I still say this will be very tight in the end, as those who don't want a black man in the White House make themselves heard. It's nagging me that it's so "obvious" to overwhelming majority that Obamarx wins. More self-assured mob gets much better chance for upset.
Neither candidate is offering anything revolutionary, just variations of their parties slant. Remember you're electing a party not an individual. And those parties are protecting their constituents. Ask yourself what type of constituent are you? Should the wage earner be favored over the employer. Should the poor be favor over the investor. Or should the employer and investor be allowed , with least resistance, to provide dynamic growth and wealth building in this economy.
Not going to build much if the bottom 80% are too broke to do anything but stay home and play board games.
Her presence means precisely this: that if something happens to John McCain and he is unable to carry out the duties which devolve upon him by virtue of his position, she will become the President of the United States, and she is obviously not ready to fill those shoes. In the end, the #1 responsibility of a Veep is to be there in case something happens to the Prez. I saw a speech given by McCain this afternoon. Was he talking about the economy? Nope. Was he talking about American security and foreign policy? Nope. Was he talking about the environment? (No, and you'd think that the environment was a total non-issue for the Republicans. I haven't heard either one of them mention it except for Palin's 'Drill now, drill deep' or whatever it is she says). No, what he said was this, and I quote, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" The Bogeyman!!! Looks like the RNC has decided to either eke out a slim victory or go down in flames on the 'I'm not Barack O-terrorist' platform.
Nik, I honestly don't see why that is an unreasonable question given his alliances with people such as Ayers, and 20 years of worshipping at the altar of Rev Wright's black liberation theology.
Hey Hap Well, I know he worshipped at Rev. Wright's Christian altar, which is definitely a bit disturbing (that footage of Wright's ranting is ridiculous). Whether he worshipped at the altar of Black Liberation Theology, I don't know. Maybe you have better info than I do. Certainly it can't be true that Wright's entire congregation subscribed to the more radical tenets of his philosophy. Re: Ayers, I do think there's a difference between seeing Ayers on campus or being there when he was drinking in a pub and actively participating in the planning of domestic terrorism. No one seems to be able to come up with evidence of the latter - I'm sure it would be made available if it existed. I hung out with some very questionable characters in my youth as well : ) In the end, Obama just looks to me like a guy who has been sucked into the power game and is trying to grab the brass ring, which is what most pols are doing. I don't buy the argument that he has some nefarious plan for Black Domination or that he will plan domestic terrorism from the Oval Office. Do I think he'll make a good Prez? I don't know. I do admit that he's an ivory tower type guy and not someone who has the battle scars, either literal or figurative, that McCain has. McCain just doesn't 'read' well in a media age - that's a big part of his problem. I have been pretty consistent in my claims that the most relevant thing about McCain/Palin's focus on Obama is not the veracity of the charges they are making, but the fact of the approach. John Kerry lost in '04 when GWB's approval was extremely low and the Iraq war was getting very unpopular. How did he manage to lose? By running on the 'I'm not GWB' platform. Americans rightly said 'You lose' because he didn't define himself, except to say 'I'm not him'. Now, the RNC is trying the same strategy! I just find it bizarre.
Nik, thanks for the response. What bugs me about Obama's relationship with Wright is that you're talking about two decades of friendship and mentoring by a veritable nutcase. Wright married the Obama's and baptized their children. Wright is close to Louis Farrakhan - the two of them went to Libya together to meet with Qaddafi (when he was a very bad boy - before the invasion of Iraq scared the shit out of him to the point he abandoned his nuke program). Wright rails against whitey, damns America, and claims the AIDS virus was designed by Uncle Sam and targets black people. Two decades, Nik....and only now, when he's running for Prez, and Wright's philosophy becomes publicized, does Obama distance himself from Wright. At least on the surface...Holy shit, if McCain had attended a White Supremacist rally for five minutes, let alone over the course of 20 years, would he be getting a free pass from the media?!? Fuck NO!! Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric, and Co. would be hounding him 24/7 about it. As for Ayers, I don't believe that he's out there planning the next 9/11 or anything. But I also do not believe the claims that he and Obama were nothing but casual acquaintances. From what I've heard and read, the two served together on various boards that funded ultra-lib "educational programs" with millions of dollars, and Obama launched his political career at a coming out party at Ayer's home. I'd have a lot more respect for Obama if he would simply own up to the relationship instead of trying to deny it. That's just a couple of things. At the end of the day, we have this guy who comes out of nowhere and we really don't know much about him. What is the deal with his family in Kenya? Did he support the Kenyan politician who wants to enact Sharia law there? What was his relationship with Tony Rezko? What specifically does he disagree with Ayers and Wright about (if anything)? Other than this campaign, what enterprise has he actually managed, and how successful was it? There are so many questions about Obama that his supporters don't seem able to answer, except to say to refer to his website. Obama is benefitting from a perfect storm of events - distrust of Bush, dissatisfaction with Iraqi war, and now the economic crisis. I think his greatest strength is that he is not a Republican, and that is enough for tens of millions of people. To them, he is, quite simply, the only alternative. Never mind that they really don't know anything about him...
You think that Obama should come out and say something like this?: "It's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great." - John McCain to G. Gordon Liddy, 11/07 Personally, I wouldn't advise Obama to make a similar statement about Ayers.