McCain: ‘Status Quo Is Not On the Ballot’

How does Obama differ from Bush on the economy Jake?
Other than his opposition to pork, I mean.)-Wow. That’s the #1 problem in Washington Jake.

geevil- Barack will let the Bush tax cuts expire.
That is just one example of many…
Can you name one for McCain instead of answering the question with another question??

It is a sorry fact of American political life that campaigns get ugly, often in their final weeks. But Senator John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have been running one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember.
They have gone far beyond the usual fare of quotes taken out of context and distortions of an opponent’s record — into the dark territory of race-baiting and xenophobia. Senator Barack Obama has taken some cheap shots at Mr. McCain, but there is no comparison.
Despite the occasional slip (referring to Mr. Obama’s “cronies” and calling him “that one”), Mr. McCain tried to take a higher road in Tuesday night’s presidential debate. It was hard to keep track of the number of times he referred to his audience as “my friends.” But apart from promising to buy up troubled mortgages as president, he offered no real answers for how he plans to solve the country’s deep economic crisis. He is unable or unwilling to admit that the Republican assault on regulation was to blame.
Ninety minutes of forced cordiality did not erase the dismal ugliness of his campaign in recent weeks, nor did it leave us with much hope that he would not just return to the same dismal ugliness on Wednesday.
Ms. Palin, in particular, revels in the attack. Her campaign rallies have become spectacles of anger and insult. “This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America,” Ms. Palin has taken to saying.
That line follows passages in Ms. Palin’s new stump speech in which she twists Mr. Obama’s ill-advised but fleeting and long-past association with William Ayers, founder of the Weather Underground and confessed bomber. By the time she’s done, she implies that Mr. Obama is right now a close friend of Mr. Ayers — and sympathetic to the violent overthrow of the government. The Democrat, she says, “sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”
Her demagoguery has elicited some frightening, intolerable responses. A recent Washington Post report said at a rally in Florida this week a man yelled “kill him!” as Ms. Palin delivered that line and others shouted epithets at an African-American member of a TV crew.
Mr. McCain’s aides haven’t even tried to hide their cynical tactics, saying they were “going negative” in hopes of shifting attention away from the financial crisis — and by implication Mr. McCain’s stumbling response.
We certainly expected better from Mr. McCain, who once showed withering contempt for win-at-any-cost politics. He was driven out of the 2000 Republican primaries by this sort of smear, orchestrated by some of the same people who are now running his campaign.
And the tactic of guilt by association is perplexing, since Mr. McCain has his own list of political associates he would rather forget. We were disappointed to see the Obama campaign air an ad (held for just this occasion) reminding voters of Mr. McCain’s involvement in the Keating Five savings-and-loan debacle, for which he was reprimanded by the Senate. That episode at least bears on Mr. McCain’s claims to be the morally pure candidate and his argument that he alone is capable of doing away with greed, fraud and abuse.
In a way, we should not be surprised that Mr. McCain has stooped so low, since the debate showed once again that he has little else to talk about. He long ago abandoned his signature issues of immigration reform and global warming; his talk of “victory” in Iraq has little to offer a war-weary nation; and his Reagan-inspired ideology of starving government and shredding regulation lies in tatters on Wall Street.
But surely, Mr. McCain and his team can come up with a better answer to that problem than inciting more division, anger and hatred.

I resent Tapper’s snark at McCain supporters. Get your facts straight Mr. T. While Mr. McCain says he opposed pork, he gives himself credit for giving House Republicans a voice in the negotiations over the Bail Out Bill.
They give him credit too. So unlike the Bush economic bailout bill, McCain’s efforts added over 300 pages and $100+ billion in pork to the bill. Now he proposes $300 billion more so Geevil can own a piece of my mortgage. That’s not status quo.

McCain: ‘Status Quo Is Not On the Ballot’
=======================================
Helping the middle class is not on McCain’s agenda!

McCain and Pailin are no longer on the ballot either. This race is over. Obama now leads McCain by 11% in today’s Gallup poll, more than any other presidential election in US history.
Let’s put the rotting carcass of republican ideology in the garbage can and move on.

The next question is: what specifically does Obama believe Bush did that so woefully affected the economy? And no, “deregulation” is not a specific answer.
Next question. How did lower taxes create the current financial crisis?
The point is, all Obama says is “the faaailled policies of the last eight year” and everyone acts as if that is substantive.
I believe McCain’s stance on the economy is probably similar to president Bush’s. So is Barack Obama’s to a certain extent as all three approved of the bailout bill and all called for more “oversight.” None have very specific solutions. Obama’s economic plan is not so nuanced, it basically calls for higher taxes on some (how many we don’t know–yeah I know, he SAYS 95% will get cuts, good trick when a huge chunk don’t pay taxes), and more gov controls over the market.
BTW PLEASE research his so-called spending cuts, there is a lot of “cut” he puts under the generic heading of “Spending Reform” and the like, no specifics and easy to back away from. Also, much of it has to do with a withdrawal from Iraq which would happen anyway, because we are winning. PLEASE look it up.
McCain’s is: lower taxes (to at least compete with Europe) across the board and…more gov controls over the market…not too tough to figure.
As far as laying blame goes, sometimes economic problems are more complicated than “he is bad, I am good.” That goes for D AND R attacks on each other, I am sick of them.
The stupidest thing about last night’s debate was when the candidates were claiming that they warned against this crisis, while the other twiddled his thumbs. I have found that BOTH warned about the mortgage crisis…what gives? Why blame each other for ignoring it…neither did.
I am not saying McCain is a wonderful cure-all, he has a lot of faults. I just think Obama’s plans may worsen the problem, despite his promises. I hope Obama proves me wrong, should he win.

blake c – obama voted with bush 40% of the time. Does that mean he’s 40% like Bush? OR does that mean that only half of McCain’s votes were wrong?

GOP’ers – mcCain did not in fact warn about the pending Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae meltdowns, he only warned of
possible crooked book keeping – so he needs to quit LYING! Oh wait – he can’t because that would mean telling the truth – and he can’t do that

McCain is a Republican. Bush is a Republican. Republican philosophy towards regulation has been hands-off for years. Republicans also only come to the table to discuss social issues when they are forced too and then present something to pander or to prevent an uproar by voters. And the fact that McCain has supported Bush in run-up to the war in Iraq and supported Bush in 95% of his legislation….I really see no difference…In my view McCain does not believe Bush policies are wrong, just their execution…

McCain has for the last couple of months wanting to debate Obama in a town hall format thinking that is his strong suit.
After the debate last night we all know McCain is nothing but all talk. Obama wiped his face on the ground and he became angry.
Now thats a 2nd Round Knock Out!

Jake you are a genius. I have said this all along. McCain says he’s no George Bush yet he has yet to explain why. What makes him different?
We know the difference between Obama and Bush but NOT between McCain and Bush.
That’s why I believe McCain is dipping in the polls. He has yet to tell the American people what makes him different from Bush.

Jan, here is McCain’s “luck” finding economic experts:
P.Gramm: Thrown off bus for “Nation of Whiners”
D. Holtz+Eakin: Laughed off bus for “McCain invented blackberry.”
C. Fiorrina: $20 million parachuted off bus for “McCain and Palin not qualified to run private corporation.”
The there was the lady who sold Sarah Palin’s plane so Sarah could get per diem for staying at home.

“I can trust McCain with that, since he’s shown he’ll stand up to his party and he’s shown he’ll work w/Dems. When has Obama not sided with the Pelosi/Reid liberal left?”
“obama voted with bush 40% of the time. Does that mean he’s 40% like Bush? OR does that mean that only half of McCain’s votes were wrong?”
That is some weak arguement. You just claimed in a post earlier that Barrak never crossed party lines and McCain did all the time.
And yet, McCain voted with Bush 100% of the time and Obama crossed over to work with the President 40% of the time.
You basically just undermined your own arguement.
I’ll leave you to argue with your self some more.

The town hall debate format was anything but. When was the last town hall debate comprised mostly of moderator questions? When was the last time the dialogue so structured and constrained.
This was a faux town hall meeting. Obama has long been afraid of a real town hall format.

Geevill,
Answer this question.
How does McCAIN differ from BUSH on the economy?
Explain clearly how they differ (3 points are good enough).

McCain has no plans…he is an empty suite… if his plans differ from Bushes it is because they are worse than Bushes (if that is at possible) example one: massive cuts in medicare/medicaid and his extra tax cuts for the wealthy.
I believe that if McCain wins this thing he will go to that hole where Bush as been hiding this past 8 years and let the rich oil companies run the US again. he will only stick his head out to check on his VP, which will be Sarah, the “junk yard dog”…he will need to make sure she is still in line.

Where are all the people who say Obama uses a teleprompter. Now you see your darling McCain has been smoked two times in the debate without a prompter?
Now tell me who is dumb. McCain for sure.

OBAMA WILL HAVE TO SHELVE TAX CUTS JUST LIKE CLINTON DID…..IT’S ALL LIES…THERE IS NO MONEY…SOMEONE BE STRAIGHT ABOUT THIS.

McCain scores low on supporting vets.
“Barack Obama outscored his Republican rival, Vietnam veteran John McCain, in a report card issued by an influential, nonpartisan veterans’ group.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA’s) Action Fund gave the Arizona senator a “D” as part of its congressional report card. Obama received a “B” from the group.
McCain is among three senators who scored a “D.” Only one senator, Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), received an “F.”
McCain — a former Navy officer and prisoner of war — and Obama, who has not served, have made military and veterans’ issues central to their campaign as they try to show voters who would be a stronger advocate for those who have fought in two wars in the last seven years.
Much of IAVA’s scoring revolves around legislation to boost education benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, known as the “Post 9/11 GI Bill: Fair Education Benefits for Veterans.” The bill was the brainchild of Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and garnered wide sponsorship throughout the upper chamber.”

blakec:
He didn’t undermine his whole argument. Obama suggests that any vote with Bush is a point against you. If that is so, then he is only half good because he voted with Bush 40-50% of the time. It also suggests that both McCain and he agree more often than Obama would like to suggest, because they both voted on bills that weren’t vetoed by Bush (that’s the only yardstick and it’s pretty low considering Bush has a pretty minimal veto record).
He is just trying to point out that Obama’s rhetoric is inflammatory and insulting when it does not have to be…

geevil, pork is not the #1 problem in Washington. Earmark spending makes up a tiny, tiny percentage of the federal budget. We’re talking less than 1% here.
That’s not to say they’re something that should be addressed of course, but it’s not something that’s going to have a huge impact on the overall budget.

Earmarks? How about that crab mating habits study Sarah Palin requested. They cannot get enough mating habit studies up there is Alaska. Pretty soon they will figure out where these things come from.

Seems like McCain is changing strategy yet again. Not sure he even knows where he stands anymore. Is there a chance his campaign will give a coherent and unified message?

I forgot in my previous post.
Status quo is on the ballot, which is Obama!
He is hardly a figure of ‘change’ or ‘courage’. Look what he did in Chicago as senator.

If McCain ran as he did in ’00, he’d have a chance but the Falwell/Bush/AIPAC/Kennedy/Amnesty/Corporate Bailout king, just isn’t the same ol’ “Maverick” he used to be. He’s switched positions so much that he’s come around full circle. And now that people realize they don’t like McCain 2008 version, he’s become “Angry John McNasty”, trying to scare little ol’ ladies into voting for him. He’s become an embarrasment. But the million dollar question is, is that embarrasment bigger than “Obamanation” ? Time will tell. But if he loses, McCain BLEW IT himself. No question about it. You can’t be “Mr. Porkslayer” and vote for the biggest corporate bailout since his own S & L scandal. McCain lost ANY chance at standing out and calling out Obama, right then, and he knows it. He’s just trying to scare people to vote for him. It never works. And now he has left us with the Marxist-Lenninist that is Obama, not that Hilliary would be any different. I’s rather have an incompetent, weak Republican in name only, than a incompetent ingrate with a personality CULT acting as his personal enforcement brigade. Man, either way the next four years are gonna SUCK!

It takes McCain until 27 days before the election to start talking about his economic vision?
And now that he is…that’s supposed to make him the one to lead?
Too late McSame. You’ve run out of time and stunts. And I think you now talking about how you are different from Bush is just another stunt!
This One is going to vote for ‘That One’ come Nov. 4th!!

How does McCain differ from Bush asks Jake Tapper. Don’t got to the website, he advises. OK, got to the Rolling Stone. Bush is a better pilot.

The majority of Vets are BEHIND McCain, a guy who knows what it is to serve this country when Obama has ONLY SERVED HIMSELF. You are flushing money on any Vet group not behind McCain. Give it up.
Posted by: hanna | Oct 8, 2008 4:43:25 PM
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that’s just factually incorrect “hanna”
- I would have to say, prove that claim. you won’t be able to.
—————————————
If this was so then why did Obama have like 20 to 30 Generals and Retired Generals at the convention backing him. Also, I would like say, I know several Vets who puke when McCains name is brought up. They have no respect for this man. Who are you trying to convince.
McCain does not support veterans. He has consistently voted against veterans and has a rating of D by veterans groups. His fellow POW’s in Nam called him SONGBIRD because he ratted out classified flight paths to the enemy which enabled them to shoot down our bombers, all the while receiveing preferential treatment by the enemy.
He is a SONGBIRD with no dignity.

Bush only has one house?

“He is just trying to point out that Obama’s rhetoric is inflammatory and insulting when it does not have to be…”
And saying “palling around with terrorists” is completely uninflammatory. Having a jack boot sherrif try to tie Obama to Saddam isn’t inflammatory. Having McCain’s brother call Virginia the land of communists, isn’t inflamitory.
Having a candidate that sings “bomb bomb bomb Iran” isn’t inflamitory.
The moose lady (cause if if John McCain can’t remember her name during an entire debate, why should I) is a pitbull attacker that has done nothing but race bait and inflame this whole election.

Bush married a librarian but MCC’s VP tried to fire one?

jason….mccain is not the demon obama and his lemmings have portrayed him to be (palin is another story)….that’s not to say mccain is our best option, but obama and his ignorant followers (clarification: not all who support him are ignorant) essentially eliminated America’s best option (Senator Clinton) with the same hateful and anti-”Change” rhetoric and strategies they are using to personally and politically destroy mccain (which seems a little familiar, uncomfortably so, to the campaign against mccain in 2000)

But McCain may well waste his presidency on naps.

Finally, Jake. I figured it out. A McCain Presidency can be counted on not to squander any budgetary surplus he inherits. Did I win? Can the Captain and geevill please pay me for my mortgage now?

the juvenile, ignorant, arrogant, naive, racist and sexist behavior of many of obama’s “supporters” throughout this last year is absolutely reprehensible, and in no way, shape or form can such inspired behaviors be interpreted as “Change”
unfortunately for us all, another Presidential election has once again become symbolized by the politics of hate – and obama and especially his lemmings are as much to blame for this sad state of affairs as mccain and his campaign

Okay John…take a deep breath…
So, you believe that Obama’s (and his supporters’) inflammatory rhetoric is justified (Bush = McCain, he’s old, Palin is an idiot, etc.)
And McCain’s is not.
Or are both acceptable?

“unfortunately for us all, another Presidential election has once again become symbolized by the politics of hate – and obama and especially his lemmings are as much to blame for this sad state of affairs as mccain and his campaign”
The right has been calling Obama a terrorist. I think you surrender your rights to fake outrage when that happens.

“But, as McCain advisers suggested last night after the debate, the GOP nominee is unlikely to bring up Ayers on his own. The strategy seems clear: McCain will hit Obama mostly on policy and Palin (and, today at least, Cindy) will get more personal. ”
This is a man?
He fails to look his opponent in the eye and leaves the slimy politics to his wife.

The better comment from today’s rally was McCain’s bizarre reference to us as “My fellow prisoners.” UH, say what?
His mind is clearly going. This was a very bizarre slip up and makes me question McCain’s mental functions greatly. I am concerned.

jock59801:
Thanks for the hat tip…okay maybe Bush =McCain is simplistic and too easy, but not really inflammatory, I guess. McBush it up everyone!! whoo hoo! Just don’t be insulted when someone says Chebama. Or maybe people like Ernesto…

Well McCain proposes a SPENDING FREEZE in Washington.
And McCain proposes $300 BILLION dollars in tax dollars to buy defaulted home loans.
Uh, wait a minute…..I’ll get back to you on yhat one.

Aengil–
Yes, that’s the point, there is no obvious reason for the slip. How do you get from My fellow citizens to “My Fellow Prisoners.” Also, normally you notice when you mix up the words, he did not seem to pick up on it.
I think he would have been a great candidate 8 years ago, his time has long since passed. I am deeply worried about his cognitive functions at this point.

Jake–Yeah, we know, and we understand. Senator McCain wants more fiscal discipline, a balanced budget, less spending, less Government, a more bi-partisan approach, and the ability to veto earmarks to impose some fiscal discipline. He would freeze Government spending, and look for programs to cut. So yeah, we do know pretty clearly what he intends.
More significantly by far, we know Obama wants larger government and one that does more, he wants to increase the capital gains tax, he wants to retain death taxes, give rebates to the poor even though they pay no taxes (sheer wealth redistribution), and raise taxes in general, a dangerous, dangerous thing to do in the midst of a recession.
We’ve been listening, have you Jake?

Oh, please, and Obama thinks there are 57 states. Give me a freakin’ break . . .

Chad3337:
Good post…I felt watching the debate that McCain was very clear, and then afterwards all the commentators acted like Obama blew him away.
Frankly both could have been better, but I think people are under a misty Obama love-glamour spell that won’t be undone until the jobs still don’t come back, gas prices continue to rise, and the national debt is even worse…and maybe still won’t be undone for some.

All politicians are cunning. I do not trust any one – republican or democrat. Bush was for a change when he won against Gore. What changes did he make? I do not care if economy is sound or not. All I care is feeding my family. Due to inflation prices of milk, fruits, vegetables, meat, gas, medicines and everything has gone up by more than 50%. Our federal government says that it has gone up only 3%. Do you trust any one, no, I do not. These ggonk do not include cost of all these preceding items in their inflation index purposely.
I will vote with my pocket book. I will vote OBama because he MAY bring some cahnge. It cannot go any worse.

“Oh, please, and Obama thinks there are 57 states. Give me a freakin’ break”
McCain still thinks Czechslovakia exists and cannot pronounce the name of the leader of Iran.
When asked who he would name Treasury Secretary he froze worse than Palin being asked what newspapers she read.

“Barry Obama a socialist? Yep, a member of the “New Party” a socialist organization founded in 1992.
Believe it!!”
Yes believe the right wing after all the lies they have told you repeatedly, not just about Obama but about Iraq.

Same old Republican policies just on a different face. Do you want 4 more years of what has taken place the last 8? I would think most Americans would not.

When McCain said ‘my fellow prisoners,’ I almost thought he was addressing the POWs he helped cover up from their loved ones.

I truly think that George W. understands the economy better than McCain does.
Even during yesterday’s debate, McCain managed to prove that he simply has no clue.
First McCain says he wants the government to massively overpay for mortgages. “Will it be expensive? Yes.” Some 300,000,000,000 dollars…
Minutes later, he proposes a spending freeze.
I’m pretty sure that even George W.’s jaws dropped open at hearing such erratic “solutions” to our economic crisis.

‘Status quo is not on the ballot.”
The angry old man IS the status quo.
He should take his name off the
ballot and concede right now.

“Good post…I felt watching the debate that McCain was very clear, and then afterwards all the commentators acted like Obama blew him away. ”
Your judgement is clearly outside the main stream of how Americans see the world. Obama won both debates by a wide margin in the snap polls.

“Here’s an Obama gaffe with context:
Uh, I have a bracelet, too, here let me check the name”
I’ll give you credit Wade for not spreading the rw manure that he was asked to stop wearing it.
But if you want to play the gaffe game even with the Mighty Machine of Gaffes that is Joe Biden, McCain Palin is way way ahead.

During the debate last night Senator Obama was a complete jerk.
This is the opinion of 6 professional retired people during discussion at lunch today. I know no one voting for this loud-mouth socialist.

McCain adressing the audience as “my fellow prisoners” today is really pretty disturbing food for thought.
He can’t be blamed for it, but McCain clearly has a war trauma. And such traumas sadly enough get worser when people get older.
McCain obsession with having been a POW is another indication. He just HAS to keep on talking about it, if people like it nor not.
He world view is disturbed as a result of it. McCain’s tends to see enemies where there are no. He has difficulty to accept that those who do share his ideas on war, foreign policy etc; are not his enemies, but fellow citizens in a free and democratic country who opposite or just different viewpoints simply compete in the healthy and open battle of ideas that characterizes the free world.
I think McCain’s trauma, and the very instable temper that comes with it, should be treated with love and care, and professional knowledge.
I also think it makes him unfit to President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief.
We don’t want a President who calls us his fellow prisoners, do we?

Marla how was Obama a jerk? Obama was called “that one”. You are over 70 then. Do you get social security. You know you are going to lose that and could die with out healthcare. If you cared about younger people you would vote for Obama.

Made some typos in my posting on McCain’s war trauma below; sorry for that, I hope it’s still clear want I wanted to say.
“He has difficulty to accept that those who do share his ideas on war,” etc
should of course
“He has difficulty to accept that those who do NOT share his ideas on war,” etc

During the debate last night Senator Obama was a complete jerk.
This is the opinion of 6 professional retired people during discussion at lunch today. I know no one voting for this loud-mouth socialist.
Posted by: Marla | Oct 8, 2008 6:38:23 PM
You must all be independently wealthy. Who really cares. McCain is a habitual liar and Palin, well she’s just a parrot in a dress and lipstick.

Today Obama said that he was going after the ones that make over $250,000. If you are middle class you are are safe. Obama has a good plan.
Share the wealth.

no
but the same team
and the same tactics are
throw these lying manipulating distracting cover up bums out.
NOW
and send the poster child for the worst of America back to Alaska.

“(side note- Obama must REALLY not like Hillary Clinton, because if he had chosen her, McCain would have lost in a big way, wouldn’t even be close, we would probably not even be posting right now…talk about risk!)”
Without getting too sidetracked Wade I am going to briefly argue while Hillary would have been a bad VP pick.
1) She does not meet the standard of the VP in bringing a swing state or shoring up a perceived weak spot in the Presidential nominee.
Like Biden she is from a safe blue state. Unlike Biden she can’t make the experience argument. In fact she makes the experience argument stronger for McCain.
2) She had both figurative and literal baggage from the primaries and beyond.
1st the literal. Retiring her debt would have cost more time and resources the campaign can barely spare now to help her out.
2nd the baggage, the Hsu scandal would have made the NewsMax Obama scandal quite leggier. All the old Clinton crap that would be dusted off and pursued in earnest.
3) The way the campaign would have been analyzed looking for tension between the two would have taken away from the campaign’s message.
4) If Hillary was picked the McCain campaign never picks Palin, instead resting on their argument of experience over enthusiasm. And while Palin has fired up the base, she is hurting McCain with everyone else.
5) Hillary’s role as VP attack dog could be beneficial. Part of the reason I admire the Clintons is their take no prisoners attitude when it comes to electoral politics. However, I feel she would be on the defensive much more often than the offensive. Which brings me to point 6.
6)Hillary’s fav/unfav ratings are terrible. I mean truly bad. In an election when the two guys at the top of the ticket are +20 in their fav/unfav ratings Hillary is lucky to have a neutral rating.

blakec:
Yes, I have always considered myself out of the mainstream. It was just my subjective opinion. I feel most people have been charmed by Obama and fed up with Bush rather than actually thinking about the contents of the debates…
It’s about personality, mostly, and Obama is clearly winning many people over…I just don’t see that his plans are going to help. I hope he proves me wrong should he win.

“My Fellow Prisoners”
How true. But liberation is coming!

The conservative columnist David Brooks now said that Palin “represents a fatal cancer to the Republican party,” by which he meant not a preference for practical over theoretical wisdom, but a celebration of ignorance and know-nothingism.
Palin and Bush do not merely have scorn for liberal ideas; they have a scorn for ideas as a whole.
McCain picking Palin for VP tells me that he’s totally comfortable with a continuation of George W. Bush’s destruction of the American values, ideas and standing in the world.

Ryan C:
You might be right, and I respect your opinion. All I know is my wife would have voted for that ticket in a heartbeat, while now she is truly torn because she doesn’t trust Obama OR McCain (Obama a leeetle bit less, definitely not Biden) and doesn’t like Palin’s or McCain’s abortion stance…
(that’s why *I* liked Giuliani the best–who blew it, curse him…yes, I think I am a liberal liberatio-republicanocrat…)
…She might be wrong about all that too, but waddayagonnado!? People vote with their gut and sometimes don’t pay attention to the types of things you mentioned. Just my 2.

Marla-
You have gone from 5 friends, to 6 friends to 7 friends at lunch…which is it?
McCain wants to privatize Social Security. McCain wants to take 1 TRILLION dollars from Medicare to “balance the budget.”

Concerned you get those forms ready because your state will help Obama win. Enjoy your steak dinner.

“People vote with their gut and sometimes don’t pay attention to the types of things you mentioned. Just my 2″
I would agree with this.
My argument was meant to appeal to you not just any voter.
Voter choose candidates based on many things, some of them incredibly superficial.
I have no doubts that people will vote against Obama because of his name.
I also have no doubts that people will vote against McCain because they think his smile is creepy.
But I also know people will vote because of their stance on a single issue whether it be abortion or national defense.
I just want to make sure that as many people as possible exercise their right to vote.

Concerned Conservative I got news for you capitalism is getting a well deserved death too. Bring down costs, share the wealth. I hope Obama gets in and turns it lose.

This morning the McCain campaign released a rather surprising study claiming that the senator’s health plan would actually cover more than half of the nation’s 47 million uninsured — and two million more than the plan put forward by Senator Obama.
The study, by a team of economists at the Minnesota-based HSI Network LLC, is a distinct outlier. Several other studies have found that McCain’s tax credit plan would cover only a relatively small percentage of the uninsured, while Obama’s plan, although much more expensive, would cover far more.
The McCain press release from McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin trumpets the new study as “an independent assessment similar to one done on the Obama health reform plan.” But how independent is it?
The lead author is Roger Feldman, a professor of health economics at the University of Minnesota. A quick Google search finds that Feldman is a longtime advocate of the type of “consumer-driven” health policies that McCain has been pushing. And Feldman’s frequent writing partner is none other than Stephen Parente, his fellow Golden Gopher economics prof.
Who’s Parente, you ask? We’ll let Holtz-Eakin answer that question — here’s what he told Politico.com last April: “Holtz-Eakin said the health-policy experts who helped write McCain’s plan include Stephen T. Parente, a health economist at the University of Minnesota…”
And by the way, Parente’s CV lists him as a principal (i.e. part owner) of the consulting firm that wrote the report.

Nice try John. But the status quo is in the ballot in EVERY preseidential election.

J fair enough. I agree with you on Palin putting her career first. Personally I feel that women make bad politicians anyway. I have been a democrat that have been around and I was glad to see Obamanot pass over HRC. The DNC would be perfect without Pelosi and if she had let Barney Frank take the reins the bill would have passed the first time. Obama will have a better command than that.

McCain supports small government and small ideas. I mean, really a $5,000 tax credit. That dosen’t even cover the cost of a stress test. And some working Americans that have health care through their employer will lose it under McCain’s health care plan. Try to get private health care. The premiums for a family are anywhere from $800 to $1,000 a month.And that’s not including the deductable, perscriptions or out of pocket expenses. For a family making $40,000 dollars, well you do the math, my friends.McCain is out of touch and clueless.

Bea that is because Repub people don’t have stress due to being rich.

jake i also believe that we have to consider that mr mccan if elected would inherit a very different economy than the one bush inherited. so the attempt to compare the two has to take the different scenarios into the equation and realize that what worked or didn’t for bush does not mean it will not work for mccain. these are very different times financially. the premise is that trickle down did not work for bush, but to turn the formula on its head with trickle up from the bottom obama concepts would destroy the small business community which is the at the foundation of job creation.

Actually, calling Obama ‘that one’ is a compliment considering his moral and ethical decisions. Ayers, Wright, Rezko, etc., plus. Lies and distortions are his real agenda. Democrats are responsible for our economic choas but Obama and his supporters blame others.

Joseph, Obama has a good plan I just don’t think that average American dimwits can understand it. No one should have exclusive wealth with no obligation to others but we all can become accomplished if government regulates the general pool and thus makes it possible for all to prosper. We are in economic crises because we don’t have a plan like this in place.

Wade Obamas health care should be dismissed. It is idiot Hillary’s plan and he can do better than that.

Status Quo is not on the ballot, but guess who is?
A former member of the Democratic Socialist of America’s New Party.

McCain has been making the case that only he offers change and experience all along. Voters have yet to buy it…

What I find particularly sad is that the GOP considered Palin to be the new face of the Republican party. Their future if you will.
How Palin is considered a Republican is beyond me. Her fiscal policies are downright socialist (taxing oil companies and giving the money to people in her state that didn’t earn it).
The Republican party will be the party of social conservatives, fiscal liberals, populism and anti-intellectualism.
And they will be destroyed because of it.

Difference between Dems and Reps:
If a state were to receive royalty income from oil development
Dems would come up with 25 new programs to spend the amount expected
Reps would give the money as a refund to the citizens of the state.

Average Voter
Can you back up anything you say?
1. I could be wrong, but I know a whole lot of people in NY City or San Fran or Marin County or in Seattle make more than $50k and are as Dem as they could be.
2. Senator Byrd, Dem, was a leader in the KKK and is the only Senator to do so.
3. I don’t post lies. I may make mistakes and am open to admit I’m wrong when I learn something new.
4. America may well be one of the most generous countries on earth.
5. Just remember, Wall Street is in the heart of New York City and there’s a lot more Dems than Reps there.

Average Voter
Wrong again on all counts. Last year I make less than $40k.

“1.McCain wants to have the govt. use money from already-passed bailout legislation to buy up bad mortgages and renegotiate directly with homeowners who are upside down to give them new 30-year-fixed mortgages on the current value of their homes, rather than on the inflated value at which their original mortgages were made.”
An idiotic plan that makes the taxpayers take the loss on homes and create an enormous bueracracy and the US gov;t gets directly into the home loan biz. That’s something I would think Republicans would be against, right wingers I know have no principles.
“2. McCain wants to greatly increase the child tax credit.”
Yes he wants to double it. Obama wants to tie the child tax credit to income. So that working families that need the tax cut more get it.
“3. McCain wants to lower business taxes to levels more comparable with other countries.”
Yes we know he wants to pay back his bug biz buddies.
Obama on the other hand proposes both a health care tax credit for small businesses and no capital gains taxes on small biz investment.
“4. McCain wants to have a discretionary spending freeze on government programs.”
He also wants to cut a trillion dollars from Medicare to pay for his health care tax scheme. On that note, he also wants to start treating health benefits as taxable income, thereby even after his piddling health care tax credit he is effectively raising taxes on nearly anyone currently receiving employer health benefits.

Hey Jake,
When are you going to do a story about John McCain being on the board of directors of the right wing terrorist group USCWF?

“How long is the MSM going to ignore all the ACORN fraud going on and 0bama’s deep links to it? How can you people continue to ignore something is troublesome as voter fraud”
Forever. They will ignore the massive voter fraud of Obama. Registering Dallas Cowboys in Nevada. Collecting money illegal donations by splitting them up and reporting phony names, Obama’s membership in the Demcoratic Socialists of America, …….
The only remedy is to vote MCCain and get every one you can out to vote. Get absentee ballots whatever you need to do. Ohio, PA, MI,MO, FLA , NV, CO, WI, MN, IN,NJ, everyone.

Why Obama is good for Conservatives Hotlist
by Exsuperat Veritas Omnia
Senator Barrack Obama has been accused of being by far the most liberal senator by John McCain several times. While a simple fact-check has refudiated this, the fact remains that by his voting record, Senator Obama is decidedly on the left of many issues, both on social and fiscal matters. There is no doubt that a win this October has the potential to shift an entire generation to liberalism the same way that Reagan gave Republicans a decades-long boost.
As a conservative, I say thank goodness.
This is not to say that I am a swing-voter. That very notion implies that loyalty to a brand (Republican or Democrat), rather than a set of ideals. This is the intellectual equivalent of saying that if Pepsi switched their formula to include arsenic, people who then switched to Coke would be “swing” drinkers, rather than people who simply enjoyed their carbonated sugar water without poison in it. I am overjoyed about Obama leading not because he is the exact candidate that I envisioned leading our country but rather because he is the better candidate at this juncture, and the loss of the Republican candidate has the potential to completely shake up the Republican party.
I’ve seen many liberal sites, including DailyKos, continuously put down “the conservatives” when discussing Republicans. The problem is, the people that they hate are not conservatives at their core. Sure, on a few key social issues (abortion and gay rights, most notably), they appear as such. Yet we must ask ourselves– would a true fiscal conservative preside over the largest growth of government in decades? Would true conservatives put themselves in a position where spending billions in tax payer revenue is the only way to “save” the free market? No. What we have in the highest halls of our government is not a true conservative movement, but instead a distillment of the noble traditions of the great Republicans and the concepts of a truly populist approach into a frame of governance that accepts only a few absolutes: small towns values are “true” values, gays shouldn’t be married, and abortion is wrong.
With the transformation of Senator John McCain from “maverick” to the latest puppet of the neo-con movement, we have seen the trends and tactics of the Republican party begin to falter. Like it or not, most of America does not live in rural areas. The reliance upon the old “small-town America” theme is begining to show cracks around the edge. The wedge issues, while important to many people, have taken a back seat to issues that affect all of us, directly, on a daily basis. People, generally, are less inclined to argue about who should or should not get married when they are worried about paying for their house. There’s less time to worry about which denomination of a church one belongs to when there is a national crisis that people of all faiths (including those who believe only in science) can agree needs fixing.
These are all good things. Conservatism is not about one or two issues. It is not about the complete abandonment of the people to the free markets. It is about making wise decisions that allow the government to steer clear of affecting peoples individual liberties. It relies upon a strong military, but also upon strong diplomacy. In its’ best form, conservatism can provide the tools for social progress in ways that liberalism, which heavily relies upon government intervention, cannot. With that said, what the Republican party has become is the antithesis of most, if not all, of the values which I hold dear.
The way the Republicans have gone about conjuring votes is despicable, and though I do not support many of the things that Democrats stand for, there is something appealing about a person running on hope rather than fear, on the future rather than the past, and on what is to come rather than the grand old days of yore. How can Republicans invoke the greatest conservatives with a straight face, knowing what they’ve done to their legacy?
John Wain wrote in Samuel Johnson that: All of us know the man (or, just as frequently, the woman) who maintains, and appears sincerely to believe, that if only this or that political system were to swallow all its rivals and prevail the millennium would arrive immediately. What makes the rest of us faintly suspicious is not that we have any cut-and-dried counter-arguments but merely that we do not believe that any political system, by itself, can make humanity entirely fulfilled and contented.
What this boils down to is that I, like many people, have values that I consider near and dear to my heart. I believe in conservatism in many things, but I will be the first to admit that it does not contain the solution for every social ill. It is, like every other belief, a system that must be evlolved and changed as times goes on. Believing in conservatism no more implies a loyalty to a political group than liking the way something tastes implies loyalty to a restaurant, especially if they begin serving their food a new way.
I am a conservative at heart. There is no doubt of this. What I believe is that the things that matter most to me- an honest, open government, a belief in the strength of the American worker without the acceptance of only “small town” values, the acceptance of religion without the reliance upon it, a government that believes in serving the people without binding the people- is better served in these times by a liberal candidate. Not because he shares my concept of governance, but because he shares my priciples and my values for what America can be.
Senator Barrack Obama does not believe in everything I do, nor does he intend to create a conservative government. But the tennets which I have built my political beliefs upon are much closer to Senator Obama than they are to the neo-con movement. So don’t call me a Swing voter. I am voting for Obama because my beliefs in conservatism dictate to me that he is the better choice. I am voting for Obama because he represents a chance for the end of the neocon movement and the return of a true(mainstream) conservative party.
I am voting for Obama to save conservatism. I urge any Republican who truly believes in the tennets of conservatism to do the same.

The rock band is the latest act to ask the McCain-Palin campaign to stop using its music. Heart, Van Halen, John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne have also asked for the campaign to turn off their tunes, according to ABC News.
“This isn’t the first time the McCain campaign has used a song without making any attempt to get approval or permission from the artist,” the Foo Fighters said in a statement. “It’s frustrating and infuriating that someone who claims to speak for the American people would repeatedly show such little respect for creativity and intellectual property. The saddest thing about this is that ‘My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential. To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.”

Ah, Ryan, you are nothing if not predictable. Let’s look at your response to my comment:
“1.McCain wants to have the govt. use money from already-passed bailout legislation to buy up bad mortgages and renegotiate directly with homeowners who are upside down to give them new 30-year-fixed mortgages on the current value of their homes, rather than on the inflated value at which their original mortgages were made.”
An idiotic plan that makes the taxpayers take the loss on homes and create an enormous bueracracy and the US gov;t gets directly into the home loan biz. That’s something I would think Republicans would be against, right wingers I know have no principles.
Oh, now that’s solid, well-reasoned discourse there…. “right wingers have no principles.” For openers, not all of us Republicans are “right wingers.” I know I am not and neither is McCain. And your actual argument, that this is an “idiotic” plan, is about as serious. The bailouts (both mortgage and Wall Street) do indeed mean massive government intervention on a scale not previously seen and yes, that gives this Republican pause. However, desperate times call for desperate measures and this is a measure I can live with. The mortgage mess, created in large part by Congressional democrats who looked the other way (NOT “deregulators,” regardless of what Obama’s team would like you to believe), will be address in a way that directly benefits American workers rather than just the financial companies. I support this program.
“2. McCain wants to greatly increase the child tax credit.”
Yes he wants to double it. Obama wants to tie the child tax credit to income. So that working families that need the tax cut more get it.
The question was, how do McCain’s proposals differ from Bush’s, not from Obama’s. Still, I’m a little tired of thinking that a hardworking family with a higher income should not be get the same financial reward for their children as a lower income family. Over 40% of American families do not even pay income taxes– will Obama cut them a bigger check with the money I pay the government? Hope not.
“3. McCain wants to lower business taxes to levels more comparable with other countries.”
‘Yes we know he wants to pay back his bug biz buddies.’
Heavens, we would not want to encourage businesses to invest in this country and hire more American workers or anything. Making a more attractive business climate is good for all Americans. And I’m a heck of a lot more comfortable with McCain’s “buddies” than I am Obama’s.
‘Obama on the other hand proposes both a health care tax credit for small businesses and no capital gains taxes on small biz investment.’
Given the mandates he proposes for those businesses with his health care plan, that tax credit is just not going to cut it. I’m a small business owner, so I know whereof I speak. And that big about no capital gains tax on small business is laughable. Not only have I never taken capital gains as a small business, I checked around with the other business people I know and have yet to find ANYONE who has. This is a make-believe benefit.
“4. McCain wants to have a discretionary spending freeze on government programs.”
‘He also wants to cut a trillion dollars from Medicare to pay for his health care tax scheme. On that note, he also wants to start treating health benefits as taxable income, thereby even after his piddling health care tax credit he is effectively raising taxes on nearly anyone currently receiving employer health benefits.’
That talking point has been shot down, but you guys seem to think if you keep repeating it often enough, people will start to believe you. Yes, he will tax the benefits to the company, but for this individual, this is more than offset by the tax break. The vast majority of people will not only have improved health care costs but wind up with a little money left over.
And you did not address my point that a spending freeze is a great idea.
I notice that you didn’t even attempt to respond to my #5, energy. guess you ran out of ad hominem attacks at that point?

does not have to make a comment about the economy.
george bush has said it all for him.
george bush and his crew have wrecked this country.
and just as we have seen so many in bushes adm. mess up and get off scott free. the same with bush and cheney.
not so for mccain.
bush with the support of mccain made a mess of this country.
mccain must answer for george bushes mess.
no way, no how, no mccain.

If you don’t think McCain is a right-winger, you probably haven’t ever gone outside the U.S.
McCain is far right on the global stage.

Chad3337
“Gee, do you think we’re going to vote for the Senator who proposed to reign in Freddie and Fannie’s give-aways, or for the Senator who raked in more cash contributions than any other but 1, despite being in the Senate a short time.
This is clearly a choice between the center or extremists on the left, and there really is no choice. ”
This is choice between an left-center intelligence versus dumb right populism.
McCain is running a populist campaign, flip-flopping and bumbling on economy the last 3 weeks, twisting the truth, selecting Palin. For me that is a no-no, a vote of no confidence.
A president should lead the country with a vision and style, McCain has failed us in this campaign.
Palin will only speak with Hannity and Greta van Susteren the remeaning campaign. The VP, heartbeat away from the presidency, only can handle softball questions…
I can live with right or left president, however I have seen to much dumbness and incompetence the last 8 years. And McCain/Paling would be a disaster.

You’re wrong, Jake. That is not the most important message. The economy is bad. That we know. How to fix it? Apparently no one knows.
We also know Obama has been lieing and the media has been covering for him. It’s just too obvious to deny it.
McCain has one important message he needs to make:
That he can be trusted.
That’s what we need. We’re neck deep in the big muddy, and we want to get back out.
Obama is pushing on into the deep water of debt and more entitlements, and that is going to cost us dearly. So it isn’t about the difference between McCain and Bush. It is simply about trusting McCain.

The difference on the economy is pretty clear: Democrats want to prevent depression and support the financial markets by investing taxpayer money in banks with troubled assets. Republicans want to give taxpayers money away to the shareholders and managers of banks with troubled assets.

Although I am fond of neither candidate, I just send a message to everyone: Current economic crisis was not caused by Bush Policy, but by Fed-Chair Alan Greenspan during Clinton era as he kept too-low 1.00% Fed-Fund Interest rate too-long, which ignited the frenzy home-purchases by many “financially-unqualified” people. The danger of such abnormal situation, though some insightful people were issuing warnings many years ago, did not become apparent immediately but finally burst out last July, at which point many fraudulent activities by many home loan lenders and investment bankers became “no-longer sustainable.” The conclusion: Fed-Chair Alan Greenspan during Clinton era is the one you should blame.

Sarah, darlin’, I’m not terribly concerned with how McCain falls in the poltical spectrum on the “global stage.” But let’s be clear– when you say that, you really mean he’s far right when compared with your beloved western Europe. Western Europe is indeed largely far left. So if McCain is to the right of Western Europe, and of much of South America, I’m comfortable with that. In fact, I’m comforted by that. He’s still a right-center politician by American standards, and that’s what counts in this election. I’d say most Americans are right-center as well. We’re not far-right, but we’re not left, either.

Geevill, How long is the MSM going to ignore Troopergate? How long is the MSM going to ignore Todd Palin’ association with the Alaskan Independence Party = whose founder advocated violent action against the United States and stated that he “hated the US?” How long is the MSM going to ignore the fact that the Plain belonged to a church for 28 years which is an ultra, ultra right wing evangelical church which considers the Catholic Church agents of Satan, believes the end-of-days will come in our time, and believes the Iraq is a holy war? How long is the MSM going to ignore John McCain’s association and friendship with Gordn Liddy? He has accepted campaign contributions from him and Liddy hosted a fundraiser for him at his home in 1998. Liddy told the Branch Dividians that they should shoot Federal agents in the head, because it would be more effective. This is domestic terrorism – and it not coming from passing associations. Todd Palin is married to Sarah Palin. John McCain considers Gordon Liddy a friend.

just because you say clinton caused this, does not make it so.
as it has been shown from day one with the bush adm. anything that goes wrong
their is no accountability for bush and co.
for as far back as we can remember what ever shape the economy is in the sitting president owns it, he is the face of it.
when bill clinton left offfice-our economy was sound.
by the time bush leaves office, we all maybe in soup lines. who knows?
george bush’ legacy will be he was one of the worst presidents our country has ever had. with john mccain as one of his biggest supporters.
bush and co, and just about everyone associated with bushes adm. have mismanaged everything they put their hands on.
i say it was just plain incompetence
my husband says it was planned and deliberate.
they said everything bush ever tried he messed up, oil,baseball team, and now this country.
on another note:
I think it is beneath cindy and john mccain to allow this negative campaigning (which is playing to the mob) palin i can see wallowing in the mud. but the mccains’? i thought they were more refined than that.

Finishing up Obama’s book and he admits there that he liked “radical” personalities:
page 100:
“To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist Professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets.”
He admitted he attended socialist conferences during his college years in his first book, “Dreams From My Father”, page 122:
“Political discussions, the kind that at Occidental had once seemed so intense and purposeful, came to take on the flavor of the socialist conferences that I sometimes attended at Cooper Union or the African cultural fairs that took place in Harlem or Brooklyn during the summers-a few of the many diversions that New York had to offer, like going to a foreign film or ice-skating at the Rockefeller Center.”
So, Why is Obama trying to hide it..he admitted it.

Concerned in OH
BONITA SPRINGS — Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott’s is under investergation for stumping in his uniform.
His appearance at Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s public rally has caught the attention of federal officials. Scott is under federal investigation for wearing his uniform during the campaign stump, a spokesman for the Office of Special Counsel said on Tuesday.
Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for the OSC, said, “We are launching a formal investigation into Sheriff Scott today on the basis of possible violation of Hatch Act.”
The Hatch Act of 1939 regulates how certain government employees use their official authority in their private lives. Guglielmi said the Sheriff’s Office would fall under the law’s provision if it receives federal funding, a near certainty.
It has nothing to do with Obama and everything to do with this man breaking the Law.

Concerned in OH
It just boggles the mind that they bring up a law enforcement officer beign exuberant at a rally when Ayers used federal money from the anneburg foundation that was meant for the chicago schools and ayers gave it to Obama to use for ACORN etc

Concerned in OH
yea… they arent jsut registering voters the big donors opposite the 10 and 20 dollar contributions that Obama always crows about are above the 2300 personal limit but nobody knows how much or how many because they are funelled through ACORN…. so I think its suspect that an organization that raises awareness for poor people is tied up in a poltical arm

“None of these multi names registered have voted.”
Of course not, that’d be too obvious. They’ll stretch it out over the next month. A good way to get 6 times as many votes as you should. Oh wait, isn’t that illegal? But Obama wouldn’t support such a thing. Oh wait, he gave them 400K. Well, maybe they were just using the money to turn around and buy his t-shirts, instead of paying their off the street employers to collect names of new voters registering. You know, the ones who live on park benches and squeegy your car windows. Of course, they’ll vote for Obama and his hand outs.

Wise man say don’t pick the man who your friends love, pick the man your enemies hate.

“the World wants Obama as president”
You proved my point. It would therefore be a tragic mistake to elect this guy (that one) president. Our enemies are drooling as we speak.

Didn’t say that. Said pick the guy your enemies hate, therefore it would be a mistake to pick O.

Well I doubt Iran and N. Korea have been polled with the same fervor.

Aussie,
I enjoy your comments. I don’t expect everyone in the world, or even everyone on these comment boards, to agree with me and I appreciate it when those who disagree have good arguments and argue them rationally.
Having said that, I have to disagree with the Petreus article that you posted. It obviously came from the AP, where it has become policy (seriously!) to inject opinion in what would traditionally have been a straight piece of reporting. It misrepresents McCain’s position on an Afghan “surge.” As he reiterated in the debate the other night, McCain does NOT think the surge strategy can be replicated without amendment in Afghanistan. He emphasizes the idea that what is needed in Afghanistan, as it was in Iraq, is a take-and-hold policy, winning hearts and minds while using massive forces to clear areas of terrorists. As in Iraq, he wants to embolden the Afghans to stand up to the terrorists.
Also, the article tries to contrast McCain’s views on negotiating with enemies with those of Petreus. Again, this is a misrepresentation. Yes, Petreus says we must talk to our enemies. No, this is not an endorsement of Obama’s reckless earlier statement about meeting Ahmadenajad and his ilk at the presidential level without preconditions, a statement he and his team have been trying to walk back since it became an issue in the Democratic debates early in the year. More importantly, Petreus’s statement does NOT conflict with McCain’s positions on the role of diplomacy. McCain has never said we should not use other methods than military force to deal with our enemies. What he objects to in Obama’s statements is the elevation of talks to the highest level, giving enemies a PR coup with presidential-level meetings. This is completely separate from any attempts in Afghanistan or elsewhere to have diplomats and special forces on the ground work with all the tools in their toolboxes. The “article” has quite a slant and does not, in my view, present an accurate comparison of the views of General Petreus vis-a-vis the two presidential candidates. Gen. Petreus was not speaking in a political arena. It was the reporter who took his remarks and tried to inject them into the race, and who did so in a biased, inaccurate manner.

MORE ACORN FRAUD! Kansas City Officials Find Hundreds of Bogus Registrations
Tonight Kansas City officials are reporting that ACORN officials have turned in possibly hundreds of bogus registrations in Missouri.
Missouri officials suspect fake voter registration

Change and more of the same are on the ballot. America wants change. Needs action now.
VOTE NO on PROP 8 in California.

Moderate
“My question is– do you have controls to assure than not only does everyone vote, but that everyone only votes once?”
The AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) Holds and maintains the Electoral roll which holds the name of all Australian over the age of 18… When you attend a polling place your name is crossed off a list before you are handed your ballot papers you must answer: NO you have not voted at any other polling place in this election.
Your name is added to the electoral roll when you turn 18 this information is taken from you driver licence and public health care info!
At the conclusion of an Election the electoral roll is cross checked against all names checked off at all polling places and should a name be checked off twice an investigation is launch by the AEC and the AFP (Australia Federal Police) (Australia version of the FBI)
The Australian electoral roll can be scrutinized by any member of the public political party or orginsation. You just go to your local office show ID and you can inspect it! You can not take or copy the electoral roll.
Yes we have early voting 4 days before you can vote though anywhere accross Australia or at any embassy.
I happen to think our system of voting is a good one everyone has to vote..We are all in this together.. Once you have you name singed off you can if you so choose write Mickey mouse on the ballot its up to you…
Becuase everyone has to vote we dont have a two party system we have two parties that are the main The Australian Labor Party (democrat like..leftish) and The Liberal Party (Republican like rightish… Then we have many other parties that control the ballance of power in the senate..
Normaly The Australian Greens… Family First verry RIGHT churchish… The Australia democrats (middle to far left) and many independents..
I think it works out well! Like we have it.
Sorry for the delay was away for a bit!

because it is the economic fraud against the american people that is on everyone’ mind.
George Bush with the support of John mccain has ruined this country.

Hey Jake,
There are wild rumors going around on blogs today about US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald (of Scooter Libby fame) heading a 10 state RICO investigation. ACORN is currently under investigation in 10 states. Coincidence? Can you get a hold of Fitzgerald? This would be one hell of an October surprise if ACORN falls under a RICO indictment.

Aussie,
Thanks for all the info about the Australian voting system. I agree, it sounds like a solid, workable system. Maybe if voting were mandatory here, people would take it more seriously and more people would become informed before voting. And having an automatic enrollment would eliminate abuses of the voter registration system like the ACORN mess.
I’ve always been a fan of Saturday elections– makes a lot more sense than a weekday.
I’ll have to make it to Australia some day and try the barbecue. I’m a southern gal myself, so I am a big bbq fan. *G*
Thanks again for answering my questions. (and I _knew_ that article about Petreus had to be from the AP– I really strongly disapprove of their recent decision to encourage reporters to inject opinion in their articles. That’s not what the AP is supposed to be about. Give me objectivity, please.)

Moderate
Your welcome Im glade you didnt leave I thought my post might get deleted before you saw it!
I hope you do make it down here one day!
Ive been to yours many times.. To every State.. Its kinda my second home I love the people there! But not the Bush government…
I’m off to bed now its 1 am tomorrow here!
Take care and have a good day!
Peace : )

Speaking of the status quo, there will be a price for an Obama presidency. The liberals and the liberal media got us to fight the vietnam war humanely – we bombed coal fields rather than military targets. When we pulled out early on that war Cambodia fell into chaos and a million people died. On your head.

Bye bye Emm

“Australia may just have a record import of immigrant disheartened Americans very soon.”
Yeh, once he manages to repeal Amendments 1 and 2, redistributes your wealth to the poor, and socializes health care so you stand in line for days.

Brooks, just another liberal NYT op ed with an opinion.

David Brooks is a conservative.

I support neither candidate. McCain (may be) too typical. Obama (may be) too renovative. But one thing interesting is Obama renovation (might) bring something new to this country…..such as: No-border, no-retriction to entering to U.S., all-equal human…no Black/White border, all-eqaul tax treatment, and so on. Hence under this rule, hard-studying successful people surely feel undervalued while lazier people surely feel happier. I din’t know it is good or bad. Just the majority of Americans make a call.

Jake -
You bring up a really good point – one which the McCain camp should seriously consider. At the same time, you gloss over the critical issues in this seemingly 24×7 campaign coverage.
1 – the average American doesn’t read policy documents from any candidate.
2 – many of these same voters rely on candidates’ ads for policy info.
3 – many of these same voters rely on MSM coverage of policy info.
How is this problematic? The Obama campaign is spending 3X on TV ads that (understandably) have a bias in presenting his policies in a better light. At the same time, the DNC and Obama have spent considerable time equating McCain with Bush – without specific charges. The McCain=Bush becomes McBush…McSame…etc. It absolutely puts pressure on McCain to distinguish himself from Bush. In their coverage, the MSM covers these jabs – without questioning their validity.
Here’s the danger – when 24/7 news and ads lend ‘validity’ to unsubstantiated claims, the burden of disproving becomes a slippery slope.

“This would be one hell of an October surprise if ACORN falls under a RICO indictment.”

good day emm,
my friends, we all know the world is one.
we all share this planet together,
american culture will not be wiped out.
but american cannot stand alone against all of the rest of the world.
we all may as well get our heads around the inter-connectedness of all.
actually, i think we can thank george bush and his adm. for this,
things are so bad in this country, we must turn to those in other countries who will work with us now.
i can remember all the goodwill this country had with the rest of the world after 9/11, and bush and co. just messed it up.
rice up there saying ‘the us is not use to working with others to solve problems.’ (what a bunch of fools)
if all of the different countries who wanted to help, put their covert ops. along with ours we would have caught bin laden, if bush really wanted to catch bin laden.
and mccain was right there supporting everything bush and co. wanted to do.
my friends,
we cannot chance even the slights hint that the next four years can be a cont.
of any of the last eight years.
as far as this economic mess. it was mavrickness on wall street and in the bush adm. that got us into this mess.
we don’t need any more mavrickness right now.
my friends,
make it light on yourselves
no way, no how, no mccain

Send Palin and her husband
to Gitmo for secessional
activities. Only a rogue
Republican party will allow
a secessionist like her on
the ticket.
McSame wants more of the
same. The changing world
confuses and scares him.
In a few short weeks he’ll
be defeated and forgotten.

“as far as this economic mess. it was mavrickness on wall street and in the bush adm. that got us into this mess.”

FOOLS = Friends-of-Obama-Online = FOOLS

“Forget insurance – let’s get routine care back to the point of being covered out of pocket.”
I’m not sure that nationalization is the answer. Today everyone from the mortgage holder to the State of California is looking to the Federal government to rescue them from their own overspending. If we add a national health system to that, it is a certainty the economic system will go into a much steeper decline and likely a global depression.
However, you are right about one source: the inequities of pay scales. This is one root of the California crisis: a 30% difference in state employee pay scales to private market costs.
I agree that inequity in healthcare employees is wrong. Though we are quick to point out the low salaries of teachers, we don’t notice that nurse pulling yet another twelve hour shift is walking through a cancer ward adjusting chemo therapy medicines without benefit of computer records.
It’s a recipe for serious mistakes. More pay won’t change that, but it at least attracts more talent to a field experiencing shortages of qualified workers. Medical schools preserve the salaries of doctors with artificial restrictions on the numbers and sources of trained physicians, thus introducing scarcity for profit.
It is obvious the health care system needs to be regulated differently, but nationalization may not be the answer at this time.

McCain sees himself as a
warrior soldier in the
terror outfit the Army
of God. That’s where
his taste for recreational
wars comes from.
His reputation as an
unthinking warmonger is
well-deserved.

I am a Hillary supporter. No one taking polls has ever asked me who I am going to vote for.
Like I said yesterday. A poll is just a poll. The only day that matters is Nov. 4th
WE WILL BE THE NOVEMBER VOTERS!
WE WILL NEVER VOTE OBAMA!

Why is HP Boston whining about polls?
Oh yeah, McCain is losing in all of them.

RCP avgs for battleground states.
VA = Obama +5.1
FL = Obama +3
OH = Obama +4
CO = Obama +4
NV = Obama +3
NM = Obama +7.3
MO = Obama +0.3
All Obama has to do is win the Kerry states and pick off 1 of these and he will be the next President of the United States.

Yarn-spinning McCain’s talent
lies in telling fabricated
war stories.
He doesn’t have the gumption
for intercepting or solving
major problems.

I thought Mccain and General Petraeus were joined at the hip?.? As reported by the Washington Times today:
Petraeus also came out unambiguously in his talk at Heritage for opening communications with America’s adversaries, a position McCain is attacking Obama for endorsing. Citing his Iraq experience, Petraeus said, “You have to talk to enemies.” He added that it was necessary to have a particular goal for discussion and to perform advance work to understand the motivations of his interlocutors.

“if you are voting for mccain, what makes you a hillary supporter?”
That’s easy: the unvarnished lies and thug tactics of Obama during this campaign have betrayed the values of the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton is a lifelong Democrat as are we, but she is also a professional politician as is Obama. As a supporter of her campaign, I am frankly embarassed by her support for Obama but I understand her need to preserve her options.
But it is easy to see why no self-respecting Democrat from the center would support Obama, and that leaves only two choices: vote for McCain or stay home.
Even then, should Obama be elected, it will continue to be necessary to resist him because his methods mean that our country’s history as a republic would otherwise fall to the socialist agenda of his supporters and a failed economy.
So you can deny it and try to believe it, but many here who are fighting the election of Barack Obama are indeed, Democrats. Obama split the party.

How can you even trust that one…the geriatric candidate. He has flip flop so many times. It may be Alzhiemer?

so at this point you are a mccain supporter.
not a hillary supporter.
you just gave th
e reason why you support mccain.
so, take a deep breath and say to yourself
len, you are a mccain supporter.
len, you are a mccain supporter.
and len, if mccain should get into office,
and has a chance to load that supreme court tipping it all the way to the right.
there will be no conflict for you,
len, you are a mccain supporter,
and hillary has nothing to do with it.

Paige, Almost right. JM and Petraeus do agree. JM is saying presidential meetings without preconditions with various foreign leaders is naive and unprofessional.
Obama has since changed his position saying he didn’t REALLY mean meet with no preconditions, he now says of course preconditions would have to be met, doesn’t everyone know that?

“is naive and unprofessional.”
Unprofessional like singing a song about bombing Iran at a fundraiser then bald faced lying to the American public in the debate and claiming it was a private joke with a Navy vet buddy?

McCain’s economic plan is whatever it has to be for whatever audience he’s talking to right now. Tomorrow it will be something different.
His “bold” mortgage buy-back proposal from the debate? He backed off of it in less than 24 hours.
The fact is that McCain is only half-interested in domestic issues. He wants to lead wars.

“so at this point you are a mccain supporter.”
At this point I am a Democrat fighting the people who have taken the party of John F. Kennedy and given it to the new generation of industrialist investors in the name of redistributing wealth. I’m not one who cares if Hollywood and Silicon Valley wash into the Pacific and sink in the trench never to be seen again.
It’s simple, OMG: smart people know a con when they see one, and Obama is a very talented con artist.
Obama has to be fought for as long as it takes, but unlike you and yours, not by any means because to use the means of the enemy is to become the enemy and that is to lose everything worth fighting for.
27 days until round one ends. If the election goes to Obama, round two begins. And so it will go until we get our party back.

More from the WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT about Petraeus’ speech to the Heritage Foundation yesterday. It just speaks for itself:
McCain, apparently perceiving an opportunity for attack, Tuesday again used Obama’s comments to attack his judgment. “Sen. Obama, without precondition, wants to sit down and negotiate with them, without preconditions,” McCain said, referring to Iran.
Yet Petraeus emphasized throughout his lecture that reaching out to insurgent groups — some “with our blood on their hands,” he said — was necessary to the ultimate goal of turning them against irreconcilable enemies like Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Petraeus favorably cited the example of one of his British deputies, who in a previous assignment had to negotiate with Martin McGuiness of the Irish Republican Army, responsible for killing some of the British commander’s troops. The British officer, Petraeus said, occasionally wanted to “reach across the table” and choke his former adversary but understood that such negotiations were key to ending a war.

Leave Len alone…..I too, am a Hillary supporter who was disgusted by the Obama campaigning planning all along on smearing the Clinton’s are racist as fast as they could, and I’m with Bill, “this is a fairytale”.
HILLARY SUPPORTER FOR McCAIN before HE CHOSE GOV. PALIN, BUT SHE ROCKS, AND IT MAKES THE VOTING EVEN SWEETER. (ALTHOUGH I WAS READY TO EMBRACE ROMNEY).

what is mccain’ stand on north korea?

“I too, am a Hillary supporter who was”
Hanna you also said Kerry lead by 11 pts at this point in the election.
That was not true.
So why should we believe you?
You also called for 18 to 21 year olds to have their right to vote to be revoked, contrary to the 26th Amendment of the US Constitution.
So why should we listen to you even if we believe you?

“Leave Len alone…”
Thanks Hanna, but I’m calling Ryan out. I’ve seen too much in my long life to step out of the way of the barnyard bullies. Let him do his best. We will not be moved but we will not become him because that is to lose.
As Jethro Tull said, “Life’s a long song”.

“Yes, and for that reason, Hillary should have been the nominee as she has far more experience.”
Hillary has a wonderful story and she was a formidable candidate but to claim she has far more experience is laughable.
She was in elected office for 7 years.
Obama was in elected office for 11 years.
If you want to talk life experience, Obama matches her.
The experience argument was always a dud between Hillary & Obama and Edwards for that matter.

Ooh, Ryan C. you’re good….Obama camp should give you a blog raise to .50 cents a post. You keep great notes, buddy. SCAREY…..I’m just an at home mom on a mission to inform everyone I know what a fraud Barack Hussein is.

“Ooh, Ryan C. you’re good….Obama camp should give you a blog raise to .50 cents a post. You keep great notes, buddy.”
Great notes because I remember what you said yesterday?
I know right wingers must employ political amnesia to make their ridiculous arguments but isn’t that taking it a bit far?

JM’s position on N. Korea is for the six nation talks to continue.

“North Korea negotiated a treaty with the US under Clinton. They promptly broke it and didn’t get caught until Bush came into office. N. Korea told others it was no big deal to break treaties with the US since the US is despised throughout the world.”
Right wing historical revisionism is fun!
Bush and senior advisers say international conventions are worth joining only if the benefits to the United States are clear. If not, the Bush team appears to have few fears of saying “no.”
In shifting nuclear arms control policy, Bush is moving away from some long-standing treaties:
* The administration intends to scrap the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union on the grounds that it prevents effective testing of a missile-defense system.
* Bush aides say they have no plans to seek Senate ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits all nuclear test explosions. The Senate rejected the treaty in 1999, but Bush has promised to abide by a voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing.
* Bush has no plans to ask the Senate to ratify changes to the 1993 START II nuclear disarmament treaty, a condition Russia has set for ratifying the treaty and putting it into force. The chief U.S. author of that accord: Bush’s father.

“REMEMBER, FOLKS ARE INTIMIDATED ON THE PHONE TO SAY THEY WON’T VOTE THE BLACK GUY….SO SHAVE OFF A FEW OF THOSE POINTS,”
The bradley effect has largely disappeared in elections in the last 15 years.
And if you actually knew what it meant you would know that the votes for the black candidate remained stable vs pre electon polling while the white candidate’s vote surprisingly increased.
In 2006 in TN, Harold Ford lost by 3 pts but he outperformed pre-election polls.
This election will see greater turnouts of young people (the ones you think shouldn’t be able to vote) and African Americans.
Also few polls take into account cell phone only use (Gallup does) and this percentage of adults has tripled since 2004.
So if anything most polls are underestimating Obama’s support.

Sarah Palin claims that they received on bid for that job. If you believe that one, I have a bridge for you.
Posted by: mara | Oct 9, 2008 1:24:23 PM
8/29/2008
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today submitted its “Sixth Report to Congress on the Progress Made in Licensing and Constructing the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline,” as required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
The 12-page document outlines the major developments that have occurred since the February 2008 report. In this report, FERC recognizes that the Denali project, a partnership of BP and ConocoPhillips, announced its plans for a gas pipeline and began the pre-filing process, and that the state of Alaska has completed the process of selecting TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC, and Foothills Pipe Lines, Ltd., affiliates of TransCanada Corporation, as the preferred applicant under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA).
“We have seen substantial progress on development of the Alaska pipeline over the past six months, more progress than in any other reporting period,” FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher said. “This competition for the project is a positive indication of serious interest by major industry players. This should all be resolved, ultimately, in the energy and financial marketplaces, and FERC stands ready to act once that takes place.”
More progress than any other period.
Approval ratings higher than any other governor in the US.
Not bad.

“Approval ratings higher than any other governor in the US.”
Her current approval rating is 68%.
There are two governors that are in the low 80′s

Obama might be the first president ever who couldn’t pass a security clearance.

“Double standard for the libs.”
You mean “libs” like Hillary Clinton?
Hanna you are such a sad fraud.

Its so funny that being a right winger or a Republican these days is such an embarrassment, that they have to pretend they are Hillary supporters.
Who knew that the Hillary brand would be so lovingly embraced by the group that has spouted the most venom about her over the years.

“You’ve got people in the Republican party whose philosophy is one of cynicism towards government and one of complete disrespect towards particular branches of government.
They’ve run these branches of government completely in reverse, put people in charge of them who don’t believe in the mission, and done everything else to make government accountable not to the voters, but to the business community.
But the correct answer is that government obviously does work in certain circumstances, in other countries, and it’s even worked here when it wants to.
What they’re doing right now at the Fed and the Department of Treasury is they’re playing the game exactly right — they’re intervening decisively, quickly — they’re doing it exactly right. When the chips are down and when it’s something conservatives care about, they can make government work.”

It appears the polls have changed and I stand corrected. Ryan where did you get your info?”
McClatchy article by the Editorial & Publisher staff
“Palin’s Approval Ratings Tumble — In Alaska”

“You mean schoolyard len?”
No I mean barnyard, Ryan. Where I grew up, that is where we kept the pigs.
School yards are for children.

So len, any comment on the video taken at a McCain Palin rally and the nasty words they had to say about Obama?
Is that Obama’s fault?

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama convinced many more viewers to think more favorably of him during Tuesday night’s presidential debate than did his Republican opponent, John McCain, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll signals

Maybe some ought to take into consideration those voters that did not vote in the primary, but will come out in droves on November 4th.
I registered later and will be voting for Obama in November.
I have no home phone, only cell phone so no one counted me.
There are many of us like that out here in Ohio and when we come out to vote we hope that Obama will carry our state.
People are tired of Bush and anyone who follows his policies, enough IS enough!!
Barack Hussein Obama/Joseph Robinette Biden 2008

greenspan was hired by reagan
and lets’ not forget we cannot hold george bush accountable for anything,
what ever the economic situation the sitting president was always the face of it, good or bad.
but not this time.
good job, georgie

“Hillary is a centrist, like Bill”
Hillary is farther to the left than Bill on quite a few issues.
“and that’s why Bill won.”
Clinton won on a combination of things including and not limited to Perot’s involvement, a poor economy and bad approval ratings for the sitting incumbent.
“Obama is the biggest lib to EVER run”
Based on what? A national journal analysis for 1 year in which Obama missed 33 of the 99 votes they used for voting criteria.?
In 2006 NJ rankings had Obama as the 10th most liberal.
In 2005 it was the 14th.
Facts > Hanna postings

Last May I read a piece on McCain’s use of Ambien.
I just read today that he is still using it. To help him cope with the rigors of campaigning…. he uses a combination of sleeping pills and stimulants…
Very, very scary. Ambien is widely prescribed, but it is addictive and it impairs the user.

Everybody knows that the smears are baseless….
They were rolled months ago. They were debunked.
The only thing that has changed is that McCain has fallen in the polls.
Of course McCain cannot look Obama in the eye and repeat these lies…. He knows he’s wrong.

I guess Sharpton, Jessie J, Wright and Farrakhan all got the memo….don’t leave your house till AFTER the election.

Hanna you mean Jesse Jackson the close friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton?
Are you really putting Jesse Jackson in league with Louis Farrakan?

Blip, every rally will have its partisans and they tend to be more rabid.
The difference is the right wing and McCain campaign have been actively encouraging this behavior.
They know they are going to lose and they are trying to divide this country as much as possible so solutions and compromises are made extremely difficult.
They do not care about this country, only themselves.

well my friends,
i don’t think we really want to know the combo of meds sen. mccain has to take, just to keep going day by day.
I would rather know mr. mccain’ views and what he will do for this country, and either agree or take issue with that
rather than talk about him the way he and palin have had to resort to talking about obama.

I would love to hear McCain’s plans… but since he wants to turn the discussion to character… I would like to know about:
McCain’s temper and use of medication.
McCain’s link to convicted felon and terrorist supporter, Liddy.
Palin’s link to Alaskan separtist militias.
I know about the Obama-Ayers relationship… it’s been reported on widely for months now… and there’s nothing there.
It really is McCain’s turn to start answering questions about whether or not he is fit to lead.

JT, your bias is showing! Is it because GOP posters have articulate, thought out responses based in fact and record as opposed to rhetoric?
Lets see, since 19th Sept 2008 when Paulson began his chicken little “we have to pass this bail out or the world will end now!” alert, which did not happen. Until the crap sandwich of a bail out was passed on 3 Oct 2008. To this day they still keep telling us everyday that there are more bail outs to come, no one knows when it will stabilize, etc.
I think McCain offers a more rational plan in keeping the taxes lower for businesses so people will have jobs.
Not having a degree in economy (and even those guys cannot tell us what is going to happen with economy)
Common sense tells you that increasing taxes on businesses that employ people means that workers will be laid off to offset the increased taxes.

Blip,
Todd has already fallen on his sword.
Transcripts of his interview have been released.
He claims he talked to officials about why his brother in law was still employed but says he never pressured anyone. He also says his wife had no idea about it. Her aides have testified likewise about his involvement and her lack of involvement.
Guess this coordinated cover story is what they agreed was the best defense going forward which is why all aides & Todd came into talk at the same time after refusing to honor the subpoenas.
Needed that week to erase yahoo emails and get the stories straight down to a tee.

If I were McCain or the RNC, I’d hang onto the Ayers thread a bit longer. We all know Bill was a terrorist 40 yrs ago. Obama says it predates his relationship…that he’s a respected school reformer…yada, yada.
Ok – let’s see some hard evidence. Obama and Ayers served on the CAC. What was the outcome of the effort? $100 million dollars was spent – are Chicago schools better off? What did they adopt from this undertaking?
Side question. If Ayers is such the skilled reformer and well-recognized as such in Chicago power circles (Mayor Daley certainly likes to praise him), why hasn’t he been appointed to be superintendant of Chicago public schools?
Seems to me, this great reform thinker and activist has been past over by the very people who say he’s a valuable member of the education community. It’s like knowing Babe Ruth was a great hitter, but leaving him in the pitching rotation. You’d be a fool to let him bat every 3-4 days. (to be fair, Ruth was also a great pitcher…but you get my point).

Nat Turner,
You know who else is from Chicago?
Al Capone…
Coincidence? I doubt it. I really doubt it.
Did you know that Barack Hussein Obama’s shoe size? 13 and a half.
Thirteen is widely considered according to official numerological sources to be an evil number, suggesting that Obama is evil (plus a little more). Coincidence? I doubt it. I really doubt it.

Ryan – I didn’t say ‘great educator’…I said ‘great reformer’. Case in point, go watch Michelle O’s appearance on Larry King. Her words (approx.) – “Anyone involved in education reform in Chicago knows Ayers and his value…”
I’m from Chicago – if you’re not familiar with the need of reform in the Chicago school system. Go spend some time there.

“What would Todd Palin’s role be at the Naval Observatory?”
Observing Sarahs’s navel like all of the Democrats who can’t seem to take their eyes off of her.
@ryan: No I haven’t seen the video yet but if I watch CNN tonight, I’m sure I will.
@blip: “What does Jackson have in common with Obama and Farrakhan?”
An A.

Len,
My question was serious.
Todd Palin appears to have unprecedented access to government business by sitting in on meetings and being copied on emails and abused the power of his wife’s office.
Hillary Clinton was never that involved in day to day government stuff.

Ryan -
I’ve read as many CAC docs as I can get access to (i.e. public access). I don’t get my news from blogs. There’s nothing significant in those public documents that show the CAC yielded significant ROI for the school system vis a vis improved programs, successful pilots, etc.
Another indication of this…how many times has Obama held up that past role as an indication of his abilities? This was his most significant executive experience. Add in the education element…and you have a solid talking point as candidate. I have never heard him utter anything remotely like that.

LOL nothing like right wingers making things up.
RICO? Please.
Last week you guys said a judge had ordered Obama to turn his birth certificate order.
Of course right wingers did not mention that the supposed order was issued by Berg and not signed by any judge but why bring facts into a good smear.

“My question was serious.”
A serious question? Ok, hard to say. We’ve never had a First Dude before so who knows what their personal relationship, but judging from the number and ages of the kids, I’d say it’s pretty serious. And hot.
Was Hillary Clinton involved in the day to day?
Yes, she was. Deeply involved. The staffers called her “The Big Girl” and it wasn’t a reference to her dress size. The Clintons are a power duo. It was a co-presidency regardless of how the Republicans felt about that. They spent millions working her over and she still came up the winner. It’s a shame the DNC felt they had to become Republicans and do it too. Pelosi, Dean, Brazille, Daschle are people we will have to get rid of and that will take time. I admire Senator Clinton. I have to turn her off right now, but soon she’ll be back at her desk in the Senate working for the nation as she always has.
It looks like the FBI is stepping up the pace on the ACORN scandal. That will get deep quick for Obama. If Rezko has turned, it’s bye bye Obama. I hope Biden brought his wellios.

“It looks like the FBI is stepping up the pace on the ACORN scandal. That will get deep quick for Obama.”
How so? He paid this organization to help voters get registered and that organization defrauded his campaign by submitting phony registrations.
Meanwhile today it was announced that millions of people may have been illegally stricken from the voter rolls.
So instead of worrying about people being denied their right to vote, len you seem more concerned about fake registrations.
Why is that?

“So instead of worrying about people being denied their right to vote, len you seem more concerned about fake registrations.”
Both are criminal. Investigate and prosecute. That’s the law.
Meanwhile, let’s put off the elections until after duck hunting season so Cheney can bag his limit of Senators and that awful W movie can tank at the box office. ;-)

Ryan,
I’m afraid your list is almost as scary as mine!

Whoa… Obama supporters for McCain?
Somebody call the Weekly World News. Forget Bat Boy! Forget Bigfoot! Forget the Jackelope! I just spotted an “Obamacrat for McCain”!
If you feel duped now Obamacrat… wait until you realize that you don’t even exist. Now that’s gonna be a real mind job.