archives

Wall Street Journal:

Stocks fizzled Wednesday, ending in bear-market territory for the first time in more than 5-1/2 years as oil jumped and fears about the financial health of General Motors mounted.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average enjoyed brief rallies in morning trading but ended down by 166.75 points at 11215.51, down 20.8% from its record close in October. Traditionally, a fall of 20% from a high is considered the definition of a bear market.

On January 22, 2001, just after Bush took office, the Dow Jones closed at 10,578.24. Yesterday it closed at 11,215.51. That's an increase of 6% in seven years.

It's been another fantastic Republican economy.

Politico from June 25:

[Deputy campaign manager Steve] Hildebrand's plans underscore the unusual scope and ambition of Obama's campaign, which can relatively cheaply extend its massive volunteer and technological resources into states which won't necessarily produce electoral votes.

In Texas, for instance, Obama's three dozen offices were overrun with volunteers during the primary; the campaign's challenge is, in part, to find something useful to do with all that free labor. But, while Hildebrand said Obama is unlikely to pay for television advertising outside a core of about 15 states the candidate thinks he can win, he will spend some money on staff. Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, reportedly told donors in Houston that he would send 15 staffers to Texas, and the campaign has committed to having some staff on the ground in all 50 states. [...]

A "new president alone isn't enough," Obama wrote in a message sent to the DSCC's e-mail list. "I've served long enough in the U.S. Senate to know that Washington must change, and I also know that big changes don't happen without big Senate majorities — and right now, Democrats occupy only 49 seats."