Obama campaigns for conservative Democrat

President Obama is finding a new version of bipartisanship, taking time out of his busy schedule to speak at a fundraiser for a New York congressional candidate who makes no secret of his more conservative leanings.

Obama’s appearance tonight is on behalf of Democratic candidate Bill Owens, who polls show is running slightly ahead of a more liberal Republican and an even more conservative opponent. All three are sparring in a special election for the congressional seat vacated when Obama named moderate Republican John M. McHugh to be secretary of the Army.

The congressional race has become of microcosm of the political confusions that are rumbling through the major political parties this year. Democrats are split between liberal and conservative wings that are finding it hard to fashion common ground on key issues such as healthcare reform. While Republicans, wanting to keep the energy of conservatives’ unhappiness, are having a hard time finding a place for the moderates they need for electoral success.

The 23rd Congressional District is deep in upstate New York near the Canadian border and includes Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties. It has sent only Republicans to Congress since around the Civil War. Tonight, Obama is expected to speak well of Owens, who opposes a robust public option in the healthcare reform debate. He also opposes same-sex marriage, which is backed by Republican Dierdre Scozzafava, a New York assemblywoman since 1998. She is also pro-abortion rights. Among her supporters is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Complicating the picture is the Conservative Party, which has long outgrown its origin as a cat's-paw of the GOP to become the tail that often wags the feline, at least in New York politics.

On the conservative side, riding a wave of discontent with Democrats and moderate Republicans is Doug Hoffman, who opposes gay and abortion rights and sees himself as the true Republican, having gained the endorsement of the GOP right, including the Club for Growth, the Family Research Council Action PAC and even former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. How to deal with conservatives has become a key question for the national GOP after a summer of tea-party demonstrations and abrasive town hall meetings.

Because this is an off-year election, it is sure to be seized on as another straw in the wind for 2010.

– Michael Muskal

A reminder: Most 'independent' voters aren't

When you think of an independent voter, you probably imagine a politically minded individual with no party affiliation, whose unbiased opinions will swing from right to left depending on convincing arguments and logical evaluation.

Think again.

According to online research magazine Miller-McCune, most "independents" don't fit the ideal definition of an independent-minded voter.

"There are an awful lot of people who call themselves independent because it's fashionable in some circles," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, told Miller-McCune. "But their voting behavior is predictable. They are not swing voters."

The news media often follow the ebb and flow of so-called independents' voting habits, and report on them as if they reflect a shift in popular opinion.

The argument against the existence of the unbiased independent is hardly new. For example, the authors of ...

A James Stockdale, named for Ross Perot's VP, back on Navy duty

James B. Stockdale goes to sea again.

The Navy flier was the highest-ranking naval officer held as a POW in the Vietnam War. He was shot down over North Vietnam in 1965 and had his shoulders, arms and a leg virtually crippled during seven-plus years of torture. Though unable to fly, he was kept on active duty after his release and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his combat duty and leadership of American POWs.

In a 1992 "Saturday Night Live" skit Stockdale was brutally mocked for his televised debate performance as independent Ross Perot's running mate against Democrat Al Gore and Republican Dan Quayle.

It seems Stockdale's hearing aid had malfunctioned, but it wasn't the last time the late-night caricaturers would successfully damage a politician. The image of an ancient slow-witted bumbler stuck for the remainder of the campaign and beyond.

Stockdale died in 2005 at 81.

But this Saturday a brand new James Stockdale goes back on U.S. military duty. (Don't wait for that news on "SNL's" update.)

In Port Hueneme on California's coast, the Navy will officially commission DDG 106 Stockdale, the 56th of 62 planned Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Vice Adm. Stockdale's widow, Sybil, will officiate.

Cmdr. Fred W. Kacher, of Oakton, Va., will be the guided-missile destroyer's first commanding officer, overseeing a crew of 276 officers and enlisted personnel. The 9,200-ton Stockdale was built by Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics Co. She is 509 feet long with a waterline beam of 59 feet and a navigational draft of 31 feet.

The ship can exceed speeds of  30 knots.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photos: Naval pilot James Stockdale exiting his A-10 Skyhawk in 1965 one week before being shot down over North Vietnam and beginning seven-plus years as a POW. Credit: Associated Press. The guided-missile destroyer Stockdale at its 2008 christening in Maine. It will enter naval service Saturday at Port Hueneme, Calif. Credit: Associated Press

Brian Moore, the Socialist candidate for president, is more popular than ever

Campaign 2008 has been a fierce fame-making machine, albeit for notoriety that can be most fleeting.

Yet Brian Moore, the Socialist candidate for president of the United States of America and the latest to bask in the media glow, has seen his 15 minutes stretch on for a couple of weeks. And he's hoping for quite a bit more.

It all started a couple of weeks ago, when the Republican ticket began to paint Barack Obama as a "socialist" and the "redistributor in chief," after the Democrat made his now famous remark to Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher about "spreading the wealth around."

That created an opening for Moore of Spring Hill, Fla., who finds the Republicans lacking in credibility and Obama badly wanting when it comes the true collectivist spirit. The former HMO executive and Socialist Party USA presidential nominee has been in nearly constant demand in recent days.

On Monday, he was giving yet another radio interview, this one to a station in St. Louis. He earlier had been featured by the Chicago Tribune, Fox News, St. Petersburg Times, the Nation and the New Republic, to name just a few.

The 65-year-old physical fitness fanatic’s biggest splash came last week on "The Colbert Report." Host Stephen Colbert greeted him as "Comrade Moore," and when the obscure candidate insisted Obama was not a socialist, Colbert retorted, "What do you mean, he wants to redistribute the wealth. That makes him a pinko, right?"

Moore . . ..

Ralph Nader has some choice (and highfalutin) words for Barack Obama

Let's say this for Ralph Nader -- he cannot be accused of engaging in sound-bite politics.

This generation's version of Harold Stassen (an erstwhile Republican who ran for president -- with varying degrees of intensity -- nine times) today issued an "open letter" to Barack Obama. Here's how it opens:

In your nearly two-year presidential campaign, the words "hope and change," "change and hope" have been your trademark declarations. Yet there is an asymmetry between those objectives and your political character that succumbs to contrary centers of power that want not "hope and change" but the continuation of the power-entrenched status quo.

We think that means Nader views Obama as a charlatan.

Nader has pressed this case on any number of fronts as he has struggled to gain attention or traction in his latest campaign. In his new missive, he spotlights the Palestinian/Israeli issue:

To advance change and hope, the presidential persona requires character, courage, integrity -- not expediency, accommodation and short-range opportunism. Take, for example, your transformation from an articulate defender of Palestinian rights in Chicago before your run for the U.S. Senate to an acolyte, a dittoman for the hard-line AIPAC lobby, which bolsters the militaristic oppression, occupation, blockage, colonization and land-water seizures over the years of the Palestinian peoples and their shrunken territories in the West Bank and Gaza.

We think that means Nader (an Arab American) views Obama as a sellout.

The entire letter can be viewed here.

Intriguingly, Nader did not feel compelled to send off a simlar dispatch to John McCain (he can read polls as well as the next guy).

A Nader aide, Toby Heaps, told us the candidate believed "the most lucid writeup of McCain's character" was provided by Phillip Butler, who like the Republican endured years of imprisonment in North Vietnam during the Vietnam war. So Nader last week passed along to the national media the link to Butler's piece on why he isn't supporting McCain.

-- Don Frederick

Ron Paul to Phil Gramm: no way, no how, no John McCain

Texan to Texan, as one fellow who famously switched parties in his political career to another, Phil Gramm took one last shot this week at bringing Ron Paul into the John McCain fold. (See video below.)

Gramm not only failed, but Paul blew the whistle on him today as he castigated the choices offered voters by the two major-party presidential nominees and lent the cache he gained from his own White House bid to various third-party alternatives.

Paul held forth, as had been advertised, at a news conference in Washington where he was joined by independent (and perennial) presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney and Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin.

Missing from the show was Bob Barr who, true to the spirit of the Libertarian Party that tapped him as it nominee, decided at the last minute to skip the group gathering and hold his own news conference.

In his remarks, Paul revealed that a McCain representative, who he did not name, had called him as part of what has been a recent effort to score an endorsement.

Later, Paul told The Times' Janet Hook the go-between was Gramm, a former Democrat who signed up with the GOP in the early 1980s.

In explaining why he rejected the overture, Paul -- perhaps underestimating the size of his following these days -- said: "I don't like the idea of getting 2 or 3 million people angry at me. ... I said absolutely no. It might diminish my credibility."

Paul, a Republican turned Libertarian White House candidate in 1988 turned Republican again, said Gramm pitched McCain as the potential president who would do "less harm'' than Democrat Barack Obama (not exactly stirring words).

In urging a vote against the "establishment candidates," Paul said, "There's no doubt in my mind that we [supporters of third-party contenders] represent the majority."

Obama allies quickly jumped at the news of Gramm's contact with Paul. Damien LaVera of the Democratic National Committee fired off an e-mail saying it offered "further evidence" that Gramm "is back in the good graces of the McCain campaign."

He ostensibly had been banished from the inner circle after some ill-chosen words earlier this summer (such as saying the U.S. had become "a nation of whiners").

-- Don Frederick

Here comes Ron Paul's call to reject both Barack Obama and John McCain

Ron Paul is preparing to speak and it appears what he has to say won't be welcome news for Barack Obama (no surprise on that count) or John McCain (causing him, perhaps, some chagrin).

Paul himself may have passed on an outside-the-lines run for the White House after his insurgent bid for the Republican nomination fell way short.

But the Associated Press reports that at a news conference Wednesday in Washington, the iconoclastic politician will urge others to support an alternative candidate of their choice.

The AP story relates that in his prepared remarks, Paul says: “The strongest message can be sent by rejecting the two-party system. This can be accomplished by voting for one of the nonestablishment, principled candidates.”

Perennial candidate Ralph Nader, who has curried favor with Paul backers, is to join him at the morning news conference at the National Press Club. And, according to the AP, other presidential contenders Paul invited to the event include Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party and Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party.

Here's hoping they take him up on the offer, because that will make for one memorable photo op.

The McCain camp reportedly made efforts to woo Paul, but that seems to have amounted to little. And they have little agreement on issues.

Meanwhile, all is not lost for hard-core Paul supporters who yearn for the chance to vote for him in November -- they simply have to reside in Montana. His advocates there have gotten Paul on the ballot as the Constitutional Party's presidential candidate (which could actually affect who wins the huge state's miniscule 3 electoral votes, as the Helena Independent hashes out).

-- Don Frederick

Photo credit: Bloomberg News

John McCain's own "band of brothers" gets a shout-out in St. Paul

John Kerry, at the 2004 Democratic National Convention that nominated him for president, made much of his "band of brothers" -- veterans who had served with him in Vietnam.

Tonight, as the Republican National Convention kicked fully into gear following its session that was abbreviated on Monday because of Hurricane Gustav, a small group of John McCain's military comrades were introduced (and loudly applauded) -- men who shared imprisonment and torture with him at the infamous Hanoi Hilton during the war in Vietnam.

McCain wasn't there; he arrives Wednesday in Minnesota's Twin Cities for the gathering that will officially make him the GOP's presidential nominee. Instead, introducing the POWs was one of their other fellow captives: Orson Swindle (who shared a cell with McCain).

Swindle's name may ring a distant bell for some -- in the 1992 presidential campaign, he served as a spokesman (as much as anyone could) for third-party candidate Ross Perot.

-- Don Frederick

John McCain and Barack Obama agree to debate schedule, format

The John McCain and Barack Obama campaigns just announced they have agreed to a series of debates -- one of them a "town hall" -- already scheduled through the Commission on Presidential Debates. The news here seems to be that the two campaigns agreed to what the commission already has planned.

The agreement calls for three 90-minute presidential showdowns and one vice presidential (players to be named later) debate. The full list with details is below (all begin at 6 p.m. Pacific time). But what's most interesting to note is where the debates will be held -- none in the West.

In fact, only one, at Washington University in St. Louis, will be west of the Mississippi -- and that just barely. So much for the fight for the heart and soul of the Western voter. And expect the announcement to spur some complaints from fringe candidates Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney, who must get 15% or better in national polls to wrangle an invite under rules established by the commission -- which, incidentally, was set up in 1987 by the Democratic and Republican parties.

The list and details from the release are:

First Presidential Debate:
Date:  September 26
Site:  University of Mississippi (Oxford)
Topic:  Foreign Policy & National Security
Moderator:  Jim Lehrer
Staging:  Podium debate
Answer Format:  The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments.  The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment.  After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment

Vice Presidential Debate
Date:  October 2nd
Site:  Washington University (St. Louis)
Moderator:  Gwen Ifill
Staging/Answer Format:  To be resolved after both parties’ Vice Presidential nominees are selected.

Second Presidential Debate
Date:  October 7
Site:  Belmont University (Nashville)
Moderator:  Tom Brokaw
Staging:  Town Hall debate
Format:  The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the Internet).  Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question.  Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment.  In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or Internet), and not the moderator.

Third Presidential Debate
Date:  October 15
Site:  Hofstra University (Hempstead, Long Island, New York)
Topic:  Domestic and Economic policy
Moderator:  Bob Schieffer
Staging:  Candidates will be seated at a table
Answer Format:  Same as First Presidential Debate. Closing Statements:  At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90 second closing statement.

-- Scott Martelle

Experience a key John McCain advantage in new L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll

When last we had a L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll to peruse, the result that stood out (aside from Barack Obama's 12-percentage point lead over John McCain in a head-to-head match-up) was what we termed the "passion gap" -- a marked difference in enthusiasm levels that favored the Democrat in the June survey.

The new, just-released poll not only shows the race between the two dramatically tightening -- into a virtual dead heat, with Obama leading in the head-to-head by only 2 percentage points -- but it also identifies a distinct McCain asset: a huge advantage on the question of experience.

The survey of almost 1,250 registered voters showed that the vast majority have no doubt McCain is qualified for the White House. Asked if the Republican had the right experience to be president, 80% said yes (with only 14% saying no).

By contrast, close to a majority -- 48% -- said Obama lacks the experience for the job (with 44% saying yes).

The findings indicate that the McCain camp's controversial advertising thrust of late -- depicting Obama as a mere "celebrity" who isn't "ready to lead" -- has paid dividends.

The findings also suggest that to stem the inroads McCain has made against him, Obama needs to change the conversation. After all, it's not as if he's going to be able to substantially beef up his resume in the 2 1/2 months until election day.

Next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver may enable Obama to make up some ground in another category where McCain has a significant edge over him -- the matter of patriotism.

The new poll found that 84% judged McCain strongly patriotic, while just 55% said that of Obama. Only 9% said they have questions about McCain's patriotism; 35% expressed doubts about Obama's.

The survey posed a number of questions about the potential impact of race on the presidential race, which The Times' Michael Finnegan explores elsewhere on LATimes.com.

The poll's match-up numbers are these: Obama, 45%; McCain 43%. By comparison, the June numbers were Obama, 49%; McCain, 37% (in each case, the margin of error is plus-or-minus 3 percentage points).

When Ralph Nader and Bob Barr are added to the mixed, the race tightens even more. The results in the four-way contest: Obama, 42%; McCain, 41%; Nader, 4%; Barr, 1%.

In June, the four-way race had slightly expanded Obama's lead. Those figures were Obama, 48%; McCain 33%; Nader, 4%; Barr, 3%.

The new poll may provide Obama some solace ...