Saturday, November 8, 2008

God's Politics: On President-Elect Barack Obama

I found this post on a Christian blog a few moments ago that helps to confirm a belief that I had , which is that although in the past the GOP & Evangelical communities in America have enjoyed a relatively long but albeit at times rocky marriage a new is coming when others will do as I have done and re-evaluate whether this is God's mandate or whether it was simply our own.

What President-Elect Obama represents to me is the charitable side of God's love that cares for the least of these...Additionally, although from a biblical perspective I do not feel that abortion is what Jesus wants us to do in difficult situations it is clear to me that He is a God who loves us enough to give us the freedom to choose what to do in our lives. Moreover, providing the resources, education, and assistance to mothers in tough situations in such a way as to reduce the occurence of abortion is something that exhibits love and common ground.



Anyhow here is an excerpt from the post God's Politics: A Blog by Jim Wallis & Friends
:

"Dear President-elect Obama,

First, congratulations on your election as our 44th president. I hope you know that there are tens of millions of Americans who did not vote for you who are still very, very pleased that an African American has been elected President of the United States.

That fact that this could happen in a country with as tragic a racial past as America’s says something noble and fine about the American experiment. We as a nation have chosen together to live up to the promises of our founding document, the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

We covenant to pray for you, your family, and your administration. We will pray that God will grant you godly wisdom in all your decision-making.

Mr. President-elect, Southern Baptists remain unalterably committed to the protection of unborn human life. The vast majority of Southern Baptists believe that a pre-born baby is a distinct human life, according to both science and the Bible.

You have said you want to unite us as a nation. An excellent place to work for such unity would be for you to put your full support behind the Democrats for Life initiative known as the Pregnant Women Support Act (its goal is to reduce abortion by 95 percent over a 10-year period).

This bill would:

• Establish a toll-free number to direct women to places that will provide support during and following their pregnancy.

• Provide child care to low-income and student parents.

• Provide parenting education in maternity group homes.

• Make the Adoption Tax Credits permanent..."

This to me was an eye opening post and again I think that it signals some major ideological changes that are taking place right now. Please stay tuned for more to come.



Friday, November 7, 2008

Now that we have done it in this Historic Election

Ok, now that we have done it in this historic election and have elected President-Elect Barrack Obama I have been asking myself what to do with this blog.


My periodic perusal of neo conservative media tells me that this thing is only just beginning.  
Now is the time when they are beginning to step up their scruitinization of every single move that President-Elect Obama makes and every move and word uttered by those closest to him. For this reason, I have decided to continue this blog-Benin for Obama.  To act as a counter balancing platform for Obama.
Will will see how this goes.  "Yes We Can"!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Yes We Did!!!!! Obama Elected President of the United States

Senator Obama has just reached the magic 270 mark! It was a long and tough road, but we have finally done it. President Obama is the new President of the US.

Democrats start picking up House seats - CNN.com

Democrats start picking up House seats - CNN.com: "Democrats, trying to pad the 36-seat U.S. House majority they had going into Election Day, appear to have knocked off at least two Republican incumbents, early returns show.

Democrat Jim Himes has defeated longtime Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and Democrat Suzanne Kosmas has beaten Rep. Tom Fenney of Florida, CNN has projected.

Heading into Tuesday, many analysts said the question for House Democrats was not whether they would add to their 235-199 majority, but by how much.

Races for 52 Republican-held seats were at least slightly competitive for Democrats two days before the election, whereas only 12 Democrat-occupied seats appeared to be so for the GOP, according to the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report.

The Democrats, whose net gain of 30 seats in the 2006 elections gave them control of the House after 12 years in the minority, could pad their majority by an additional 27 to 33 seats this year, according to the RPR, citing polling and other factors.

As of 10 p.m. ET, CNN projected Democrats won 125 seats of the House's 435 seats, with Republicans winning 78."

DAILY NATION - Victory prayer at Obama's ancestral home

DAILY NATION - Victory prayer at Obama's ancestral home: "Kenyans in Barack Obama's ancestral homeland prayed for victory on Tuesday as he aimed to become the first African-American president of the United States.

The western town of Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria, was in a frenzy of excitement as the country's favourite adopted son began the last leg of his race for the White House.

The Democratic candidate's late father hailed from the rural region, and exuberant Kenyans gave his Republican war hero rival John McCain little hope of making a comeback after lagging for weeks in the opinion polls."

RealClearPolitics - Politics - Nov 04, 2008 - Obama seizes command of race for the White House

RealClearPolitics - Politics - Nov 04, 2008 - Obama seizes command of race for the White House: "Barack Obama has seized command of the race for the White House.

The Illinois senator has beaten John McCain in Ohio and is building a near insurmountable Electoral College advantage as he bids to become the first black president.

Fellow Democrats are gaining strength in both houses of Congress.

Obama's Ohio victory denied McCain particularly precious territory. No Republican has ever won the presidency without the state."

US 2008 Elections: Waiting on Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina

Waiting on voting results from Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina is like the suspense of the year. So to pass time and to help turn the USA Obama blue I am simultaneously calling Nevada as we speak...

November 4, 2008 America Votes: Obama Wins Pennsylvania and Ohio

CNN and MSNBC have both just called Pennsylvania and Ohio for Obama.

Democrats head for bigger House majority - Decision ’08 – House- msnbc.com

Democrats head for bigger House majority - Decision ’08 – House- msnbc.com: "Democrats pushed toward ousting two Florida Republicans from the House on Tuesday and defended first-term incumbents once considered vulnerable as they hoped heavy voters turnouts at a time of economic anxiety might add more than 20 seats to their majority.

“It’s the night we have been waiting for,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif."

Obama-Biden 08'

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HOPE

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Wrapping up with canvass

As we wrap up our canvass we found that the overwhelming number of addresses had voters that already voted for Obama.
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Canvassing for Change!

We are now canvassing for change in residential communities!
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At an Obama phone bank

I am presently sitting in an Obama phone bank in Marietta, Ga and the energy is amazing!
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Carson, California-America Votes 2008-Live from the Field

Voting line in Carson, California on election day Tuesday November 4, 2008 at approx. 10 am Pacific Time. Yes We Can!
Hat tip to Amber for the photo!

The role of Social Media and Web 2.0 in the 2008 Elections

In the 21 months since Senator Barrack Obama has been campaigning to become the next US President,much has been said about his campaigns web prowess. In the beginning his campaigns seamless combination of grassroots methods and internet tools got a lot of comparisons to current DNC Chairman Howard Dean, who ran for US President in 2004.

But I think that one of the things that has changed since then is the fluid merger that occurs on a daily basis between web 2.0 tools and the ordinary daily communication rituals of so many Americans and folks around the globe. I mean, it used to be that if you witnessed a newsworthy event, the next thing you did was get on the phone to try to contact someone from the local media to see if they were interested in doing a story. From there you went to your friends to drum up some buzz with them, as they passed the story around. And if you were really lucky the reporter that you contacted would have gotten back to you to do a story and after the story was run it promptly dropped off of the radar. But more than likely the final stop for your story was your friends. Do you remember those days? It was not so long ago and in fact, in 2004 when Howard Dean ran for President things were just beginning to shift from this old paradigm.

But today the ordinary passer by has more access to worldwide communication channels than ever before through tools like: Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Shozu, Now Public, and the list just keeps growing by the day. If you happen to capture on your cell phone either a photo, a video, or even just a short eyewiteness account of a newsworthy event and use any of the Web 2.0 channels that I just mentioned your message can instantly be seen or heard by millions within a few minutes or hours. This is what not only Senator Obama has been tapping into, but even the voters ourselves are doing it too.

So this piece is actually about an email that I received today that pointed to an article written by Simon Owens referencing several Web 2.0 citizens media/social media tools that are already in heavy use in this election-as we speak. In Simon's PBS Media Shift article entitled, "Citizens, Media Use Social Media to Monitor Election" he mentions several tools that you can use from the field to let the world know (in realtime) about your experiences at the polls. Here are the one's that Simon mentions:


Additionally, Simon also spoke with the creator of the Voter Suppression Wiki-Mr. Baratunde Thurston who is also Co-Founder of Jack and Jill Politics. Here is an excerpt that goes into more detail:

"Though many of these tools will be utilized in locating instances of election problems, Voter Suppression Wiki was created almost exclusively for that purpose. Baratunde Thurston, co-founder of the blog Jack and Jill Politics, came up with the idea after brainstorming with a number of bloggers and activists. (Another wiki, Election Protection, employs similar tools). Using the Wetpaint platform, Thurston hopes to tackle voter suppression in three parts.

"One is to define what voter suppression is," he said. "Whether it's false information, voter ID intimidation, allegations of fraud. And then we want to start tracking and reporting incidents of voter suppression; we have this form we put up where you enter where this happened, how many voters were affected, in what county did it occur. But most importantly was action. How to actually prevent or limit the amount of suppression."

Most of the battle in fighting voter suppression, Thurston argued, is empowering the voter before he or she heads to the polls. To that effect he's using the website to help promote a number of election protection phone numbers and resources. Thurston said that he hopes that the wiki can be used in real time; analyzing the data after the election can be useful in record keeping, but without quick and efficient action it will do little to protect the integrity of the election.

I asked Thurston about the nature of these election tools and whether they represent a new step in the utilization of online media in politics. In an election year when Barack Obama has been labeled by some to potentially be the "first Internet president" (much in the same way that FDR was the first radio president, and JFK was the first television president), have citizens created a new level of interactive politics?

"The long answer is that this effort, this project -- the Twitter project, the video project, and more -- are a kind of a next step in the evolution of online political participation," he replied. "Initially what you'd see on the web is a lot of opinion. 'I have a thought, I have an idea.' 'I disagree strongly with this policy.' Then you saw Howard Dean tap into donations, and now with Obama tapping into that as well -- the concept of the web as being a kind of ATM machine. But what we see now is collaboration and constructive confrontation."


I hope that you find this information useful. Oh...I just got some more info from Simon, here is another really handy election tool-http://www.anorangeamerica.com/-It aggregates tweets like Twitter Vote Report, but it creates a more abstract visualization of the aggregate conversation on Twitter showing frequency and context of election-related words.

Otherwise, my message to you is simple-please get out and vote or help someone to do it. And please also remember that if you see something fishy today, while out voting-do not just be silent about it. Please use one of the tools in this article to let people know about it. Thank you!

Paid GOP Workers Say They Misled Wisconsin Voters

Paid GOP Workers Say They Misled Wisconsin Voters: "Four employees hired by a temporary staffing agency to encourage absentee voting for Sen. John McCain in Wisconsin say they were instructed to tell people they were Republican volunteers.

The employees told The Associated Press in interviews on Monday they were hired by Allstaff Labor Group to go door-to-door in the Milwaukee suburbs locating McCain supporters and distributing absentee ballot request forms.

Allstaff recruited the workers under a contract with a consulting firm hired by the Republican Party of Wisconsin to run its absentee ballot program."

Media Matters - Wash. Times reported on Obama's "association" with Khalidi, but not McCain's

Media Matters - Wash. Times reported on Obama's "association" with Khalidi, but not McCain's: "Wash. Times reported on Obama's 'association' with Khalidi, but not McCain's

Summary: A Washington Times article stated that Sen. John McCain 'drew fresh attention this week to Mr. [Barack] Obama's friendship with Rashid Khalidi' regarding 'a 2003 party in Chicago honoring Mr. Khalidi where Mr. Obama gives a speech.' But it did not note McCain's own reported 'connection to Khalidi': His role as chairman of an organization that awarded a $448,873 grant to an organization Khalidi co-founded."

Voters in Dixville Notch favor Obama over MacCain_English_Xinhua

Voters in Dixville Notch favor Obama over MacCain_English_Xinhua: "Voters in Dixville Notch favored Barack Obama over his Republican rival, John McCain, 15 to 6.
·Dixville Notch, in northern New Hampshire, has been casting the first ballots since 1960.
·The town's 21 registered voters came out in cold weather to cast the nation's first votes."

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook

Monday, November 3, 2008

November 4, 2008 US Presidential Election: Final Polls

Here are the latest and final presidential tracking numbers for three of the most objective and most often quoted polls going into the 2008 US Presidential Elections, among likely voters. 

Gallup's final poll:


Obama 53%, Mccain 42%


Zogby's latest poll:

Obama 51%, McCain 44%

John Zogby:

"Barack Obama is where he needs to be and John McCain is not. In a multi-candidate race, assuming the minor candidates can win around 2%, 51% can win. Obama holds the groups that he needs and continues to hold a big lead among independents and his base. McCain seems to be holding his base without expanding it or moving into Obama's territory."

The new Washington Post-ABC News poll:

Obama 53%, Mccain 44%

Condolences to Senator Obama and family

My prayers go out to Senator Obama, who lost his grandmother today. I am sure that Mrs Dunham will smile on from Heaven tomorrow.
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November 3, 2008: US Election-America Votes

During my spare time I made 20 calls for Senator Obama.  It was quite a simple and pleasant process...
And I also wrote this letter to several news editors in Nevada.
"The last time that the US has seen an economic meltdown like the one that we are experiencing now was in the 1930's.  The president who came along with a plan to solve problems that led to the great depression was President Franklin Rooselvelt.  With his New Deal for America, which included Social Security, FDIC, among others he was able to put in place tools to stop the economy from dropping further. 

Although we are not yet at that stage of several recessionary quarters stacked on top of each other, with the connectedness of world economies we find ourselves in a very tight pinch.  Simply waiting for the invisible hand of the open economy to make the corrections is not an answer that exudes responsibility.  Yet, Senator Mccain has yet to address the harsh realities of today's economic struggles.  He would rather make personal attacks on Senator Obama instead.  Contrast this with Senator Obama who has outlined a multi pronged approach to solving the economic crises that focuses on rebuilding of infrastructure, investing in alternative energy, and providing incentives to companies that invest domestically and you can begin to see why I think that Obama is today's FDR.

This is why my vote is with Senator Obama."
Come on, Obama supporters-Yes We Can!

BarackObama.com on November 3, 2008: Compassionate Capitalism

Someone recently made a comment on my blog post dicussing why Obama is not a socialist on barackobama.com here is the comment from Torgny:

"This has nothing to to with socialism, it is the old message of fear. Is every group where you share property socialism? If this was so most monasteries would be socialist. According to the Bible the early Christians shared their property. Were they socailists?

The message of hope, or the message of fear."


Here is my response:

"Great point Torgny. Which brings me to this puzzling question that I have never understood-why is it that so many of my Christian brethren identify with the Republican party?

Like you said, the Bible is very clear with respect to charity and giving. Also, to piggy back again off of your comment-my wife is from Kenya and they are probably far more capitalist than we are-there are no social programs there and the market is the main determinant in who gets what. However, the Kenyan society is amazing, with respect to how they pull together and help each other at the neighborhood and family level.

I have with my own eyes seen communities in one day raise nearly 20,000, 50,000, and even 100,000.00 in US dollars for a cause or member of the community that they support. This shows, as you said that you can be both compassionate and capitalist at the same time.

Great point!"





I decided to post this dialog because it is one that I feel is not publicized enough-that capitalism and helping can go hand in hand.

November 3, 2008 Battleground States: Let's Get the Vote Out for Obama

Hi folks, to echoe Obama at yesterday's rally in Ohio-the election is not over. Although the CNN national poll of polls today shows Obama with a 7 point lead, there are some places where the race is extremely competitive. As we speak, Mccain is robo calling these states with very nasty smears. These states where Obama needs our help, according to the November 3, 2008 Real Clear Politics poll are Missori, North Carolina, Florida, and Colorado.


Colorado

Obama 50.5% Mccain 45.0% Spread-Obama 5.5%

Florida


Obama 48.5% Mccain 46.0% Spread-Obama by 2.5%

North Carolina

Obama 47.8 Mccain 47.8 Spread-Tie

Missouri

Mccain 48.0 Obama 47.3 Spread-Mccain by 0.7

poll data by Real Clear Politics-November 3, 2008

Here's what can be done between now and tomorrow night to get these numbers in our favor:

  1. Use the barackobama.com phone banking tool to call voters in these states-you don't need to be a US citizen.
  2. Fundraising-even if its only $5.00, please go to barackobama.com, if you are a US citizen and donate.
  3. Canvass for voters-again, you can learn about canvassing opportunities through the barackobama.com website-you don't need to be a US citizen to do this one either.
  4. Share your story through your blog.
  5. Spread the word to everyone that you meet-through emails, one on one conversations, phone conversations and etc.
I think that if each one of us does at least two of these things, faithfully, until the last polls close tomorrow that we will have victory. If we don't though, it will probably be a very long night...

November 3, 2008: CNN Poll Finds Palin Costing Mccain the Election

From CNN:

"A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Sunday indicates McCain's running mate is growing less popular among voters and may be costing him a few crucial percentage points in the race for the White House.

Fifty-seven percent of likely voters questioned in the poll said Palin does not have the personal qualities a president should have. That's up 8 points since September.

Fifty-three percent say she does not agree with them on important issues. That's also higher than September."


This is huge considering the euphoria surrounding Plain after the RNC. I think that the other contributing factor is Palin's attempt to steal the show from Mccain. It has been said that at her rally in Florida she did not even have any Mccain signs up...


Sunday, November 2, 2008

Fox News Diaries | Air America Radio

Fox News Diaries | Air America Radio: "here are a couple of similar questions for John McCain: 'Mussolini defined fascism as the merger of corporations and the state. When you began your campaign with over 100 corporate lobbyists on your staff, including the top lobbyist for Fannie May in the top position, why didn’t you tell the American people that you intend to turn this country into a fascist state?'"

Daily Kos Link to Is Obama a Socialist

Here is the link to the piece on the Daily Kos, entitled-"Is Obama a Socialist?"

Stay tuned for my post entitled, "Is Obama a Socialist?"

Hi please stay tuned for my post entitled, "Is Obama a Socialist?". I will first put it on the Daily Kos and afterwards, we might re-visit the topic here on Benin4Obama.

Thanks!

US 2008 Elections: My Suspicions...

My suspicion of what is happening right now is this...

The GOP is so extremely desperate. And in this desperation they seem to have mapped out a strategy for victory. I believe that it is quite diabolical and far reaching. Here is what I think is happening:

  1. The GOP and media outlets that are sympathetic to the GOP are trying to make the US populace believe that this is a tight race.
  2. These powerful people in high places have quieted the damaging stories to hit Mccain-like the possible automobile accident fatality that Mccain was allegedly involved in that took place in 1964.
  3. They are also downplaying the affect of Obama's organization, ground game, and money in traditionally red-leaning states.
  4. Meanwhile, they are turning up the volume on stories mysteriously timed to have the most impact near election day against Senator Obama, like Obama's aunt.
  5. All the while Obama's numbers are still holding steady and even building further.
  6. The GOP would have you to believe that ACORN and the Democrats are trying to tamper with democracy. All the while, stories continue to crop up of voting machine malfunctions-all in favor of Mccain!
  7. If it turns out to be close-they might try to steal it. If it becomes a run away victory for Obama, then prepare to hear cries of foul coming from the Mccain camp...
Either way-1. Get out and vote, go volunteer, make calls, and donate!

If you see anything foul taking place at the polls then here are some resources:

Courtesy of the Voter Suppression Wiki

Ways that you can get involved in helping safeguard our voting rights this election

  • CREDO Action's Immediate Response Network: a text-activist response network to deliver a text message straight to your phone
  • Election Protection (1-866-OUR-VOTE/1-888-VE-Y-VOTA): if you are an attorney, law student, or paralegal, we need your help to protect the right to vote. We're recruiting legal volunteers to staff Election Protection Hotlines across the country and work on the ground as mobile legal volunteers.
  • Pollworkers for Democracy: an effort to recruit, train, and network citizen pollworkers for the November 4, 2008 election and beyond. 12,507 and counting!
  • SourceWatch's Election Protection wiki: a non-partisan, non-profit collaboration of citizens, activists and researchers to build a one-stop-shop for reports of voter suppression and the systemic threats to election integrity
  • Voter Suppression Wiki: learn, report, ACT!

Citizen journalism, election documentation and monitoring:
  • Twitter Vote Report: share your voting experiences and help get problems fixed in real-time on or before Election Day
  • Video the Vote: national initiative to protect voting rights by monitoring the electoral process. We organize citizen journalists—ordinary folks like you and me—to document election problems as they occur
  • The UpTake: a non-partisan video citizen-journalism site, partnered with Video the Vote. Our Vote Chasers project encourages volunteers to use video camera phones (iPhone, Nokia N95, etc.) to document election abuses and stream footage live to the web in realtime.
  • YouTube's Video Your Vote: a non-partisan program produced in partnership with PBS, encourages American voters to document their experiences at the polls on Election Day, and is also a one-stop-shop to view exclusive videos from voter registration experts, election reform activists, and state officials, as well as video footage from the PBS archives for a historical look at voting through the years.
  • VoterStory '08: collect and classify voter complaints in real time across the Internet and provide a data feed of complaints that can be addressed in real time by Voter Protection groups who partner with VoterStory; a nice embeddable widget to put on a web site.
  • Wired's Problem Reporting page: Had a problem casting your ballot in this year's general election? We want to hear from you. Wired.com has created a map to track your issues, but we need your help to complete it. Web- and email-access.
  • No Voter Left Behind.net, because an election is a terrible thing to steal. Use their one-point Theft Reporting System or volunteer to help.
  • The New York Times Polling Place Photo Project: a nationwide experiment in citizen journalism that encourages voters to capture, post and share photographs of this general election.
  • My Fair Election: Report your polling station's condition on Election Day as part of a crowd-sourced map of electoral conditions across the United States.
  • Community Values Vote: Election news from grassroots organizations
  • CNN Voter Irregularities Map: calls from the CNN Voter Hotline (1-877-GOCNN-08)

The BRAD BLOG : VIDEO: OPRAH SEES OWN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE DROPPED BY TOUCH-SCREEN VOTING MACHINE

The BRAD BLOG : VIDEO: OPRAH SEES OWN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE DROPPED BY TOUCH-SCREEN VOTING MACHINE: "ogged by Brad Friedman on 10/31/2008 10:25PM
VIDEO: OPRAH SEES OWN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE DROPPED BY TOUCH-SCREEN VOTING MACHINE
'I went back to check it, it had not recorded my presidential vote!' Says Terrified, Potentially Disenfranchised Queen of Television...
NOW UPDATED With Much More Useful Info for Oprah and Others Who Do Not Understand These Voting Systems, or What to do If the Same Thing Happens To You..."

US Elections 2008: Beware of racheted up smears on Monday

Beware of racheted up smears on Monday on the TV and news. If you are bothered by this turn off the TV and instead go out to volunteer for Obama, donate, and make phone calls.

If you prefer to watch anyway then do like me and say for each smear I will make 5 phone calls to undecided voters.

Have a good evening.
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Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | Obama HQ Blogger: Morning News

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | Obama HQ Blogger: Morning News: "More than 100 Obama supporters have cut through Saturday’s thick fog to await last-minute instructions at campaign headquarters in midtown Kansas City.

Some have coffee and donuts before starting phone calls or marching through neighborhoods, looking for votes.

“This is kind of our rehearsal for Tuesday,” said volunteer Jackie Gafford. “Everybody knows what they need to do.”

“I might not have done this in Kansas, with all their early voting,” said volunteer Caroline McKnight, who will be making phone calls for Obama. “But they’re really excited in Missouri to get out on Election Day.”

...Obama has the biggest political ground effort in Missouri’s history."

TPM Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Right Wing's Favorite Pollster Says McCain Is Likely To Lose

TPM Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Right Wing's Favorite Pollster Says McCain Is Likely To Lose: "Right Wing's Favorite Pollster Says McCain Is Likely To Lose
By Greg Sargent - November 2, 2008, 11:11AM

Uh oh -- McCain may have lost John Zogby.

Today's Zogby tracking poll finds Obama ahead by six points nationally among likely voters, prompting Zogby to offer a bleak assessment of McCain's chances"

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan (November 02, 2008) - A Republican Pollster Speaks

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan (November 02, 2008) - A Republican Pollster Speaks: "A Republican Pollster Speaks

'I cannot foresee a scenario that John McCain is elected president of the United States,' - Frank Luntz, on the BBC today"

Why Independents Choose Obama

From Joseph Nye/Huffington Post: "For any independents wavering on the eve of the election, I thought I would explain why I will vote for Barack Obama. I did not start there. I supported Hillary Clinton because I knew and admired her, and because I was concerned about Obama's lack of experience at the national level.But two things happened that made me change my mind even before the end of the primaries.

One was that I finished a book on leadership, The Powers to Lead. In it, I describe three key soft power skills -- emotional intelligence, vision, and communications -- as well as the hard power skills of organizational and Machiavellian political capacity. Equally important is the contextual intelligence to know how to vary the mix of these skills to produce smart power strategies. Completing this theoretical framework intersected with the progress of the Obama campaign in which he demonstrated that he had all of them.John McCain, an admirable man, has some key skills, but Obama greatly outscores him.

McCain's temper, the disorganization of his campaign, and his erratic choices regarding the vice presidency and the financial crisis, compare unfavorably with Obama's calm response to crises, his forward-looking vision, and his superb organizational skills.

In addition, Obama's contextual intelligence about world politics has been shaped from the bottom up with experience in Indonesia and Kenya.As the center-right London Economist recently pointed out in its endorsement of Obama, his election will do much to restore America's reputation around the world. Every election in a democracy is in part a gamble. (After all, in 1964 Lyndon Johnson was the peace candidate, and in 2000, George W. Bush promised compassionate conservatism and a "humble foreign policy." )

But as the Economist concluded, Obama has campaigned with more style, intelligence and discipline than his opponent....He deserves the presidency." I agree."
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From ABC Polls 11/2/2008

From ABC:

"ABC's This Week:Mark Halperin, Time Magazine:Electoral Vote -- 349 ObamaSenate -- 59 Democratic seatsHouse -- Democrats net 28 House seats
Matthew Dowd, former Republican strategist:Electoral Vote -- 338 plus ObamaSenate -- 8 plus pick up for DemocratsHouse -- 17 plus pickup for Democrats George Will,

ABC News contributor:Electoral Vote -- 378 ObamaSenate -- 8 pickups for the DemocratsHouse -- 21 pickups for the Democrats

Donna Brazile, former Democratic strategist:Electoral Vote -- Obama 343Senate - Democrats 59 plus runoffHouse - Democrats pickup 29

George Stephanopoulos:Electoral Vote -- 353 ObamaSenate -- 58, or 59 if there's a run-off in Georgia.House -- 264 House Democrats (+28)"
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Mccain in trouble

McCain's Travel Schedule Shows Desperate Situation

[http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1108/Where_hes_going_in_the_end.html?showall]
T-mobile

New Obama Ad-Starring Dick Cheney as John Mccain

In this new ad, Dick Cheney is starring as John Mccain-congrats for the endorsement Mccain!
Video Link

National Presidential Poll November 2, 2008: Let's get out the vote!

Latest Polls-Let's get out the vote.  This one is close but not close.  If we do what we need to do and continue top volunteer, dontate, and get out the vote it will be a big victory for Hope and Change, if not Tuesday could bring about a long night.
From Pollster.com :

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Americans Predict an Obama Victory

Americans Predict an Obama Victory: "Regardless of which candidate they personally support, 7 out of 10 Americans (71%) think Barack Obama will win the U.S. presidential election."

Blacks Appear Poised for High Turnout

Blacks Appear Poised for High Turnout: "Black voters are scoring highly this election season on several election interest and voting measures, and thus constitute a higher percentage of Gallup's projected likely voter pool than in previous elections. Additionally, blacks report having received election-related contact from the Obama campaign at a higher rate than do whites, although many fewer blacks have been contacted by the McCain campaign."

Gallup Daily: Obama 52%, McCain 42% Among Likely Voters

Gallup Daily: Obama 52%, McCain 42% Among Likely Voters: "Barack Obama leads John McCain in Gallup Poll Daily tracking interviewing conducted Wednesday through Friday by an identical 52% to 42% margin among both traditional likely voters and expanded likely voters. Obama leads by a similar 52% to 41% margin among all registered voters."

Another GOP Senator Speaks Out Against Palin

From the Reno Gazette Journal:

"...Republican Sen. John Ensign says Sarah Palin is not experienced enough to be president and John McCain’s presidential campaign “completely mishandled” her early days on the ticket.

 Earlier in the interview, Ensign criticized the way Palin, a first-term Alaska governor, was introduced to voters. In her first weeks on the stump, Palin became viewed as “just an empty suit” because she spent too much time repeating the same speech, Ensign said..."

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Is Vanity Fair Correct-Is someone covering for Mccain in a '64 near fatal accident?

Has anyone heard of this and is it true? How is it that neither this nor Mccain's incomplete medical record are not being investigated futher by the main stream media?

News Orgs Investigate Possibly Fatal McCain '64 Car Crash (Huffington Post):

"For the past two months, a major American magazine and an allied news service have been engaged in a legal battle with the United States Navy over records that they believe show that John McCain once was involveed in an automobile accident that injured or, perhaps, killed another individual.

Vanity Fair magazine and the National Security News Service claim to have knowledge 'developed from first-hand sources' of a car crash that involved then-Lt. McCain at the main gate of a Virginia naval base in 1964, according to legal filings. The incident has been largely, if not entirely, kept from the public."


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Sunday, October 26, 2008

John Dinges: McCain's Private Visit With Chilean Dictator Pinochet Revealed For First Time

John Dinges: McCain's Private Visit With Chilean Dictator Pinochet Revealed For First Time: "John McCain, who has harshly criticized the idea of sitting down with dictators without pre-conditions, appears to have done just that. In 1985, McCain traveled to Chile for a friendly meeting with Chile's military ruler, General Augusto Pinochet, one of the world's most notorious violators of human rights credited with killing more than 3,000 civilians and jailing tens of thousands of others.

The private meeting between McCain and dictator Pinochet has gone previously un-reported anywhere."

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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Palin USD 150,000 Bonanza!


Palin before the $150,000 clothing accessories bonanza, sponsored by the RNC! So is this money well spent?

Palin on the right.

(Photo by Huffington Post
)

Ben Smith's Blog: Political News about Democrats and the 2008 Election - Politico.com

Ben Smith's Blog: Political News about Democrats and the 2008 Election - Politico.com: "I've gotten lots of email over the last few days in response to a request for anecdotes of what sort of contact readers are getting from the campaign on the ground, and virtually all of the stories run the same way: Obama has been contacting these voters many, many more times than McCain.

This may be a self-selected sample, of course -- blog readers lean Obama. With that caveat, here are a couple of (lightly edited) samples:

An Obama supporter in Indiana:

I am a lifelong Republican. I have served on the local county Republican finance committee in the past. I am not supporting the Republican presidential candidate for the first time in my life. I have been contacted during the primary by Rudy Giuliani. No other Republicans have attempted to contact me at all, with the exception of local Indiana candidates. I have had no contact from the Indiana Republican Party and no mail from the McCain campaign during the entire campaign.

The real story though, is about my 24 year old son.

He attended college at the University of Hawaii. He graduated in May. He enjoyed his last summer in Hawaii and traveled to China before returning to Indiana in early September. One week before returning to Indiana, he changed his cell phone number to an Indiana area code. After arriving at the Indianapolis airport, we drove home. Two hours after his plane arrived in Indiana, he received a phone call on his cell phone. It was a local Obama campaign office. They welcomed him to Indiana and asked if he needed assistance in getting registered to vote. He did register and both of us have already voted for Obama.

How is it that an active Republican gets no contact from any Republican office or candidate (except the gubernatorial candidate) and a two hour resident of Indiana gets a phone call from the Obama office?"

On Al-Qaeda Web Sites, Joy Over U.S. Crisis, Support for McCain

On Al-Qaeda Web Sites, Joy Over U.S. Crisis, Support for McCain: "Al-Qaeda is watching the U.S. stock market's downward slide with something akin to jubilation, with its leaders hailing the financial crisis as a vindication of its strategy of crippling America's economy through endless, costly foreign wars against Islamist insurgents.

And at least some of its supporters think Sen. John McCain is the presidential candidate best suited to continue that trend.

'Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election,' said a commentary posted Monday on the extremist Web site al-Hesbah, which is closely linked to the terrorist group. It said the Arizona Republican would continue the 'failing march of his predecessor,' President Bush.

The Web commentary was one of several posted by Taliban or al-Qaeda-allied groups in recent days that trumpeted the global financial crisis and predicted further decline for the United States and other Western powers. In language that was by turns mocking and ominous, the newest posting credited al-Qaeda with having lured Washington into a trap that had 'exhausted its resources and bankrupted its economy.' It further suggested that a terrorist strike might swing the election to McCain and guarantee an expansion of U.S. military commitments in the Islamic world."

Monday, October 20, 2008

Yeah I said it: Mccain Flip-Flops and George W. Bush a Socialist

George W. Bush, Socialist | Oliver Willis:

"Under George W. Bush? Well… we own Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and are becoming shareholders in insurance companies and banks. Funny thing.

Freaking socialist cons."



So let me get this straight, after Mccain votes for a USD 700 billion bailout package (which by the way Mccain, is a form of government intervention) and after the Republican administration led by G.W. all but nationalizes our banking industry-you want to call Obama socialist?

That is pure flip-flopping boulderdash! Leave it to the GOP to manufacture all manners of boogeyman's and then throw them at their opponents whenever the GOP is down. This time the strategy will backfire.

Here's why:
  • You are not dealing with a naive electorate
  • The remaining, on the fence, candidates tend are independents and see right through this
  • USD 150 million-raised by the Obama campaign last month! I am sure this will be put to good use in going after more of the independents.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Fact Checking Conservative Tabloid Media

Media Matters - Media conservatives baselessly blame Community Reinvestment Act for foreclosure spike:

An excerpt from the The O'Reilly Factor:
"...They say, 'Well, this is a failure of the markets. Oh, this is about greed on Wall Street.' And Bill, the problem here is government intervention in the free markets. 1995, when Bill Clinton decide to tell, you know, [then-Treasury Secretary] Robert Rubin to rewrite the rules that govern the Community Reinvestment Act and push all these institutions to lend to minority communities, many were very risky loans. That was a noble idea, perhaps, but that certainly wasn't following free-market principles. This big pressure on institutions to dole out money and these risky loans started this whole ball rolling at Fannie and Freddie..."
Eric Boehlert and Jamison Foser who collectively make up the County Fair Blog on Media Matters respond:

"...In fact, the federal Community Reinvestment Act -- enacted in 1977 -- applies only to depository institutions, such as banks and savings and loan associations. In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Michigan law professor Michael Barr stated that while problems in the subprime lending industry were a driving force behind the housing crisis, he estimated that only 20 percent of subprime mortgages were issued by depository institutions under the CRA..."


As a former credit analyst and mortgage counselor my understanding of the credit crisis is that during the early to mid nineties banking executives realized that they had essentially run out of new customers for their loan products. Their response to this scenario was two fold.

  1. They aggressively begin to push refinancing and home equity lines to consumers with marginal credit. Mortgage brokers and mortgage bankers became the foot soldiers of this strategy targeting consumers that they felt would fall for such offers. Oftentimes, the victims were elderly home owners either with no debt on their homes or who were a few years away from paying off their mortgages. So what would happen is that some elderly person on a fixed budget who'd always wanted to get the hole in the roof repaired but never had the extra money to do it would get a letter in the mail from abc contractors. The letter would read something like, "we can fix your roof and on top of that we can get you some cash back." When the homeowner called that contracting company they ended up taking out a high interest rate loan against the house to pay for the inflated repair bill. Two years later the same mortgage broker that dealt with that homeowner's contractor calls to say, "guess what? We can lower your mortgage rate!" But what they dont tell the homeowner is that the back end fees on the loan will eat up most or all of the equity. Now the homeowner has refinanced themselves into a new loan that might now be greater than the amount of the home's actual appraisal value.
  2. In order to continue financing this risky industry what the banking industry did was almost ingenuous. They got together with the actuaries, number crunchers, and statisticians to devise a way to show that these loans actually represented "good paper". They succeeded in doing this by pooling tons of mortgage notes together-such that you had loans of all credit grades mixed together, with only slightly more good credit loans than bad credit loans. Then they said that because of this plus the fact that the loans were secured by real property that each pool of loans could therefore be "rated" as A paper or A+ or whatever. This looked like easy money to be made on the part of the institutional investors, municipalities, educational funds, and overseas governments that bought the loans.
That is my very generalized explanation of what happened. Of course, once the distressed homeowners started defaulting in masse, America's home values slowly began to drop. Meaning that the investors who'd bought the securitized loan pools ended up finding that their security had dropped in value to less than what they purchased the loans for. Then they stopped buying the paper, while simultaneously demanding their money back.

US Elections 2008: 270 to Win

There is an absolute "must see" website called 270 to Win (www.270towin.com). It is an electoral college map and simulation tool. What is really cool about it, if you are an Obama supporter, is all of the variuos blue state combinations that could lead to a 2008 Obama Presidency. Try it out and you will see what I mean...

270towin.com

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

I love TheYoungTurks.com!!!

If you haven't been checking out The Young Turks podcasts, forums, and articles then you don't know what you're missing. These two hosts-Cenk Uygur and Ben Mankiewicz along with several other co-hosts have put together an amazing online liberal talk show focusing on current events in politics. The show is young, hip, funny, and insightful.

Here is a youtube snippet:


From the Obama Action Wire

"John McCain's advisers have seen how his poll numbers plunge when he discusses his economic plan -- the other day they acknowledged he will lose the election if he keeps talking about the economic crisis.

So the McCain campaign decided to change the subject. Instead of talking about the issues that are most important to Americans, they're focusing all of their energy on attacking Barack.

We put together an ad to remind voters that it's time for a President who will change the economy and change Washington, not change the subject.

Members of the Obama Action Wire can help right now by using their own grassroots networks to make sure people hear this vital message. Watch the ad and share it with everyone you know"

Obama campaign launches Keating Economics website

The Obama campaign has launched two new websites in conjunction with their newly created Keating Five video documentary.

  1. Keating Economics (http://keatingeconomics.com/). Based upon my observation the Keating Economics site represents the Obama campaigns efforts to give legs to the argument that Mccain's involvement in the Keating Five Savings and Loan scandal was the first of two major events in Mccain's political career that illustrate a pattern of poor judgement with respect to decisions impacting the financial lives of Mccain's constituents. The second event or occurence that I have heard Obama use to connect the dots and form a straight line or trending of Mccain's weak judgement is none other than his close association with Phil Graham. Mr. Graham is the Mccain campaign's economic advisor and is a former banking lobbyist. Phil Graham is one of the chief architects behind the banking deregulation of the 1990's that many economists credit as being the key driver behind today's financial crisis. Graham also was said to have heavy connections with Enron.
  2. John Mccain Record (http://www.johnmccainrecord.com/) . This site seems to complement the Keating Five economics site by fact checking Mccain on every issue that is vital to the 2008 US Elections. If you click on any of the fourteen hyperlinked topics, you get 3 to 4 fact check points on Mccain that simultaneously make the argument that Mccain's policies are identical to Bush's policies and have already been proven as harmful to American interests.
Think "swiftboating 2.0" meets Michael Moore. This is what you have when you take these two sites and link them to the Keating Five video-sheer genius!

US Elections 2008: Joe Klein's analysis of the second Obama and Mccain debate

Here is an excerpt from Joe Klein that I think represents a strong synopsis of what happened in today's presidential debate.

Excerpt:


"1. My guess is "that one" will be the moment remembered from this one. Why? Because it can be used as shorthand for the overwhelming mood of the evening. There was deep tension between the two men. McCain appeared to hold Obama in low regard. Obama appeared to treat McCain like a disruptive student in his law school class. The teacher acknowledged the dissenter, explained why he was wrong, and moved on.

2. McCain is famous for his performance in town halls, but this was not a town hall, at least not one in the way that McCain likes. For one thing, no one laughed at McCain's bad jokes. And there was no give-and-take with the audience or the moderator. Furthermore, McCain's intent in this debate was the opposite of his intent in a New Hampshire church basement. In the classic McCain town hall, differences of opinion are expressed, and McCain works to build a conversation, so that everyone develops respect for him and each other, even if there is disagreement. In this debate, McCain was trying to convince voters and the audience that Obama was not worthy. So there was a stilted element to the affair. Finally, the key to the classic McCain town hall is that McCain is having fun. He did not appear to be having fun tonight. Obama, meanwhile, did not seem interested in having fun. He was there to make his case, and he did it clearly."

Monday, October 6, 2008

John McCain's Record

John McCain's Record: "McCain repeatedly voted against America’s farmers, opposing the 2008 Farm Bill and disaster assistance bills. Source: Des Moines Register Vote 271, 12/5/06; Vote 439, 9/18/95; Vote 240, 8/4/93; Vote 237, 8/4/93; Vote 238, 8/4/93"

Keating Economics

Keating Economics: "S&L’s Risky Investments With Federally-Insured Money Led To Call For More Regulation. In the early 1980’s, Charles Keating’s American Continental Corporation purchased a California S&L named Lincoln. At that time, S&Ls like Lincoln were able to go beyond their traditional purpose of offering home loans and engage in riskier forms of investment. Since the deposits of S&Ls were insured by the federal government, regulators began to take notice of the investments being made by Keating and at other S&Ls. The Federal Home Loan Band Board (FHLLB), which had regulatory authority over the S&Ls, began to worry about the risks of this trend, and proposed a “direct investment” regulation to limit the money S&Ls could direct to these riskier investments. [Senate Ethics Committee Keating Five Investigation, 1990]

At Keating’s Request, McCain Wrote 5 Letters, Supported Bill To Forestall Direct Investment Rule. Keating was unhappy with the direct investment rule and began actively lobbying against it. Senate Ethics Committee Special Counsel Robert Bennett explained during the 1990 Keating Five hearings that John McCain wrote at least five letters to regulators, Treasury and White House officials to argue against these proposed restrictions on risky investments by S&Ls. Bennett said that “In 1984 and ‘85, then Congressman McCain wrote several letters to Chairman [Edwin] Gray [of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board] and White House officials urging them to postpone promulgation of the direct investment rule's There is evidence that Senator McCain did so at the urging of Mr. Keating or other representatives of Lincoln.” McCain’s work for Keating also included signing onto a bill to delay the direct investment rule in 1984 [Senate Ethics Committee Keating Five Investigation, 1990; HCONRES 363, 98th Congress]".

American Chronicle | John McCain's Presidential Campaign and the Keating 5: A Fresh Look at a Dead Scandal

American Chronicle | John McCain's Presidential Campaign and the Keating 5: A Fresh Look at a Dead Scandal: "In 1989 John McCain´s political career was in jeopardy as his popularity plummeted during the course of the Senate Ethics Committee investigation into his meeting with bank regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, an icon of the Savings & Loan scandal whose corrupt business practices cost American taxpayers an estimated $2.6 billion. McCain emerged unscathed from the investigation, and is now competing for the presidency with an advertisement campaign that portrays him as a GOP maverick who is tough on Wall Street, and committed to divorcing private interests from politics.

John McCain chided Barack Obama for breaking a promise by opting out of public campaign financing in the primaries, however, decided a short time later to do the same to remain competitive in the presidential race."

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Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Numbers: After the Debate

AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: "After Debate, 53% Still Believe Palin Unqualified
Despite Palin exceeding expectations, majority still think Palin unqualified to take over as president.

Who Did the Best Job In the Debate?
Biden 51%
Palin 36%

Biden did better or worse than expected?
64% better
14% worse
20% same"

Hillary Clinton: Joe Biden Understands...- Blogs from CNN.com

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time - Blogs from CNN.com: "Hillary Clinton issued a statement shortly after the debate praising Joe Biden's performance:

“Tonight's debate underscored the stark choice American families face in this election,' she said. “I've known Senator Biden a long time – as Americans saw tonight, he is a strong, passionate and experienced leader. Like Barack Obama, Joe Biden understands both the economic stresses here at home and the strategic challenges in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world."

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

US Politics 08: Watch Palin push Mccain Out of her way during speech

Interesting clip...It actually shows Palin forgetting that she is the VP candidate and pushing Mccain out of the way, by calling it her administration:


Think Progress » Hagel On Palin: ‘I Think It’s A Stretch To…Say She’s Got The Experience To Be President’

Think Progress » Hagel On Palin: ‘I Think It’s A Stretch To…Say She’s Got The Experience To Be President’:
"In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) questioned whether John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, has the experience to be president of the United States:
“I do think in a world that is so complicated, so interconnected and so combustible, you really got to have some people in charge that have some sense of the bigger scope of the world,” Hagel said. “I think that’s just a requirement.”

US Elections 08: Swiftboaters Aggresively Target Mccain

Nowadays its like impossible for me to go onto you tube without seeing new swift boat ads coming out against Mccain and Palin. Here is one that uses his own words to draw out some rather obvious conclusions. If you are not careful on this one you might think you're watching a Chappelle re-run or something because let's face it. Mccain can say some comical stuff.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Palin Contradicts Mccain on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

From Think Progress:


"During his interview with Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), Fox’s Sean Hannity asked Palin if she believed an investigation was needed into the “relationships between political donations from Fannie and Freddie Mac and the bankruptcy.” Hannity’s question was presumably inspired by Sen. John

McCain’s (R-AZ) recent emphasis on the significant number of campaign contributions that the two firms have made in recent years.

Tonight, however, Palin played down the role that campaign contributions might have played in the Fannie-Freddie collapse. Instead, she emphasized “the role that lobbyists play in an issue like this"

US Elections 08: America I'm sorry but somebody must be confused

A few minutes ago I got a really cool email from an Obama supporter. Unfortunately, I don't know who to credit or who wrote it, but I'm sorry this one is just so timely and representative of my own personal thoughts and questions on the presidential election coverage that I just couldn't resist sharing it with you...

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

  • If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
  • Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

  • If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
  • Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

  • Graduate from Harvard law School you are unstable.
  • Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.


  • If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring or co-sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
  • If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

  • If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
  • If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

  • If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
  • If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.

  • If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
  • If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.


OK, much clearer now.

by anonymous author

US Elections 08: Obama Back Up in Polls

Obama is back up in the national polls, accortding to Gallup Poll.  As of  today what they are saying is Obama-47% and Mccain-45%-with a 4 point margin of error.

CNN's poll of polls shows Obama-46% and Mccain-45% and they call their poll a 0% margin of error poll.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

US Elections 2008: Top Mccain Campaign Official-Mccain Incapable of Running a Company

From :

"...Top McCain-Palin official Carly Fiorina is facing criticism from some within the campaign for a day of what they call "very Biden-like" comments, after the former Hewlett-Packard CEO told two separate interviewers that neither member of the Republican ticket would be capable of running a company.

Asked by a St. Louis radio station whether she thought Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin could run a company like Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina responded: "No, I don't.

“But that's not what she's running for. Running a corporation is a different set of things."

Asked about that remark on MSNBC, she made the same unprompted assessment of the GOP presidential nominee. "I don't think John McCain could run a major corporation..."

Sunday, September 14, 2008

US Elections 2008 & the Economy: Stop Whining!

From Americablog:

Another strong case for a 3rd Bush term from the McCain team. Another right wing extremist economist who advises McCain telling everyone that the economy is robust, despite what your lying eyes are telling you. According to right wing theorist (and haven't we had enough of them in the last eight years?) Donald Luskin, the "problem" is purely political and of course, it's Obama's fault. Uh huh. Whoopee for the Bush/McCain economy. If this McCain economic adviser thinks the US economy is so strong, why isn't McCain making this point on the campaign trail? You would think that a proud owner of this Bush/McCain economy would want to brag about the impressive numbers, no? Do tell, Mr Luskin, do tell.

That's not putting country first...

Will McCain now condemn the Bush administration's decision to go into Pakistan? Probably not right? Let's face it, Mccain does not really have a clearly defined foreign policy plan. Probably the closest thing to it is just to try to poke holes into Obama's foreign policy plan.As Andrew correctly points out, when Mccain tried attacking Obama for saying that if president he would consider going into Pakistan the idea was only naive because it came from Obama. That's not putting country first....That's keeping partisanship first.

read more | digg story

Rove Calls Mccain a Liar...No Way, watch it for yourself

Hat tip to Oliver Willis for showing us this one!

Friday, September 12, 2008

2008 US Elections: Obama and the war of hope versus fear




This recent press back that we are seeing in the media against Senator Obama is probably to be expected. Here is why...

I think that it is representative of a greater issue than the US elections that is taking place within the US-what we are actually witnessing is a tug of war between two opposing right here within the United States borders. One one side of the rope you have something that seems to be representative of today's conservative movement-that is an outlook dominated by fear, pessimism, and a feeling of moral superiority and on the other side you have a group that today seems to present in the vast majority on the left-hope (for a better future).

Abraham Lincoln photo from Public Domain.
Library of Congress via pingnews.com


Historical


From a historical point of view, I believe that the mid 1990's saw a conservative base that was growing steadily in strength, yet found it very difficult to fully flex their muscles given the brilliance of former President Bill Clinton. President Clinton was an enigma of sorts, came in on social issues adopting a stance that was difficult to neatly categorize. On some issues he was liberal but on many others he appeared to be centrist or to the right of the center and on fiscal/trade issues he was extremely bullish. He faced a republican controlled congress, but somehow found ways to implement measures that benefited a very large cross section of the US population, while still doing things like balancing the national budget. I think that him being able to make his accomplishments look so easy greatly infuriated the majority of the Republican party and followers. Naturally, when word got out about the Monica Lewinsky situation the conservative base saw the event as if it was manna that had fallen from heaven. So in spite of his many gains for our nation, Clinton became vilified by the conservative talk show hosts and the un-biased media followed suit. The practical side of this vilification is that democrats or liberals, as they like to call us, began to become very unpopular in politics at this time.

Conservative Backlash


image by ndifference

So given that as a backdrop Al Gore's task of campaigning to become US President in 2000, while trying to distance himself from Clinton was an uphill battle. The person that had been touted as a moral and business, George W. was sworn in as the US president following a bitter and contested election. And it seemed that the energy had been drained from the Republican Party because after winning they became quiet whilst the rest of the country was still crying foul. On top of that a steady stream of stories began coming out about prominent and visible members of the republican party-like corruption, sex scandals, and the like...

Lo and behold comes the tragedy of 9/11 and things began to turn around for the conservative movement. But at first, like for the first few weeks after the tragic events of 9/11, our nation saw a coming together of America's previously separate communities. It was very amazing and inspiring to see everyone displaying so much unity, pride, and togetherness in our country. In contrast to today even the international community surrounding us was eager to come to our aid.

Can Someone Say Subliminal Programming?

photo by mangee


But against this new found all encompassing mood of togetherness there was a rather quiet, but deliberate change in rhetoric. This change in tone came from the top-the Oval Office or from very powerful people that influence the oval office. Somehow, we the people, were slowly and carefully wound up with fear. Every day on the radio, in the airports, and on the TV we began hearing something rather foreign to us-terror alert warnings. One day it was being said that the code has been changed from yellow to orange and the next day it was red. And this continued, the days became weeks and the weeks became months and so on and so on. And by and large it was really hammered home to the American collective psyche that we were in trouble and no matter who or what stood in our way we were going to get justice. This was only the beginning of how extreme elements in the conservative movement tricked us in to becoming a nation led by fear.

Soon Washington began openly criticizing both the international community and any American who was not 100% behind going into Iraq. Following that the talk show hosts, radio personalities , and other right wing media outlets that were once powerful in the Clinton era found a new spring in their steps and had a new purpose. They were going to rid the entire globe of terrorists by going into one country...Of course Iraq's leader at the time really did give dictators a bad name and there isn't any disputing that point. But perhaps what mattered more to the current Bush Administration is the idea that, "we shoulda' gottem' the first time when my dad reined".

So for the next several months there were tons of false allegations that were meant to link the terrorist attacks from September 11 to Saddam. Now up until then Iraq had been regarded simply as a secular Muslim nation that was surrounded by much more fundamentalist states. And so it follows that Saddam and terrorists got along like oil and water. Saddam probably more closely resembled the Shah's that were installed in various parts of the Middle East to assist the UK in getting oil, prior to their ousting by fundamentalists, than he did a terrorist. But unfortunately, because of all the propaganda that we were hit with after 9/11 we did not ask enough questions when G.W. started the country down the path of threatening to take action irrespective of an international coalition to invade Iraq.

I am sure that around this time you, like me, started hearing everyday ordinary citizens on the street talking about things like, "let's bring in those terrorists" or "Osama your Mama" and other things like this. Please note that I am not saying that those slogans or the mindsets that created them were right or wrong, but am just trying to put it into context that this mindset proved to be like clay for that ultra right faction of the republican party-because 1) they did not try to stop it or discourage it but rather seemed to encourage this behavior 2) they almost got to the point where they questioned you if you didn't blindly go along with some of their mantras. So ultimately they were able to shape the minds of the American people into whatever they wanted...And from there America's collective conciousness then became fixated upon immigration. Again, it started sort of against the backdrop of making our borders safer by doing a tighter screen on immigrants, but somehow it turned into a full scale movement where nearly the entire nation turned against the international and immigrant communities. This caught many of us who were not buying into the anti immigrant feeling off guard and we were sort of caught speechless. After all, we have always been known as a land of immigrants, right? Even more importantly America would not be able to function without immigrants.

"Un-Patriotic"

photo by McBeth



After being able to manipulate the mindsets of ordinary, everyday, hard working Americans this successfully the fear mongers felt that it was time to implement the next phase of their plan. This is the one where that can take one word to label someone and that one word could end up affecting how everyone looked at that person. We are talking about that word "Un-Patriotic". if you call a liberal politician that long enough or even just an ordinary person looking for a low paying job un-patriotic for long enough their career will suffer. It's like when someone is called that all of the fury left over from 9/11 gets chanelled at that person as if they were somehow complicate in the act.

And that is how the un-patriotic axe was wielded...first it started out with Washington elite saying things like, "if you don't support us invading Iraq, you aren't supporting the troops, and by default not supporting the troops makes you un-patriotic". But somehow (and I still have not figured this one out) they the elite powerbrokers of the conservative party at the time added a new twist to this un-patriotic thing. Also, it should be mentioned who I am referring to when I say the elite power brokers within the republican party-I am talking about those who started using "faith and morals" as a hammer against anyone who didn't agree with them and who took over the republican party around the time of the Iraq invasion by using fear. After they were firmly entrenched in every corner of America what they did is they started combining the message of patriotism with family values. In essence, they almost made the two inter-changeable.

The way that it worked is that if someone was called un-patriotic and as someone who lacked family values it meant that you were either:

  • were against the Iraq invasion
  • a democrat
  • or representated a minority group-whether it be ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, or etc

And sadly, if you happened to fall into one of these groups then you had to work extra hard to gain the approval of the new republican leadership. In fact, I might not be exaggerating to say that it at this time it was even common to for no reason be randomly labeled as un-American, liberal, socialist, and etc just because you couldn't be classified as patriotic or morally correct".

Let me now point out that by the time each of the above phases that I mentioned took place that the conservative's doom and gloom ideology had fully taken a hold of our country. They had their way in Washington and were able to re-write the script for what it means to be an American. Whereas once America has had an air of inclusion and fairness, these folks have somehow found a way to go beyond their base and sell the idea that Americans should be mad or contemptuous towards anyone who is not "like us". Actors who willingly acted along in this disastrous play were none other than our trusted community leaders-our pastors, politicians, local media spokes persons, and even neighbors. I am not mad at them and would not advocate you being mad, but just want you to understand what you are dealing with.

The Matrix

Image by twiztid_juggalo09

Just like the movie, "The Matrix", so many of us Americans fell for this bait, became like zombies, and jumped onto the band wagon. In my opinion this is how so many who do not fit the traditional mold of the Republican Party got drawn in to the republican party during Bush's first and second terms. As long as you had that counter culture, pessimistic, fear leaning attitude you felt at home in the new republican party. All the while though, while this "anti-everything" cloud swept through our country you had this quiet group that pretty much just kept their mouth shut during conversations that veered towards American politics, religion, or race. We stayed quiet because we were intimidated by the aggression, the anger, and the fact that we often felt very out numbered in these situations.

Hope and Change Prevail
Democratic nominee Barack Obama
photo by Joshua Wanyama/African Path

Then in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention someone that most Americans had never heard of before took the stage. He had a really weird name but when he spoke, people felt him...those that heard him instantly loved him because he spoke the language that America's heart yearned to hear for so long. Senator Barack Obama spoke the universal language of hope. And then when he announced his candidacy in 2007 everyone that he had inspired back in 2004 became re-energized. No body thought that he could emerge from the primary contest by appealing to America's sense of hope and love. But somehow he did. And that very moment when he accepted the nomination signified to those that had fallen for and championed the twin traps of pessimism and division that there time of glory was about to end. As soon as the DNC was over the conservative base became like a swarm of angry ants that had been awaken. So when you look at it from that light, everything that the conservative base is doing should really be expected. Because the republican party is more adept at getting the general public to fall for their tactics and because they know how to sensationalize the mundane the media has pretty much taken the bait too. I mean after all let's face it, there isn't much that attracts viewers, listeners, and readers like good old fashion sensationalism.

This is why Mccain was able to make a strong rally last week without tweeking or correcting any of his campaign's policy or ethical lapses, it is also why no matter how much empirical or statistical evidence you present to some folks they still say things like, "I still don't know who Obama is" or "I just don't think he's one of us" or "Obama's going to raise taxes" or "is a socialist" or "I don't think he has enough judgment and experience" . Sidenote on the socialist thing, which administration just effectively nationalized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Is anyone calling Bush a socialist? This backdrop should explain why.
This is also why the architects of this pessimistic movement are running scared right now and are willing to do anything to change the game. We have just been so thoroughly brainwashed and our minds are so numb that we get mad when we should be happy and get happy when we should be afraid.

Bringing it Home

One more point or statement that I would like to make is that I am not saying that the republicans are bad and that democrats by default are good, because in life you always want to have balance rather than inequity. Afterall, there are some republicans who are doing some stellar jobs and there are some democrats who do the opposite. For crying out loud, I used to vote republican. So it is not really about finely drawn partisanship. What I am saying is that in the last 10 to 12 years the republican party and our country got hijacked if you will by this very negative outlook on life. It is that negative, gloomy, and often sarcastic approach to life that I am against not one party or another. It just so happens that today it is the republican party that has more often carried that mood.

It's time to take our country back, people. This is not the time to panic every time a slanderous article is written about Senator Obama or every time the polls show unfavorable numbers or any of the like. After all, strategically Obama has run probably the best campaign of most of our lifetimes. If he stumbles it will still be ok and get back up to keep moving forward. What people of hope for our nation, like you and me who are supporting Obama, should do is stay focused. Keep donating, keep registering voters, keep blogging, keep talking to neighbors, and just stay involved.

AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

Democratic National Committee

Oliver Willis