Holton, Jr., and the only person to live in the Governor's Mansion as a child and adult.  The couple has three children, Nat, Woody and Annella.

Today the RNC launched BarackBook, a new website that spoofs FaceBook and attacks Barack Obama.  (Naughty naughty, RNC!) So many Obama supporters clowned the site on its message boards that the RNC reportedly had to take them down.

Michelle Obama.  Photo from her BlogHer bio page.

In addition to wife, mother, attorney, and political campaigner,  Michelle Obama is adding blogger to her resume.  She joins 15 million American women who already have their own blogs. 

Michelle's blog will be carried on the BlogHer network.  BlogHer, the online community for women who blog, has 26,000 members and is by far the most well known "meeting place" for women bloggers.  Way to reach women voters, Michelle!  We think this move is smart, smart, smart, expecially when you consider that women make up 54% of the electorate.  

Being tech savvy is nothing new to the Obama camp.  The campaign has used web organizing tools, blogging, viral video and text messaging to it's advantage from jump.  Michelle's blog is yet another extension of the rock solid tech platform that the campaign has built to spread it's message, combat the the messages of political foes and create a momentum now known as Obama-mania.  

Check out Michelle's blog over here and her BlogHer bio page here.

When it comes to picking a president, ever wonder WWCD (what would Carrie do)? Well, here's where she stands on the issues.

Carrie on the Economy:

"I like my money right where I can see it... hanging in my closet."

Carrie on Technology:

"I don't believe in email. I'm an old-fashioned girl. I prefer calling and hanging up."

Carrie on Civil Rights:

"Maybe the best any of us can do is not quit, play the hand we've been given, and accessorize with the outfit we've got."

Carrie on Violence in Film and Television:

"Welcome to the age of un-innocence. No one has breakfast at Tiffany's, and no one has affairs to remember."

Carrie on Housing and Urban Development:

"Beauty is fleeting, but a rent-controlled apartment overlooking the park is forever."

Carrie on Animal Rights:

"You can't be friends with a squirrel! A squirrel is just a rat in a cuter outfit."

Carrie on Marriage:

"If you're single, after graduation there isn't one occasion where people celebrate you. Hallmark doesn't make a 'congratulations, you didn't marry the wrong guy' card. And where's the flatware for going on vacation alone?"

Glamour's editor-in-chief Cindi Leive and Sen. Barack Obama spoke at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana.

Why is Cindi Leive so live?  She is editor-in-chief of top women's publication Glamour, has scored one-on-one interviews with each of the presidential candidates, and looks understatedly fabulous in just a simple black dress. Some girls have all the luck smarts, savvy and style. 

Leive sat down recently with Barack Obama and asked his reaction to political attacks on his wife Michelle. "It's infuriating," said the senator, adding later that "rarely do these foks have the guts to say it to [my] face."  In defense of Michelle, he asserted:

Everybody who knows Michelle knows how extraordinary she is. She's ironically the most quintessentially American woman I know. She grew up in a "Leave it to Beaver" family. She is the best mother I know. And our kids are a testimony to that, because she's really had to raise them, oftentimes without me being there. She's the most honest person I know, she's smart, she's funny, so yeah, it infuriates me. And I think that it is an example of the erosion of civility in our political culture that she's been subjected to these attacks, and my attitude is that the people who have attacked her in the ways that they have...if they've got a difference with me on policy, they should debate me. Not her.

You can read a lengthier excerpt of Leive's interview with Obama in Glamour's Glamocracy blog over here.  The full interview will be published in Glamour's October issue. 

Here's Meghan McCain, dressed to impress at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner back in April.  Will she wear a similar style to the Inaugural Balls in January or will the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner be the closest she ever comes to Inaugural Ball like festivities?  Stay tuned to find out on November 4th.

Heidi Montag and Lauren Conrad at the White House Correspondent's Dinner in April 2008.  Getty Images photo from here.

And while we're on the topic of The Hills, turns out Lauren Conrad is a Republican just like her frenemy Heidi Montag. While at the White house Correspondent's dinner last April, Conrad clapped enthusiasticlly when a reporter from New York magazine asked her if he should vote for a Republican.  When he asked if he should vote for a Democrat, she wrinked her nose. 

Frenemy Heidi endorsed John McCain earlier this year, and the senator responded that he "never misses an episode of The Hills."

As we said before, Meghan McCain recently met Heidi Montag of The Hills for lunch at The Ivy in Santa Monica, CA.  Paparazzi extraordinaire, TMZ.com, captured the two on video in the restaurant's parking lot.  

Now this is funny: the paps didn't recognize Meghan and focused their attention on Heidi, often cutting Meghan out of the shot.  The joke was on them though, because they missed their money shot, a candid interview with the first daughter wannabe.

Barack and Michelle Obama attend the NAACP Image Awards.  Photo from AOL's BlackVoices.com.

AOL's BlackVoices website says that Michelle Obama is "hotter than July."  If they mean hotter than July in Washington D.C., well then let us tell you, that's hotter than hell. 

The site named Mrs. Obama one of the "20 Sexiest Black Women Over 40," noting:

US magazine recently gave the hottest couple in politics their cover, emblazoned with the headline "Why He Loves Her." Apparently featuring Michelle paid off, as sales of the issue outpaced those for usual tabloid offerings like Jessica Simpson and Heidi Montag. At 44, it seems that America agrees: Mrs. Obama is hotter than July.

Other sexy women on the list include Halle Berry (duh!), Jennifer Beals, Vanessa Williams (she ain't no Ugly Betty), Stacey Dash and Angela Bassett.

Hat Tip: BlackSuperwomen.com

Hoping to make a fashion statement, a 25 year old Manhattan student decided to sport an "Obama is My Slave" T-shirt.  Onlookers were offended, and some teenage girls shoved and spat on her.  She was surprised by this response. (What kind of dumbass is she?)

She is now suing Apollo Braun, who designed the shirt and sold it to her for $69.  Braun says the First Amendment shields him against the student's lawsuit.

Braun has designed and sold other shirts with anti-Obama slogans.  The most popular is his "Who killed Obama?" shirt.

Braun says that he "can't stand" Obama "because he is Muslim."  Obama is Christian, not Muslim.

Barack Obama scored his second cover of RollingStone this month.  Inside the mag is an in-depth interview with the senator.  Audio is over here and a few highlights are below. 

What's on Barry's iPod:

An eclectic collection of Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Earth Wind & Fire, Jay-Z, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Howlin' Wolf, Yo Yo Ma, Sheryl Crow, and more.  Get the full scoop on Obama's musical tastes over here.

What gave him "the juice and the confidence" (reporter's words) that he could win the presidency:

Iowa.

Three books that inspired him:

"Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, the tragedies of William Shakespeare and probably Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls."

What he calls Bruce Springsteen:

The Boss, because "you've got to."

How rap has helped desegregate American music:

"By definition, rock & roll is rebel music, which means if it's not being criticized, it's probably not doing its job. I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics, but I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music. Music was very segregated back in the Seventies and Eighties -- you'll remember that when MTV first came on, it wasn't until Thriller that they played Michael."

He doesn't play:

"...I don't do cowering. You have to respond forcefully, quickly and truthfully to attacks."

His parting words (to the reporter):

"Ok, brother - take care."

Meghan McCain and Heidi Montag outside The Ivy on the Shore in Santa Monica, CA. Photo from US Weekly (uhh.. over here).

Meghan McCain and Heidi Montag did lunch recently at The Ivy on the Shore in Santa Monica, CA.

Polichicks reported earlier that Heidi Montag, LC's frenemy on The Hills, endorsed John McCain for President.  To that, McCain responded: "I'm honored to have Heidi's support, and I want to assure her that I never miss an episode of The Hills."

It's Time for Some Campaignin', a little diddy about campaign 08...

Maria Menounos of Access Hollywood interviewed Barack Obama's family (wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha) on the 4th of July.   Sasha, 7, dished this scoop about her dad: he doesn't like ice cream.  "My dad doesn't like sweets," she explained. "He likes like minty gum.  He doesn't like bubble gum."

Meghan McCain and her mom Cindy went to Vietnam to support Operation Smile, a nonprofit organization that surgically repairs cleft palettes on children in impoverished countries.  (Meghan's younger sister, Bridget, was born with a cleft palette.)  In the video below, Meghan shares her experiences working with Operation Smile.

If elected President, Barack Obama will remove the flat screen TV from the Lincoln bedroom in the White House.  He says you should read the Gettysburg Address in there, not watch ESPN. 

Who does he think he is?!  This is another example of a politician trying to force his own morality on the American people.

And it's not the way to win votes from sports enthusiasts and fans of The Hills.

[The Los Angeles Times]

Ebony Magazine has just named Barack Obama one of the 25 coolest brothers of all time.

Now this we can speak to from personal experience.  We participated in a conference call with Obama sometime in 2004, before he was senator, before the speech, before he was the man. (And before we knew his name. At the time and for weeks after, we actually thought his name was Obama Barack.) 

Anyway, accustomed to the arrogant (but feigned friendly) posturing politicians usually do on these calls, we were surprised - read utterly shocked - when Obama hopped on the phone with a laid back and unassuming  "Hey, it's Barack." 

Cool.

We mean, he said it like a "Yo man, what's up, bruh?"  response would have been okay. (We elected not to do that, because we would have sounded ridiculous.  But somebody cooler than us could have pulled it off.)

Then Barack went on to tell us that he'd just heard from the DNC that "we" (he was inclusive even back then) might have a role at convention.  "I don't know what that role will be yet," he said, "but I think it could be an opportunity for us."  

The speech.  An "opportunity."

Uh, ya think?

MTV's Emmy Award winning Choose or Lose campaign will take over MTV2 today to present programming that will engage its young adult audience in the plight of America's more than one million young troops who have served on the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MTV News and the 51 MTV/Knight Foundation Street Team will air special reports on young veterans issues.  These reports will highlight stories of young veterans in their communities, focusing on the challenges of post traumatic stress disorder, lack of educational benefits, and the difficulties young veterans face as they struggle to acclimate back into civilian life.  In addition to these reports, MTV2 will broadcast the following specials: 

6:00 pm - Iraq Uploaded

6:30 pm - True Life: I Live in Iraq

8:30 pm - True Life: I'm Shipping Out

9:30 pm - True Life: I'm Coming to America

10:30 pm - True Life: I'm a Civilian Again

John McCain and Barack Obama have each prepared special July 4th video messages in honor of our young troops that will air exclusively on MTV2 today. Recent MTV research shows that 70% of young adults 18 to 29 personally know someone who has fought in Iraq.

Oregon Republican Sen. Gordon Smith expects a blue tide to roll accross his state this November, and he hopes to ride it all the way to Washington.  He's just released a new ad that implies that he and Barack Obama are total BFFs when it comes to developing better public policies.

"Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment?" the ad asks. "Barack Obama."

Dude is seriously tripping, said the Obama campaign.  "Barack Obama has a long record of bipartisan accomplishment and we appreciate that it is respected by his Democratic and Republican colleagues in the Senate," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "But in this race, Oregonians should know that Barack Obama supports Jeff Merkley for Senate. Merkley will help Obama bring about the fundamental change we need in Washington."

 Hat Tip: Ben Smith at Politico