I have had a dream every night this week relating to the election. I forgot to vote, i won't be able to vote... I imagine i will NOT be sleeping on Monday night.
Last night i was analyzing an electoral map. I proclaimed that Arizona is now "pink" - Missouri was "grey" and as i was staring at it further i said "i have to stop" and promptly shut my laptop. Jenn, my roommate simply said "yeah."
It is consuming me. One moment I am filled with doubt. The next, confidence. Then i read another smear against Obama and I think "oh god, what about the people who BELIEVE this!?"
I just heard on the radio that most people who are still undecided today will likely not be voting come Tuesday. Ok. Fine. So what does that MEAN!?
Voter fraud scares me too. Maybe millions more people will vote than have before, but what if their votes aren't counted?? can the republicans get away with that AGAIN this year!?!? oh god. I cant even think about it. I CANT. I CANT think about the look on Sarah Palin's face if they do indeed win.
Maybe it is because I grew up in Massachusetts, watching the Red Sox lose year after year after year. They finally started winning again, but even now, I doubt they will every year. I am not sure I will EVER have confidence in them. Maybe it all DOES stem from 2000. The abuse I endured that year is just forever ingrained in my blood.
Or maybe it is because it IS still anyone's game.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
the most exciting moment of the campaign...
Well last night I tuned into the half hour Barack Obama ad, which was clearly geared toward middle class undecideds in swing states. So, obviously not to me. However, there was one moment during the ad where I felt that Michele Obama was trying to secure my vote. It was when she was talking about Barack's relationship with his girls. And she said that he tries to have special things he does with each of them separately.. and for their oldest daughter... it was READING ALL OF THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, as if he hadn't been a complete lock before, he is even MORE of a lock for me now. I wish he would make a Harry Potter reference in a speech... like "I am Harry Potter coming to take over Voldemort who has ruled for 8 years..." I think now, besides "McCain being just too old" my nephew will have other reasons to hope Obama wins.
This morning, CNN has Missouri as too close to call!!!!!!!!!! it was "leaning McCain" before.
5 days..
So, as if he hadn't been a complete lock before, he is even MORE of a lock for me now. I wish he would make a Harry Potter reference in a speech... like "I am Harry Potter coming to take over Voldemort who has ruled for 8 years..." I think now, besides "McCain being just too old" my nephew will have other reasons to hope Obama wins.
This morning, CNN has Missouri as too close to call!!!!!!!!!! it was "leaning McCain" before.
5 days..
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
ONE WEEK
One week from today is the BIG DAY. Today as i was sitting on the train, I looked around at everyone, on a normal day, and I wondered what they will be like in a week. Will we all look at each other with knowing glances? Will we judge each other on whether or not we think the other voted? I do not know. BUt I do know that in a week I will be in high gear.
until then, I will suffer from Election Anxiety Disorder - this from The Huffington Post:
CHICAGO — Victoria St. Gelais is panicky. Tami Brewster-Barnes feels the nerves in the pit of her stomach. Steven Valentine is losing sleep as his mood rises and falls with John McCain's poll numbers.
Voters around the country, whether they support McCain or Barack Obama, say they are experiencing nail-biting, ulcer-inducing anxiety ahead of next week's election and all that's riding on it.
"I have kind of a general feeling of near panic on occasion," says St. Gelais, a 48-year-old McCain supporter in Ormond Beach, Fla. "The thought of Obama winning right now is scaring me to death. ... I'm just anxious and even a little depressed."
St. Gelais, like many, says she's not sleeping well, is watching Fox News nearly all day, and "lives on her computer," following all of the polls and the latest news. If Obama wins, she'll be devastated.
"I would equate it to a death," she says.
Although polls favor Obama a week before the election, it's not just Republicans getting the jitters. Democrats are on high alert after losing two close elections to President Bush in the last eight years.
Democratic blogger Cynthia Liu has dubbed it "Post-Traumatic Election Anxiety Disorder," with hallmarks including restless Web surfing for election information, sleeplessness and making desperate calls to undecided voters.
"It's a very high-stakes election," says Liu, a writer in Los Angeles.
Story continues below
Nancy Molitor, a psychologist in Wilmette, Ill., says this is the most anxious she has seen her patients in 20 years of practice.
"Human beings, generally we do better in periods of calm, stability and certainty," Molitor says.
And right now _ with war, a historic election and a looming financial crisis _ is most certainly not a time of calm. People are reporting trouble sleeping, edginess, irritability, and increased absences and distractions at work, Molitor says.
Add to that 24-hour cable news shows and near nonstop reporting, blogging and commenting online, and you've got a virtual stressfest for political junkies.
Elections generate so much stress because people vote out of a "very, very core place in their personalities," says Lisa Miller, an associate professor of psychology and education at Columbia University Teachers College in New York.
"It has to do with their existential view of how the world works," Miller says. "The fear is that a candidate who shares a different fundamental view of human nature is rattling."
Plus, we project all of our hopes and fears onto a candidate to protect us and keep us safe, she says _ so much so that the president becomes a "father figure."
"It certainly makes sense that the uncertainty of a parental figure could be evocative," she says.
Brewster-Barnes, a 40-year-old health-insurance company employee in Vancouver, Wash., wants to be able to tell her grandchildren that she voted for the first black president. But she also worries that Obama's racial background might turn off other voters.
So she's done all she could, including making phone calls on behalf of the campaign and donating to the cause even though money is tight.
"It was something I had to do," she says.
The election is even affecting the timing of Ray Brun's move. Currently, Brun and his family live in the swing state of New Hampshire, but they're packed up and ready to move to Kentucky _ after casting their votes for McCain, he says.
"I think our votes up here will be a little more influential," says Brun, 29.
Voting early, talking to friends or donating money are all healthy, pro-active responses, says Gretchen Rubin, a New York-based writer whose book, "The Happiness Project," comes out next year. Rubin spent a year testing every theory, study and self-help axiom on happiness that she could find.
"One thing I've learned from my study of happiness that is crazily effective is that you should act the way you want to feel," Rubin says. "We really feel because of the way we act."
When all else fails, she says, remember this: "No one's trying to ruin the country. Everybody's going to try to do their best."
Kellie Brown knows that. But the 32-year-old mom and technical recruiter in Evergreen, Colo., desperately wants Obama to be the next president. Even the polls showing him in the lead are no solace.
"I hate hearing those polls because I feel like it gives people the false thought that they can just relax and maybe not go to vote," Brown says.
What will happen when America wakes up on Nov. 5 and the results are in?
Valentine, a 19-year-old sophomore at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, says he doesn't know what he'll do if McCain loses.
"The College Republicans have given up countless hours of our time," Valentine says. "I haven't really prepared myself for (a McCain loss). I don't know what I'm going to do when the election is over."
As the race wraps up, Molitor is concerned about those who have the most emotional investment in the election.
"Some people are going to have to mourn this," she says. "This is going to be like a loss. It's going to be like a death. Some have been very passionate. It's become their life. It's become an obsession. And those people I'm worried about."
until then, I will suffer from Election Anxiety Disorder - this from The Huffington Post:
CHICAGO — Victoria St. Gelais is panicky. Tami Brewster-Barnes feels the nerves in the pit of her stomach. Steven Valentine is losing sleep as his mood rises and falls with John McCain's poll numbers.
Voters around the country, whether they support McCain or Barack Obama, say they are experiencing nail-biting, ulcer-inducing anxiety ahead of next week's election and all that's riding on it.
"I have kind of a general feeling of near panic on occasion," says St. Gelais, a 48-year-old McCain supporter in Ormond Beach, Fla. "The thought of Obama winning right now is scaring me to death. ... I'm just anxious and even a little depressed."
St. Gelais, like many, says she's not sleeping well, is watching Fox News nearly all day, and "lives on her computer," following all of the polls and the latest news. If Obama wins, she'll be devastated.
"I would equate it to a death," she says.
Although polls favor Obama a week before the election, it's not just Republicans getting the jitters. Democrats are on high alert after losing two close elections to President Bush in the last eight years.
Democratic blogger Cynthia Liu has dubbed it "Post-Traumatic Election Anxiety Disorder," with hallmarks including restless Web surfing for election information, sleeplessness and making desperate calls to undecided voters.
"It's a very high-stakes election," says Liu, a writer in Los Angeles.
Story continues below
Nancy Molitor, a psychologist in Wilmette, Ill., says this is the most anxious she has seen her patients in 20 years of practice.
"Human beings, generally we do better in periods of calm, stability and certainty," Molitor says.
And right now _ with war, a historic election and a looming financial crisis _ is most certainly not a time of calm. People are reporting trouble sleeping, edginess, irritability, and increased absences and distractions at work, Molitor says.
Add to that 24-hour cable news shows and near nonstop reporting, blogging and commenting online, and you've got a virtual stressfest for political junkies.
Elections generate so much stress because people vote out of a "very, very core place in their personalities," says Lisa Miller, an associate professor of psychology and education at Columbia University Teachers College in New York.
"It has to do with their existential view of how the world works," Miller says. "The fear is that a candidate who shares a different fundamental view of human nature is rattling."
Plus, we project all of our hopes and fears onto a candidate to protect us and keep us safe, she says _ so much so that the president becomes a "father figure."
"It certainly makes sense that the uncertainty of a parental figure could be evocative," she says.
Brewster-Barnes, a 40-year-old health-insurance company employee in Vancouver, Wash., wants to be able to tell her grandchildren that she voted for the first black president. But she also worries that Obama's racial background might turn off other voters.
So she's done all she could, including making phone calls on behalf of the campaign and donating to the cause even though money is tight.
"It was something I had to do," she says.
The election is even affecting the timing of Ray Brun's move. Currently, Brun and his family live in the swing state of New Hampshire, but they're packed up and ready to move to Kentucky _ after casting their votes for McCain, he says.
"I think our votes up here will be a little more influential," says Brun, 29.
Voting early, talking to friends or donating money are all healthy, pro-active responses, says Gretchen Rubin, a New York-based writer whose book, "The Happiness Project," comes out next year. Rubin spent a year testing every theory, study and self-help axiom on happiness that she could find.
"One thing I've learned from my study of happiness that is crazily effective is that you should act the way you want to feel," Rubin says. "We really feel because of the way we act."
When all else fails, she says, remember this: "No one's trying to ruin the country. Everybody's going to try to do their best."
Kellie Brown knows that. But the 32-year-old mom and technical recruiter in Evergreen, Colo., desperately wants Obama to be the next president. Even the polls showing him in the lead are no solace.
"I hate hearing those polls because I feel like it gives people the false thought that they can just relax and maybe not go to vote," Brown says.
What will happen when America wakes up on Nov. 5 and the results are in?
Valentine, a 19-year-old sophomore at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, says he doesn't know what he'll do if McCain loses.
"The College Republicans have given up countless hours of our time," Valentine says. "I haven't really prepared myself for (a McCain loss). I don't know what I'm going to do when the election is over."
As the race wraps up, Molitor is concerned about those who have the most emotional investment in the election.
"Some people are going to have to mourn this," she says. "This is going to be like a loss. It's going to be like a death. Some have been very passionate. It's become their life. It's become an obsession. And those people I'm worried about."
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Single digits...
yes, we are down to single digits in the countdown to election day.
THis morning, McCain was on Meet the Press. Oh my GOD is he losing it. Is it the strain of the campaign? Is it because 40 years ago today he was captured in Vietnam? Is it because he thinks his old man antics will get him the sympathy vote? I dont know WHAT it is. But this morning on Meet the Press I was reminded of the conversations I had with my grandfather not long before he died and was on all sorts of medications that made him confused.
Tom Brokaw opened by asking him if he felt like Kevin Costner from Field of Dreams or George Clooney in the Perfect Storm. IT was obvious that McCain had not seen either of those movies, or if he had, could not remember the outcome or plot of either.
When asked about COlin Powell, and how he felt about the endorsment he gave Barack Obama, McCain skirted the answer by saying "I have the endorsment of several former secretaries of state" and started naming all of them. Tom Brokaw then went on to the next question, but was interrupted by John McCain naming another secretary of state! Tom (who is friends with McCain) did NOT seem happy by this, ignored it and finished his question.
McCain was constantly not finishing sentences - mid sentence he would stop and start saying something else. Like if I were writing this and you know it goes to show that we really need to what the real problem is..." and he would NEVER finish.
Now, the media is supposed to be fare and balanced. Does that mean that Barack Obama will be on next week? Just 2 days before the election? Or does Colin Powell's endorsment count as one for Barack?
I don't mean to be negative - but like Stephanie Miller always says "it is Barack Obama's job to take the high road, it is our job to take the low road."
We have 9 days to wake up america.
THis morning, McCain was on Meet the Press. Oh my GOD is he losing it. Is it the strain of the campaign? Is it because 40 years ago today he was captured in Vietnam? Is it because he thinks his old man antics will get him the sympathy vote? I dont know WHAT it is. But this morning on Meet the Press I was reminded of the conversations I had with my grandfather not long before he died and was on all sorts of medications that made him confused.
Tom Brokaw opened by asking him if he felt like Kevin Costner from Field of Dreams or George Clooney in the Perfect Storm. IT was obvious that McCain had not seen either of those movies, or if he had, could not remember the outcome or plot of either.
When asked about COlin Powell, and how he felt about the endorsment he gave Barack Obama, McCain skirted the answer by saying "I have the endorsment of several former secretaries of state" and started naming all of them. Tom Brokaw then went on to the next question, but was interrupted by John McCain naming another secretary of state! Tom (who is friends with McCain) did NOT seem happy by this, ignored it and finished his question.
McCain was constantly not finishing sentences - mid sentence he would stop and start saying something else. Like if I were writing this and you know it goes to show that we really need to what the real problem is..." and he would NEVER finish.
Now, the media is supposed to be fare and balanced. Does that mean that Barack Obama will be on next week? Just 2 days before the election? Or does Colin Powell's endorsment count as one for Barack?
I don't mean to be negative - but like Stephanie Miller always says "it is Barack Obama's job to take the high road, it is our job to take the low road."
We have 9 days to wake up america.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Why I Love Joe Biden...
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Friday that Republican John McCain would need a Halloween costume to convince voters that he would depart from the policies and divisive politics of President Bush. "I know Halloween is coming, but John McCain as the candidate of change? Whoa, come on," Biden said during an outdoor rally in the capital city's downtown. "John McCain and change? He needs a costume for that. Folks, the American people aren't going to buy this.
- from the Huffington Post
- from the Huffington Post
Friday, October 24, 2008
this. is. SICK.
From Mediamatters.org, this is an article about how a lot of the RIght Wingers are saying Barack Obama is in Hawaii to pick up a FAKE BIRTH CERTIFICATE, and NOT to visit his sick grandmother! THESE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!!!!!!!!
here is the article:
Conservative media figures allege Obama's Hawaii trip is about discredited birth-certificate rumors, not his ailing grandmother
Summary: Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Jerome Corsi suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, in addition to FactCheck.org and a Hawaiian Health Department official, even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, has reportedly determined that the birth certificate provided by the Obama campaign is authentic.
Conservative radio hosts Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh and Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi -- who appeared as a guest on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show -- suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, as Media Matters for America has documented, the Obama campaign posted a copy of Obama's birth certificate on its "Fight the Smears" website and reportedly provided the original document to FactCheck.org, whose staff concluded in an August 21 post that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship." A Hawaiian Health Department official also reportedly confirmed to PolitiFact.com that Obama's birth certificate is valid, and even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, reported in an August 23 article that a "WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic."
On the October 23 broadcast of his radio show, Limbaugh said:
Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill, but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later? See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? And I've been laying low on this because it just -- it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program. But this birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Phillip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate, and he still hasn't replied, he hasn't done so.
Limbaugh later added:
When you first announced this, you're gonna rush, you're gonna hurry, you're gonna make tracks, you're gonna get over there because you don't want your grandmother to die before you got there like your mother did, but somehow you keep campaigning, you take three days to get over there, if he's left yet. And this birth certificate business -- I'm just wondering if something's up. I have no clue, and I -- folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's now popping up all over the place.
During an appearance on the October 22 broadcast of Liddy's radio show, Corsi said:
I'm headed out to Honolulu. I am not convinced that Barack Obama is going because his grandmother is sick. I appreciate that his grandmother is sick and he wants to be with her. I do recall that Barack Obama's mother died of cancer, and he didn't go to be by her side when she died. He relates that in his autobiography, Dreams From My Father. And I'm going out to do what digging I can on the birth certificate.
Corsi later added:
I think I'll accomplish something in Hawaii, too. Obama's headed out there, and I believe there's a court challenge that if Obama does not dodge, he's gonna be forced to produce a birth certificate, and there's gonna be something damaging on that birth certificate, because even at the eleventh hour, Obama refuses to show us the hospital-generated birth certificate when he was born.
As Media Matters has noted, Corsi has previously claimed that the Obama campaign "refuses to release the original birth certificate," even though WorldNetDaily -- where Corsi works as a staff writer -- has debunked the claim.
On the October 22 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Savage stated that "[t]here are people arguing that Obama is headed back to Hawaii not so much to visit an ailing relative, but to fudge the birth certificate in question" and said moments later, "There is intense national interest on the Internet about his citizenship, and the question is being asked, could this be the real reason he is headed to Hawaii?" Savage subsequently became more definitive, stating:
Do you actually believe he's going to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother with 10 days to go until an election? Do you actually believe that? Do you actually believe he'd be going to Hawaii at this time with 10 days to go? You actually believe that? No, no, no -- no, no, no, no, no. No. There's some other reason that he's leaving the mainland of the United States in the midst of this toe-to-toe struggle right now, and it's got to do with his birth certificate.
He later added: "And Obama's leaving for Hawaii -- why? Why? What's he doing there? Why's he going there, huh? What's he going there for, huh? Why's he gonna -- the last phase of a race, he's getting off the track just to visit his grandmother? Don't be stupid. It's the birth certificate issue, you fools, you."
Savage also directed people to his website to "look at the birth certificate and judge for yourself on MichaelSavage.com. We actually have the birth certificate submitted by the Obama camp, and it looks like it's fake." Savage's website currently has a copy of the birth certificate Obama has posted on its "Fight the Smears" website along with a headline stating "Could this be the REAL reason Obama is heading to Hawaii?" The headline links to a post by Andy Martin on Martin's Contrarian Commentary website. Martin stated in an October 20 press release: "Monday (today) we petitioned the Hawai'i Supreme Court to order Obama's secret birth records released. How did Obama respond? He suddenly discovered that his grandmother, who had supposedly been released from her hospital a week ago, when he showed no interest in her, needed his immediate attention. Cool, calm, collected Obama suddenly suspended his campaign and headed for Hawai'i."
From Savage's website:
From the October 23 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: By the way, I'd like to be a little inquisitive than the average reporter out there and observe that we have not -- we've been hearing and reading for at least three days now that Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, and that he's going out to rush to her side in Hawaii. Now, if he's already won the presidency, why hasn't he already gone to Hawaii? Why is he not already there? What's he waiting for? If she's deathly ill, this is the -- I'm just -- I'm pretending to be a reporter here. You know they'd ask McCain these questions. If Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, why has this been announced days ago, and he's only going now or tomorrow or whenever it is? Now, I understand, folks, Snerdley's got-- he's buried his head in his hands -- I understand this, my friends -- anything said about Obama is gonna be turned into an unfair, racist attack on the man, but I -- am I not asking the obvious questions? Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill, but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later?
See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? And I've been laying low on this because it just -- it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program. But this birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Phillip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate, and he still hasn't replied, he hasn't done so. And I'm just -- you know, you've got a deathly ill grandmother, you are going to rush to her side a few days from now. When you first announced this, you're gonna rush, you're gonna hurry, you're gonna make tracks, you're gonna get over there because you don't want your grandmother to die before you got there like your mother did, but somehow you keep campaigning, you take three days to get over there, if he's left yet.
And this birth certificate business -- I'm just wondering if something's up. I have no clue, and I -- folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's now popping up all over the place. There are a lot of people now that are starting to speculate and be curious about this. I don't know. Let's say, for example, that somebody does come up with proof that Obama -- something's screwy with his birth certificate, and something's screwy about the fact that he's allegedly a natural citizen, American citizen but may not be, dual citizenship, born in Kenya, who knows, there's all kinds of stuff out -- so what? What's gonna happen this late in the campaign? Do you think, if it's proven, that they're gonna dump him? That's not gonna happen. But there's still -- these are just questions that I have. I mean, look at, I -- both of my parents have died, and when I was told that the end was near, bam, I got there fast as I could, and I didn't announce to the audience, "I just got word my father's soon to be passing away, in four or five days I'm gonna go to Missouri. In the meantime I will not leave you here on this radio program." These are just natural questions. I think any inquisitive reporter -- I know the risk I'm running here by raising all of this, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't do that.
From the October 22 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:
SAVAGE: We're gonna raise the question of why Obama is headed to Hawaii. He certainly wouldn't take the time out to visit an ailing grandmother all of a sudden -- it is for other reasons, it is being speculated across the Internet that he was born in Kenya and he is not a U.S. citizen. Now, this originated with a Democrat who filed a lawsuit, a Democrat from Pennsylvania and a big donor to the Democrat [sic] Party -- filed a lawsuit claiming Obama was born in Kenya and that he is not a U.S. citizen and not qualified to run for the presidency. There are people arguing that Obama is headed to Hawaii not so much to visit an ailing relative but to fudge the birth certificate in question.
[...]
SAVAGE: There's an October surprise that could brew, and that's built around Obama's secretive trip to Hawaii coming up momentarily. There's intense national interest on the Internet as to whether or not he's an American citizen, and the question is being asked, could this be the real reason he is headed to Hawaii, and it was started by a Democrat who filed a lawsuit claiming Obama was born in Kenya. And you gotta read -- you gotta look at the birth certificate and judge for yourself on MichaelSavage.com. We actually have the birth certificate submitted by the Obama camp, and it looks like it's fake.
[...]
SAVAGE: Do you actually believe he's going to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother with 10 days to go until an election? Do you actually believe that? Do you actually believe he'd be going to Hawaii at this time with 10 days to go? You actually believe that? No, no, no -- no, no, no, no, no. No. There's some other reason that he's leaving the mainland of the United States in the midst of this toe-to-toe struggle right now, and it's got to do with his birth certificate. That's correct. That is correct. 1-800-449 -- but please go to MichaelSavage.com and look at the alleged birth certificate. Look at it very carefully.
[...]
SAVAGE: And Obama's leaving for Hawaii -- why? Why? What's he doing there? Why's he going there, huh? What's he going there for, huh? Why's he gonna -- the last phase of a race, he's getting off the track just to visit his grandmother? Don't be stupid. It's the birth certificate issue, you fools, you. Something's wrong with this picture, and we're gonna talk about it in the next hour. Carla in New York, if you make it fast, fire away on The Savage Nation.
CALLER: OK, first of all, as far as the trip to Hawaii, the reason he needs to go there is he's lost the lawsuit by not -- by having no one show. He needs to get to that house, the grandma's house. Those documents, the Kenyan documents are in that house. The other thing is that he has had four identities.
From the October 22 edition of Radio America's The G. Gordon Liddy Show:
LIDDY: Bring us up to date on the latest findings.
CORSI: Well, Mr. Liddy, I'm headed out to Honolulu. I am not convinced that Barack Obama is going because his grandmother is sick. I appreciate that his grandmother is sick and he wants to be with her. I do recall that Barack Obama's mother died of cancer, and he didn't go to be by her side when she died. He relates that in his autobiography, Dreams From My Father. And I'm going out to do what digging I can on the birth certificate. I'll be in Honolulu for the next few days. I don't expect to be detained in Honolulu the way I was in Kenya.
[...]
CORSI: I think I'll accomplish something in Hawaii, too. Obama's headed out there, and I believe there's a court challenge that if Obama does not dodge, he's gonna be forced to produce a birth certificate, and there's gonna be something damaging on that birth certificate, because even at the eleventh hour, Obama refuses to show us the hospital-generated birth certificate when he was born.
— H.D., G.L., & N.T.
Posted to the web on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 10:13 PM ET
here is the article:
Conservative media figures allege Obama's Hawaii trip is about discredited birth-certificate rumors, not his ailing grandmother
Summary: Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Jerome Corsi suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, in addition to FactCheck.org and a Hawaiian Health Department official, even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, has reportedly determined that the birth certificate provided by the Obama campaign is authentic.
Conservative radio hosts Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh and Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi -- who appeared as a guest on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show -- suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, as Media Matters for America has documented, the Obama campaign posted a copy of Obama's birth certificate on its "Fight the Smears" website and reportedly provided the original document to FactCheck.org, whose staff concluded in an August 21 post that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship." A Hawaiian Health Department official also reportedly confirmed to PolitiFact.com that Obama's birth certificate is valid, and even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, reported in an August 23 article that a "WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic."
On the October 23 broadcast of his radio show, Limbaugh said:
Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill, but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later? See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? And I've been laying low on this because it just -- it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program. But this birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Phillip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate, and he still hasn't replied, he hasn't done so.
Limbaugh later added:
When you first announced this, you're gonna rush, you're gonna hurry, you're gonna make tracks, you're gonna get over there because you don't want your grandmother to die before you got there like your mother did, but somehow you keep campaigning, you take three days to get over there, if he's left yet. And this birth certificate business -- I'm just wondering if something's up. I have no clue, and I -- folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's now popping up all over the place.
During an appearance on the October 22 broadcast of Liddy's radio show, Corsi said:
I'm headed out to Honolulu. I am not convinced that Barack Obama is going because his grandmother is sick. I appreciate that his grandmother is sick and he wants to be with her. I do recall that Barack Obama's mother died of cancer, and he didn't go to be by her side when she died. He relates that in his autobiography, Dreams From My Father. And I'm going out to do what digging I can on the birth certificate.
Corsi later added:
I think I'll accomplish something in Hawaii, too. Obama's headed out there, and I believe there's a court challenge that if Obama does not dodge, he's gonna be forced to produce a birth certificate, and there's gonna be something damaging on that birth certificate, because even at the eleventh hour, Obama refuses to show us the hospital-generated birth certificate when he was born.
As Media Matters has noted, Corsi has previously claimed that the Obama campaign "refuses to release the original birth certificate," even though WorldNetDaily -- where Corsi works as a staff writer -- has debunked the claim.
On the October 22 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Savage stated that "[t]here are people arguing that Obama is headed back to Hawaii not so much to visit an ailing relative, but to fudge the birth certificate in question" and said moments later, "There is intense national interest on the Internet about his citizenship, and the question is being asked, could this be the real reason he is headed to Hawaii?" Savage subsequently became more definitive, stating:
Do you actually believe he's going to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother with 10 days to go until an election? Do you actually believe that? Do you actually believe he'd be going to Hawaii at this time with 10 days to go? You actually believe that? No, no, no -- no, no, no, no, no. No. There's some other reason that he's leaving the mainland of the United States in the midst of this toe-to-toe struggle right now, and it's got to do with his birth certificate.
He later added: "And Obama's leaving for Hawaii -- why? Why? What's he doing there? Why's he going there, huh? What's he going there for, huh? Why's he gonna -- the last phase of a race, he's getting off the track just to visit his grandmother? Don't be stupid. It's the birth certificate issue, you fools, you."
Savage also directed people to his website to "look at the birth certificate and judge for yourself on MichaelSavage.com. We actually have the birth certificate submitted by the Obama camp, and it looks like it's fake." Savage's website currently has a copy of the birth certificate Obama has posted on its "Fight the Smears" website along with a headline stating "Could this be the REAL reason Obama is heading to Hawaii?" The headline links to a post by Andy Martin on Martin's Contrarian Commentary website. Martin stated in an October 20 press release: "Monday (today) we petitioned the Hawai'i Supreme Court to order Obama's secret birth records released. How did Obama respond? He suddenly discovered that his grandmother, who had supposedly been released from her hospital a week ago, when he showed no interest in her, needed his immediate attention. Cool, calm, collected Obama suddenly suspended his campaign and headed for Hawai'i."
From Savage's website:
From the October 23 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: By the way, I'd like to be a little inquisitive than the average reporter out there and observe that we have not -- we've been hearing and reading for at least three days now that Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, and that he's going out to rush to her side in Hawaii. Now, if he's already won the presidency, why hasn't he already gone to Hawaii? Why is he not already there? What's he waiting for? If she's deathly ill, this is the -- I'm just -- I'm pretending to be a reporter here. You know they'd ask McCain these questions. If Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, why has this been announced days ago, and he's only going now or tomorrow or whenever it is? Now, I understand, folks, Snerdley's got-- he's buried his head in his hands -- I understand this, my friends -- anything said about Obama is gonna be turned into an unfair, racist attack on the man, but I -- am I not asking the obvious questions? Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill, but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later?
See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? And I've been laying low on this because it just -- it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program. But this birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Phillip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate, and he still hasn't replied, he hasn't done so. And I'm just -- you know, you've got a deathly ill grandmother, you are going to rush to her side a few days from now. When you first announced this, you're gonna rush, you're gonna hurry, you're gonna make tracks, you're gonna get over there because you don't want your grandmother to die before you got there like your mother did, but somehow you keep campaigning, you take three days to get over there, if he's left yet.
And this birth certificate business -- I'm just wondering if something's up. I have no clue, and I -- folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's now popping up all over the place. There are a lot of people now that are starting to speculate and be curious about this. I don't know. Let's say, for example, that somebody does come up with proof that Obama -- something's screwy with his birth certificate, and something's screwy about the fact that he's allegedly a natural citizen, American citizen but may not be, dual citizenship, born in Kenya, who knows, there's all kinds of stuff out -- so what? What's gonna happen this late in the campaign? Do you think, if it's proven, that they're gonna dump him? That's not gonna happen. But there's still -- these are just questions that I have. I mean, look at, I -- both of my parents have died, and when I was told that the end was near, bam, I got there fast as I could, and I didn't announce to the audience, "I just got word my father's soon to be passing away, in four or five days I'm gonna go to Missouri. In the meantime I will not leave you here on this radio program." These are just natural questions. I think any inquisitive reporter -- I know the risk I'm running here by raising all of this, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't do that.
From the October 22 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:
SAVAGE: We're gonna raise the question of why Obama is headed to Hawaii. He certainly wouldn't take the time out to visit an ailing grandmother all of a sudden -- it is for other reasons, it is being speculated across the Internet that he was born in Kenya and he is not a U.S. citizen. Now, this originated with a Democrat who filed a lawsuit, a Democrat from Pennsylvania and a big donor to the Democrat [sic] Party -- filed a lawsuit claiming Obama was born in Kenya and that he is not a U.S. citizen and not qualified to run for the presidency. There are people arguing that Obama is headed to Hawaii not so much to visit an ailing relative but to fudge the birth certificate in question.
[...]
SAVAGE: There's an October surprise that could brew, and that's built around Obama's secretive trip to Hawaii coming up momentarily. There's intense national interest on the Internet as to whether or not he's an American citizen, and the question is being asked, could this be the real reason he is headed to Hawaii, and it was started by a Democrat who filed a lawsuit claiming Obama was born in Kenya. And you gotta read -- you gotta look at the birth certificate and judge for yourself on MichaelSavage.com. We actually have the birth certificate submitted by the Obama camp, and it looks like it's fake.
[...]
SAVAGE: Do you actually believe he's going to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother with 10 days to go until an election? Do you actually believe that? Do you actually believe he'd be going to Hawaii at this time with 10 days to go? You actually believe that? No, no, no -- no, no, no, no, no. No. There's some other reason that he's leaving the mainland of the United States in the midst of this toe-to-toe struggle right now, and it's got to do with his birth certificate. That's correct. That is correct. 1-800-449 -- but please go to MichaelSavage.com and look at the alleged birth certificate. Look at it very carefully.
[...]
SAVAGE: And Obama's leaving for Hawaii -- why? Why? What's he doing there? Why's he going there, huh? What's he going there for, huh? Why's he gonna -- the last phase of a race, he's getting off the track just to visit his grandmother? Don't be stupid. It's the birth certificate issue, you fools, you. Something's wrong with this picture, and we're gonna talk about it in the next hour. Carla in New York, if you make it fast, fire away on The Savage Nation.
CALLER: OK, first of all, as far as the trip to Hawaii, the reason he needs to go there is he's lost the lawsuit by not -- by having no one show. He needs to get to that house, the grandma's house. Those documents, the Kenyan documents are in that house. The other thing is that he has had four identities.
From the October 22 edition of Radio America's The G. Gordon Liddy Show:
LIDDY: Bring us up to date on the latest findings.
CORSI: Well, Mr. Liddy, I'm headed out to Honolulu. I am not convinced that Barack Obama is going because his grandmother is sick. I appreciate that his grandmother is sick and he wants to be with her. I do recall that Barack Obama's mother died of cancer, and he didn't go to be by her side when she died. He relates that in his autobiography, Dreams From My Father. And I'm going out to do what digging I can on the birth certificate. I'll be in Honolulu for the next few days. I don't expect to be detained in Honolulu the way I was in Kenya.
[...]
CORSI: I think I'll accomplish something in Hawaii, too. Obama's headed out there, and I believe there's a court challenge that if Obama does not dodge, he's gonna be forced to produce a birth certificate, and there's gonna be something damaging on that birth certificate, because even at the eleventh hour, Obama refuses to show us the hospital-generated birth certificate when he was born.
— H.D., G.L., & N.T.
Posted to the web on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 10:13 PM ET
Thursday, October 23, 2008
NY Times Endorses Barack
yahoo!!!!!
Barack Obama for President
Hyperbole is the currency of presidential campaigns, but this year the nation’s future truly hangs in the balance.
The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership. He is saddling his successor with two wars, a scarred global image and a government systematically stripped of its ability to protect and help its citizens — whether they are fleeing a hurricane’s floodwaters, searching for affordable health care or struggling to hold on to their homes, jobs, savings and pensions in the midst of a financial crisis that was foretold and preventable.
As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States.
•
Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems.
In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.
Given the particularly ugly nature of Mr. McCain’s campaign, the urge to choose on the basis of raw emotion is strong. But there is a greater value in looking closely at the facts of life in America today and at the prescriptions the candidates offer. The differences are profound.
Mr. McCain offers more of the Republican every-man-for-himself ideology, now lying in shards on Wall Street and in Americans’ bank accounts. Mr. Obama has another vision of government’s role and responsibilities.
In his convention speech in Denver, Mr. Obama said, “Government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves: protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.”
Since the financial crisis, he has correctly identified the abject failure of government regulation that has brought the markets to the brink of collapse.
The Economy
The American financial system is the victim of decades of Republican deregulatory and anti-tax policies. Those ideas have been proved wrong at an unfathomable price, but Mr. McCain — a self-proclaimed “foot soldier in the Reagan revolution” — is still a believer.
Mr. Obama sees that far-reaching reforms will be needed to protect Americans and American business.
Mr. McCain talks about reform a lot, but his vision is pinched. His answer to any economic question is to eliminate pork-barrel spending — about $18 billion in a $3 trillion budget — cut taxes and wait for unfettered markets to solve the problem.
Mr. Obama is clear that the nation’s tax structure must be changed to make it fairer. That means the well-off Americans who have benefited disproportionately from Mr. Bush’s tax cuts will have to pay some more. Working Americans, who have seen their standard of living fall and their children’s options narrow, will benefit. Mr. Obama wants to raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation, restore a climate in which workers are able to organize unions if they wish and expand educational opportunities.
Mr. McCain, who once opposed President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy as fiscally irresponsible, now wants to make them permanent. And while he talks about keeping taxes low for everyone, his proposed cuts would overwhelmingly benefit the top 1 percent of Americans while digging the country into a deeper fiscal hole.
National Security
The American military — its people and equipment — is dangerously overstretched. Mr. Bush has neglected the necessary war in Afghanistan, which now threatens to spiral into defeat. The unnecessary and staggeringly costly war in Iraq must be ended as quickly and responsibly as possible.
While Iraq’s leaders insist on a swift drawdown of American troops and a deadline for the end of the occupation, Mr. McCain is still taking about some ill-defined “victory.” As a result, he has offered no real plan for extracting American troops and limiting any further damage to Iraq and its neighbors.
Mr. Obama was an early and thoughtful opponent of the war in Iraq, and he has presented a military and diplomatic plan for withdrawing American forces. Mr. Obama also has correctly warned that until the Pentagon starts pulling troops out of Iraq, there will not be enough troops to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Mr. McCain, like Mr. Bush, has only belatedly focused on Afghanistan’s dangerous unraveling and the threat that neighboring Pakistan may quickly follow.
Mr. Obama would have a learning curve on foreign affairs, but he has already showed sounder judgment than his opponent on these critical issues. His choice of Senator Joseph Biden — who has deep foreign-policy expertise — as his running mate is another sign of that sound judgment. Mr. McCain’s long interest in foreign policy and the many dangers this country now faces make his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska more irresponsible.
Both presidential candidates talk about strengthening alliances in Europe and Asia, including NATO, and strongly support Israel. Both candidates talk about repairing America’s image in the world. But it seems clear to us that Mr. Obama is far more likely to do that — and not just because the first black president would present a new American face to the world.
Mr. Obama wants to reform the United Nations, while Mr. McCain wants to create a new entity, the League of Democracies — a move that would incite even fiercer anti-American furies around the world.
Unfortunately, Mr. McCain, like Mr. Bush, sees the world as divided into friends (like Georgia) and adversaries (like Russia). He proposed kicking Russia out of the Group of 8 industrialized nations even before the invasion of Georgia. We have no sympathy for Moscow’s bullying, but we also have no desire to replay the cold war. The United States must find a way to constrain the Russians’ worst impulses, while preserving the ability to work with them on arms control and other vital initiatives.
Both candidates talk tough on terrorism, and neither has ruled out military action to end Iran’s nuclear weapons program. But Mr. Obama has called for a serious effort to try to wean Tehran from its nuclear ambitions with more credible diplomatic overtures and tougher sanctions. Mr. McCain’s willingness to joke about bombing Iran was frightening.
The Constitution and the Rule of Law
Under Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the justice system and the separation of powers have come under relentless attack. Mr. Bush chose to exploit the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the moment in which he looked like the president of a unified nation, to try to place himself above the law.
Mr. Bush has arrogated the power to imprison men without charges and browbeat Congress into granting an unfettered authority to spy on Americans. He has created untold numbers of “black” programs, including secret prisons and outsourced torture. The president has issued hundreds, if not thousands, of secret orders. We fear it will take years of forensic research to discover how many basic rights have been violated.
Both candidates have renounced torture and are committed to closing the prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
But Mr. Obama has gone beyond that, promising to identify and correct Mr. Bush’s attacks on the democratic system. Mr. McCain has been silent on the subject.
Mr. McCain improved protections for detainees. But then he helped the White House push through the appalling Military Commissions Act of 2006, which denied detainees the right to a hearing in a real court and put Washington in conflict with the Geneva Conventions, greatly increasing the risk to American troops.
The next president will have the chance to appoint one or more justices to a Supreme Court that is on the brink of being dominated by a radical right wing. Mr. Obama may appoint less liberal judges than some of his followers might like, but Mr. McCain is certain to pick rigid ideologues. He has said he would never appoint a judge who believes in women’s reproductive rights.
The Candidates
It will be an enormous challenge just to get the nation back to where it was before Mr. Bush, to begin to mend its image in the world and to restore its self-confidence and its self-respect. Doing all of that, and leading America forward, will require strength of will, character and intellect, sober judgment and a cool, steady hand.
Mr. Obama has those qualities in abundance. Watching him being tested in the campaign has long since erased the reservations that led us to endorse Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries. He has drawn in legions of new voters with powerful messages of hope and possibility and calls for shared sacrifice and social responsibility.
Mr. McCain, whom we chose as the best Republican nominee in the primaries, has spent the last coins of his reputation for principle and sound judgment to placate the limitless demands and narrow vision of the far-right wing. His righteous fury at being driven out of the 2000 primaries on a racist tide aimed at his adopted daughter has been replaced by a zealous embrace of those same win-at-all-costs tactics and tacticians.
He surrendered his standing as an independent thinker in his rush to embrace Mr. Bush’s misbegotten tax policies and to abandon his leadership position on climate change and immigration reform.
Mr. McCain could have seized the high ground on energy and the environment. Earlier in his career, he offered the first plausible bill to control America’s emissions of greenhouse gases. Now his positions are a caricature of that record: think Ms. Palin leading chants of “drill, baby, drill.”
Mr. Obama has endorsed some offshore drilling, but as part of a comprehensive strategy including big investments in new, clean technologies.
•
Mr. Obama has withstood some of the toughest campaign attacks ever mounted against a candidate. He’s been called un-American and accused of hiding a secret Islamic faith. The Republicans have linked him to domestic terrorists and questioned his wife’s love of her country. Ms. Palin has also questioned millions of Americans’ patriotism, calling Republican-leaning states “pro-America.”
This politics of fear, division and character assassination helped Mr. Bush drive Mr. McCain from the 2000 Republican primaries and defeat Senator John Kerry in 2004. It has been the dominant theme of his failed presidency.
The nation’s problems are simply too grave to be reduced to slashing “robo-calls” and negative ads. This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership. Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities.
Barack Obama for President
Hyperbole is the currency of presidential campaigns, but this year the nation’s future truly hangs in the balance.
The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership. He is saddling his successor with two wars, a scarred global image and a government systematically stripped of its ability to protect and help its citizens — whether they are fleeing a hurricane’s floodwaters, searching for affordable health care or struggling to hold on to their homes, jobs, savings and pensions in the midst of a financial crisis that was foretold and preventable.
As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States.
•
Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems.
In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.
Given the particularly ugly nature of Mr. McCain’s campaign, the urge to choose on the basis of raw emotion is strong. But there is a greater value in looking closely at the facts of life in America today and at the prescriptions the candidates offer. The differences are profound.
Mr. McCain offers more of the Republican every-man-for-himself ideology, now lying in shards on Wall Street and in Americans’ bank accounts. Mr. Obama has another vision of government’s role and responsibilities.
In his convention speech in Denver, Mr. Obama said, “Government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves: protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.”
Since the financial crisis, he has correctly identified the abject failure of government regulation that has brought the markets to the brink of collapse.
The Economy
The American financial system is the victim of decades of Republican deregulatory and anti-tax policies. Those ideas have been proved wrong at an unfathomable price, but Mr. McCain — a self-proclaimed “foot soldier in the Reagan revolution” — is still a believer.
Mr. Obama sees that far-reaching reforms will be needed to protect Americans and American business.
Mr. McCain talks about reform a lot, but his vision is pinched. His answer to any economic question is to eliminate pork-barrel spending — about $18 billion in a $3 trillion budget — cut taxes and wait for unfettered markets to solve the problem.
Mr. Obama is clear that the nation’s tax structure must be changed to make it fairer. That means the well-off Americans who have benefited disproportionately from Mr. Bush’s tax cuts will have to pay some more. Working Americans, who have seen their standard of living fall and their children’s options narrow, will benefit. Mr. Obama wants to raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation, restore a climate in which workers are able to organize unions if they wish and expand educational opportunities.
Mr. McCain, who once opposed President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy as fiscally irresponsible, now wants to make them permanent. And while he talks about keeping taxes low for everyone, his proposed cuts would overwhelmingly benefit the top 1 percent of Americans while digging the country into a deeper fiscal hole.
National Security
The American military — its people and equipment — is dangerously overstretched. Mr. Bush has neglected the necessary war in Afghanistan, which now threatens to spiral into defeat. The unnecessary and staggeringly costly war in Iraq must be ended as quickly and responsibly as possible.
While Iraq’s leaders insist on a swift drawdown of American troops and a deadline for the end of the occupation, Mr. McCain is still taking about some ill-defined “victory.” As a result, he has offered no real plan for extracting American troops and limiting any further damage to Iraq and its neighbors.
Mr. Obama was an early and thoughtful opponent of the war in Iraq, and he has presented a military and diplomatic plan for withdrawing American forces. Mr. Obama also has correctly warned that until the Pentagon starts pulling troops out of Iraq, there will not be enough troops to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Mr. McCain, like Mr. Bush, has only belatedly focused on Afghanistan’s dangerous unraveling and the threat that neighboring Pakistan may quickly follow.
Mr. Obama would have a learning curve on foreign affairs, but he has already showed sounder judgment than his opponent on these critical issues. His choice of Senator Joseph Biden — who has deep foreign-policy expertise — as his running mate is another sign of that sound judgment. Mr. McCain’s long interest in foreign policy and the many dangers this country now faces make his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska more irresponsible.
Both presidential candidates talk about strengthening alliances in Europe and Asia, including NATO, and strongly support Israel. Both candidates talk about repairing America’s image in the world. But it seems clear to us that Mr. Obama is far more likely to do that — and not just because the first black president would present a new American face to the world.
Mr. Obama wants to reform the United Nations, while Mr. McCain wants to create a new entity, the League of Democracies — a move that would incite even fiercer anti-American furies around the world.
Unfortunately, Mr. McCain, like Mr. Bush, sees the world as divided into friends (like Georgia) and adversaries (like Russia). He proposed kicking Russia out of the Group of 8 industrialized nations even before the invasion of Georgia. We have no sympathy for Moscow’s bullying, but we also have no desire to replay the cold war. The United States must find a way to constrain the Russians’ worst impulses, while preserving the ability to work with them on arms control and other vital initiatives.
Both candidates talk tough on terrorism, and neither has ruled out military action to end Iran’s nuclear weapons program. But Mr. Obama has called for a serious effort to try to wean Tehran from its nuclear ambitions with more credible diplomatic overtures and tougher sanctions. Mr. McCain’s willingness to joke about bombing Iran was frightening.
The Constitution and the Rule of Law
Under Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the justice system and the separation of powers have come under relentless attack. Mr. Bush chose to exploit the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the moment in which he looked like the president of a unified nation, to try to place himself above the law.
Mr. Bush has arrogated the power to imprison men without charges and browbeat Congress into granting an unfettered authority to spy on Americans. He has created untold numbers of “black” programs, including secret prisons and outsourced torture. The president has issued hundreds, if not thousands, of secret orders. We fear it will take years of forensic research to discover how many basic rights have been violated.
Both candidates have renounced torture and are committed to closing the prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
But Mr. Obama has gone beyond that, promising to identify and correct Mr. Bush’s attacks on the democratic system. Mr. McCain has been silent on the subject.
Mr. McCain improved protections for detainees. But then he helped the White House push through the appalling Military Commissions Act of 2006, which denied detainees the right to a hearing in a real court and put Washington in conflict with the Geneva Conventions, greatly increasing the risk to American troops.
The next president will have the chance to appoint one or more justices to a Supreme Court that is on the brink of being dominated by a radical right wing. Mr. Obama may appoint less liberal judges than some of his followers might like, but Mr. McCain is certain to pick rigid ideologues. He has said he would never appoint a judge who believes in women’s reproductive rights.
The Candidates
It will be an enormous challenge just to get the nation back to where it was before Mr. Bush, to begin to mend its image in the world and to restore its self-confidence and its self-respect. Doing all of that, and leading America forward, will require strength of will, character and intellect, sober judgment and a cool, steady hand.
Mr. Obama has those qualities in abundance. Watching him being tested in the campaign has long since erased the reservations that led us to endorse Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries. He has drawn in legions of new voters with powerful messages of hope and possibility and calls for shared sacrifice and social responsibility.
Mr. McCain, whom we chose as the best Republican nominee in the primaries, has spent the last coins of his reputation for principle and sound judgment to placate the limitless demands and narrow vision of the far-right wing. His righteous fury at being driven out of the 2000 primaries on a racist tide aimed at his adopted daughter has been replaced by a zealous embrace of those same win-at-all-costs tactics and tacticians.
He surrendered his standing as an independent thinker in his rush to embrace Mr. Bush’s misbegotten tax policies and to abandon his leadership position on climate change and immigration reform.
Mr. McCain could have seized the high ground on energy and the environment. Earlier in his career, he offered the first plausible bill to control America’s emissions of greenhouse gases. Now his positions are a caricature of that record: think Ms. Palin leading chants of “drill, baby, drill.”
Mr. Obama has endorsed some offshore drilling, but as part of a comprehensive strategy including big investments in new, clean technologies.
•
Mr. Obama has withstood some of the toughest campaign attacks ever mounted against a candidate. He’s been called un-American and accused of hiding a secret Islamic faith. The Republicans have linked him to domestic terrorists and questioned his wife’s love of her country. Ms. Palin has also questioned millions of Americans’ patriotism, calling Republican-leaning states “pro-America.”
This politics of fear, division and character assassination helped Mr. Bush drive Mr. McCain from the 2000 Republican primaries and defeat Senator John Kerry in 2004. It has been the dominant theme of his failed presidency.
The nation’s problems are simply too grave to be reduced to slashing “robo-calls” and negative ads. This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership. Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities.
thank you david sedaris
“I look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."
- Author David Sedaris, on undecided voters
- Author David Sedaris, on undecided voters
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
DO IT
make sure you are registered to vote - here is the link for all of my NY resident readers:
https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/
When i went to vote in the primary, I had registered via mail, and needed to show a "government issued" id. At first I panicked. I thought I was NOT going to be able to VOTE. The right women had FOUGHT for - then i produced my SS card. That sufficed, and I was able to cast my vote. (with a tear in my eye).
So, BE PREPARED. Check to make sure you are registered, and when you go to vote in THIRTEEN DAYS, bring an ID JUST IN CASE. you do NOT want to be turned away!!!!
If you live in a state where you can vote early, do it!
I for one am dreaming of going to my polling location on Nov. 4 to cast my ballot. Jenn and I were just discussing it, and I got a little teary thinking about it.
https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/
When i went to vote in the primary, I had registered via mail, and needed to show a "government issued" id. At first I panicked. I thought I was NOT going to be able to VOTE. The right women had FOUGHT for - then i produced my SS card. That sufficed, and I was able to cast my vote. (with a tear in my eye).
So, BE PREPARED. Check to make sure you are registered, and when you go to vote in THIRTEEN DAYS, bring an ID JUST IN CASE. you do NOT want to be turned away!!!!
If you live in a state where you can vote early, do it!
I for one am dreaming of going to my polling location on Nov. 4 to cast my ballot. Jenn and I were just discussing it, and I got a little teary thinking about it.
Phew! Something else to help us dislike Sarah Palin
This is from the Huffington Post:
Since her selection as John McCain's running mate, the Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on clothing and make-up for Gov. Sarah Palin, her husband, and even her infant son, it was reported on Tuesday evening.
That entertaining scoop -- which came by way of Politico -- sent almost immediate reverberations through the presidential race. A statement from McCain headquarters released hours after the article bemoaned the triviality of the whole affair.
"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," said spokesperson Tracey Schmitt. "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."
But even the most timid of Democrats are unlikely to heed this call for civility. For starters, the story has the potential to dampen enthusiasm among GOP activists and donors at a critical point in the presidential race. It also creates a huge PR headache for the McCain ticket as it seeks to make inroads among voters worried about the current economic crisis.
Mainly, however, Democrats (in this scenario) are not prone to forgiveness. After all, it was during this same campaign cycle that Republicans belittled the $400 haircut that former Sen. John Edwards had paid for with his own campaign money (the funds were later reimbursed). And yet, the comparison to that once-dominant news story is hardly close: if Edwards had gotten one of his legendary haircuts every singe week, it would still take him 7.2 years to spend what Palin has spent. Palin has received the equivalent of $2,500 in clothes per day from places such as Saks Fifth Avenue (where RNC expenditures totaled nearly $50,000) and Neiman Marcus (where the governor had a $75,000 spree).
Beyond the political tit-for-tat, however, the revelation of the clothing expenditures offers what some Democrats see as a chance not just to win several news cycles during the campaign's waning days but to severely damage Palin's image as a small-town, 'Joe Six-Pack' American.
"It shows that Palin ain't like the rest of us," Tom Matzzie, a Democratic strategist told the Huffington Post, when asked how the party would or could use the issue. "It can help deflate her cultural populism with the Republican base. The Plumber's wife doesn't go to Nieman's or Saks."
Indeed, the story could not come at a more inopportune time for the McCain campaign. During a week in which the Republican ticket is trying to highlight its connection to the working class - and, by extension, promoting its newest campaign tool, Joe the Plumber - it was revealed that Palin's fashion budget for several weeks was more than four times the median salary of an American plumber ($37,514). To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years. A Democrat put it in even blunter terms: her clothes were the cost of health care for 15 or so people.
There are, in these cases, legal questions surrounding campaign expenditures. Though, on this front, Palin and the RNC seem to be in the clear.
"I don't think it's taxed," said David Donnelly of Campaign Money Watch. "I don't think she can keep it. It's owned by the RNC. They had to use coordinated funds to pay for the clothes."
And certainly the possibility exists that this issue can be effectively swept under the rug. Palin is not known for taking impromptu questions from the press. Moreover, the media, at this juncture, has other major story lines (see: upcoming election) to grapple with, thus denying the piece the relative vacuum that accompanied the Edwards story. Finally, there is little desire among conservative writers or pundits to litigate the matter, even if they were more than happy to jump on board when a Democrat was in the spotlight.
Several hours after Politico posted its findings, the topic remained nearly untouched by the major right-wing outlets. Though as Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic opined: "the heat for this story will come from Republicans who cannot understand how their party would do something this stupid ... particularly (and, it must be said, viewed retroactively) during the collapse of the financial system and the probable beginning of a recession."
Since her selection as John McCain's running mate, the Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on clothing and make-up for Gov. Sarah Palin, her husband, and even her infant son, it was reported on Tuesday evening.
That entertaining scoop -- which came by way of Politico -- sent almost immediate reverberations through the presidential race. A statement from McCain headquarters released hours after the article bemoaned the triviality of the whole affair.
"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," said spokesperson Tracey Schmitt. "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."
But even the most timid of Democrats are unlikely to heed this call for civility. For starters, the story has the potential to dampen enthusiasm among GOP activists and donors at a critical point in the presidential race. It also creates a huge PR headache for the McCain ticket as it seeks to make inroads among voters worried about the current economic crisis.
Mainly, however, Democrats (in this scenario) are not prone to forgiveness. After all, it was during this same campaign cycle that Republicans belittled the $400 haircut that former Sen. John Edwards had paid for with his own campaign money (the funds were later reimbursed). And yet, the comparison to that once-dominant news story is hardly close: if Edwards had gotten one of his legendary haircuts every singe week, it would still take him 7.2 years to spend what Palin has spent. Palin has received the equivalent of $2,500 in clothes per day from places such as Saks Fifth Avenue (where RNC expenditures totaled nearly $50,000) and Neiman Marcus (where the governor had a $75,000 spree).
Beyond the political tit-for-tat, however, the revelation of the clothing expenditures offers what some Democrats see as a chance not just to win several news cycles during the campaign's waning days but to severely damage Palin's image as a small-town, 'Joe Six-Pack' American.
"It shows that Palin ain't like the rest of us," Tom Matzzie, a Democratic strategist told the Huffington Post, when asked how the party would or could use the issue. "It can help deflate her cultural populism with the Republican base. The Plumber's wife doesn't go to Nieman's or Saks."
Indeed, the story could not come at a more inopportune time for the McCain campaign. During a week in which the Republican ticket is trying to highlight its connection to the working class - and, by extension, promoting its newest campaign tool, Joe the Plumber - it was revealed that Palin's fashion budget for several weeks was more than four times the median salary of an American plumber ($37,514). To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years. A Democrat put it in even blunter terms: her clothes were the cost of health care for 15 or so people.
There are, in these cases, legal questions surrounding campaign expenditures. Though, on this front, Palin and the RNC seem to be in the clear.
"I don't think it's taxed," said David Donnelly of Campaign Money Watch. "I don't think she can keep it. It's owned by the RNC. They had to use coordinated funds to pay for the clothes."
And certainly the possibility exists that this issue can be effectively swept under the rug. Palin is not known for taking impromptu questions from the press. Moreover, the media, at this juncture, has other major story lines (see: upcoming election) to grapple with, thus denying the piece the relative vacuum that accompanied the Edwards story. Finally, there is little desire among conservative writers or pundits to litigate the matter, even if they were more than happy to jump on board when a Democrat was in the spotlight.
Several hours after Politico posted its findings, the topic remained nearly untouched by the major right-wing outlets. Though as Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic opined: "the heat for this story will come from Republicans who cannot understand how their party would do something this stupid ... particularly (and, it must be said, viewed retroactively) during the collapse of the financial system and the probable beginning of a recession."
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Two Weeks...
My computer is fixed!!! hooray!!!
There are two weeks left of campaigning. Two weeks left of McCain and Palin badmouthing Obama and Biden rather than talking about what they are going to DO. Two weeks. No more debates, not much more fundraising- just ads, tv interviews, and rallies. I just saw a teaser for the Palin/McCain interviews on NBC. I am waiting with bated breath for Sarah Palin to make yet another fool of herself, though part of me thinks by now she should have it straight. Then there is that evil side of me that thinks "please no, don't let her get it right this time." It is just to damn entertaining. And McCain. How much more of a creepy, mean old man can he be? I love that he has a temper, and can't hide how he feels. I guess we have something in common. Scary, considering I have always said my temper and inability to hide how I feel is why I could never be a teacher, let alone the president!
Barack is going to Hawaii for 2 days to visit his sick grandmother. Part of me thinks "OH NO!" that is TWO days of lost campaigning in key states. But then i think "YES- show what a family man you are!" I dont care HOW we get those independents! If him visiting his ailing grandmother sways some STILL UNDECIDED people to his side, THANK GOD.
Finally, HOW, HOW can ANYONE not have made up their minds by now? Even Colin Powell has made up his mind (God LOVE him), I really cannot understand how someone hasn't made up their mind. Like, are these people people who have no view on anything whatsoever? Are these people not concerned about womens rights being taken away? Do these people have no opinion on the economy? Do they not care about health insurance? Are they unconcerned about the state of social security? Do they not find it alarming that the rich KEEP getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer? Have they not formulated a view on gay marriage? Do they not know that a WAR was started for NO REASON, and Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose without anything being done to find him? My conclusion is this: they are MEN, who have never had anyone they knew need healthcare without insurance, have never known a gay person, make around $60,000, are single, do not watch the news, and have no idea that thousands of soldiers have DIED in Iraq, are completely unaware to what Bush has done in the past 8 years, and therefore, have been in a coma since 2001.
I just had to get that out of my system.
I hope Baracks Grandma pulls through to see him HOPEFULLY win...
And now, Colin Goddamn Hotstuff Powell. I went to the gym Sunday morning, planning to be there during Meet the Press so I could watch it whilst working out (I like to be distracted) - I had no idea what I was in for. I had heard that they were pretty sure he was going to endorse Obama. But I was not ready for the eloquence, the strong words against McCain and Palin, and the powerful support of Barack. Here are some highlights:
"Mr. McCain says that he's a washed up terrorist, but then why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have the robocalls going on around the country trying to suggest that because of this very, very limited relationship that Senator Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, somehow Mr. Obama is tainted. What they're trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that's inappropriate. Now, I understand what politics is all about, I know how you can go after one another and that's good. But I think this goes too far, and I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for."
And when talking about how people are calling Obama a Muslim:
"Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian," he said. "But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, 'He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.' This is not the way we should be doing it in America.I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions."
"So, when I look at all of this and I think back to my Army career, we've got two individuals, either one of them could be a good president. But which is the president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities--and we have to take that into account--as well as his substance--he has both style and substance--he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world--onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."
I was crying, cheering, smiling from ear to ear while on the elliptical machine watching this. As I said to my cousin, Katie, "I never thought I would want to hug Colin Powell"
So smart, so Eloquent.
for the entire transcript from his interview, go here
Latest national poll: Obama 52% McCain 42%.
I. Will. Not. Get. Excited.
There are two weeks left of campaigning. Two weeks left of McCain and Palin badmouthing Obama and Biden rather than talking about what they are going to DO. Two weeks. No more debates, not much more fundraising- just ads, tv interviews, and rallies. I just saw a teaser for the Palin/McCain interviews on NBC. I am waiting with bated breath for Sarah Palin to make yet another fool of herself, though part of me thinks by now she should have it straight. Then there is that evil side of me that thinks "please no, don't let her get it right this time." It is just to damn entertaining. And McCain. How much more of a creepy, mean old man can he be? I love that he has a temper, and can't hide how he feels. I guess we have something in common. Scary, considering I have always said my temper and inability to hide how I feel is why I could never be a teacher, let alone the president!
Barack is going to Hawaii for 2 days to visit his sick grandmother. Part of me thinks "OH NO!" that is TWO days of lost campaigning in key states. But then i think "YES- show what a family man you are!" I dont care HOW we get those independents! If him visiting his ailing grandmother sways some STILL UNDECIDED people to his side, THANK GOD.
Finally, HOW, HOW can ANYONE not have made up their minds by now? Even Colin Powell has made up his mind (God LOVE him), I really cannot understand how someone hasn't made up their mind. Like, are these people people who have no view on anything whatsoever? Are these people not concerned about womens rights being taken away? Do these people have no opinion on the economy? Do they not care about health insurance? Are they unconcerned about the state of social security? Do they not find it alarming that the rich KEEP getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer? Have they not formulated a view on gay marriage? Do they not know that a WAR was started for NO REASON, and Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose without anything being done to find him? My conclusion is this: they are MEN, who have never had anyone they knew need healthcare without insurance, have never known a gay person, make around $60,000, are single, do not watch the news, and have no idea that thousands of soldiers have DIED in Iraq, are completely unaware to what Bush has done in the past 8 years, and therefore, have been in a coma since 2001.
I just had to get that out of my system.
I hope Baracks Grandma pulls through to see him HOPEFULLY win...
And now, Colin Goddamn Hotstuff Powell. I went to the gym Sunday morning, planning to be there during Meet the Press so I could watch it whilst working out (I like to be distracted) - I had no idea what I was in for. I had heard that they were pretty sure he was going to endorse Obama. But I was not ready for the eloquence, the strong words against McCain and Palin, and the powerful support of Barack. Here are some highlights:
"Mr. McCain says that he's a washed up terrorist, but then why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have the robocalls going on around the country trying to suggest that because of this very, very limited relationship that Senator Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, somehow Mr. Obama is tainted. What they're trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that's inappropriate. Now, I understand what politics is all about, I know how you can go after one another and that's good. But I think this goes too far, and I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for."
And when talking about how people are calling Obama a Muslim:
"Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian," he said. "But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, 'He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.' This is not the way we should be doing it in America.I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions."
"So, when I look at all of this and I think back to my Army career, we've got two individuals, either one of them could be a good president. But which is the president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities--and we have to take that into account--as well as his substance--he has both style and substance--he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world--onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."
I was crying, cheering, smiling from ear to ear while on the elliptical machine watching this. As I said to my cousin, Katie, "I never thought I would want to hug Colin Powell"
So smart, so Eloquent.
for the entire transcript from his interview, go here
Latest national poll: Obama 52% McCain 42%.
I. Will. Not. Get. Excited.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
my favorite pasttime of late...
you can make up different scenarios on how the election will end up... it is hours of fun
The Third and Final Round
Well, here we are, 20 days until we vote, and it is the last debate.
I have an inkling there will be talk about the... ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!!
I have another inkling that the same questions will be asked and the same answers will be given.
I dont know if McCain is going to bring something new out. I don't think, at this point, that would help him. I feel and I HOPE that whatever he does at this point can't help. Saying the same things he has been won't, bringing a new idea won't, being mean to Barack won't. Well, I hope all of that is true, anyway.
Drinking game.
1 drink for: My Friends (only use that if you want to be completely drunk by the end of the first half hour)
2 drinks for: Middle class
1 drink for : Worried about retirement
Finish off the bottle if McCain says "horse shit" under his breath like he did in the first debate
1 Drink when Barack says- Failed Policies of George W. Bush
1 drink: Look to the future, don't dwell on the past.
this is it. I'm not sure if it will make or break the election, but I can guarantee we will learn NOTHING new.
We won't even have the entertainment of McCain wandering around the stage in a daze like last time since they will be sitting at a table.
I Would love for Barack to say "fuck off and stop lying."
but i dont think it will happen.
I have an inkling there will be talk about the... ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!!
I have another inkling that the same questions will be asked and the same answers will be given.
I dont know if McCain is going to bring something new out. I don't think, at this point, that would help him. I feel and I HOPE that whatever he does at this point can't help. Saying the same things he has been won't, bringing a new idea won't, being mean to Barack won't. Well, I hope all of that is true, anyway.
Drinking game.
1 drink for: My Friends (only use that if you want to be completely drunk by the end of the first half hour)
2 drinks for: Middle class
1 drink for : Worried about retirement
Finish off the bottle if McCain says "horse shit" under his breath like he did in the first debate
1 Drink when Barack says- Failed Policies of George W. Bush
1 drink: Look to the future, don't dwell on the past.
this is it. I'm not sure if it will make or break the election, but I can guarantee we will learn NOTHING new.
We won't even have the entertainment of McCain wandering around the stage in a daze like last time since they will be sitting at a table.
I Would love for Barack to say "fuck off and stop lying."
but i dont think it will happen.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Whatever the reason...
"I'd vote for Barack Obama, well, because.. John McCain is just so OLD."
-Brendan, Age 8
-Brendan, Age 8
Three Weeks.
Three weeks from right now I will be glued to the television as the exit poll results trickle in. Anderson Cooper will be gearing up for hours of no sleep. Polls on the West Coast will still have 3 hours left. I will be crazy with anticipation all day long. I will be obsessed. There are still three weeks left. Anything can happen. Right now everything is looking good for Obama. I STILL cannot allow myself to get too excited. I try not to imagine who will be on the cabinet. I try not to think about the inauguration. I just take it day by day, check the polls, read the speeches, watch the ads. And I hope. I hope that everyone who has registered to vote will actually go out and vote. PLEASE GO AND VOTE!!!!!!!!!
and I leave you with this, the Keating Economics video from Obama's campaign:
and I leave you with this, the Keating Economics video from Obama's campaign:
NY Times Op Ed
The New York Times
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October 12, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama
By FRANK RICH
IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him.
Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries.
“I’ve got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying,” Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like success. The fear receded.
Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.
All’s fair in politics. John McCain and Sarah Palin have every right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is minor, even if Ayers’s Weather Underground history dates back to Obama’s childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational reform. But it’s not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that’s going on here. Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating.
What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.
By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.
That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8.
We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.
Obama can hardly be held accountable for Ayers’s behavior 40 years ago, but at least McCain and Palin can try to take some responsibility for the behavior of their own supporters in 2008. What’s troubling here is not only the candidates’ loose inflammatory talk but also their refusal to step in promptly and strongly when someone responds to it with bloodthirsty threats in a crowded arena. Joe Biden had it exactly right when he expressed concern last week that “a leading American politician who might be vice president of the United States would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that.” To stay silent is to pour gas on the fires.
It wasn’t always thus with McCain. In February he loudly disassociated himself from a speaker who brayed “Barack Hussein Obama” when introducing him at a rally in Ohio. Now McCain either backpedals with tardy, pro forma expressions of respect for his opponent or lets second-tier campaign underlings release boilerplate disavowals after ugly incidents like the chilling Jim Crow-era flashback last week when a Florida sheriff ranted about “Barack Hussein Obama” at a Palin rally while in full uniform.
From the start, there have always been two separate but equal questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to the second: Yes.
McCain, who is no racist, turned to this desperate strategy only as Obama started to pull ahead. The tone was set at the Republican convention, with Rudy Giuliani’s mocking dismissal of Obama as an “only in America” affirmative-action baby. We also learned then that the McCain campaign had recruited as a Palin handler none other than Tucker Eskew, the South Carolina consultant who had worked for George W. Bush in the notorious 2000 G.O.P. primary battle where the McCains and their adopted Bangladeshi daughter were slimed by vicious racist rumors.
No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin’s convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago’s mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was “regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.” In the ’60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls.”
This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential vice president at a national political convention. It’s astonishing there’s been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis Farrakhan — or William Ayers — in Denver.
The operatives who would have Palin quote Pegler have been at it ever since. A key indicator came two weeks after the convention, when the McCain campaign ran its first ad tying Obama to the mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Rather than make its case by using a legitimate link between Fannie and Obama (or other Democratic leaders), the McCain forces chose a former Fannie executive who had no real tie to Obama or his campaign but did have a black face that could dominate the ad’s visuals.
There are no black faces high in the McCain hierarchy to object to these tactics. There hasn’t been a single black Republican governor, senator or House member in six years. This is a campaign where Palin can repeatedly declare that Alaska is “a microcosm of America” without anyone even wondering how that might be so for a state whose tiny black and Hispanic populations are each roughly one-third the national average. There are indeed so few people of color at McCain events that a black senior writer from The Tallahassee Democrat was mistakenly ejected by the Secret Service from a campaign rally in Panama City in August, even though he was standing with other reporters and showed his credentials. His only apparent infraction was to look glaringly out of place.
Could the old racial politics still be determinative? I’ve long been skeptical of the incessant press prognostications (and liberal panic) that this election will be decided by racist white men in the Rust Belt. Now even the dimmest bloviators have figured out that Americans are riveted by the color green, not black — as in money, not energy. Voters are looking for a leader who might help rescue them, not a reckless gambler whose lurching responses to the economic meltdown (a campaign “suspension,” a mortgage-buyout stunt that changes daily) are as unhinged as his wanderings around the debate stage.
To see how fast the tide is moving, just look at North Carolina. On July 4 this year — the day that the godfather of modern G.O.P. racial politics, Jesse Helms, died — The Charlotte Observer reported that strategists of both parties agreed Obama’s chances to win the state fell “between slim and none.” Today, as Charlotte reels from the implosion of Wachovia, the McCain-Obama race is a dead heat in North Carolina and Helms’s Republican successor in the Senate, Elizabeth Dole, is looking like a goner.
But we’re not at Election Day yet, and if voters are to have their final say, both America and Obama have to get there safely. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder. The onus is on the man who says he puts his country first to call off the dogs, pit bulls and otherwise.
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October 12, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama
By FRANK RICH
IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him.
Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries.
“I’ve got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying,” Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like success. The fear receded.
Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.
All’s fair in politics. John McCain and Sarah Palin have every right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is minor, even if Ayers’s Weather Underground history dates back to Obama’s childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational reform. But it’s not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that’s going on here. Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating.
What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.
By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.
That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8.
We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.
Obama can hardly be held accountable for Ayers’s behavior 40 years ago, but at least McCain and Palin can try to take some responsibility for the behavior of their own supporters in 2008. What’s troubling here is not only the candidates’ loose inflammatory talk but also their refusal to step in promptly and strongly when someone responds to it with bloodthirsty threats in a crowded arena. Joe Biden had it exactly right when he expressed concern last week that “a leading American politician who might be vice president of the United States would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that.” To stay silent is to pour gas on the fires.
It wasn’t always thus with McCain. In February he loudly disassociated himself from a speaker who brayed “Barack Hussein Obama” when introducing him at a rally in Ohio. Now McCain either backpedals with tardy, pro forma expressions of respect for his opponent or lets second-tier campaign underlings release boilerplate disavowals after ugly incidents like the chilling Jim Crow-era flashback last week when a Florida sheriff ranted about “Barack Hussein Obama” at a Palin rally while in full uniform.
From the start, there have always been two separate but equal questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to the second: Yes.
McCain, who is no racist, turned to this desperate strategy only as Obama started to pull ahead. The tone was set at the Republican convention, with Rudy Giuliani’s mocking dismissal of Obama as an “only in America” affirmative-action baby. We also learned then that the McCain campaign had recruited as a Palin handler none other than Tucker Eskew, the South Carolina consultant who had worked for George W. Bush in the notorious 2000 G.O.P. primary battle where the McCains and their adopted Bangladeshi daughter were slimed by vicious racist rumors.
No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin’s convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago’s mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was “regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.” In the ’60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls.”
This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential vice president at a national political convention. It’s astonishing there’s been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis Farrakhan — or William Ayers — in Denver.
The operatives who would have Palin quote Pegler have been at it ever since. A key indicator came two weeks after the convention, when the McCain campaign ran its first ad tying Obama to the mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Rather than make its case by using a legitimate link between Fannie and Obama (or other Democratic leaders), the McCain forces chose a former Fannie executive who had no real tie to Obama or his campaign but did have a black face that could dominate the ad’s visuals.
There are no black faces high in the McCain hierarchy to object to these tactics. There hasn’t been a single black Republican governor, senator or House member in six years. This is a campaign where Palin can repeatedly declare that Alaska is “a microcosm of America” without anyone even wondering how that might be so for a state whose tiny black and Hispanic populations are each roughly one-third the national average. There are indeed so few people of color at McCain events that a black senior writer from The Tallahassee Democrat was mistakenly ejected by the Secret Service from a campaign rally in Panama City in August, even though he was standing with other reporters and showed his credentials. His only apparent infraction was to look glaringly out of place.
Could the old racial politics still be determinative? I’ve long been skeptical of the incessant press prognostications (and liberal panic) that this election will be decided by racist white men in the Rust Belt. Now even the dimmest bloviators have figured out that Americans are riveted by the color green, not black — as in money, not energy. Voters are looking for a leader who might help rescue them, not a reckless gambler whose lurching responses to the economic meltdown (a campaign “suspension,” a mortgage-buyout stunt that changes daily) are as unhinged as his wanderings around the debate stage.
To see how fast the tide is moving, just look at North Carolina. On July 4 this year — the day that the godfather of modern G.O.P. racial politics, Jesse Helms, died — The Charlotte Observer reported that strategists of both parties agreed Obama’s chances to win the state fell “between slim and none.” Today, as Charlotte reels from the implosion of Wachovia, the McCain-Obama race is a dead heat in North Carolina and Helms’s Republican successor in the Senate, Elizabeth Dole, is looking like a goner.
But we’re not at Election Day yet, and if voters are to have their final say, both America and Obama have to get there safely. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder. The onus is on the man who says he puts his country first to call off the dogs, pit bulls and otherwise.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Round 2
I apologize for my delay in posting, there is so much going on, but my SPACEBAR on my laptop is NOT working, so blogging is impossible from the comfort of my home.
did anyone notice mccain's heavy breathing during the debate?
What was WITH that!? It was oddly creepy. Like you know he smells like moth balls and has a hard candy in his pocket at all time. i KNOW age shouldn't matter. But it does. Oh, how it does. Especially when the back up if he should die is the female George W. Bush. I dont want to think about it. Also, I KNOW that McCain's mother is 97, however, she was not tortured in a war that left her with a handicap. And I don't think she had melanoma.
We didn't learn anything new last night. The most interesting part of the night was when McCain referred to Barack as "that one." and even that wasnt very exciting. We get it, McCain, you like to be condescending, and you can't tell a joke...
I did enjoy this commentary by Nora Ephron:
I don't mean to be superficial, but let's face it, I am. And there's nothing like a presidential debate to remind me how deeply superficial. It's not that I don't hear what the candidates are saying, but I always begin by noticing what they're wearing, and whose shirt looks better, and of course, whose tie. I spent a great deal of the first debate upset about the way Obama's shirt fit too loosely around his neck, and I had quite a lot of fantasies about how to help him in this area. If I were married to him I assure you he never would have left the house in that shirt.
By the time tonight's debate was minutes old, I had decided that Obama had won. His shirt looked great, and his suit fit beautifully. This seemed important. He sat down in a chair that was basically unsittable and he looked fantastic. He loped around the stage, holding the microphone as if he'd been born with a silver one in his hand. Compare that to McCain: his jacket fit oddly and his way-too-wide tie was poking out of the bottom. He was unhealthy -- overweight and out-of-breath, almost gasping for air every five or six words. And he looked so stumpy and awkward walking around the stage that I couldn't imagine why he'd ever thought a Town Hall format would be good for him.
I feel a little guilty about all these shallow criteria, but not too guilty, because in some horrible way, these debates are really not about substance but trivia. We have been with these guys a long time, and we now know what they're going to say and how they're going to say it. McCain repeats himself way worse than Obama -- "my friends," "earmarks," etc. -- but both of them are guys we've been married to for a long time, and we know their stories. It's true I had no idea that McCain learned everything he knew from a chief petty officer, but that was about the extent of the surprises he had in store for me after all these years together, and in any case, it was clearly bullshit.
But the point I'm leading up to is that both candidates are good at what debates are now about -- not making a mistake. It's amazing that they spend ninety minutes on a stage discussing the burning issues of our time, and in the end it can boil down to a slip of the tongue, a moment that's perceived as over the line, a factual mistake that can be made into a "gotcha" moment.
McCain came close to making a mistake, and there will be a big deal made over his referring to Obama as "that one" because it was patronizing and revealing. But in the end that moment will seem like yet another misguided attempt at the sort of casual joke McCain fails to make work most of the time. If I were married to him, an unlikely scenario, we would probably have fought in the car on the way home tonight, because I told him a million times not to try to be funny, but he never listens to me.
And if I were married to Obama, another unlikely scenario but a far more attractive one, I would be driving home having a hard time not thinking about the curtains.
did anyone notice mccain's heavy breathing during the debate?
What was WITH that!? It was oddly creepy. Like you know he smells like moth balls and has a hard candy in his pocket at all time. i KNOW age shouldn't matter. But it does. Oh, how it does. Especially when the back up if he should die is the female George W. Bush. I dont want to think about it. Also, I KNOW that McCain's mother is 97, however, she was not tortured in a war that left her with a handicap. And I don't think she had melanoma.
We didn't learn anything new last night. The most interesting part of the night was when McCain referred to Barack as "that one." and even that wasnt very exciting. We get it, McCain, you like to be condescending, and you can't tell a joke...
I did enjoy this commentary by Nora Ephron:
I don't mean to be superficial, but let's face it, I am. And there's nothing like a presidential debate to remind me how deeply superficial. It's not that I don't hear what the candidates are saying, but I always begin by noticing what they're wearing, and whose shirt looks better, and of course, whose tie. I spent a great deal of the first debate upset about the way Obama's shirt fit too loosely around his neck, and I had quite a lot of fantasies about how to help him in this area. If I were married to him I assure you he never would have left the house in that shirt.
By the time tonight's debate was minutes old, I had decided that Obama had won. His shirt looked great, and his suit fit beautifully. This seemed important. He sat down in a chair that was basically unsittable and he looked fantastic. He loped around the stage, holding the microphone as if he'd been born with a silver one in his hand. Compare that to McCain: his jacket fit oddly and his way-too-wide tie was poking out of the bottom. He was unhealthy -- overweight and out-of-breath, almost gasping for air every five or six words. And he looked so stumpy and awkward walking around the stage that I couldn't imagine why he'd ever thought a Town Hall format would be good for him.
I feel a little guilty about all these shallow criteria, but not too guilty, because in some horrible way, these debates are really not about substance but trivia. We have been with these guys a long time, and we now know what they're going to say and how they're going to say it. McCain repeats himself way worse than Obama -- "my friends," "earmarks," etc. -- but both of them are guys we've been married to for a long time, and we know their stories. It's true I had no idea that McCain learned everything he knew from a chief petty officer, but that was about the extent of the surprises he had in store for me after all these years together, and in any case, it was clearly bullshit.
But the point I'm leading up to is that both candidates are good at what debates are now about -- not making a mistake. It's amazing that they spend ninety minutes on a stage discussing the burning issues of our time, and in the end it can boil down to a slip of the tongue, a moment that's perceived as over the line, a factual mistake that can be made into a "gotcha" moment.
McCain came close to making a mistake, and there will be a big deal made over his referring to Obama as "that one" because it was patronizing and revealing. But in the end that moment will seem like yet another misguided attempt at the sort of casual joke McCain fails to make work most of the time. If I were married to him, an unlikely scenario, we would probably have fought in the car on the way home tonight, because I told him a million times not to try to be funny, but he never listens to me.
And if I were married to Obama, another unlikely scenario but a far more attractive one, I would be driving home having a hard time not thinking about the curtains.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
GO AL!
I am going to deviate from my usual topic of the presidential election and write a bit about other important elections going on in the country on November 4. That is of the races for Senate and the House. Yes, electing a Democratic president is important. But even more important is having the Democratic Congress behind him. The mid-term elections proved that people were ready for change 2 years ago, when Democrats won surprising seats left and right (and Anderson Cooper was practically dancing in the newsroom). Once again we have important Senate/House races happening. One in particular is near and dear to my heart. Not because it is in my home state of Massachusetts, nor is it in my state of residence, New York. No, it is in a state that is very important as it is a "swing" state. And, the reason it is near and dear to my heard is because on Mr. Al Franken is running as the Democrat, against the incumbent, Norm Coleman. Al Franken has done what I would do if A. I was smart enough B. I could tolerate Republicans enough and C. If I had money. He has moaned and groaned (on his excellent radio show on Air America, which he left when he decided to run for Senate), he has campaigned, he has rallied, and he wanted to do something about the corruption that has taken over Washington. He took his frustation and turned it into good, by taking action and running for Senate in his home state of Minnesota. I envy all of my friends who live there because they get to vote for him.
So please, don't forget that not only do we have to elect Barack, but we also have to elect the Congress that will pass the bills.
I have been following the race in Minnesota closely, and was very excited to find this article regarding the race, which is from the Star Tribune:
By Kevin Duchschere , Star Tribune
DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken has moved into his first solid lead over incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll.
The survey, conducted Tuesday through Thursday by Princeton Survey Research Associates International among 1,084 likely Minnesota voters, shows Franken leading Coleman 43 to 34 percent. Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley is supported by 18 percent of respondents.
Franken’s lead is outside the poll’s margin of sampling error, plus or minus 3.7 points.
For Coleman, there is little good news in the poll. The number of voters who view him unfavorably continues to grow, the number who see him favorably is falling, and his job-approval rating has slipped to 38 percent — his lowest ever in the Minnesota Poll.
Coleman led Franken by four points in last month’s Minnesota Poll.
The new results stand in contrast to the findings of a SurveyUSA poll, commissioned by KSTP-TV and also conducted this week, that shows Coleman with a 10-point lead over Franken, 43 to 33 percent.
Citing that poll, the Coleman campaign called the Minnesota Poll and its methodology “flawed,” campaign spokesman Luke Friedrich said.
“Minnesotans should take the Star Tribune poll for what it’s worth,” Friedrich said.
“This is an independent pollster who is respected across the country,” Star Tribune editor Nancy Barnes said. “It’s the same pollster who found the presidential race in Minnesota to be a dead heat last month. All polls have a margin of error, but on the whole we trust that these results have merit.’’
The Minnesota Poll results suggest Franken may be riding the coattails of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who has widened a lead over Republican John McCain in polls across the country. But the advertising war in the race also appears to be a factor decidedly in Franken’s favor.
Colleen Murray, a spokeswoman for the Franken campaign, called the poll “great news for people across Minnesota who are hungry for change in Washington.” Franken’s lead, she said, reflects the belief of Minnesotans that he will fight for the middle class in Washington and that Coleman hasn’t.
Barkley’s 18-percent showing represents a bump of five points from last month’s poll and an attention-getting show of support for the third-party candidate who has spent far less time and money campaigning than the two leading contenders.
But in the three weeks since the last poll Barkley’s name recognition hasn’t budged. A third of likely voters in this week’s poll still say they’ve never heard his name.
Chris Truscott, spokesman for the Barkley campaign, said they were excited by recent poll numbers.
“We’re consistently moving in the right direction and that’s a result of Minnesotans looking for something better,” he said. “We just got our radio ads up, and we’ve got five debates coming. This campaign is just getting underway.”
Ad wars doing damage
The new poll suggests that one reason for Franken’s gain is voters’ reaction to the abrasive advertising in the campaign.
The survey shows that 56 percent of poll respondents consider ads criticizing Franken to be “mostly unfair personal attacks.” Only 42 percent said the same about ads criticizing Coleman.
Some of the ads by the Coleman campaign and national Republicans show Franken when he was an entertainer, cursing and ranting on political subjects. Others stress the tax and accounting mistakes of his private corporation when he was living in New York.
Said Franken supporter Lori Miller, a 46-year-old small-business owner from Staples: “I feel we need something new, and I feel like [Franken’s] out for the middle class. I don’t know if I really believe all the bad things they’re saying about him.”
The Rev. Philip Geoffrion, a pastor in Cokato, is a Republican who’s tempted to vote for Barkley except for the fact that, as he said, “when he doesn’t have a chance to win, I figure I’ll waste my vote.” For now, he’s sticking with Coleman.
Barkley hurting Coleman
The poll shows that Barkley is drawing more votes from Coleman than Franken, although Franken would still be ahead of Coleman even if Barkley wasn’t in the race.
More Barkley supporters, 49 percent, said they leaned toward Coleman than Franken, who drew support from 33 percent of them. In a head-to-head match without Barkley, Franken topped Coleman by 49 percent to 42 percent.
The poll detected a significant increase in Minnesotans who label themselves as Democrats. Forty-two percent of likely voters identified themselves as Democrats, compared with 27 percent who said they were independents, and 26 percent who said they were Republicans.
According to the poll, Coleman’s support has slid among men and those in upper- and lower-income brackets. Last month, Coleman led Franken among men, 46 to 36 percent; in the recent poll Franken is ahead, 45 to 34 percent.
Coleman continues to get strong support from white evangelicals, but white Catholics are about evenly split between the two leading candidates. Both Coleman and Franken are struggling equally to keep their respective bases from drifting to the Barkley camp; each has the support of 78 percent of their party members, while 12 percent of Democrats and Republicans alike support Barkley.
And Barkley has cut into Coleman’s former lead among independents, leaving them divided almost evenly among Coleman (34 percent), Barkley (33 percent) and Franken (29 percent).
David Roeser, 65, a retired General Mills mechanic who lives in Minneapolis, said he was for Barkley in part because of all “the crap” in the TV ads.
“This has really alienated me from both [Coleman and Franken]. I’ve read some of Franken’s satire — I’m not a big fan of the stuff — and I’ve watched Coleman in Congress a bit,” he said. “But these ads have turned me totally away. Barkley seems like more my kind of person.”
Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455
So please, don't forget that not only do we have to elect Barack, but we also have to elect the Congress that will pass the bills.
I have been following the race in Minnesota closely, and was very excited to find this article regarding the race, which is from the Star Tribune:
By Kevin Duchschere , Star Tribune
DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken has moved into his first solid lead over incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll.
The survey, conducted Tuesday through Thursday by Princeton Survey Research Associates International among 1,084 likely Minnesota voters, shows Franken leading Coleman 43 to 34 percent. Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley is supported by 18 percent of respondents.
Franken’s lead is outside the poll’s margin of sampling error, plus or minus 3.7 points.
For Coleman, there is little good news in the poll. The number of voters who view him unfavorably continues to grow, the number who see him favorably is falling, and his job-approval rating has slipped to 38 percent — his lowest ever in the Minnesota Poll.
Coleman led Franken by four points in last month’s Minnesota Poll.
The new results stand in contrast to the findings of a SurveyUSA poll, commissioned by KSTP-TV and also conducted this week, that shows Coleman with a 10-point lead over Franken, 43 to 33 percent.
Citing that poll, the Coleman campaign called the Minnesota Poll and its methodology “flawed,” campaign spokesman Luke Friedrich said.
“Minnesotans should take the Star Tribune poll for what it’s worth,” Friedrich said.
“This is an independent pollster who is respected across the country,” Star Tribune editor Nancy Barnes said. “It’s the same pollster who found the presidential race in Minnesota to be a dead heat last month. All polls have a margin of error, but on the whole we trust that these results have merit.’’
The Minnesota Poll results suggest Franken may be riding the coattails of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who has widened a lead over Republican John McCain in polls across the country. But the advertising war in the race also appears to be a factor decidedly in Franken’s favor.
Colleen Murray, a spokeswoman for the Franken campaign, called the poll “great news for people across Minnesota who are hungry for change in Washington.” Franken’s lead, she said, reflects the belief of Minnesotans that he will fight for the middle class in Washington and that Coleman hasn’t.
Barkley’s 18-percent showing represents a bump of five points from last month’s poll and an attention-getting show of support for the third-party candidate who has spent far less time and money campaigning than the two leading contenders.
But in the three weeks since the last poll Barkley’s name recognition hasn’t budged. A third of likely voters in this week’s poll still say they’ve never heard his name.
Chris Truscott, spokesman for the Barkley campaign, said they were excited by recent poll numbers.
“We’re consistently moving in the right direction and that’s a result of Minnesotans looking for something better,” he said. “We just got our radio ads up, and we’ve got five debates coming. This campaign is just getting underway.”
Ad wars doing damage
The new poll suggests that one reason for Franken’s gain is voters’ reaction to the abrasive advertising in the campaign.
The survey shows that 56 percent of poll respondents consider ads criticizing Franken to be “mostly unfair personal attacks.” Only 42 percent said the same about ads criticizing Coleman.
Some of the ads by the Coleman campaign and national Republicans show Franken when he was an entertainer, cursing and ranting on political subjects. Others stress the tax and accounting mistakes of his private corporation when he was living in New York.
Said Franken supporter Lori Miller, a 46-year-old small-business owner from Staples: “I feel we need something new, and I feel like [Franken’s] out for the middle class. I don’t know if I really believe all the bad things they’re saying about him.”
The Rev. Philip Geoffrion, a pastor in Cokato, is a Republican who’s tempted to vote for Barkley except for the fact that, as he said, “when he doesn’t have a chance to win, I figure I’ll waste my vote.” For now, he’s sticking with Coleman.
Barkley hurting Coleman
The poll shows that Barkley is drawing more votes from Coleman than Franken, although Franken would still be ahead of Coleman even if Barkley wasn’t in the race.
More Barkley supporters, 49 percent, said they leaned toward Coleman than Franken, who drew support from 33 percent of them. In a head-to-head match without Barkley, Franken topped Coleman by 49 percent to 42 percent.
The poll detected a significant increase in Minnesotans who label themselves as Democrats. Forty-two percent of likely voters identified themselves as Democrats, compared with 27 percent who said they were independents, and 26 percent who said they were Republicans.
According to the poll, Coleman’s support has slid among men and those in upper- and lower-income brackets. Last month, Coleman led Franken among men, 46 to 36 percent; in the recent poll Franken is ahead, 45 to 34 percent.
Coleman continues to get strong support from white evangelicals, but white Catholics are about evenly split between the two leading candidates. Both Coleman and Franken are struggling equally to keep their respective bases from drifting to the Barkley camp; each has the support of 78 percent of their party members, while 12 percent of Democrats and Republicans alike support Barkley.
And Barkley has cut into Coleman’s former lead among independents, leaving them divided almost evenly among Coleman (34 percent), Barkley (33 percent) and Franken (29 percent).
David Roeser, 65, a retired General Mills mechanic who lives in Minneapolis, said he was for Barkley in part because of all “the crap” in the TV ads.
“This has really alienated me from both [Coleman and Franken]. I’ve read some of Franken’s satire — I’m not a big fan of the stuff — and I’ve watched Coleman in Congress a bit,” he said. “But these ads have turned me totally away. Barkley seems like more my kind of person.”
Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455
One Month.
One month from today we will be just hours away from knowing who has one the Presidency.
Oh. My. God.
One month.
A lot can happen in a month.
Osama Bin Laden may be "found."
Polls can change.
A lot can happen in a month.
I am waiting for Barack to announce a rally in NYC around the last debate, which is on Long Island. If that happens, you better believe I will be there. And I will probably cry.
My friends. We have one month to get everyone we know registered to vote.
One month. In one month, the most important election of our life time will be nearly decided.
Oh. My. God.
One month.
A lot can happen in a month.
Osama Bin Laden may be "found."
Polls can change.
A lot can happen in a month.
I am waiting for Barack to announce a rally in NYC around the last debate, which is on Long Island. If that happens, you better believe I will be there. And I will probably cry.
My friends. We have one month to get everyone we know registered to vote.
One month. In one month, the most important election of our life time will be nearly decided.
We all love a man who can show some emotion.
The debate is over, the polls are out.
Sarah Palin performed as I knew she would, but not what I was waiting for. I wanted some Katie Couric interview moments from her, but we didn't get them. instead we got the freaky stepford wife, robotic, I memorized this answer Sarah palin. I swear to GOD. yes, she is a good debater, but i think it is because she is a GOOD ACTRESS. nothing more. and what was with that goddamn WINK?! i cant help it, but i wanted to slap her. no joke. I screamed several times at the television, when she said things that just weren't true. GLOBAL WARMING IS MAN MADE. Now, I may be wrong, but is the term "Joe Six Pack" real? How come I have never heard of it? How about "your average Joe" - THAT I have heard of. And WHY was she LOOKING AT THE CAMERA. It was a DEBATE. look at your opponent, or look at the moderator. McCain did the same thing. Is that some sort of campaign tactic?
I admit she did better than I thought she would. But Joe was superb. He was on top of things, he was eloquent, he was smart... and that SMILE. The thing I love about his smile is that he KNOWS he has that smile. He KNOWS it. He KNOWS what that smile is. Every time he smiled I wanted there to be a little flash of light by the side of his mouth with a "ding!" sound. I loved that he used that smile whenever Sarah said something completely moronic, or that was a complete lie, and he knew he was going to mutilate her with his retaliation. DING! yes. i think Obama should run an ad with that DING! when Biden smiles. It would make me so happy.
And then there was the moment where Joe got choked up. I could have kissed him. The thing about the choke up was that it was REAL. It wasn't forced. It was real.
I admit I have a bit of a crush on Joe, I have for awhile, but I think that aside, he did great. One analyst on CNN after the debate said "This was the best debate of Joe Biden's life." HOORAY!!!
Here is an article that was posted on the Huffington Post that is from an article in Newsweek:
About that catch in his throat: in the moment, he "could picture Beau in the bed" after the 1972 car accident that killed Biden's first wife, Neilia, and their baby girl and critically injured his young sons. Now Beau, the 39-year-old attorney general of Delaware, was off to war, a judge advocate general traveling to obscure regions of Iraq, where the road isn't exactly the safest place to be. The memory of being a single parent mixed with worries about Beau to create "a lot of bundled emotions. It surprised me. I was hoping nobody noticed." Only 70 million or so did.
Here's the video. More from the Newsweek piece below:
Biden, who had stayed neutral in the Democratic primaries after dropping out in January, told Obama that he was "ready to be second fiddle" and sought no specific portfolio--but only if he got a guaranteed hourlong, one-on-one session with the president every week (like Al Gore's lunches with Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush's with Ronald Reagan) and a presence at all important meetings. Obama said yes, that he wanted him for his judgment and for his help in enacting a big legislative agenda. And so the job was defined: "My role will be to say, 'Boss, here's the way I'd go about it'."
Biden says Obama reminds him of Bill Clinton in his "confidence, cognitive ability, judgment" and intellectual security--that he can listen and absorb advice without having to prove he's the smartest person in the room, a critical leadership skill. He says he experienced an "epiphany" during a recent conference call on the bailout bill with Bob Rubin, Paul Volcker, Warren Buffett, Paul O'Neill, Joseph Stiglitz, Larry Summers and Laura Tyson. "He [Obama] comes on the call and says, 'Well, folks, sorry I'm late. I've got four questions.' He was in total frigging command! Here's a 47-year-old guy in one of the most complicated economic dilemmas anyone has had to face since 1929 to '33. And it was like, 'Bang! Bang! Bang!' I called him afterward and said, 'You sold me, sucker!' "
Sarah Palin performed as I knew she would, but not what I was waiting for. I wanted some Katie Couric interview moments from her, but we didn't get them. instead we got the freaky stepford wife, robotic, I memorized this answer Sarah palin. I swear to GOD. yes, she is a good debater, but i think it is because she is a GOOD ACTRESS. nothing more. and what was with that goddamn WINK?! i cant help it, but i wanted to slap her. no joke. I screamed several times at the television, when she said things that just weren't true. GLOBAL WARMING IS MAN MADE. Now, I may be wrong, but is the term "Joe Six Pack" real? How come I have never heard of it? How about "your average Joe" - THAT I have heard of. And WHY was she LOOKING AT THE CAMERA. It was a DEBATE. look at your opponent, or look at the moderator. McCain did the same thing. Is that some sort of campaign tactic?
I admit she did better than I thought she would. But Joe was superb. He was on top of things, he was eloquent, he was smart... and that SMILE. The thing I love about his smile is that he KNOWS he has that smile. He KNOWS it. He KNOWS what that smile is. Every time he smiled I wanted there to be a little flash of light by the side of his mouth with a "ding!" sound. I loved that he used that smile whenever Sarah said something completely moronic, or that was a complete lie, and he knew he was going to mutilate her with his retaliation. DING! yes. i think Obama should run an ad with that DING! when Biden smiles. It would make me so happy.
And then there was the moment where Joe got choked up. I could have kissed him. The thing about the choke up was that it was REAL. It wasn't forced. It was real.
I admit I have a bit of a crush on Joe, I have for awhile, but I think that aside, he did great. One analyst on CNN after the debate said "This was the best debate of Joe Biden's life." HOORAY!!!
Here is an article that was posted on the Huffington Post that is from an article in Newsweek:
About that catch in his throat: in the moment, he "could picture Beau in the bed" after the 1972 car accident that killed Biden's first wife, Neilia, and their baby girl and critically injured his young sons. Now Beau, the 39-year-old attorney general of Delaware, was off to war, a judge advocate general traveling to obscure regions of Iraq, where the road isn't exactly the safest place to be. The memory of being a single parent mixed with worries about Beau to create "a lot of bundled emotions. It surprised me. I was hoping nobody noticed." Only 70 million or so did.
Here's the video. More from the Newsweek piece below:
Biden, who had stayed neutral in the Democratic primaries after dropping out in January, told Obama that he was "ready to be second fiddle" and sought no specific portfolio--but only if he got a guaranteed hourlong, one-on-one session with the president every week (like Al Gore's lunches with Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush's with Ronald Reagan) and a presence at all important meetings. Obama said yes, that he wanted him for his judgment and for his help in enacting a big legislative agenda. And so the job was defined: "My role will be to say, 'Boss, here's the way I'd go about it'."
Biden says Obama reminds him of Bill Clinton in his "confidence, cognitive ability, judgment" and intellectual security--that he can listen and absorb advice without having to prove he's the smartest person in the room, a critical leadership skill. He says he experienced an "epiphany" during a recent conference call on the bailout bill with Bob Rubin, Paul Volcker, Warren Buffett, Paul O'Neill, Joseph Stiglitz, Larry Summers and Laura Tyson. "He [Obama] comes on the call and says, 'Well, folks, sorry I'm late. I've got four questions.' He was in total frigging command! Here's a 47-year-old guy in one of the most complicated economic dilemmas anyone has had to face since 1929 to '33. And it was like, 'Bang! Bang! Bang!' I called him afterward and said, 'You sold me, sucker!' "
Thursday, October 2, 2008
pizza & palin
that's right.
get ready.
tonight.
9PM EST.
what i am calling Pizza & Palin. Palin & Pizza. (and i will give credit to Chris, my lovely roommates boyfriend who is going to bring the pizza tonight and gave me that lovely alliterative name for the evening).
This is it.
will she go above and beyond my wildest expectations and fail miserably, or will she rise above and use the 90 seconds to her advantage making her look like the lovely perky beauty queen we all take her for?
get back to me at 10:30 pm EST.
my drinking game:
drink when she says:
hockey mom (2 drinks)
daughter
todd
russia
alaska
track
i have more experience than...
drink when joe biden:
laughs hysterically
shakes his head
raises his eyebrows
i just made that up on my own... you can google "vice presidential debate drinking game and find more elaborate set ups.
i'm ready.
i REALLY hope she does NOT disappoint...
get ready.
tonight.
9PM EST.
what i am calling Pizza & Palin. Palin & Pizza. (and i will give credit to Chris, my lovely roommates boyfriend who is going to bring the pizza tonight and gave me that lovely alliterative name for the evening).
This is it.
will she go above and beyond my wildest expectations and fail miserably, or will she rise above and use the 90 seconds to her advantage making her look like the lovely perky beauty queen we all take her for?
get back to me at 10:30 pm EST.
my drinking game:
drink when she says:
hockey mom (2 drinks)
daughter
todd
russia
alaska
track
i have more experience than...
drink when joe biden:
laughs hysterically
shakes his head
raises his eyebrows
i just made that up on my own... you can google "vice presidential debate drinking game and find more elaborate set ups.
i'm ready.
i REALLY hope she does NOT disappoint...
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