The folks at JibJab, who made a considerable satiric online splash during the 2004 presidential race, have just posted their first take on this year’s campaign. It features the candidates and a cast of hundreds singing a rewrite of “The Times They Are a-Changin’.” It’s worth a look.

When Barack Obama launched his first advertisement of the general election campaign this week, it was notable where his strategists decided to air it — and more to the point in this supposedly purple state, where they opted not to.

The Democratic Party’s likely presidential nominee is running the ad in a dozen battleground states, but also in six that lean heavily Republican: Montana, North Dakota, Indiana, North Carolina, Georgia and Alaska. Conspicuously missing from the list of battlegrounds are such presumed battlegrounds of Minnesota, Washington and Oregon.

And it’s notable that Minnesota was on the list of states where John McCain targeted his first ad last week. All of which raises a couple of (at this point unanswerable) questions: Does the Obama team assume Minnesota’s in the bag? Does McCain’s really, truly think the state is going to be competitive in November?

In any case, here’s the ad, a soft and fuzzy paen to America, American values and Obama’s American roots.

Determined not to be Swift-boated as John Kerry was four years ago, Barack Obama’s campaign unveiled a new website today that bluntly takes on unsubstantiated rumors and innuendo that have dogged the candidate for months. Among them: He’s a secret Muslim, he won’t recite the Pledge of Allegiance, his wife used the word “whitey.”

Obama is bucking the conventional wisdom of politics, the widely-held belief that the best (maybe the only) way to deal with rumors is to ignore them. So the campaign launched a new web page called “Fight The Smears” that airs out the rumors and then rebuts them point by point.

Campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor threw down the gauntlet thusly:

“The Obama campaign isn’t going to let dishonest smears spread across the internet unanswered. Whenever challenged with these lies we will aggressively push back with the truth and help our supporters debunk the false rumors floating around the internet. This website is an action center that allows supporters to upload their address books and send
emails to all of their friends. It’s not enough to just know the truth, we have to be proactive and fight back.”

Now that Barack Obama has won the Democratic nomination, a persistent meme of the presidential campaign has resurfaced, equating his candidacy with that of Ronald Reagan, the last truly insurgent candidate to win his party’s nomination.

Much has been made of their stylistic similarities, their cool, camera-ready styles, how each decisively broke with their party’s reigning orthodoxy. The first wave of Obama-Reagan comparisons surfaced last January, after Obama explicitly linked himself to the Gipper:

“I don’t want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what’s different are the times…I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn’t much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing.”

Obama’s Democratic opponents promptly went nuts, accusing him of treason, cozying up to the Dark Lord of the GOP, etc., etc., but several pundits picked up his observation and ran with it, saying it was a pretty good analysis of how two utterly different candidacies had seemed to tap into the Zeitgeist.

Now, in the wake of Obama’s victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Obama-Reagan comparisons are firing up again.

Old Reagan (and Nixon) hand Pat Buchanan established the link this week:

Democrats may talk of making the economy the issue this fall, but Republicans are going to make Barack the issue. Story line: We cannot entrust our beloved America, in a time of war, to this radical and exotic figure who has so many crazy and extremist associates.

Barack’s problem is thus Reagan’s problem.

As the country wished to be rid of Jimmy Carter in 1980, so the nation today wishes to be rid of Bush and his Republicans. But America is apprehensive over a roll of the dice, in Bill Clinton’s metaphor.

How did Reagan ease the anxiety? In the debate with Carter, he came off as conservative, yes, but also traditional, mainstream, witty and the more likable man. The real Reagan came through.

With his persona, Barack may be able to do the same.

Bob Beckel, who got a ringside seat to watch Reagan when he managed Walter Mondale’s 1984 campaign, devoted an entire column to the comparison. Money quote:

Barack Obama’s current political circumstance is eerily similar to that of Ronald Reagan in his 1980 campaign for president. Both Obama and Reagan, from the beginning of their insurgent campaigns, were viewed as transformative political figures. Both enjoyed passionate grassroots support.

Both men had defeated centrist establishment candidates for their party’s nomination. Reagan defeated George H.W. Bush, who was viewed by the growing conservative base of the Republican Party as too moderate. Obama beat Hilary Clinton whose husband had been elected twice by moving away from his party’s traditional progressive roots and running as a centrist, a path Clinton herself followed (at least at the beginning of her campaign).

In 1980 most conventional political observers failed to recognize the growing grassroots power of the rock solid conservative activists who propelled Reagan to his party’s nomination. In the 2008 presidential campaign supporters of Hillary Clinton failed to recognize the growing assertiveness of the Democrats progressive base.

More comparisons to come, no doubt.

On the tail end of his victory lap last week, Barack Obama ended up back home in Chicago. He walked into his headquarters Friday to thank his troops for the historic upset they had just pulled off.

With a video camera rolling, he praised them, told them to get some rest and, in effect, told them that the hard work between now and Nov. 4 is just beginning. It’s a far more intimate look at the guy than can be gleaned from his mega-rallies, unscripted and up close (and just because it was undoubtedly sanctioned by the campaign, it doesn’t make it less interesting).

Gov. Tim Pawlenty showed more leg than he ever has before Sunday on the persistent speculation that he’s near (or even at) the top of John McCain’s short list for vice-presidential running mates.

He appeared on “Fox News Sunday” with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, with host Chris Wallace describing them as “the governors of two swing states who are both contenders in the “veepstakes.”

Asked directly about the vice presidency, Pawlenty opened the door a tiny crack after saying for months only that he’s concentrating on his day job at the state capitol:

I have a fond and deep respect for Senator McCain and his leadership. I want to help him become the president because I think he’d be a great president. But I don’t have any designs on being vice president.

If somebody came to me and said that, of course, it would be an honor to be mentioned, honor to be asked. It would be difficult to turn that down. But I don’t have any designs, and it’s not why I’m such a great and strong promoter of Senator McCain.

That said, Pawlenty spent most of the program assuming the role a vice-presidential candidate usually does, beating up on the opposition while leaving the high road to the top of the ticket.
Some excerpts:

PAWLENTY: Well, I was just going to say on that issue of the perception or the message that Senator Obama is going to have everybody working together, that defies the facts in the record.

He is somebody who’s been out of the mainstream not just of America but of his party. He’s somebody who has taken positions that have regularly ranked lockstep, almost robotically, with the Democratic caucus and liberal interest groups.

You look at Senator McCain’s voting record — he has consistently and regularly reached across the aisle to get things done in a big way. The change really has been from Senator McCain, somebody who’s willing to take risks, take on big issues and get things done for the country
I think once [McCain’s] message resonates or gets out with people as compared to Senator Obama’s — Senator McCain wants to cut taxes. He does not want to raise taxes on Social Security like Senator Obama does.

Senator McCain wants to relieve tax burdens on businesses so the entrepreneurial spirit can be unleashed and people will invest and grow jobs, as opposed to adding tax burdens to businesses in this country like Senator Obama wants to do.

But judgment is a derivative of a number of things, including experience and wisdom. Senator McCain has got actual national security and military experience.

And this isn’t limited to a slip on Jerusalem in the case of Senator Obama. First he was going to meet with tyrants without precondition. Now he’s modified that.

He was in favor of lifting the embargo against Cuba. Now he’s modified his comments on that.

He first said the Iranian revolution guard wasn’t a terrorist organization. Now he says maybe it is.

Wonder if he passed the audition? (If, indeed it was that. As Wallace said when he introduced the two governors, “as I welcome you both back, consider this something of an “American Idol” audition, because I’m sure they’re watching back at campaign headquarters.”

The Republican National Committee wasted no time taking on Barack Obama. The Xcel Energy Center had barely emptied out Tuesday night when the party had dumped a huge load of anti-Obama stuff on its website. Exhibit A is a web-only video featuring his erstwhile Democratic presidential competitors (and former President Bill Clinton) saying nasty, dismissive things about him. Take a look.

This almost certainly won’t be the last time stuff like this is disgorged, given the fact that Obama emerged from the longest primary fight in modern history, meaning there’s a LOT more video out there.

Day after day, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has suffered the low-level indignity of registering a bum performance as John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate, at the hands of the SurveyUSA polling firm. The folks at SurveyUSA have run several hypothetical matchups of McCain vs. Obama, grafting onto them a variety of potential veeps.

Pawlenty’s problem is that among the Republican aspirants, his performance has lagged, sometimes turning in the worst performance for the GOP of the bunch. Not in Minnesota, though. Here, he adds some rocket fuel to the ticket.

SurveyUSA’s analysis (the results are here):

“Republican governor Tim Pawlenty is the sole Republican tested this cycle who gives McCain a win by more than the margin of sampling error. With no running mates, Obama defeats McCain by 5 points; with running mates added, results range from a 8 point McCain win (McCain/Pawlenty vs. Obama/Rendell) to a 15 point Obama win (McCain/Lieberman vs. Obama/Edwards).

Although Hillary Rodham Clinton gives no indication whatsoever that she’s folding her candidacy, she’s increasingly banking on those pesky, outlawed, primaries held in Florida and Michigan to put her over the top that her campaign aides have tried to identify.

The status of those delegates will be decided Saturday by the Democratic National Committee’s committee on rules and bylaws, a meeting where Clinton supporters have vowed to show up in force. But on Tuesday, she suffered a setback when party lawyers circulated an advisory memo that says the committee can only seat half the states’ delegates — too few to give her enough to surmount Barack Obama’s still-growing lead.

Of course, anything can happen Saturday, but Clinton has pulled out the rhetorical stops in a letter she sent to undeclared superdelegates (who hold her fate in their hands), trying to make her case once and for all:

Dear ___________,
The stakes in this election are so high: with two wars abroad, our economy in crisis here at home, and so many families struggling across America, the need for new leadership has never been greater.

At this point, we do not yet have a nominee – and when the last votes are cast on June 3, neither Senator Obama nor I will have secured the nomination. It will be up to automatic delegates like you to help choose our party’s nominee, and I would like to tell you why I believe I am the stronger candidate against Senator McCain and would be the best President and Commander in Chief.

Voters in every state have made it clear that they want to be heard and counted as part of this historic race. And as we reach the end of the primary season, more than 17 million people have supported me in my effort to become the Democratic nominee – more people than have ever voted for a potential nominee in the history of our party. In the past two weeks alone, record numbers of voters participated in the West Virginia and Kentucky primaries. And with 40 and 35 point margins of victory, it is clear that even when voters are repeatedly told this race is over, they’re not giving up on me – and I am not giving up on them either.

After seven years of feeling invisible to the Bush administration, Americans are seeking a President who is strong, experienced, and ready to take on our toughest challenges, from serving as Commander in Chief and ending the war in Iraq to turning our economy around. They want a President who shares their core beliefs about our country and its future and “gets” what they go through every day to care for their families, pay the bills and try to put something away for the future.

We simply cannot afford another four – or eight – years in the wilderness. That is why, everywhere I go, people come up to me, grip my hand or arm, and urge me to keep on running. That is why I continue in this race: because I believe I am best prepared to lead this country as President – and best prepared to put together a broad coalition of voters to break the lock Republicans have had on the electoral map and beat Senator McCain in November.

Recent polls and election results show a clear trend: I am ahead in states that have been critical to victory in the past two elections. From Ohio, to Pennsylvania, to West Virginia and beyond, the results of recent primaries in battleground states show that I have strong support from the regions and demographics Democrats need to take back the White House. I am also currently ahead of Senator McCain in Gallup national tracking polls, while Senator Obama is behind him. And nearly all independent analyses show that I am in a stronger position to win the Electoral College, primarily because I lead Senator McCain in Florida and Ohio. I’ve enclosed a detailed analysis of recent electoral and polling information, and I hope you will take some time to review it carefully.

In addition, when the primaries are finished, I expect to lead in the popular vote and in delegates earned through primaries. Ultimately, the point of our primary process is to pick our strongest nominee – the one who would be the best President and Commander in Chief, who has the greatest support from members of our party, and who is most likely to win in November. So I hope you will consider not just the strength of the coalition backing me, but also that more people will have cast their votes for me.

I am in this race for them — for all the men and women I meet who wake up every day and work hard to make a difference for their families. People who deserve a shot at the American dream – the chance to save for college, a home and retirement; to afford quality health care for their families; to fill the gas tank and buy the groceries with a little left over each month.

I am in this race for all the women in their nineties who’ve told me they were born before women could vote, and they want to live to see a woman in the White House. For all the women who are energized for the first time, and voting for the first time. For the little girls – and little boys – whose parents lift them onto their shoulders at our rallies, and whisper in their ears, “See, you can be anything you want to be.” As the first woman ever to be in this position, I believe I have a responsibility to them.

Finally, I am in this race because I believe staying in this race will help unite the Democratic Party. I believe that if Senator Obama and I both make our case – and all Democrats have the chance to make their voices heard – everyone will be more likely to rally around the nominee.

In the end, I am committed to unifying this party. What Senator Obama and I share is so much greater than our differences; and no matter who wins this nomination, I will do everything I can to bring us together and move us forward.

But at this point, neither of us has crossed the finish line. I hope that in the time remaining, you will think hard about which candidate has the best chance to lead our party to victory in November. I hope you will consider the results of the recent primaries and what they tell us about the mindset of voters in the key battleground states. I hope you will think about the broad and winning coalition of voters I have built. And most important, I hope you will think about who is ready to stand on that stage with Senator McCain, fight for the deepest principles of our party, and lead our country forward into this new century.

The presidential matchups continue and Gov. Tim Pawlenty continues to be a drag on the Republican ticket. The SurveyUSA polling firm continues its state-by-state march across America, this time focusing the relative strenghs of John McCain and Barack Obama when matched with a variety of running mates.

In the absolute battleground of Ohio, Pawlenty’s presence on the ticket results in a GOP loss of between 5 and 18 percentage points. And in Iowa, a state nearly as important in November, the governor of a next-door state (ouch) fares as poorly as 26 percentage pointsbehind Obama and John Edwards.

Full results here.

On the bright side for Pawlentyites, New York Times columnists had some ear-burningly nice things to say about their guy today, calling him in passing a “shining star:”

McCain will need somebody who radiates calm. He’ll need somebody who can provide structure and organization. He’ll need somebody who enjoys working with budgets…

Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota, is one of the G.O.P.’s leading and most likable modernizers. The son of a truck driver (his mother died when he was 16), he is the godfather of Sam’s Club conservatism, the effort to reconnect the party to the needs of the working class. Pawlenty could help McCain play the Theodore Roosevelt-style role — reforming the nation’s institutions to fit a new century and epoch.