
Demo implosion.
Heh, not so quick.:-
Most voters are more concerned with domestic issues than foreign policy issues. Fewer than 1 in 10 voters say that the next president should focus on foreign policy issues, while nearly 8 in 10 voters want the next president to focus on domestic issues. Indeed, nearly half the voters want the candidates to address economic problems, including gas prices and jobs. Two-thirds of voters say the economy and gas prices are issues that a president can do a lot about.
The poll found 45 percent of voters supporting Mr. Obama and 39 percent backing Mr. McCain, unchanged from the New York Times/CBS News poll conducted last month. Seven in 10 voters who support a candidate said they had made up their mind, while 3 in 10 said it is still too early to say for sure.
CBS Poll: Obama Maintains Lead - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog
Fickle things these Polls.![]()
Certainly most of the polls still have Obama in the lead, and many polls are showing about the same lead for Obama as he had last month. On the other hand more and more polls are showing gains by McCain/ losses by Obama, and while before one was hard pressed to find a poll that had McCain in the lead now it is not so hard to come across.
Zogby International
ATV/Zogby Poll Toss-Up! McCain 42%, Obama 41% as Undecided Voters Increase
Obama loses support among his strongest demographic groups
Poll: Obama support contracts - UPI.com
Poll: Obama support contracts
WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's lead over Sen. John McCain fell from an average 6 percentage points in July to 1 point last week, a Gallup Poll indicates.
Still along way to go, and sorry to say it looks like McCain will continue with the negative tack as well. Interestingly enough the Red team negative really got going in August both in ’88 and ’00 and we all know how those turned out.
Hillary Clinton's slur unearthed to hurt Obama | World news | The Guardian
Hillary Clinton's slur unearthed to hurt Obama
The Democrats' acrimonious primary battle came back to haunt Hillary Clinton yesterday, a day before she sets off on her first solo campaign swing for Barack Obama, with John McCain using footage of her attacking the Democratic candidate in a new campaign ad.
"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion" - Steven Weinberg

Obama on vacation now? So, he's visiting his white grandparents in Hawaii to apologise for mocking them about their nigga talk?
NECK AND NECK: "The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday again shows Barack Obama attracting 44% of the vote while and John McCain earns 43%. When 'leaners' are included, it’s Obama 47% and McCain 46%. With leaners, the candidates have been within one point of each other for eight straight days."
Heh...![]()
A Deplorable Bitter Clinger
I've been wondering why we haven't been reading more about John McCains mediocre record- especially now the McCain campaign has decided to abandon it's hi-falutin' rhetoric and go down the Karl Rove dirty tricks road. Time to take the gloves off perhaps? I daresay Obama is pondering just such a possibility in Hawaii- and theres no shortage of material. Maybe he's just waiting for the right time, or maybe he genuinely wants to take the high road.
Anyway, heres some of Sen McCains less than stellar resume':-
'Lack of accomplishments
Like the current occupant of the White House, McCain got his first career breaks from the connections and money of his family, not from hard work.
The son and grandson of Navy admirals, he attended Annapolis where he did poorly. Nevertheless, he was commissioned as a pilot, where he performed poorly, crashing three planes before he failed to evade a North Vietnamese missile that destroyed his plane. McCain spent more than five years in a prison camp. [War hero?]
McCain hasn't accomplished much in the Senate. Even his own campaign doesn't trumpet his successes, probably because the few victories he's had still rankle Republicans.
His campaign finance law failed to significantly reduce the role of money in politics. He failed to get a big tobacco bill through the Senate. He's failed to change the way Congress spends money; his bill to give the president a line-item veto was declared unconstitutional, and the system of pork and earmarks continues unabated. He failed to reform the immigration system.
Shallow
McCain says he doesn't understand the economy. He's demonstrated that he doesn't understand the workings of Social Security, or the political history of the Middle East. He doesn't know who our enemies are. He says he wants to reduce global warming, but then proposes ideas that would stimulate -- not reduce -- demand for fossil fuels.
McCain has done one thing well -- self promotion. Instead of working on legislation or boning up on the issues, he's been on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" more than any other guest. He's been on the Sunday talk shows more than any other guest in the past 10 years. He's hosted "Saturday Night Live" and even announced his candidacy in 2007 on "The Late Show with David Letterman."
No Leadership
McCain has frequently taken on near-impossible missions that go against the grain of his party. It's the basis of his reputation as a maverick. But McCain has never been able to bring more than a handful of Republicans along with him on issues such as campaign finance reform or immigration. Democrats on the Hill have accepted McCain's help on some issues, but except for a few exceptions (John Kerry and Joe Lieberman), they've never warmed to him.
To achieve anything as president, McCain would have to win over two hostile parties: The Democrats and the Republicans.
Living in the Sixties
McCain is still fighting the Vietnam War. But he's not fighting the real historic war, which taught us the folly of injecting ourselves into a civil war that was none of our business.
Most of the other high-profile politicians who fought in Vietnam -- Colin Powell, Chuck Hegel, John Kerry, and Jim Webb -- aren't stuck in the past, and they don't view the Iraq War as a chance to get Vietnam right.
No principles
After years of honing a reputation as a guy who'll say the truth regardless of the political consequences, McCain has crashed the Straight Talk Express. On almost every issue where he took a principled stand against the Republican line -- taxes, immigration, oil drilling, the Religious Right -- he's changed his views.
We ought to like politicians who change their mind when the facts change; it shows maturity, judgment and flexibility. But politicians who change their mind to suit the prevailing winds show the opposite.
The bottom line
Successful presidents come from two molds: visionaries, or mechanics. The visionaries -- think Reagan or FDR -- see what others can't and say 'Why not?" to inspire the country. The mechanics -- think LBJ or Eisenhower -- know the ins and outs of government and are able to harness the power of millions of humans to accomplish great things, or at least keep the wheels from coming off.
McCain fits neither style. He's neither a dreamer, nor a detail guy. His major accomplishment, in Vietnam and in the Senate, has been merely to survive.
Just surviving doesn't make you're a hero, or a decent president. America needs to do more than survive the next four years.'
Full Article- Why McCain would be a mediocre president - MarketWatch
My own view is that Mccain would not necessarily be a disastrous President, like Bush. But he would be a do nothing, change nothing, achieve nothing President.
I'd guess this mediocrity aspect of the man will be more in the spotlight after Obama gets back from Hawaii.Another reason Obama will win? I suppose it depends on the appetite for change amongst US voters.
Change we can believe in, or McSame?
Last edited by sabang; 11-08-2008 at 04:39 PM.
The mettle of any president is determined as much by current events as it is by the character of the man. It's hard to say how history will unfold during the next four years. If a president is forced into relatively few important decisions, it's a skate in the park -- and in the absence of real determinants, he'll be judged on the economy.
If on the other hand, he's forced to make difficult decisions, the true leadership and moral characteristics come into play. I don't think there's any doubt as to which candidate has the experience and knowledge of domestic and world politics to be a good leader. What it's boiling down to is this: is a fresh face more important than an experienced leader?

Except to add higher taxes and more welfare for inner city folks.
I think both nominees should be given a mock disaster test. Each is allowed his admin team, but nobody knows what the "disaster" will be. Then, boom! The call comes on the red phone that says NYC has been bombed again, or California has suffered a 9 earthquake, or gators have taken over Miami. Then see how they respond. A fun reality show! I bet lots of Americans would watch and make their decision based on each nominee's performance and judgement.
^^ That's a bold-faced cop out.
This whole election boils down to one point.
1. Do you want something new?
2. Do you want something proven?
In my opinion, it's a fair question. I'm an independent voter who is dissatisfied with the current administration.... I'm not convinced Obama has the world experience to be my president.
I've listened till I'm sick about others' opinions regarding America. They love to harp on about seppos' lack of worldly experience.
Yet they love the swishy, gay, colorful black candidate who has been a state senator for less than five years. . I understand my own country far more than I understand these bizarre America-philes. They're dumb and misinformed.
And at the end of the day, I have one vote, they have none.
One guy near flunked out of Annapolis, but thank goodness he didn't, someone needs to crash four planes.
The other guy was the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review.
I think America needs a firm, steady hand on the tiller and you should vote for the old white haired dude that crashed four planes.
I don't think they make the Pres actually try and fly Airforce one, so the four plane crashes really won't have an impact on who I vote for.
so let me get this straight....you chide obama for an alleged lack of experience, but support mccain because he has a lot of experience at failing.
^ Nothing new there. Have you looked at Dubya's record?
Who chides Obama for lack of experience?
Who supports McCain BECAUSE he has experience at failing?
Not me.
I ain't going to decide who I will vote for based upon how good a pilot they are though - that's just plane silly.
My vote is based upon platform:
I don't support Obama because of his platform.
I support McCain because I agree with more of his platform than Obama's.
Don't agree near 100% with either of them.
The real Issue is that of success vs. failure or excellence vs mediocrity. Traditionally, we always believed, or at least wanted to believe, that our top Political Leaders were exceptionally capable, talented people. And when there was one that was able to communicate a Vision, many people associated with that individual, on a very personal level. An obvious example is Kennedy, even Blair to an extent.Originally Posted by Bugs
But I suppose you are right Bugs- we now live in a rather cynical, post modern, mass media age. It is pretty much accepted, deep down, that a political leader in a modern democracy is basically a talking head for an interest group. In our cynicism, we basically know they are all liars anyway, and will say what they want their audience to hear (as told them by their legions of PR people and Lobbyists) for the purpose of gaining sufficient votes, to gain political power.
Like him or not, Obama has at least injected some excitement into politics again, something that many people associate with on a personal level. He has also apparently gotten a segment of the US population interested in the political process again that were traditionally apathetic- and it is obvious from these pages that several Right leaning people resent that (no, not yourself).
Is he just an empty suit, all hat no cattle? To be honest, we would only really know that after he gets elected, If he gets elected. He has indeed modified some of his positions to suit the political prevailing winds. But we do know McCain is McSame.
Just my personal musings. I would like to see people get more involved in the Democratic process again, personally.
^The absolute best thing to come of this election is the highly volatile/emotional participation of 'normal' folks. It's been awhile since an election has generated this much interest. For whatever reasons.
It is really interesting to see that "others" ( non-Americans who really don't have A Dog In This Fight), become so polarized over the next US president. As the only Merican sitting around the beer table during the primaries it was an experience being told whom to vote for by folks that really don't understand the system. All well-meaning BTW but still not a clue how the system works. One man/woman cannot totally control the country, no matter how much you believe it to be so.
GWB is not the only one responsible for the fuck-up called Iraq, there are several millions of others that either stuck their collective head in the sand or stood along side his stupid decisions. (which by-the-way won't be truly determined to be right or wrong for decades to come.)
The US system pretty much insures that one person cannot destroy the country, no matter how hard they try.
E. G.
"If you can't stand the answer --
Don't ask the question!"
Indeed, and the democratic system of checks and balances exists largely for this reason, as do the individual political party 'machines'. This might be a question of degree- one person cannot foment a revolution, or even a radical change to such a fundamentally stable yet pluralistic system- and I, unlike Chomsky, would argue that is a good thing (damn dangerous things, those Revolutions). But can one person still be a spearhead for some real change, within the limitations above?
Only if he has a very popular mandate at grass roots level, I would think.
The Communist Party USA says that Barack Obama may not be the perfect Stalinist they’ve been hoping for, but he is a stepping stone to the new socialist utopia: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize.
And check this out too: at Barack Obama’s official campaign blog site: Barack Obama | The Socialist Party. With a nice picture of Leon Trotsky.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/
25 More Reasons Why Not To Vote For BO:
You're unlikely to vote for Obama if you.....
1. aren't registered to vote in France or Germany.
2. believe Gen. Petraeus is more important than Al Gore.
3. nod every time you read a Thomas Sowell column.
4. have ever caught yourself humming the theme from" The Green Berets."
5. have gotten your pants dirty in the last week.
6. kinda like a good steak once in a while.
7. have accidentally discharged your gun during church services in a bitter fit of antipathy over people who aren't like you.
8. wouldn't mind knowing if your 14 year old daughter was being taken by a non-family member to Toledo for an abortion.
9. prefer the Super Bowl to the World Cup.
10. know Sig Sauer isn't the name of Obama's domestic policy advisor.
11. are certain Obama would've taken the tank ride if Dukakis hadn't beaten him to it.
12. can't describe Obama's position on the surge without using the word "incoherent."
13. don't think having a baby is "punishment.".
14. have heard about Obama's vote against the Induced Birth Infant Liability Act.
15. tend to giggle whenever Nancy Pelosi talks energy policy.
16. think your taxes are plenty high already, thank you very much.
17. prefer legislation come from Congress, not the Supreme Court
18. believe we'd be in a world of hurt if we'd followed Obama's advice on Iraq last year.
19. resent the suggestion you're a racist for treating Obama like a serious presidential candidate.
20. hear the name "Osama Bin Laden" and words other than "habeas corpus" come to mind.
21. were to meet William Ayers, you'd be more likely to bop him in the nose than join his board.
22. list either Patton, Braveheart or 300 among your favorite movies.
23. realize that Obama's Speech of the Century on race was, in hindsight, a crock.
24. wonder which government agency is in charge of healing the planet.
25. personally know somebody who packs his passport whenever traveling to San Francisco... just in case.
Score (# of descriptions that apply to you):
0— You heard that according to Publisher's Clearinghouse, Al Gore won Florida
1—3 You think that had Ron Paul gotten more time in the debates he'd be the nominee
4—24 McCain's your man
25 If only Fred Thompson would drink more coffee....
The Corner on National Review Online=
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