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BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Richard Bridge Date: 18 Oct 08 - 07:41 PM That all sounds good to me. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 18 Oct 08 - 08:11 PM (The Politico) It's unlikely that the American media will produce the "penetrating exposé" into whether members of Congress are "pro-America or anti-America" that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) called for Friday, but there has been at least one consequence she may not have expected: Her congressional opponent, Democrat El Tinklenberg, has been showered with cash from all parts of the country — America, that is — as apparently insulted Americans respond to Bachmann's request. "I can absolutely confirm that we have had in the last 24 hours donations from hundreds and hundreds of people from all over the country," said Tinklenberg campaign manager Anna Richey. "It's coming in so fast I can't get a hold on it and can't give a precise number. It's still coming in." At minimum, she said, $150,000 has so far been donated and she expects the total, which the campaign will release later today, to be far higher. "It's overwhelming," said Richey. "I've gotten 600 e-mail messages into our info e-mail account in the last 12 hours. People are outraged." She said a number of the e-mails decried Bachmann's call for the investigation as modern-day McCarthyism. "People shared personal stories of how their parents were discriminated against" during that time, said Richey. The messaes, she said, came from "Republicans, Democrats, people who professed to be out of work and struggling economically but wanted to give what they could." Bachmann on Friday told MSNBC's Chris Matthews that Barack Obama is not the only anti-American member of Congress. "The news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an exposé like that," she said. Richey said she's been amazed at the response. "It's really exciting, but unfortunate it had to come under these circumstances. This is what we've been trying to eliminate for months," she said of Bachmann..." McCarthyism is right. This is a most refreshing repsonse. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Charley Noble Date: 18 Oct 08 - 10:03 PM Where do I send my check and whom do I make it out to? I got nothing else to say. Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 18 Oct 08 - 11:10 PM Which Papers have Endorsed Whom?? summarized. "As of 10/18, among the top 100 papers, Obama has been endorsed by papers with a circulation of 6.9 Million, McCain by papers with a circulation of 1.3 Million." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 20 Oct 08 - 11:13 AM Sunday morning, NBC's Tom Brokaw talked with MSNBC political analyst Chuck Todd about how the polls are shaping up just several weeks prior to the election. Todd told Brokaw that at this point, McCain appears to be "conceding the popular vote" in order to pursue victory through the Electoral College, similar to how outgoing President George W. Bush came to power. Todd, making the argument that older voters could be the crucial demographic in the election's endgame, claimed there's been some evidence that they are shifting toward Obama. "That's how this thing becomes, from a close Electoral College battle to a landslide," he said. "And by the way, one more point about our map, as we're seeing this shift. It's almost as if the McCain campaign is conceding the popular vote. We're seeing a lot of tightening in some places that, while Obama won't carry them, he's not gonna lose by large margins. "That means the McCain path is solely now an Electoral College path. If he wins the Electoral College, it's hard to see how he actually wins the popular vote." See story here. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:29 PM IN Waiting for the Barbarians, Richard Kim examines the hate-quotient now pulsing through the death-mask of the neoconservative political wing. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 21 Oct 08 - 08:55 AM "It never ends. The Republican Party never gets tired of spraying its poison across the American political landscape. So there was a Republican congresswoman from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann, telling Chris Matthews on MSNBC that the press should start investigating members of the House and Senate to determine which ones are "pro-America or anti-America." Can a rancid Congressional committee be far behind? Leave it to a right-wing Republican to long for those sunny, bygone days of political witch-hunting. Ms. Bachmann's demented desire ("I would love to see an exposé like that") is of a piece with the G.O.P.'s unrelenting effort to demonize its opponents, to characterize them as beyond the pale, different from ordinary patriotic Americans — and not just different, but dangerous, and even evil. But the party is not content to stop there. Even better than demonizing opponents is the more powerful and direct act of taking the vote away from their opponents' supporters. The Republican Party has made strenuous efforts in recent years to prevent Democrats from voting, and to prevent their votes from being properly counted once they've been cast. Which brings me to the phony Acorn scandal. John McCain, who placed his principles in a blind trust once the presidential race heated up, warned the country during the presidential debate last week that Acorn, which has been registering people to vote by the hundreds of thousands, was "on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history." It turns out that a tiny percentage of these new registrations are bogus, with some of them carrying ludicrous names like Mickey Mouse. Republicans have tried to turn this into a mighty oak of a scandal, with Mr. McCain thundering at the debate that it "may be destroying the fabric of democracy." Please. The Times put the matter in perspective when it said in an editorial that Acorn needs to be more careful with some aspects of its voter-registration process. It needs to do a better job selecting canvassers, among other things. "But," the editorial added, "for all of the McCain campaign's manufactured fury about vote theft (and similar claims from the Republican Party over the years) there is virtually no evidence — anywhere in the country, going back many elections — of people showing up at the polls and voting when they are not entitled to." Two important points need to be made here. First, the reckless attempt by Senator McCain, Sarah Palin and others to fan this into a major scandal has made Acorn the target of vandals and a wave of hate calls and e-mail. Acorn staff members have been threatened and sickening, murderous comments have been made about supporters of Barack Obama. (Senator Obama had nothing to do with Acorn's voter-registration drives.) Second, when it comes to voting, the real threat to democracy is the nonstop campaign by the G.O.P. and its supporters to disenfranchise American citizens who have every right to cast a ballot. We saw this in 2000. We saw it in 2004. And we're seeing it again now. In Montana, the Republican Party challenged the registrations of thousands of legitimate voters based on change-of-address information available from the Post Office. These specious challenges were made — surprise, surprise — in Democratic districts. Answering the challenges would have been a wholly unnecessary hardship for the voters, many of whom were students or members of the armed forces. In the face of widespread public criticism (even the Republican lieutenant governor weighed in), the party backed off. That sort of thing is widespread. In one politically crucial state after another — in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, you name it — the G.O.P. has unleashed foot soldiers whose insidious mission is to make the voting process as difficult as possible — or, better yet, impossible — for citizens who are believed to favor Democrats. For Senator McCain to flip reality on its head and point to an overwhelmingly legitimate voter-registration effort as a "threat to the fabric of democracy" is a breathtaking exercise in absurdity." Bob Herbert, NYT OpEd |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 21 Oct 08 - 11:34 AM Home » Politics » First Read Web MSNBC First Read ABOUT FIRST READ First Read is an analysis of the day's political news, from the NBC News political unit. First Read is updated throughout the day, so check back often. Chuck Todd, NBC Political Director Mark Murray, NBC Deputy Political Director Domenico Montanaro, NBC Political Researcher McCain vs. Obama: Before and after Posted: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 9:39 AM by Domenico Montanaro Filed Under: 2008, McCain, Obama A New York Times/CBS poll conducted among the same respondents before the first debate -- and then after the last one -- shows that Obama's favorability rating increased while McCain's declined. "As voters have gotten to know Senator Barack Obama, they have warmed up to him, with more than half, 53 percent, now saying they have a favorable impression of him and 33 percent saying they have an unfavorable view. But as voters have gotten to know Senator John McCain, they have not warmed, with only 36 percent of voters saying they view him favorably while 45 percent view him unfavorably." More: "Mrs. Palin's negative rating is the highest for a vice-presidential candidate as measured by The Times and CBS News. Even Dan Quayle, with whom Mrs. Palin is often compared because of her age and inexperience on the national scene, was not viewed as negatively in the 1988 campaign." The Washington Post/ABC poll has started a daily tracking, and it has Obama up 53%-44% among likely voters. ..." (MSNBC) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: GUEST,heric Date: 21 Oct 08 - 10:49 PM TROY — County elections officials are blaming a computer spell-checking program for the error in hundreds of mailed absentee ballots that spelled Barack Obama's surname Osama. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 22 Oct 08 - 09:28 AM 10-22-08 USA Today leads with news that more Democrats are voting early in several key states, which marks a change from previous elections. "This is like a mirror image of what we've seen in the past," one expert tells the paper. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with a new poll that gives Barack Obama a 10-point lead over John McCain. Despite McCain's efforts to make taxes a central part of the campaign, Obama has a 14-point lead on the issue. Meanwhile, Sarah Palin's popularity continues its downward spiral. Only 38 percent of voters have a positive view of the Alaska governor, and 55 percent say she isn't qualified to be president. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Donuel Date: 22 Oct 08 - 09:34 AM Just this morning I saw on local FOX TV, Karl Rove on stage with two other crusty old white guys when a beautiful woman dressed in a Nieman Marcus suit was allowed to walk onstage and proceed to make a citizen's arrest of Karl Rove for Treason and vote tampering. CLASSIC! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 25 Oct 08 - 03:29 PM "Charles Krauthammer shrugs his shoulders. "Contrarian that I am, I'm voting for John McCain," he writes. "I'm not talking about bucking the polls or the media consensus that it's over before it's over. I'm talking about bucking the rush of wet-fingered conservatives leaping to Barack Obama before they're left out in the cold without a single state dinner for the next four years." E.J. Dionne, however, thinks the phenomenon is more significant than mere bandwagon-jumping. "These conservatives deserve credit for acknowledging how ill-suited Palin is for high office," he writes. "But what we see here is a deep split between parts of the conservative elite and much of the rank and file." Dionne continues: "For years, many of the elite conservatives were happy to harvest the votes of devout Christians and gun owners by waging a phony class war against "liberal elitists" and "leftist intellectuals." Suddenly, the conservative writers are discovering that the very anti-intellectualism their side courted and encouraged has begun to consume their movement. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Riginslinger Date: 25 Oct 08 - 09:45 PM It's fine as far as it goes, but look at the mindless buffoons who are carrying the banner for the Democratic Party. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 26 Oct 08 - 12:35 AM ABout as mindless as their numb-nutted opposite numbers across the aisle, Rig. Come on. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Barry Finn Date: 26 Oct 08 - 12:57 AM When you run on an anti-intelligence platform who or what did you expect to represent the idiots, not anyone with brains or did you? If you want low intelligence levels just look at Bush who's been running the show the last 8 yrs. Only an imbecile or the insane would want more of the same. Barry |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Riginslinger Date: 26 Oct 08 - 09:44 AM "Only an imbecile or the insane would want more of the same." Most people would agree with that. That's why rational voters are trying to steer people away from Obama. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 26 Oct 08 - 11:55 AM "..(H)uman nuances are lost on conservative warriors of the Allen-McCain-Palin ilk. They see all Americans as only white or black, as either us or them. The dirty little secret of such divisive politicians has always been that their rage toward the Others is exceeded only by their cynical conviction that Real Americans are a benighted bunch of easily manipulated bigots. This seems to be the election year when voters in most of our myriad Americas are figuring that out..." In a thoughtful and insightful essay Times columnist Frank Rich defends the character of actual Americans from the facile racism imputed to it by the Palins and McCains and other macaca-slingers of the political game. Recommended read. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 26 Oct 08 - 12:00 PM "...The McCain campaign's response to its falling chances of victory has been telling: rather than trying to make the case that Mr. McCain really is better qualified to deal with the economic crisis, the campaign has been doing all it can to trivialize things again. Mr. Obama consorts with '60s radicals! He's a socialist! He doesn't love America! Judging from the polls, it doesn't seem to be working. Will the nation's new demand for seriousness last? Maybe not — remember how 9/11 was supposed to end the focus on trivialities? For now, however, voters seem to be focused on real issues. And that's bad for Mr. McCain and conservatives in general: right now, to paraphrase Rob Corddry, reality has a clear liberal bias." NYT |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: heric Date: 26 Oct 08 - 07:11 PM "Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, working to win over Latino voters in Colorado, chanted ``si se puede,'' or ``yes we can,'' in Spanish along with an outdoor crowd in Denver estimated at more than 100,000." Oh My God he's just throwing it in their faces now. The rural rightists in the pro-American parts of the country must be pissing their drawers lol. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Riginslinger Date: 26 Oct 08 - 08:32 PM "The rural rightists in the pro-American parts of the country must be pissing their drawers..." Which would seem to impy that the anti-American forces are winning. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Barry Finn Date: 26 Oct 08 - 08:37 PM Well can you visualize MaCain singing in Spanish "No, we can't". The latino vote well go to Obama based on intelligence & the Latino's in America both citizens & non citizens have much to fear from a MaCain/Palin administration. Palin will make it her religious crusade to come down on them (Latianos) with a vengence in the guise of immigation reform. Speaking of the MaCain/Palin ticket, in the waining days it seem that their camain is starting to implode. There is in-fighting among each idiots camps. Although MaCain is trying to keep up a good face the fuss is spilling over. If the the Obama campain wants to run with the disent it's all over. "Imagine MaCain & Palin sharing the White House, they can't even share in their campains". "Only an imbecile or the insane would want more of the same." I guess you just don't get it Rig! It's the republicans that have been dissing intelligence throughout this campain, from the very beginning. Trying to downplay "those Harvard elitists". MaCain isn't working with that much to start with & now he picks someone who's got less going for her than Bush & what's worst is he's surrounding himself with mediocre leftovers from the same Bush administration. Meanwhile, the intelligence of the Obama/Biden ticket is showing through like sunshine through a break in a cloudy sky, what makes it all clearer are those that are coming out for Obama (like Powell) & the intelligence that he's surrounding himself with. No one with brains is steering anyone from Obama, if anything those with brains all seem to be blazing a trail towards the Obama/Biden ticket, you should ask yourself why. If you think it won't take brains to get US out of this mess & if you think that intelligence is on the side of MaCain/Palin you need to rethink your thought process. Barry for Obama We are witnessing the beginning of the end of the Sweetheart John & Sara Story, check out the early voting. MaCain did get one important vote, Bush's, 'enough said. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: katlaughing Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:14 AM I like this by Jack Myers: The Obama Campaign's Only Fear is Fear Itself The only threat to the Obama campaign in the next week is the festering threat that Americans will take to the streets and riot if McCain wins. I forecast a relatively fraud-free election and a sweeping victory for both Barack Obama and Democratic candidates across America. Although I supported Hillary Clinton in the primary, I predicted during the Convention that Obama would defeat McCain with at least 52% of the vote (and probably 53%) to McCain's 46%. I anticipate Obama will capture more than 300 electoral votes and win as many as 38 states. We have reason to believe that such a landslide victory is at hand but we are also realistic. It has been stolen before, but these were very tight races following poorly run Democratic campaigns in 2004 and 2000. Early voting had called attention to potential problems in West Virginia, Florida and Ohio, but the immediate response of the press was a warning to perpetrators. This time you will be uncovered. While some may try to obstruct the votes of Democratic-leaning segments of society, hundreds of thousands of poll watchers are on hand outside polling places. The Democratic National Committee has lawyers standing at the ready in contested states. The prospect of a McCain upset has become progressively more untenable among Obama supporters. But news reports on the threat of riots in the event of an Obama loss are fear-mongering -- intended to provoke memories of race riots in the 1960s and 1990s. There is no comparison. In the unlikely case Sarah Palin becomes one heart beat away from the Presidency there will be demonstrations, but they will not be race related. Millions will march on Washington – people of all colors, creeds and beliefs. Not because of rebellion but because of popular uproar, Americans will force an aggressively liberal mandate on Congress and John McCain will be unable to exert any control over government. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:25 AM The FInancial Times of London opines: Obama is the better choice Published: October 26 2008 19:31 | Last updated: October 26 2008 19:31 US presidential elections involve a fabulous expense of time, effort and money. Doubtless it is all too much – but, by the end, nobody can complain that the candidates have been too little scrutinised. We have learnt a lot about Barack Obama and John McCain during this campaign. In our view, it is enough to be confident that Mr Obama is the right choice. At the outset, we were not so confident. Mr Obama is inexperienced. His policies are a blend of good, not so good and downright bad. Since the election will strengthen Democratic control of Congress, a case can be made for returning a Republican to the White House: divided government has a better record in the United States than government united under either party. EDITOR'S CHOICE Full coverage: US elections 2008 - Oct-21McCain insists polls are misleading - Oct-26'Bridge to nowhere' shows divide in spending - Oct-27Left set to shape politics for a generation - Oct-26Candidates woo 'Wal-Mart moms' - Oct-27On the trail: Campaign diary - Oct-26So this ought to have been a close call. With a week remaining before the election, we cannot feel that it is. Mr Obama fought a much better campaign. Campaigning is not the same as governing, and the presidency should not be a prize for giving the best speeches, devising the best television advertisements, shaking the most hands and kissing the most babies. Nonetheless, a campaign is a test of leadership. Mr Obama ran his superbly; Mr McCain's has often looked a shambles. After eight years of George W. Bush, the steady competence of the Obama operation commands respect. Nor should one disdain Mr Obama's way with a crowd. Good presidents engage the country's attention; great ones inspire. Mr McCain, on form, is an adequate speaker but no more. Mr Obama, on form, is as fine a political orator as the country has heard in decades. Put to the right purposes, this is no mere decoration but a priceless asset. Mr Obama's purposes do seem mostly right, though in saying this we give him the benefit of the doubt. Above all, he prizes consensus and genuinely seeks to unite the country, something it wants. His call for change struck a mighty chord in a tired and demoralised nation – and who could promise real change more credibly than Mr Obama, a black man, whose very nomination was a historic advance in US politics? We applaud his main domestic proposal: comprehensive health-care reform. This plan would achieve nearly universal insurance without the mandates of rival schemes: characteristically, it combines a far-sighted goal with moderation in the method. Mr McCain's plan, based on extending tax relief beyond employer-provided insurance, also has merit – it would contain costs better – but is too timid and would widen coverage much less. Mr Obama is most disappointing on trade. He pandered to protectionists during the primaries, and has not rowed back. He may be sincere, which is troubling. Should he win the election, a Democratic Congress will expect him to keep those trade-thumping promises. Mr McCain has been bravely and consistently pro-trade, much to his credit. In responding to the economic emergency, Mr Obama has again impressed – not by advancing solutions of his own, but in displaying a calm and methodical disposition, and in seeking the best advice. Mr McCain's hasty half-baked interventions were unnerving when they were not beside the point. On foreign policy, where the candidates have often conspired to exaggerate their differences, this contrast in temperaments seems crucial. For all his experience, Mr McCain has seemed too much guided by an instinct for peremptory action, an exaggerated sense of certainty, and a reluctance to see shades of grey. He has offered risk-taking almost as his chief qualification, but gambles do not always pay off. His choice of Sarah Palin as running mate, widely acknowledged to have been a mistake, is an obtrusive case in point. Rashness is not a virtue in a president. The cautious and deliberate Mr Obama is altogether a less alarming prospect. Rest assured that, should he win, Mr Obama is bound to disappoint. How could he not? He is expected to heal the country's racial divisions, reverse the trend of rising inequality, improve middle-class living standards, cut almost everybody's taxes, transform the image of the United States abroad, end the losses in Iraq, deal with the mess in Afghanistan and much more besides. Succeeding in those endeavours would require more than uplifting oratory and presidential deportment even if the economy were growing rapidly, which it will not be. The challenges facing the next president will be extraordinary. We hesitate to wish it on anyone, but we hope that Mr Obama gets the job. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: katlaughing Date: 27 Oct 08 - 12:10 PM Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News (esp. note the last paragraph): Obama for president Palin's rise captivates us but nation needs a steady hand Published: October 25th, 2008 07:37 PM Last Modified: October 25th, 2008 08:10 PM Alaska enters its 50th-anniversary year in the glow of an improbable and highly memorable event: the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate. For the first time ever, an Alaskan is making a serious bid for national office, and in doing so she brings broad attention and recognition not only to herself, but also to the state she leads. Alaska's founders were optimistic people, but even the most farsighted might have been stretched to imagine this scenario. No matter the outcome in November, this election will mark a signal moment in the history of the 49th state. Many Alaskans are proud to see their governor, and their state, so prominent on the national stage. Gov. Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency -- but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation. Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain. Since his early acknowledgement that economic policy is not his strong suit, Sen. McCain has stumbled and fumbled badly in dealing with the accelerating crisis as it emerged. He declared that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" at 9 a.m. one day and by 11 a.m. was describing an economy in crisis. He is both a longtime advocate of less market regulation and a supporter of the huge taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailout. His behavior in this crisis -- erratic is a kind description -- shows him to be ill-equipped to lead the essential effort of reining in a runaway financial system and setting an anxious nation on course to economic recovery. Sen. Obama warned regulators and the nation 19 months ago that the subprime lending crisis was a disaster in the making. Sen. McCain backed tighter rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but didn't do much to advance that legislation. Of the two candidates, Sen. Obama better understands the mortgage meltdown's root causes and has the judgment and intelligence to shape a solution, as well as the leadership to rally the country behind it. It is easy to look at Sen. Obama and see a return to the smart, bipartisan economic policies of the last Democratic administration in Washington, which left the country with the momentum of growth and a budget surplus that President George Bush has squandered. On the most important issue of the day, Sen. Obama is a clear choice. Sen. McCain describes himself as a maverick, by which he seems to mean that he spent 25 years trying unsuccessfully to persuade his own party to follow his bipartisan, centrist lead. Sadly, maverick John McCain didn't show up for the campaign. Instead we have candidate McCain, who embraces the extreme Republican orthodoxy he once resisted and cynically asks Americans to buy for another four years. It is Sen. Obama who truly promises fundamental change in Washington. You need look no further than the guilt-by-association lies and sound-bite distortions of the degenerating McCain campaign to see how readily he embraces the divisive, fear-mongering tactics of Karl Rove. And while Sen. McCain points to the fragile success of the troop surge in stabilizing conditions in Iraq, it is also plain that he was fundamentally wrong about the more crucial early decisions. Contrary to his assurances, we were not greeted as liberators; it was not a short, easy war; and Americans -- not Iraqi oil -- have had to pay for it. It was Sen. Obama who more clearly saw the danger ahead. The unqualified endorsement of Sen. Obama by a seasoned, respected soldier and diplomat like Gen. Colin Powell, a Republican icon, should reassure all Americans that the Democratic candidate will pass muster as commander in chief. On a matter of parochial interest, Sen. Obama opposes the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but so does Sen. McCain. We think both are wrong, and hope a President Obama can be convinced to support environmentally responsible development of that resource. Gov. Palin has shown the country why she has been so successful in her young political career. Passionate, charismatic and indefatigable, she draws huge crowds and sows excitement in her wake. She has made it clear she's a force to be reckoned with, and you can be sure politicians and political professionals across the country have taken note. Her future, in Alaska and on the national stage, seems certain to be played out in the limelight. Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 27 Oct 08 - 12:47 PM BAttleground STates today (per Real Clear POlitics averages): Battleground States Obama McCain Spread Colorado 51.3 44.8 Obama +6.5 Ohio 49.9 43.9 Obama +6.0 Florida 47.7 45.8 Obama +1.9 Nevada 49.0 45.5 Obama +3.5 Missouri 47.0 46.0 Obama +1.0 North Carolina 48.8 47.3 Obama +1.5 Virginia 51.6 43.9 Obama +7.7 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 27 Oct 08 - 01:46 PM DOnna Brazile remasrks:\ "..The so-called ACORN scandal is no more than a few canvassers trying to meet their quota and make easy money by cheating the system. Ask yourself how likely is it that someone would go through the effort and risk of submitting multiple false registration forms, find an accomplished forger capable of producing IDs of sufficient quality to trick election officials, and then spend Election Day racking up a couple extra votes at the potential cost of spending a decade in jail? A simple cost-benefit analysis tells us this is not a reasonable or significant threat. The real threat here is the Republican Party using attacks on ACORN as a calculated strategy to justify massive challenges to the votes cast in Democratic-leaning voting precincts on Election Day. And this is what is truly outrageous, but where is John McCain's concern when it comes to people being harassed at the voting booth? The same Republican Party shouting "Voter fraud!" is also furiously trying to prevent Ohio from registering voters at early voting sites and suing to shut down some early voting sites in Indiana. Just as the GOP will use the so-called "Bradley effect" to explain away voting irregularities it created through voter suppression, it will use allegations of voter fraud to cover its efforts of voter suppression. McCain and Republican candidates up and down the GOP ticket don't want increased voter turnout. Let them sputter and fret. A swelling of the voter rolls strengthens our democracy. The more eligible voters we have participating in the process, the stronger we are as a nation -- and the more accurately the results on November 4 will reflect our nation's choice for president. We must be vigilant in protecting people's right to vote, not vigilant in suppressing it. We must be vigilant that new voters aren't threatened, harassed or turned away. And we must be vigilant that resources like voting machines and poll workers are distributed appropriately to accommodate the projected influx of new voters. Finally, we must be vigilant that this election, unlike 2000 or 2004, doesn't return conspicuous voting irregularities, and that those irregularities aren't left unchallenged. We must be vigilant in the protection of our democracy because the way things are going in the United States right now, democracy may be the only valuable left in our national treasury..." (DOnna Brazile on CNN) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 27 Oct 08 - 05:55 PM The national headquarters of John McCain's campaign are in northern Virginia, near the condo where he stays when he is working across the river in Washington. But McCain didn't get around to actually campaigning in the most pivotal part of this pivotal state — exurban Prince William County — until the weekend of Oct. 18. That's when he realized he was running about 10 points behind in a state that hasn't voted Democratic since 1964. Related Stories Races to Watch: Can the GOP Hold On in Pennsylvania? Against All Odds, McCain Still Sees a Final Comeback More Related Obama Holds Lead in Key States Indiana, in Play, Keeps Obama Guessing Can McCain Map Out a Comeback Strategy? That pretty much sums up the entire race with just a week remaining: McCain is having to spend what little money and time he has left to defend the ground he thought he had locked up months ago. In Prince William County, about 30 miles south of Washington, he told a crowd of around 10,000 that electing Barack Obama would bring a new wave of socialism to the U.S. "America didn't become the greatest nation on earth by giving our money to the government to 'spread the wealth around,'" he said outside the county government headquarters in Woodbridge. "In this country, we believe in spreading opportunity." Leaving the rally, supporters handed out black bumper stickers with the word change written in red letters, the c in the shape of a U.S.S.R.-era sickle and hammer. Virginia has become a make-or-break state for McCain, and Prince William County is its red-hot center. The site of the first and second battles of Bull Run more than 140 years ago, it now marks a new Mason-Dixon Line on the electoral map: a midpoint between the largely blue-leaning industrialized North that stretches up to Maine and the agrarian, conservative South. The western part of Prince William is old Virginia, rural horse country dotted with estates and polo fields. This end of the county helps make it the ninth richest in the U.S.; if the whole region were so wealthy, McCain would have less to worry about. But as you head east toward Washington, the antebellum mansions turn into McMansions, then give way to middle-class row houses whose shiny blue roofs gleam through the trees from Prince William Highway like giant Lego plantations. On the other side of the tracks — literally Amtrak's line from Washington to Richmond — the county's eastern corridor is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state, home to a Latino population that has swelled from about 5% of the population in 1990 to approximately 20% in 2007. Along the Occoquan and Potomac rivers, the state's northern and eastern borders, historic black neighborhoods argue for space with new developments: golf courses, strip malls, gated communities, retirement villages — many that stand half finished, caught off guard by the subprime crisis. Such bedroom communities have been the worst hit in the state by the economic downturn; before the market plunge, high gas prices and highway congestion topped the list of concerns for those commuting to Washington or the northern Virginia cities of Arlington and Alexandria. This is the new face of Virginia — and the South — one where white working-class voters are being replaced by booming Hispanic and Asian populations and white college students outnumber white seniors 21% to 13%, according to a new Brookings Institution study. All those new voters moving into Prince William have helped make the once reliably Republican district a swing county and the linchpin for Democratic statewide victories. The county voted 52% for President Bush in 2000 and 53% in 2004. But in 2005, Prince William residents helped elect Tim Kaine, a Democrat, governor with 50% of the ballots and the next year voted in nearly identical numbers to put Democrat Jim Webb in the Senate. "If Democrats split the vote in Prince William and win big in the northern counties, they win the state," says Mike May, a Republican Prince William County supervisor. Even Republicans who didn't vote for Webb in 2006 are looking at Democrats this year. Karen Krivo, a 41-year-old mother of two who until now never considered voting for a Democrat for any office, is fed up. The high price of gasoline has made commuting the 30 miles into Washington impossible for some, and the housing crisis has glutted the once booming market. "It's a vote against President Bush and the Republican Congress's policies," she says. "I know we need to change, and Barack Obama provides that change." McCain has also been forced to quell disgruntlement among rank-and-file Republicans over immigration. After an increase in gang activity, the board of county supervisors took the controversial step of checking the immigration status of every person arrested, irrespective of guilt or the degree of crime, from jaywalking to felonies. If a detainee is found to be illegal, the county immediately initiates deportation procedures with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The move, by the largely conservative Republican board, drew national attention and placed the local party at odds with its presidential nominee, who helped write the failed 2006 immigration bill that would have granted a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. "McCain's at risk here because people are concerned that he has not taken a strong enough position on illegal immigration," says Corey Stewart, Republican chairman of the county board. The McCain campaign got into trouble on Oct. 11 when Jeffrey Frederick, the 33-year-old head of the Virginia Republican Party, likened Obama to Osama bin Laden. "Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon," he told a group of about 30 canvassers. "That is scary." It is also not exactly true — though that distorted reference to Obama's controversial association with William Ayers, a former '60s radical, was enough to stoke the volunteers at McCain's campaign office in Gainesville. "He won't salute the flag," one woman said, repeating another myth about Obama. She was quickly topped by a man in the crowd, wearing a polo shirt embroidered with "I Love America," who called out, "We don't even know where Senator Obama was really born." (Actually, we do. It's Hawaii.) Frederick beamed: "You need to go out and tell people that from your hearts," he said as he sent the volunteers on their way to knock on doors across Prince William County. (The McCain campaign distanced itself from Frederick, who later claimed he'd been joking.) Meanwhile, Obama — who, like McCain, has made only one appearance in the county, though Joe Biden has made three — spent all summer quietly registering thousands of new voters in Prince William, which had the second largest increase by county in a state that has seen its voter rolls swell by 436,000 since the beginning of the year. The Obama campaign has made a massive push to register blacks, who make up 20% of the population, as well as Latinos and students at the four colleges in the district. Obama will need these voters to eke out a win in Prince William. And if he does that, the state's 13 electoral votes will probably move into the Democrats' column. .... (TIME) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Riginslinger Date: 27 Oct 08 - 06:04 PM "The so-called ACORN scandal is no more than a few canvassers trying to meet their quota and make easy money by cheating the system." A few cheaters here, a few cheaters there, and pretty soon we're talking about a stolen election. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 27 Oct 08 - 06:08 PM If you can't figure out the difference between registration cards filled in by minimum wage recruits and voter fraud, I kinda think you deserve to have your election stolen. Sheeshe, Rig. I KNOW you are smarter than that. In other news: "John Edwards was an elitist and out of touch with the American people for getting $400 haircuts. Caribou-Moron Barbie spent $22,800 on two weeks worth of makeup, $150,000 on clothes that she claims she's going to give to charity (yeah, Goodwill would love that Prada stuff), $17,000 in per diem charges for sleeping in her own house, $21,012 in state funds to fly her kids around, and $50,000 to redecorate the Wasilla mayor's office — which is in a strip mall. Now, I'm not calling her an "elitist," but she's revealed herself for what she truly is — not a pit bull with lipstick, but rather George W. Bush with lipstick — $22,800 worth. After eight years of Dick Cheney, we have learned (I hope) that the Vice President matters. That is especially the case when you have a President who has a 1 in 6 chance of dying in the next four years — the same odds as you losing your luggage on a domestic flight. Couple that with the fact that she's the greatest fear-monger since Cheney, but probably couldn't beat a chimp in an IQ-off, we have the recipe for complete disaster. Corrupt, stupid, and power-hungry… do we really need more of that? Didn't we try that for the past eight years?" The Legal Satyricon |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: heric Date: 27 Oct 08 - 06:45 PM 1 in 6 chance of dying? And what odds of becoming disabled? Or being excessively grumpy? ---------------------------------- Obama never told me about this one: "Under Ms. Ghilarducci's plan [presented to a favorable reception by House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support], all workers would receive a $600 annual inflation-adjusted subsidy from the U.S. government but would be required to invest 5% of their pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Administration. The money in turn would be invested in special government bonds that would pay 3% a year, adjusted for inflation. The current system of providing tax breaks on 401(k) contributions and earnings would be eliminated." Granted - this is just a new idea in the formative stages. But it should give anyone pause about the Democrats controlling House Senate and Executive all at once. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Riginslinger Date: 27 Oct 08 - 10:05 PM "And what odds of becoming disabled? Or being excessively grumpy?" If Barack Obama becomes excessivley grumpy before election day, it will be because he spoke the truth to Joe the Plumber, and didn't throw Reverend Wright under the bus soon enough. Keep an eye on him! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:37 PM 10-27) 19:39 PDT -- With seven days until election day, this is a terrible week to be an undecided voter. The rumor-and-smear mill is in overdrive, and credible, substantive information about the presidential candidates is as rare as a quiet moment on "Hardball." The happiest Americans right now are the ones who have voted - they no longer have to pay attention. Many of the attacks flying through the air are reheated versions of attacks that have long been discredited by The Chronicle in its regular "Lies, half-truths outed" feature, other news organizations and independent fact-checking organizations. So despite what voters may hear this week, Barack Obama is a Christian, John McCain is a citizen of the United States, and Sarah Palin never said she can see Russia from her house. That was comedian Tina Fey, who has become almost as famous as Palin by impersonating her on "Saturday Night Live." Last-minute smear jobs are as old as the American presidency and are rooted in the darkest corners of the human psyche. The smearer usually supports the candidate who is trailing in the polls, analysts said. "It's consistent with human psychology that people who are behind or feel they have nothing to lose are less risk-averse," said Jack Glaser, an associate professor of public policy at UC-Berkeley and an expert on politics and emotion. "So Sen. McCain and his supporters are throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. "They feel that they have less to lose. What's the difference if they lose by 3 points or 6? Of course, those Republicans further down on the ticket might disagree with them," Glaser said. An e-mail sent by the Pennsylvania Republican Party to 75,000 Jewish voters in Pennsylvania last week warned "Fellow Jewish Voters" of the danger of a second Holocaust and linked it to Obama's possible election. "Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008," the e-mail read. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake. Let's not make a similar one this year!" Paid for by the Republican Federal Committee of PA - Victory 2008, it warned of the danger of a second Holocaust because of threats to Israel by neighboring countries and touted McCain's policies over Obama's. One of the e-mail's signatories was former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman, a member of McCain's national task force that is monitoring election day voting. She apologized today. Glaser said the move could backfire with the target audience. "Jewish voters are very sensitive to being manipulated by the Holocaust," said Glaser, who is Jewish and whose grandparents were killed in the Holocaust. "And I think these types of attacks will alienate independent voters. From what I've seen, they (the McCain campaign) are just reaching out to their base and making sure it shows up (to vote.)" Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden invoked some of the history of smears today when addressing voters in North Carolina. He mentioned attacks against Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy as a "dangerous choice in difficult times." "Sound familiar?" Biden asked the audience. "The defenders of the status quo have always tried to tear down those who would change our nation for the better." Some voters are fighting back. Three dozen workers at an Indiana telemarketing call center quit rather than read a McCain campaign script attacking Obama, the liberal blog TalkingPointsMemo.com reported today. One of the robo calls said that Obama voted against "protecting children from danger" but offered no other specifics. Even if there is an "October surprise" - a last-minute news event or smear that could affect the outcome of the election - a UC-Berkeley professor who has researched the topic says it might not have much of an impact. Robb Willer, an assistant professor of sociology and a social psychologist, said voters are likely to see last-minute smears for what they are. "No one should be surprised to see campaigns trailing in the polls flinging mud in the final days," Willer said. "For one, they're desperate. And two, because there isn't much time to refute them."...(SFGate) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Ebbie Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:55 PM "If Barack Obama becomes excessivley grumpy before election day, it will be because he spoke the truth to Joe the Plumber," Rig, pat, pat, pat... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Barry Finn Date: 28 Oct 08 - 02:08 AM The Joe & Jill six pack crowd won't be voting come Nov 4th. They were arrested for DWI & will remain in jail till the election is over or until hockey season's ended, which ever is longer No, Sara Palin can't afford to bail them out, she's suspected of spending her money on things more important, a facial. Now to more important issues, Obama is way more color co-ordinated than MaCain but not more that Sara, Sara doen't like mixing colors at all, she's more of a solid gal. Obama's posture is better than MaCain's & it shows when MaCain's head tilts to the side as he tends to list towards port alot & the drool drips on his shirt, Sara doesn't drool but she spits venom vigorously like a viper but she doesn't get it on herself, it seems to smear on MaCain's slacks, below the belt, Sara's posture is all bent out of shape, espically for an athlete. Obama plays better basketball than Sara & John combined, he's what a player would call a straight shooter, something that MaCain claims to be but you should've seen him in court, tax fraud or higher taxes or something stupid & false like that. OK, that's about it on the real important issues & no Sara will not give back the clothes if she's not elected na, na, she lied, so sue me in Anchorage. Barry |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: katlaughing Date: 28 Oct 08 - 11:12 AM Palin has been a curse to National Hockey League teams, too. Every team for which she has dropped the starting puck has lost not just that game but subsequent ones, too and/or had a player injuried. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: heric Date: 28 Oct 08 - 03:27 PM David Sedaris on undecided voters: "...look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. 'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks. 'Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.'" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Bobert Date: 28 Oct 08 - 03:55 PM Amos, I don't believe there is one single undecided voter left in the country... After 18 months of campaigning the only folks who claim to be undecided are just doing so so they won't have to tell anyone how they plan to vote... Or if they are going to vote... But, all the minds have been made up... The only true factor left is voter turnout which can be influenced by fear and/or motivation (long lines, bad weather, etc.)... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: John O'L Date: 28 Oct 08 - 04:10 PM Sedaris has hit the nail on the head. For weeks now I have been dumbfounded that there is any serious discussion at all. It's an open-and-shut case, or as you Americans are so fond of saying, a no-brainer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: katlaughing Date: 28 Oct 08 - 04:30 PM That's what I've decided, Bobert. I don't think there are any undecideds. I think they like the attention and probably aren't even going to vote. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 28 Oct 08 - 04:55 PM Meanwhile, in the Dirty Tricks Department: "A forged flyer going to voters in a closely fought Virginia congressional district seems aimed at suppressing Democratic turnout on Election Day. Purporting to come from Virginia's Board of Elections, the flyer says "All Democratic party supporters and independent voters supporting Democratic candidates shall vote on November 5th." That's one day after Election Day. Whoever is circulating the flyer seems concerned with electing Republicans. The phony information tells "Republican party supporters and independent voters supporting Republican candidates" to vote on Nov. 4, the real day of the election. The flyer's circulation was first reported in the Virginian-Pilot. The somewhat official-looking flier - it features the state board logo and the state seal - is dated Oct. 24 and indicates that "an emergency session of the General Assembly has adopted the follwing (sic) emergency regulations to ease the load on local electorial (sic) precincts and ensure a fair electorial process." The four-paragraph flier concludes with: "We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but felt this was the only way to ensure fairness to the complete electorial process." The flyer was circulated around several locations in Hampton Roads, according to the paper. Hampton Roads, in southeast Virginia near Virginia Beach, sits in the commonwealth's 2nd Congressional District, where Democrats are in a hard-fought race to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Thelma Drake, who won re-election two years ago by a margin of just 5,000 votes. The latest poll in the district shows Drake leading by just 5 percent. It is unclear who is circulating the flyer, but state police are investigating. Hampton County Virginia also was strongly supportive of Barack Obama's candidacy during this year's primary. Obama took nearly 80 percent of the vote from the county's Democrats; the county's Republicans split their votes between John McCain and Mike Huckabee. Polls have showed Obama is pulling away in Virginia in recent weeks, and many analysts say it is becoming more likely he will prevail in the state. ..." From Raw Story A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 28 Oct 08 - 05:01 PM "Eight days before any election results come in, NBC News is essentially predicting Barack Obama will win the presidency. The network's electoral vote projections -- which are based on an analysis of state-by-state polling, campaign efforts, early turnout and other factors -- say a majority of electoral votes will go to the Democratic candidate. Even without factoring in the "toss up" states where the outcome is too close to predict, Obama can get more than 270 electoral votes, enough to win the presidency, assuming he prevails in states that are solidly in his column or leaning toward voting for him. NBC political director Chuck Todd said Colorado and Virgina -- two states that went for President Bush in 2000 and 2004 -- were now leaning toward Obama, putting him over the threshold. If Obama also wins Nevada, where polls give him a narrow lead, the Democratic candidate can win the presidency without winning Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida -- the three states that have proved most critical in the last two elections. That scenario is exceptionally unlikely, however. Obama holds a double-digit lead in Pennsylvania and is up by about 6 points in Ohio, while Florida remains essentially tied. The fact of the matter is that Obama is solidly on offense during the last week of the campaign, with the toughest fights occuring in red states. Things are so bad for McCain that voters in his home state of Arizona are trending toward Obama. Even some Republicans are beginning to doubt John McCain's chances. "Any serious Republican has to ask, 'How did we get into this mess?' " Newt Gingrich, the former Republican house speaker, said in an interview. "It's not where we should be, and it's not where we had to be. This was not bad luck." Independent number cruncher Nate Silver outlined the narrow path McCain can take to victory, but the candidate does not seem to be following his advice. The FiveThirtyEight.com analyst gives McCain just a 5 percent chance of victory."" Ibid |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 28 Oct 08 - 05:06 PM A Video on Vote-FLipping by machines shows them to be completely unreliable, and to flip for Nader as well as McCain. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 28 Oct 08 - 06:05 PM Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama leads in Florida and Ohio, states Republican John McCain must win to capture the presidency, as voters prefer the Democratic presidential nominee's personal traits and approach on the economy and health care. Obama, an Illinois senator, tops Arizona Senator McCain by 50 percent to 43 percent among likely voters in Florida, a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows. He leads 49 percent to 40 percent in Ohio, as voters in the two states overwhelmingly rate domestic concerns as more important than national security. Voters choose Obama, 47, as the candidate best able to handle the financial crisis and health care. And by an almost 2- to-1 margin, they say the Democrat has ``the better temperament and personality to be president.'' ``Domestic issues are the outstanding issues of the day, and Obama has been owning those,'' says Susan Pinkus, the Los Angeles Times polling director. What is more, ``voters are more comfortable with him'' after his three debate performances. Florida voters by more than 2-to-1 say a candidate's views on domestic issues such as health care and the economy are more important than positions on the war in Iraq and terrorism; voters in Ohio say the same by a 3-to-1 margin. (Bloomberg) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 29 Oct 08 - 11:13 AM Christopher Hitchens, in a piece entitled Sarah Palin's War on Science--The GOP ticket's appalling contempt for knowledge and learning: "This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just "people of faith" but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 29 Oct 08 - 12:41 PM From a questionaire by Reason, the LIbertarian think-magazine: David Brin 1. Who are you voting for in November? For not a single "liberal" reason, I am voting not only for Obama, but for the GOP to be utterly spanked and sent into exile, where, perhaps, sincere men and women may remember Barry Goldwater and resurrect some kind of healthy, libertarian Conservatism. 2. Who did you vote for in 2004 and 2000? I could tell that the neocons were mad in 2000 and that their allies were fanatics or thieves. It was blatant in 2004. Those who act shocked (shocked!) and betrayed today were fools then and are likely fools now. 3. Is this the most important election in your lifetime? Without any doubt. The most important issues at stake today have nothing to do with "left-vs-right" (and those who think so are reflex troglodytes.) No, the issue is light-vs-dark, in the sense that we have been subjected to a kleptocratic raid that depended upon one thing—quashing every possible system of accountability. Especially the U.S. Civil Service. If Obama does nothing else—passes no new laws or initiatives—he will save us simply by expelling those 10,000 enemies of accountability and promoting from within the Civil Service. Only then can we properly argue which civil servants are useful and which aren't 4. What will you miss about the Bush administration? Their perfect purity of purpose. I have looked for a single example of their acting in the best interests of the American people, the republic, or even decent conservatism. There are no examples, whatsoever. Such perfection belies the "Standard Model" that they were merely venal morons. Such uniformity of accomplishment smacks of deliberate intelligence. 5. Leaving George W. Bush out of consideration, what former U.S. president would you most like to have waterboarded? I find this question offensive. I will swallow my anger when Bush pardons thousands...and then let Cheney pardon him. I am too busy for vengeance. David Brin is a scientist and Hugo award-winning science fiction author whose novels include The Postman and Kiln People. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Alice Date: 29 Oct 08 - 01:12 PM Some Alaska Senators watched John McCain on MSNBC the other night, .....and when McCain, (in a tenuous, but ultimately false bid to justify Palin's qualifications by pushing that 'executive experience' angle), said that Sarah Palin watched over 24,000 state employees, and Sarah looked on nodding agreement with that statement, those Alaska Senators got to thinking..... There are 15,000 employees known to be working for the State of Alaska. ...those Senators are currently looking for where Sarah has stashed those extra 9,000 shadow workers. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Riginslinger Date: 29 Oct 08 - 01:23 PM They're probably working for Stevens! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 29 Oct 08 - 02:42 PM POllster.com aggregates for Wednesday: 49.8% Obama--44% McCain. See this page for a graph.. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Alice Date: 29 Oct 08 - 02:55 PM "After the rally, we witnessed a near-street riot involving the exiting McCain crowd and two Cuban-American Obama supporters. Tony Garcia, 63, and Raul Sorando, 31, were suddenly surrounded by an angry mob. There is a moment in a crowd when something goes from mere yelling to a feeling of danger, and that's what we witnessed. As photographers and police raced to the scene, the crowd elevated from stable to fast-moving scrum, and the two men were surrounded on all sides as we raced to the circle. The event maybe lasted a minute, two at the most, before police competently managed to hustle the two away from the scene and out of the danger zone. Only FiveThirtyEight tracked the two men down for comment, a quarter mile down the street. "People were screaming 'Terrorist!' 'Communist!' 'Socialist!'" Sorando said when we caught up with him. "I had a guy tell me he was gonna kill me." Asked what had precipitated the event, "We were just chanting 'Obama!' and holding our signs. That was it. And the crowd suddenly got crazy." Full Article Here |
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Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign From: Amos Date: 29 Oct 08 - 03:42 PM ""We are one nation, all of us proud, all of us patriots," Obama said in Ohio. "Patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies." And those who have served in the armed forces, he said, have not served a red America or a blue America, but the United States of America. These words echo his speech to the 2004 Democratic Party Convention -- the speech that made him famous. It is a long-planned thematic arc, the finale of a clever drama, and nothing can put him off this course. The speech in the key swing state of Ohio -- where Obama for the first time returned to the hope rhetoric to go along with the key topics of taxes, health care, economy, education, foreign policy and energy -- was described by reporters as his "closing statement." The candidate was returning to the tenor of his beginnings in order to end his run with "a kind of positive appeal." The speech will also be sent to registered fans as a Web video. McCain Uses Every Speech to Raise Fears The way the two candidates are presenting themselves to the voters says a lot about them and about the quality and state of their campaigns. While Obama is demonstratively acting the statesman, McCain has decided in the face of poor opinion polls to go in the opposite direction. The themes of McCain's speeches and appearances have narrowed considerably -- and become much more negative. While Obama is already coming up with scenarios for a new America after Jan. 20, 2009, McCain is still bitterly fighting over the issue of character, over his unfortunate running mate Sarah Palin, and over "Joe the Plumber," his poorly selected symbol of the average American. He does whatever he thinks it will take. Instead of using the final stretch to present his own abilities and to reiterate his heroic biography, McCain prefers to use every appearance to raise fears of a "Democratic takeover." His speeches consist almost exclusively of attacks on Obama. Accompanied by boos from his audience, he attacks him for being a socialist or, indirectly through his mouthpieces on US television, a communist. It is a glaring discrepancy -- a political generation gap that is obvious to those who visit an Obama and a McCain event back-to-back. That is what many undecided voters are doing in the swing states as the candidates often appear on the same nights in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. How much these impressions will have an impact on the election result is hard to say, despite what is being described as Obama's "comfortable lead." ... And Obama is not resting on his laurels. "That's why we cannot afford to slow down or sit back," he said in Ohio. "We cannot let up for one day, or one minute, or one second in this last week." And so Obama is planning a double assault for Wednesday evening. He has bought a half hour of prime-time TV on the big networks -- CBS, NBC, Fox and Univsion, the biggest Spanish-speaking station in the US. Each slot costs around $1 million. Later on the same evening he is appearing in Florida with former President Bill Clinton for the first time -- an open air even at a theme park, which should attract tens of thousands of people. But McCain, whose people insist that their internal polls have him gaining support, is fighting for every last vote. In particular in Pennsylvania, which he has declared central to his election strategy, even though Obama has a two-figure lead there. He also has to fight to hold on to traditional Republican states like Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and Colorado -- he cannot afford to lose any of those states that George W. Bush won in 2004. An increasing number of US media outlets are already predicting an Obama victory. Newsweek put him on the cover with the words "President Obama," while New York Magazine had a feature on how an Obama presidency would look. The big newspapers have endorsed Obama, including the New York Times and Washington Post and, between the lines, even the Wall Street Journal. In all, 162 newspapers are backing Obama, compared to 62 backing McCain. The New York Times Magazine even shocked McCain with a story about the disputes within his team and the mismanagement of his campaign. It was the beginning of a wave of leaks, showing that McCain and Palin loyalists are apparently already trying to save face. One prominent conservative after the other is jumping ship and the Republicans are also threatened with major losses in Congress. "There are many ways to lose a presidential election," wrote David Frum, Bush's former speechwriter, in the Washington Post. "John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him."" (Der Spiegel) |
