He has nothing to lose. His campaign is totally overmatched by Obama’s. The Obama team is well organized, flush with resources, and the candidate and the campaign are in sync. The McCain campaign, once merely problematic, is now close to being out-and-out dysfunctional. Its combination of strategic incoherence and operational incompetence has become toxic. If the race continues over the next three weeks to be a conventional one, McCain is doomed.
While I certainly understand the impulse on multiple levels (the two most prominent being that 1) it is clear that McCain is losing, and 2) they haven’t run a good campaign), the bottom line is at this point it would not only be too little, too late but the problem here is not the campaign staff (although, again, there is much there to criticize) but a combination of the candidate himself (who has lacked a coherent vision in this campaign) and the fundamentals (which have been against the Republican for at least two years).
I must confess, I find the following to be a tad amusing:
And let McCain go back to what he’s been good at in the past — running as a cheerful, open and accessible candidate. Palin should follow suit. The two of them are attractive and competent politicians. They’re happy warriors and good campaigners. Set them free.
Provide total media accessibility on their campaign planes and buses. Kick most of the aides off and send them out to swing states to work for the state coordinators on getting voters to the polls. Keep just a minimal staff to help organize the press conferences McCain and Palin should have at every stop and the TV interviews they should do at every location. Do town halls, do the Sunday TV shows, do talk radio — and invite Obama and Biden to join them in some of these venues, on the ground that more joint appearances might restore civility and substance to the contest.
Now, I honestly don’t recall Kristol’s exact position on the media over the last month or so, but as I recall there was a conscious decision by the McCain camp to eschew (nay, villianize) the press. It came out loud and clear in both Giuliani’s and Romeny’s convention speeches and the entire Palin roll-out strategy was to limit her exposure and then vilify the press if they asked questions about her qualifications and/or the vetting process. So now after playing the media bias card as hard as it has been played since the early 1980s, Kristol wants them to turn on a dime and go all access all the time?
Don’t get me wrong, I have argued all along that the McCain camp was making a huge mistake with their media strategy, especially vis-à-vis Palin, but it is just an amazing recommendation coming from Kristol, given that the GOP establishment/McCain boosters in general have been buying into the media attacks with gusto (and especially in re: Palin). Whenever candidates wage war with the press, the ultimate losers are the voters, who simply find the amount of information that they have about the candidates is diminished.
Of course the fact of the matter remains that it is clear that the McCain campaign doesn’t trust Palin with the press, which underscores the kind of corner they painted themselves in, which gets back to the original point of the post: they haven’t run a very good campaign.
And I agree with the following as well:
McCain should stop unveiling gimmicky proposals every couple of days that pretend to deal with the financial crisis. He should tell the truth — we’re in uncharted waters, no one is certain what to do, and no one knows what the situation will be on Jan. 20, 2024. But what we do know is that we could use someone as president who’s shown in his career the kind of sound judgment and strong leadership we’ll need to make it through the crisis.
Indeed, it would be nice, as I have noted before, if both candidates would do something along these lines.
indeed. i find it strange that there’s almost an attempt to distance the candidate from his campaign, as if there are things mccain would want to do, but is being prevented from doing so by his campaign.
if it is true that he is allowing himself to be restrained by outside forces, then that does not speak well of mccain’s ability to lead.
it does not help that obama’s campaign appears to be a quite a smooth running machine, with the candidate pretty much at the helm.
Comment by kouji — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 1:36 pm
While this is indeed ridiculous, I would rather be No. 2. At least maybe this will get Alabama fired up.
Comment by Talmadge East — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 7:27 pm
I actually figured we’d be at #2, still in the BCS era, there is no real difference between 1 and 2, really, since both are golden tickets to the National Championship Game.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 7:40 pm
Well Doc, if Alabama is in it I will be there. Hope to see you.
Comment by Talmadge East — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 9:41 pm
Speaking of Cowboys…. at least the other Oklahoma team DID win. The 17th ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys beat Number 3 ranked Missouri!!! It truly was a great weekend for college football.
Comment by Sarah K. B. — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 11:32 am
Texas…are??? I’ll buy the Texas Longhorns are, but Texas is.
Comment by ts — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 5:28 pm
Quite right-thanks.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 5:30 pm
Via Time, In Battleground Virginia, a Tale of Two Ground Game:
With so much at stake, and time running short, Frederick did not feel he had the luxury of subtlety. He climbed atop a folding chair to give 30 campaign volunteers who were about to go canvassing door to door their talking points — for instance, the connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden: “Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon,” he said. “That is scary.”
Frederick is GOP Chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick, so we aren’t talking about just a random campaigner.
This of stuff really is indefensible. While I am no fan of Bill Ayers and find his past actions to be reprehensible, there is no comparison to be made between al Qaeda’s attacks and those of the Weather Underground’s. While I am not condoning the attacks, it is nonetheless noteworthy that the WU’s attacks were designed to damage property, which is a far cry from the mass murder of al Qaeda. And while it is true that members Weather Underground did murder three persons (two policemen and a security guard) in 1981, that was a year after Ayers and his wife had surrendered to authorities.
There simply is no legitimate comparison between the Weather Underground and al Qaeda. It is an utterly fallacious comparison. That does not, I will reiterate, absolve the WU of its crimes, but any fair-minded person has to admit that not all crimes are utterly equal.
Further, the notion that Obama and Ayer are friends in any way that tells us anything about how Obama will govern is likewise problematic. Ayers and his wife hosted a fund-raiser, contributed $200 to one of Obama’s campaigns and Ayers served on a board with Ayers. This is hardly the stuff of legendary friendships. One would think that Obama had promised to make Ayers the Secretary of Education or something to hear people talk.
Even beyond any of the above: I still maintain that if this is the McCain camp’s best line of attack less than a month before we vote, then this race is over.
For some background, here are some useful sources:
The Chicago Sun-Times: Who is Bill Ayers?
The Chicago Sun-Times: 10 things to know about Bill Ayers
I agree that the Weather Underground and Al Qaida are apples and oranges as terrorist organizations go; but just like apples and oranges are both fruit, the WU and AQ are both terrorist organizations. They’re different in their organization, goals, MO, and strategy, but make no mistake, they are both terrorist organizations.
I agree that the manner in which McCain is going after the Ayers libnk is probably ineffective. But I don’t think it’s unfair. If this man (Obama) is going to be our president, we should know what sort of people he has had dealings with in the past. It is important. It’s a loose connection, sure - but I’ll tell you something, Dr. Taylor - I would sooner be dead than be loosely affiliated with Ayers or anyone like him. I swore my life to protect our country against men like him (all enemies, foreign and domestic). I would not get within 100 meters of him, much less sit on a board with him or in any other way approach him; and I don’t understand why it’s unfair for me or others to question the character of a person who would.
If the shoe was on the other foot - let’s say McCain had sat on a board for a few months with a guy who bombed an abortion clinic, would the media be making light of it, brushing it aside as something that happened 15 years ago, saying the connection was loose and tenuous and barely existed? You know as well as I do that we’d be seeing it round the clock, night and day, on every news network but Fox.
I would throw a flag on the play against McCain for using an ineffective strategy and wasting his campaign dollars going down this path. But I absolutely think that it’s fair to look at the connection and to make an issue of it.
Late in my military career I started to learn more about intelligence, because as an SF officer I sometimes did things to directly contribute to our intelligence picture. Sometimes this was strategic intelligence, and sometimes it was what we called IPB (Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield), which is more tactical in nature and usually its purpose was obvious.
The data of the former type that we were sent to collect was often bizarre to me as a commander. I had no idea how it was useful. Sometimes all we came up with in weeks of work was a superficial, weak, or circumstantial link of a person, persons, place, or organization to a terrorist or insurgent group.
Someone else, either in military intelligence, the CIA, or both, however, was looking at that and putting it with a lot of other bits and pieces about that intelligence object. They were conducting what the intelligence community refers to as “net assessment”. Sometimes when you do this, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s not just this guy being at this place at this time; it’s when you put that together with other bits and pieces that were collected by other teams, or through other means (electronic, arial, or sattellite surveillance, for exampe) that a whole lot of loose connections and circumstantial evidences add up into a very damning picture.
I know I’m going to sound like I just eat republican talking points for breakfast by saying this, but it’s been my experience in life that you can tell a lot about a man by the company he has kept. It’s not just the loose connection to Ayers; Obama has loose connections to all kinds of problematic groups and individuals. There’s ACORN, Jeremiah Wright and some other religious radicals in Chicago; and a spattering of loose connections to a half dozen other people who are really pretty awful.
I’m not sure if the number of loose connections Obama has to known terrorists and radicals would get him put on our tag and bag list (the people we were sent to grab, label, and ship to Guantanamo or some other interrogation facility), but it would definitely be enough to get him on a “watch carefully” list, if circumstances were very different.
If it was just the Ayers thing, I’d not have issue with Obama’s character; I’d think he was just suffering from the delusion of believing he is Zaphod Beeblebrox. But it’s just one of many tenuous connections that he has to radical groups; and the whole that those things make when added together is greater than the sum of the parts.
Tell me if I’m being unfair here. I’d really like to know.
Comment by Captain D — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 7:02 pm
I would find Obama’s ties to Ayers to be a tad more problematic had Obama not been a toddler at the time of Ayers’ crimes.
Politicians of both parties often find themselves in association with persons of questionable bios.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 7:08 pm
McCain’s lame attempt of imitating the success of the Swift Boat ads in 2024 is a joke.
Comment by Talmadge East — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 7:30 pm
Do McCain’s efforts to have the United States arm the KLA count as “supporting terrorism”? Just curious…
Comment by Alex Knapp — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 9:11 pm
Tell me if I’m being unfair here. I’d really like to know.
Yes, Cap’n, you are being unfair.
Let’s look at McCain-this is a guy who was one of Ahmad Chalabi’s greatest defenders in Washington. He called Chalabi a “patriot” and helped him get money from both Clinton and Bush as he set up his “government in exile.”
Of course, we now know that Chalabi was responsible for purposively feeding fabricated intelligence to the US on WMDs in the run-up to the war and was accused by the US military of spying for Iran.
Unlike Ayers, Chalabi is directly responsible for thousands of American lives and McCain’s top campaign advisor, Charlie Black, has lobbied for Chalabi for years.
McCain-as far as I know-has never condemned Chalabi or explained his longtime, intimate association with someone who has caused so much harm to the country.
It is truly bizarre that the media hasn’t discussed this troubling association which is much more damaging than Obama’s casual acquaintances.
Comment by Ratoe — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 9:19 pm
I don’t have a problem with anyone going after McCain about Chalabi. Chalabi is a controversial character. Sure, he’s fair game.
So now that I said that, why is it not fair for me to talk about Ayers? I give you Chalabi, you give me Ayers. Isn’t that fair? I mean, seriously. Go ahead, link McCain to Chalabi. Fine. Why does that have anything to do with whether or not it’s fair to assess Obama on his peers? After all, I’m doing it to McCain, too. Is that your gripe? You think I’m not assessing McCain with the same metric? I’ll happily do so. I have no problem with that at all.
NOW - that said - am I being unfair in looking at Ayers and Obama’s other associates and drawing some conclusions?
And though it’s off the topic you got me mad because you clearly don’t know much about Afghanistan, a cause that is near and dear to my heart. Chalabi is not as big a rat as he is being made out to be. I have actually met the man; I’m also familiar with the rest of the pool of contenders for leadership in Afghanistan. I speak two dialects of Persian. I served there for more than two years and was privy to a lot of information that most people are not. Chalabi is not a good man by our standards, but of the choices we had, he was by far the best. Thinking otherwise means you don’t know who else was in contention. Maybe if you can cough up a name or two - someone who would make sense as a head of state for Afghanistan (at the time) - I can take you seriously. But if all you can say is Chalabi = bad, you don’t know enough to talk about the situation. There were some seriously bad people lined up to take over Afghanistan. Chalabi was the least of them. None of the contenders who were more - how shall I put it - “democratic” (though I cringe to use the term here) were viable. Chalabi was all we had.
As far as him being responsible for what you call the “run-up”, i.e. intelligence on WMD’s, that is simply not true. And I’m really mad about the lies that are being propagated about this. If you want I can point you to the statements the man made about them. They are pretty much the same thing that the rest of the world was saying; most of the credible intelligence agencies in the world were pretty sure that Hussein was tinkering with NBC weapons. No one was 100% sure, but no one with a functional intelligence agency had it off the table. You always play with probabilities in intel, and almost everyone thought it was more probable that he did have weapons than did not. How probable it was varied from country to country, but every NATO agency had it better than 50%. Some were much higher.
It’s only been in hindsight that some agencies have said otherwise. They have basically changed their positions in order to not look bad. Some of us call it lying, but that’s just how the intel community works. In order to maintain credibility, they don’t ever admit they were wrong.
About those WMD’s - don’t hang your hat on your position. Having spent time in Iraq looking for them, I’m pretty sure that in spite of what you have been reading, there were indeed weapons in production in Iraq during the “run-up” to war. Where they went is a good question; he had plenty of time to move them. I am betting that they were either sent to Syria, or dumped somewhere in the desert. If you simply pour most nerve agents out on the ground, even the most persistent of them will degrade in a matter of days, or in the case of Iraq’s climate, weeks. Short of taking soil samples of every square foot of Iraq, there is no way to know that this didn’t happen. Most agents, if spread out, break down under UV radiation. Daylight destroys them very quickly. They could also be dumped in a river slowly over a period of time - as a trickle - and would become diluted and undetectable.
Even if we assume that the evidence we had during the run-up was anecdotal, you can’t argue with what we found when we got there. We didn’t find much in terms of actual weapons.
But we did find a lot of evidence that large pieces of machinery were moved from chemical plants in the weeks before we arrived. As an example, a sight we inspected had gray paint on the floor. . . except in areas where equipment had previously stood. The outlines of the equipment that had been there were right there, staring at us - vats, separators, differential distilling equipment. If you just look at a picture of the stuff, and look at the footprint left fresh on the floor of a now-empty factory, it becomes very clear what happened. My Alpha team alone found 3 sights like this. Altogether, we found 47 of them.
There was also evidence of activity around some of Iraq’s rivers that could have been easily explained by tanker trucks having been backed into soft earth near the banks.
Now, you can argue that Saddam Hussein decided to move his lawn fertilizer machines a few weeks before we invaded if you want to - but then again, you weren’t there, were you? You didn’t see the scrape marks on the ground, or the indentations made in the soil by heavy vehicles that had been there recently and left with a very heavy burden.
And, strangely, though the government made those pictures available to the media, they never ended up being printed. It seems that by the time we found these sights, the media had already reported that there were no WMD’s. They didn’t print the information because a) it gave credibility to a president they hate, and b) it would have meant that they had to admit they were wrong in their previous reporting. Since they are a “free press” they were “free” to not report all the information, and that’s exactly what they did.
You want to talk about anger - I risked my life to make that information available, and those hacks at the Times, the WaPo, CBS, CNN - they just turned and looked the other way.
It was so obvious to us what had happened that it became a running joke. We spray painted buildings that we had searched a certain color (the door) to denote that they had been covered; some of my guys took to scawling “Gone to Syria - be back later” on the wall.
But go ahead. Tell me my own eyes lied to me. I could use a laugh at this stage in the game; my psychiatrist would probably be grateful to you for that.
You want to talk about the media reporting selectively, boy, have I got some stories for you. I’m mad that they have not printed the photos we took in Iraq in the newspapers. I’m mad that they were given the opportunity to report on what I risked my life to discover, and because they had made up their minds that there were no weapons in Iraq, decided not to present the public with the information. They decided what they wanted the public to think, presented that information, and burned the rest. And people like you ate it up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with an extra helping of blog reading as a snack before bed. The free press is a joke. They’re no better than North Korea’s state media; they’re just anti-state to the same degree.
Go spend close to four years of your life in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I’ll think of you as a peer in conversation about those things. We are not peers on that subject; me talking to you about them is akin to Stephen Hawking explaining string theory to a 1st grade math class.
Don’t you try to tell me about Iraq and Afghanistan, kid. I’ve been there and have the scars to show for it.
Comment by Captain D — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 10:42 pm
And please -
If you’re going to abbreviate Captain, do it thus:
CPT - or just spell it out.
I’m not a breakfast cereal; I’m a retired army officer.
Comment by Captain D — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 11:36 pm
Here’s an interesting thought about William Ayers… In a roundabout way (and using the same reasoning that some of these attacks are using), John McCain also seems to have some ties to Ayers.
Here’s the thing: The Annenberg Foundation (named for founder Walter H. Annenberg) funds several projects. Among those is Annenberg Fact Check, Annenberg Public Policy Center, and the now notorious Chicago Annenberg Challenge. The Chicago Annenberg Challenge is the group where Ayers and Obama “worked together.” This “radical organization” was also highly supported by Gov. Jim Edgar, a Republican. Anyway, The Annenberg Foundation is currently chaired by its president Leonore Annenberg, the founder’s widow. On October 8, Annenberg announced her endorsement of John McCain for president. She’s also donated to his campaign. This was an endorsement that McCain highly trumpeted.
So I suppose that if you make the Obama/Ayers connection through this group, you might also be inclined to make the McCain/Ayers connection through this same group. (Yes, I know it’s completely ridiculous, but then so is the original assertion.)
Comment by ALmod — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 10:07 am
Ok, so based on some online reading and on the kind recommendations of numerous readers, I set my laptop up as a dual-boot Vista/Ubuntu system. I went by the recommendation of one reader and used Wubi, and it was remarkably easy.
I have only poked around some, and have been vexed as to how to get Sirius’ online streaming to work, but am aware that there are workarounds.
However, a major problem I have had is that twice I could not get the system to wake up after it went into standby mode. Once I just left the machine sitting for a while and came back to find the machine in standby and it wouldn’t wake up and then I tried shutting the laptop lid overnight to see if it would wake up in the morning (as I do with Vista all the time) and no go. In both cases I had to to a hard reboot (i.e., use the power button). Given that one of the big bonuses of Linux-based systems is the alleged lack of need to engage in hard reboots, I was a tad disappointed.
Any thoughts from the Linux savvy in the audience?
Hmmm…on the Sirius issue what do they use to stream? You can get Real Player via Synaptic….I had to do that to get the BBC working.
The wake up thing is mystifying…I have never had that happen on Ubuntu or Xandros. Is it happening when running on battery/AC or both?
Perhaps looking at your power settings might give you an idea for what is going on.
Comment by Ratoe — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 1:48 pm
Good to know about Real Player. I was able to get it (Sirius’ media player) to work in Knoppix, but I am not sure if it was via the Konqueror browser or a different one.
And it was plugged in in both cases of the wake up fail.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 1:52 pm
Some users have reported hardware compatibility problems with Suspend/Hibernate in 8.04 (the current version). As with so many other Linux issues, it’s a “supported hardware” thing; S/H works just fine on my Dell laptop. Sometimes making some adjustments in the system BIOS can help out, but it’s a known bug.
Try looking through the Ubuntu Forums for your type of computer hardware. They’re a great resource.
S/H is supposedly fixed in the new version (8.10), which is due out later this month. Why didn’t you wait for the new release like I said? That’s like installing XP a week or so before you get Vista.
Comment by Len — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 9:55 pm
Oh, I can be impatient at times
Plus, with the Wubi install I figured I could install, play around with it, and if I liked it, uninstall and start over again.
Thanks for the info on the problem.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 10:19 pm
Just thought of one other thing that might help. The Compiz desktop animation effects in 8.04 can sometimes cause conflicts. To disable effects, click the following menu options:
Via the NYT: Concern in G.O.P. After Rough Week for McCain
After a turbulent week that included disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin and signs that Senator John McCain was struggling to strike the right tone for his campaign, Republican leaders said Saturday that they were worried Mr. McCain was heading for defeat unless he brought stability to his presidential candidacy and settled on a clear message to counter Senator Barack Obama.
[...]
“I think you’re seeing a turning point,” said Saul Anuzis, the Republican chairman in Michigan, where Mr. McCain has decided to stop campaigning. “You’re starting to feel real frustration because we are running out of time. Our message, the campaign’s message, isn’t connecting.”
The frustration being felt by the McCain campaign and his supporters is understandable and even normal given the state of the campaign. However, none of this should be a surprise. Even before the candidates were officially selected and before the financial crisis exploded all around us, it was pretty clear that the Republicans were quite likely to lose this election(see, for example, a post I wrote back on January 14th). The fundamentals of this race have always been such that a Democratic outcome was the likely one.
Going into this process I thought, however, that the Republican with the best chance was John McCain. However, he has not run the campaign that he needed to run to overcome the difficulties presented by this year (and, really, of recent years). He did not take advantage of his head start (he clinched his party far earlier than did Obama) and he never developed a central argument around which to build his campaign save for the experience card, and his support for the surge. McCain damaged, if not destroyed, the experience card by picking Governor Palin as a running mate and he radically over-estimated how far he could ride his support for the surge. And there was also the Maverick business: that was always an ephemeral idea that was not only too easy to parody, but also a notion that was increasingly undercut by his base-focused campaign. How can one be considered a Maverick if one is trying to appeal primarily, if not exclusively, to the party’s base? Beyond that, his main example of Mavericky-ness was McCain-Feingold, which is about the arcane world of campaign finance reform and earmarks, which are unpopular, but hardly enough to propel one to the White House.
Getting back to the general issue of the campaign itself, one knows that a campaign is in trouble when at this stage of the game (i.e., less than a month) supporters are saying things like:
“The main thing he needs to do,” said Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman from Minnesota, “is focus on a single message — a single, concise or clear-cut message, and stick with that over the next 30 days, regardless of what happens.
“He’s had a lot of attack lines. But it’s time to choose.”
One expects that frustration within GOP circles to grow over the next several weeks.
And lest someone point out that McCain’s campaign has been called dead before (specifically in the primaries), I would note that I never thought that he was out, even as many were writing his political obit. For example, I wrote on December 17, 2024:
Despite his standing in the polls at the moment, I continue to think that McCain has a real chance to win the nomination, given the nature of the field.
McCain/Palin can still win the Presidential race but all of the hate mongering and fear tactics won’t do it.
Here is what they need to do: Come out with a clear plan of what they will do to fix the economy. Come out with a clear plan of how they will keep the United States safe. Be specific on how they are different than the Bush Administration.
Here’s what they need to stop doing: Stop using a small part of Obama’s tax plan to say “Obama will raise taxes”. He can do the same thing but chooses to take the higher road. He could say “John McCain will raise your taxes” and not mention that it it’s part of the health care plan. They need to stop all the hatred at rallies and denounce people who claim Obama might be a terrorist, especially when McCain has ties to many other people that are friendly with Ayers and this message is not sticking. Finally, he needs to hide Palin somewhere in a bunker and not let her come out until the race is over. The more she speaks the more dumb she looks and the more she contradicts herself and her moral beliefs.
Comment by Dylan Chambers — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 12:58 pm
Well, as you said, Steven, the fundamentals were always going to favor the Democrat, especially one not named Clinton. And McCain was always going to be the best candidate the Republican party could offer, because a reputation for independence and “difference,” once established, is hard to shake.
But ultimately, his predicament is not about the kind of campaign he has run or his choice of running mate. It is about the fundamentals, which have only become more fundamental as this fall has progressed.
“Turning point,” indeed. We are the point where the realistic question is just how close Obama gets to 400 electoral votes as more and more turn his way.
Comment by MSS — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 2:23 pm
This is why we need to scrap political parties.
McCain is losing not because he is McCain and Obama is Obama. He is not losing because Obama has better policy plans.
McCain is losing because a political party links him to George Bush, and that party is really unpopular because an economy based on 2 if not 3 decades of bad fiscal policy finally came to a head a month before the election.
That’s it; that’s all the system is. We might as well save ourselves the hundreds of millions of dollars next time (we need to in order to cover all of the socialist spending policies we’ve enacted in the past few weeks) and just roll dice to decide who gets the crown.
Imagine how easy that would be. It would be the same thing driving the process - pure chance. We’d wind up with the same product, some weak and ineffective leader who can’t stand on his own two feet and needs a gang (or political party, if you prefer) to get somewhere. We’d save ourselves all this pointless (except as an academic exercise) debate and discussion. We’d save tons of money, fuss, and bother. I might even be able to go to McDonald’s and order a quarter pounder in peace without some jerk turning the conversation into politics. “So, what do you think Obama would do to the price of ground beef?”
Now, if you took out the parties - there would be absolutely no reason for this economic news to impact the race so heavily, because there wouldn’t be some useless organization linking McCain to Bush. All that angst would be directed at Bush. There would be a firewall separating the incumbent president from the guys who are running, and that would allow for us to make a fair choice.
The reason we need political parties is the same reason that bullies always have flunkies. They stay on top on the strength of a group, not their own. Our politicians are no different. Obama is like that. McCain - I used to think he was different, but now I realize I was wrong. He’s a party man, just like Obama on the other side.
The whole system is damaged beyond repair. We should have a vote of no confidence and start over before things get really bad, before there is a violent and total implosion of our economic and political institutions. We need to re-boot the constitution. That’s the only hope this country has.
Comment by Captain D — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 7:20 pm
The thing is, of course, that if McCain and Obama were both “independents” they would still have pools of supporters doing the same kinds of things.
And while I would like to see some serious constitutional reform, I really think that you are being far more pessimistic than is warranted.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 7:41 pm
My pessimism is not merited?! You know, Doctor, the more you invest in something, the more you stand to lose. I hope you’ll read this post. It’s more than just a bitter tirade, really it is. A lot of other vets think like me. Maybe it will help you understand my - our - pessimism.
I’m a veteran of multiple wars. I have had a bad brain injury, serious anxiety problems, and have spent time as an inpatient in a mental health hospital. I’m on 8 psychotropic medications and a pain killer. I’m addicted to some of them, but hey, it’s better than going 9 days without sleep, you know? I have a touch of PTSD and mood swings that resemble bipolar disorder, but are organic in nature (connected to the brain trauma). I have shrapnel in my legs that can’t be safely removed, and when I walk it causes pain. I usually don’t stand to take a leak; it hurts too much. It’s better to sit. Can you imagine what it’s like to simply go to the bathroom and have to be reminded of what you gave - what you saw - what you did - and then go out into the world and have people trash-talk it?
My pessimism, Dr. Taylor, is well-earned. I lost my career, my ability to work (likely for the rest of my life)and a lot of my friends serving the civilian leadership of this country. I did this because it’s our tradition. The military doesn’t call the shots; our civilian officials do. I respected that.
I’m starting not to. I’m starting to feel like they are using us - all of them, democrat and republican - and that they don’t appreciate us. The veterans health care system sucks. My benefits are always one examination shy of being yanked away from me; I nearly starved when I was discharged from the army and it took over two years for them to settle my claim; during that time I had no medical care for my injuries, no compensation for my disabilities. Had it not been for family, I’d have been on the street. I’m scared all the time because I should be.
And I’m starting to feel like these people - these guys who stand on the pulpits and tell us bold-faced lies - do not deserve what I gave them. They don’t deserve the pain I feel doing simple tasks like walking my dogs and cutting my grass. They don’t deserve the feelings of loss that come with remembering holding one of your soldiers - one of your friends - in your arms, telling him he’ll be all right, and watching him bleed to death. I’ll never forget the first soldier I watched die. I held him. He bled out through a femurol artery. I was covered nearly head to toe in his blood. It was three days before I could get a decent shower. In the mean time I simply couldn’t get all of his blood out of my hair, out from under my finger nails. I remember thinking about his dead body, which was evacuated on a Blackhawk, kept thinking about how I had all that blood on me, that used to be part of him.
I suffer a lot. I don’t tell a lot of people about it. I don’t complain about it often. But I suffer more than most Americans will ever suffer in their lives.
And I appreciate guys like you - most of the time - but before you tell me my pessimism is not merited, maybe you can hear me out about what my investment was.
You see, I invested everything in the Constitution - in my oath to it. And I did my part. I faced things that would turn most men white. There were times that I thought I would die, and I was OK with that. I was ready to die for the Constitution, for what the leaders appointed over me by the Constitution said I should do. There is nothing I would not have done for them - because to me, by doing that, I was serving the Constitution. A noble cause. That, Doctor Taylor - that is what I invested. I don’t expect everyone to do the same.
But, don’t you think it’s reasonable for someone who did make that kind of investment to be horribly hurt by the current political climate? Don’t you think it’s reasonable to think someone who invested everything - and lost almost everything - might feel a bit pessimistic about the direction we’re heading as a society?
I see the Constitution, for which I would have gladly died, and for which I suffer every day, and will suffer every day for the rest of my life, erroding. I see our leaders not following it. I see the media all but burning it. I see the way of life that it promises decomposing.
When I sit here, my legs aching, my heart pounding, spirit all but dead to the world, and think that the best we can come up with is Barack Obama and John McCain - yeah, I feel pessimistic. I feel like it wasn’t worth it. I feel like we might as well just roll the towel up and go home - the day at the beach is over. I feel like our leaders - our Congress, our president - they don’t deserve what we gave them.
I don’t know what your investment in this was; but if you’re not feeling pessimistic, I suspect you didn’t invest you life, your physical safety, and the lives of all of your very best friends. I suspect the system did not take most of those things from you and leave you a broken, battered husk of the man you once were, with only memories to keep you going, memories that get dustier every year.
I don’t begrudge you that. Really, I don’t.
But again - before you tell me my pessimism isn’t merited - consider, please, what I’ve already lost, what these guys have taken. Consider what it looks like from my end.
From the chair I’m sitting in right now, here in Georgia - the picture is very bleak.
Comment by Captain D — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 11:22 pm
Captain D:
I certainly cannot speak to your personal sacrifice and circumstances, nor would I attempt to do so.
I was referring simply to the notion that the “system is damaged beyond repair” and the like. You seem to saying that it is all about to utterly collapse around our ears. Perhaps it is, but for all out problems, I don’t think that it will.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 6:42 am
The big secret is out. Politicians and the media were hiding the fact that American households have a net worth of over 56 trillion dollars. That is more than half the household wealth of the world. Those statistics come from the Federal reserve Flow of Funds Summary Statistics Second Quarter 2024. If there was a way to get the hoarders of those bucks to go on a long shopping spree the recession in the U.S. would quickly end. But our politicians fear talking to those idle saving account owners and their potential to stimulate our economy, they would rather increase the national debt than anger millions of cheap voters. Consumer spending determines the health of the economy not inflationary government handouts. Until some miserly Americans start digging into their over loaded bank accounts and start spending money our recession will continue indefinitely.
Comment by New York — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 7:32 am
New York:
That is just not going to happen. My family believes in living below its means. We don’t borrow what we can’t pay back. We have no household debt (not even a mortgage), and we have cash in the bank - enough to live on for over a year without changing our quality of life. If we had to, we could stretch it longer. We also have assets we could tap (in our IRA’s and a second home, and life insurance dividends that have accumulated since my birth) if we needed to.
And it’s not like we are big-time CEO’s. My wife is a middle school teacher and I am an army veteran on a disability pension. We have wealth because we were making quadruple payments on our house while our neighbors were cashing out their equity to buy a plasma TV. We have wealth because while our neighbors were taking out loans to buy a new luxury SUV, we were content with a compact car and a basic pickup truck, neither of which have power windows. Our cars are both more than 10 years old. The biggest TV in our house is a 25-inch CRT bought in 1996.
Our income makes us a middle middle-class couple. There is NO REASON why the rest of the middle class could not have had the same security that we have. They got themselves into their own dilemmas by not exercising spending discipline; failing to save money; and borrowing beyond their means.
As a member of the middle class who acted responsibly his entire adult life when it came to money, I am totally opposed to anything that the government does to “relieve the middle class”. The people who borrowed and spent beyond their means, and artificially drove up the economy on a credit bubble are now receiving what psychologists call natural consequences. Make a bad decision, live with the results.
Call me miserly if you want to - but I’m not losing my house, nor has this economic “crisis” had any impact on me. If anything, it’s been a benefit to me because I planned for it by saving over the years instead of spending like there was no tomorrow. For me, the price of gas is lower - and the only thing you’re going to see me open my checkbook for is to buy under-valued stock mutual funds for my IRA.
I sure as heck am not going to go buy a new car “for the sake of the economy”. The people who spent more than they could afford to spend should have to suffer. They made their beds, they now need to sleep in them.
My bed is cozy. I’m not sharing it, and if anyone tries to force me to do so, you’re going to see my assets quickly disappear into a foreign bank account. The responsible among us should not have to pay for the poor judgement of everyone else.
You’re not getting a nickel from me if I can help it.
Comment by Captain D — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 3:00 pm
Texas played a good game. Unfortunately, Oklahoma played too conservatively, IMHO - playing not to lose rather than to win. Whenever they used their fast-paced offense they moved the ball, but they were checking off too many times.
Comment by Mark L — Saturday, October 11, 2024 @ 5:29 pm
[...] I mention that Texas beat Oklahoma yesterday and are now #1 in the [...]
I was looking at the electoral college map and I do not see a scenario wherein McCain wins, as it seems highly unlikely that he can retain the Bush 2024 or 2024 states (and that is his only route to victory).
Using the CNN Electoral Map Calculator I generated three maps.
This is what I think is the most likely outcome at the moment:
Despite what some of the polling is showing, it seems unlikely that Obama will win Indiana and West Vriginia. However, Ohio and Pennsylvania appears utterly lost to the GOP, and I think that Florida will go blue as well (although it is close at at the moment).
Even what seems to me as McCain’s best case scenario at the moment has Obama being sworn in in January:
All the “best case” does for McCain is add Florida and Nevada (which is far from enough).
McCain’s worst case at the moment (in my estimation) looks like this:
While not 1984, it is still a substantial EC win for Obama. Even should something happen to make things even worse for McCain, I am not sure what other state he would lose. Going by Nate Silver’s numbers over at the 538, North Dakota and Montana are perhaps the closest to a flip: North Dakota is at +4.6 Montana is at +4.7. Other one digit differentials: Georgia at +5.1 for McCain and Arkansas is +6.8 and Louisiana +6.9.
Still, it would take something pretty dramatic for most, if not all, of those states to flip.
I’m very skeptical of West Virginia, as the optimism there seems to be fueled by a single good polling result by a crummy pollster, ARG. There hasn’t been enough polling there to see where it really stands, so I still consider it unlikely until more polls show otherwise.
The enthusiasm is on Obama’s side, especially among African Americans who will probably break all turnout records. I doubt polls factor that in adequately, since there’s not much precedent to build an estimation on other than the primaries. His organizing is also superior, so he may outperform an already very favorable map. As such I think he’ll take North Carolina as well as Nevada even though they’re both coin tosses at the moment. The trends are already in his favor in each. Otherwise I agree with your first map.
However, I think Nate’s projections are overly optimistic about Indiana and Missouri when you look at the actual polling. I consider those two Obama’s possible surprises of the night, rather than being clean wins if things go really well and looking for surprises elsewhere like in Montana.
Comment by Gg — Saturday, October 11, 2024 @ 10:34 am
Also, having clicked on CNN’s calculator, I find it amusing that they go right up to the edge of declaring Obama’s victory likely but can’t bring themselves to do it. MSNBC’s politics page is the same way. Part of it is that it’s in their interest for it to be a race, but I think more of it is not wanting to be accused of being in the tank for Obama or prematurely declaring the race over. They’re clearly squirming and need to deny reality a bit to try to appear unbiased.
Comment by Gg — Saturday, October 11, 2024 @ 10:44 am
The 2024 presidential election is all but over. Obama will be the winner over an opponent that found it difficult to even get out of bed in the morning. McCain bit off more than he could chew by opposing a much younger and more talented contender. The American public is soon going to get a rare treat as they watch a relatively unknown personality take the job as leader of the most powerful nation on Earth. The economy in shambles and his task will be huge. But with his youthful vigour we will be watching a new and creative approach for getting our nation back on course. With the election of the most liberal senator in Congress we can expect positive changes in the way Americans view one another. An organization called Unity House will soon be lobbying for the job of bringing the nation under one roof. Once approved and funded by Congress one million educators will spread out with the task of unifying the nation under the flag of unity. This will be done by the knocking on every door by groups of socially diversified educators. They will be spreading the word that we are all brothers and sisters that must learn to love one another. There will be those that will be angry as he dismantles a cold war system that is costing the taxpayers over a trillion dollars each year, but he will succeed. Our nation will then see millions of new jobs created as our intra-structure and education system is rebuilt to meet the needs of the 21 century. Obama has not been harnessed by greedy insiders and will be free to pursue his childhood dream of making the world and the nation a better place to live in.
Comment by New York — Saturday, October 11, 2024 @ 5:05 pm
Obama will be an accidental champion, who won by having the good fortune of having an economy decades in the making finally boil over a month before an election, thus ensuring the incumbent party loses. Obama does not matter. He could be my cat and he would still win.
That’s assuming some other event doesn’t happen between now and then to change things in McCain’s favor. If there was a huge terrorist attack tomorrow that killed ten thousand people - this map would look very different. Overnight, it would change red, just like it changed blue overnight on news of the economic problems, because nobody has faith in Obama as a commander in chief, except for people in New York and Califonia, and they do McCain. I’m not sure that that faith is any more logical than the belief that Obama will fix the economy; both seem more like tenets of a religion that need to be taken on faith alone than they do rational positions held by people who have looked at the data and made a competent decision.
Ironically, neither of these guys has a coherent plan for getting the economy back on track. Obama is just perceived to be better because he’s not part of the incumbent party.
Which, again, is why I hate, HATE political parties. All they do is give people who can’t stand on their own merits a gang to fight their battles for them. This works both ways (dem and rep). Political parties allow lesser men to achieve great positions of power. I know you think I’m wrong Dr. T, but we COULD govern without political parties. Yes we could. We just haven’t given it an honest go; if you want we can thumb-wrestle over it, but I really believe it could be done.
If there were no political parties, there would be no identifying some candidate with the incumbent party. It would be about the actual candidates, and not the party they are affiliated with. The incumbent president would not affect the outcome of the election. Currently - he has a huge amount to do with it. Why? Bush is not up for re-election, folks! We’re more concerned with party affiliation than we are with looking at these guys on their actual merits.
In any case, either guy - however it goes - is likely to be a one-term president. Expectations are ridiculously high and the problems they are dealing with - goodness - you can’t even start addressing them in a way that will have any meaning in 4 years, at least, not within the context of our constitution and the bureacracy that supports it. At the end of the term, people are going to be at best in the same place that they are now - and so is the rest of the world. Neither of these guys has a magic wand - and that’s what it would take to deliver even one onehundredth of what they are promising.
When 4 years pass and they haven’t given up the goods, the voters are going to give them the big boot in the rear. That’s assuming our political system survives that long. I’m not entirely confident that it will.
One would do well to make preparations for an Obama presidency; if you don’t own a gun, buy one while you can; and make a plan for yourself in case this place really does go seriously socialist. It would be smart to take some of your savings out of the bank - keep it in a safe - in case the government seizes private assets held in banks in order to cover its inability to make budget should foreign investors finally decide to bail. Hedge yourself while you can; you might not have the freedom to do so in a few more months.
One of my best friends - his grandmother and her father were the only members of his entire family to escape the Ukraine when the Bolsheviks took over. They slaughtered everyone else (they were nobility, and had money, you see); my friend would not have existed if his grandfather hadn’t had a plan. He’d squirrelled away enough gold to skip across Eastern Europe, finally settling in Ohio. Most of his family assumed that what had happened in Russia simply couldn’t happen to them. They paid a steep price for not being prepared - they were slaughtered in the name of progress and change.
I’ve said before, people should be self reliant. Keep enough cash on hand to get through an economic failure. Gold and silver are a good option. Rhodium and Palladium are even better, because the government doesn’t have a history of seizing these (it did seize private gold during the raw deal under FDR) and in a desperate budget crunch they might be overlooked. Have a passport and know how you’ll get out of the country if you need to do so in a hurry.
With either of these candidates (but Obama more than McCain) free enterprise and the rule of law under the constitution are in danger. If you’re one of the folks who applaud that because you hate those things, just ignore this. If you’re like me and treasure these things - I’m just saying, be prepared. Don’t be my best friend’s extended family.
They didn’t think it could happen to them. What about you?
Me, I’m hoping it all works out - but if it doesn’t, I’m going to have several options of getting out. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
Comment by Captain D — Saturday, October 11, 2024 @ 9:09 pm
Funny, I was just playing around with these interactive maps myself (well, actually, those at 270towin).
At this point I will be surprised if Obama does not win Indiana and Missouri, not surprised if he also wins West Virginia and North Carolina, and expect Georgia to be one of the most interesting to watch on election night.
That would total 395. Add one Nebraska vote that appears within reach and you have 396. As far as I can tell, there is no realistic path to 400. But 375-380 sure looks likely, and 395 or 396 reachable.
I can’t imagine a scenario for McCain, but that makes me a broken record, because I have been saying that since February if not earlier.
Comment by MSS — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 2:29 pm
Obama will be an accidental champion (from the comment before my first one here).
Yes, just like Reagan in 1980.
Comment by MSS — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 2:30 pm
Yes, just like Reagan. Just like most politicians in recent history. I’m beginning to feel like luck has far more to do with the game than the individuals playing it.
Comment by Captain D — Sunday, October 12, 2024 @ 6:24 pm
I forgot about North Dakota. It could be the state to get Obama to 400.
I don’t think it is likely, but should not be ruled out. And one poll (see 538.com) has just come out with Obama +2 in ND. Believable? I am not sure. I would not rule it out.
I think Montana (which at times in spring looked competitive) is a bit farther out of reach, thanks to the post-Palin base-rallying. But Paul is on the ballot…
Comment by Matthew — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 11:24 am
As I was waking up this morning, I heard a brief snippet on NPR about the Palin story and someone (a reporter, an interview subject or a commentator) noted that Palin hasn’t always gotten along with Republicans in Alaska.
As such, I expect that that will be at least part of the spin about the Troopergate situation, i.e., that this is payback for all of her reformism and “taking on her own party” and all of that.
Via CNN: Panel: Palin abused power in trooper case
“Gov. Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda,” the report states.
Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan’s refusal to fire State Trooper Mike Wooten from the state police force was “likely a contributing factor” to Monegan’s July dismissal, but Palin had the authority as governor to fire him, the report by former Anchorage prosecutor Stephen Branchflower states.
However, it states that her efforts to get Wooten fired broke a state ethics law that bars public officials from pursuing personal interest through official action.
The legislative panel is question is bipartisan and unanimously adopted the report, although it would seem that there isn’t universal approbation of every jot and tiddle therein:
Rep. John Coghill, a Republican who criticized the handling of the investigation, said it was “well-done professionally.”
But he said some of the conclusions were judgment calls by Branchflower, and recommended readers should view them with a “jaundiced eye.”
Regardless, this isn’t what the McCain campaign needed at this point, as while there is no doubt that her ardent supporters will simply dismiss this as a the result of a political witch hunt, the bottom line is that this outcome does not help her image as a reformer who will help bring change to “business as usual” in Washington.
Really, the actions she undertook sound like petty small-town politics, which shouldn’t be a surprise given that most of her political career was spent in, well, small towns. 1
This further underscores the argument that I have made from the beginning: that she would ultimately be more likely to hurt McCain than help him and that McCain and his campaign did not vet her as well as they should have.2
The ABC write-up, which is more extensive than the CNN piece, is here: Troopergate Report: Palin Abused Power.
That story notes that the vote to release the report was unanimous, but that some members aren’t not considering that vote to be a vote of “total agreement”:
“I’m going to vote to release it, but it’s not a vote in total agreement,” said Republican Sen. Gary Stevens.
“There’s not a consensus for the conclusion,” said GOP Rep. Bill Stoltze. He said he expected there would be “robust and vigorous intellectual debate on that in other corners.”
More later, after I have digested the story.
Sphere: Related Content
And that isn’t big city condescension talking, but rather coming from some personal experience with the way small towns function. [↩]
And those who argued with me on these points, surely none of you will now argue that this outcomes actually helps McCain, will you? [↩]
Interestingly, the first sentence in the ABC story that you link to is untrue. Monegan’s firing was not deemed as an abuse of power. What the report asserts is the ethical abuse was her failure to prevent her husband from complaining about Trooper Wooten, who has not been fired. It is also interesting that the report makes a finding of law, asserting that she violated AS 39.52.110(a). That seems a bit of a stretch and beyond the scope of his authority as a “consultant.” It is also interesting that Mr. Branchflower, who conducted the investigation, was a close friend of Sen French and both had a close working relationship with Mr. Monegan. Additionally, Mr. Branchflower moved to South Carolina in 2024 and volunteered to return to Alaska to conduct the investigation. Add to this that Sen French, a Democrat, had publicly commented on the investigation leading to impeachment before it had even begun, and it seems pretty clear the findings reflect the partisan flavor that the investigation took on. If you read through the testimony by Monegan, what is interesting in its absence is that nowhere does Branchflower question Monegan about the issues raised regarding his back dooring the Governor on budget issues and planning to travel to Washington to push his own priorities with the Alaskan legislative delegation. I think a reasonable person would have considered that to be germane, especially given the very public release of E-mails by the Governor’s office that outlined these problems with Monegan over a period of about 8 months.
Of course, none of that will limit the political fall out.
Comment by ts — Friday, October 10, 2024 @ 10:02 pm
Palin came a little too late… she would have truly fit right in… in a Bush administration.
Comment by Daniel — Friday, October 10, 2024 @ 11:53 pm
The following are my views on the subject of VP candidate Palin. The Branchflower report is an indictment of Governor Palin with “Abuse of Power” while using her elected office to effectuate ruin to trooper Wooten whose chief “crime” was being married to Palin sister once. Extensive news reports have now surfaced stating that the Pallins left no stone unturned in their personal vendetta against their ex-brother-in-law, trooper Wooten. The DPS commissioner over Wooten saw no reason to fire him so he ended up being fired, this is no rocket science, folks. The bottom line is that Palin is a vindictive politician with full proclivity to harm anyone who she does not like. Furthermore, she appears to be a militant holy war monger, worse yet than the Honorable Dick Cheney. If you agree with secret wiretaps of US citizens without court orders, you can be rest assured that under Palin presidency, there will be more of all those unconstitutional schemes while acting like the bastions od democracy. She has qualified to be impeached for this abuse of power. What is worse, she is wicked. I call it Palin presidency because Mr. McCain is not going to last for very long at all, IMHO.
Comment by M. Kothari, M.D. — Saturday, October 11, 2024 @ 12:20 am
Abuse of power by a politician? Hmmm….nothing new there. She is unethical, period. There was nothing unusual about her muscle flexing, particularly in Alaska where they are more than used to Stevens and his antics. Check out the hundreds of “native American” super-8 firms that are currently raping the Federal Government…entirely operated by former politicians and retired military (Chenega sitting atop of this pile.) As for Senator McCain’s health, well, I sincerely hope that if he is elected, he lives a very, very, very long time. Can anyone-on either side of isle-imagine President Palin?
Comment by Charlie — Saturday, October 11, 2024 @ 6:27 am
Pippa writes from South Africa:
I am not surprised by this finding regarding
the ‘Troopergate’ probe.
Sarah Palin has been reviled, savaged, hated
and mauled by the media and the ‘upper echelons’
of ‘intellectual’ America.
Democrats, I ask you to cease from such exhibiting
such neurosis over Sarah Palin. She is now a disgraced
carcass deemed ready for the maggots by media scrutiny.
Sarah will trot back to Alaska with that tribe of a family she drags around. How base to parade them in public. An affront to American mothers. Sarah should be at home! No matter. In Alaska she will be comfortable with her guns and
the revolting company she keeps.
Those racist ’six pack joes’, trailer trash on welfare, and over bred families, (the film ‘Deliverance’,) comes to mind.
Then there is that ‘whacko church’ to ‘witch’ she belongs.
Such moral turpitude is simply disgusting. They call themselves Christians! They are certainly not in the same spiritual sphere of Obama’s banished pastoral flock led, by the Revered Jeremiah Wright.
Though to be fair, Sarah Palin’s congregation do pray for the Americans serving in Iraq. (AIIRAQ, pardon the pronounciation.) Hpw could Sarah ship her son off to that war zone. I might be mistaken, there is still a war going on over there. Obama says that one reason why America is bankrupt. Indeed! Not for long though. Obama is bringing the American troops home!
Reader, please do not laugh, but I wager, that soon, Sarah will begin writing her first book.
Hah! You may think.
Reader, she can hire a ghost writer, after all, we know her degree in Journalism took so long to achieve.
Sensationalism sells.
‘Say it ain’t so Joe.!’
In future, may I suggest that the youth of America think of
studying journalism at Harvard. Obtain a decent qualification, take elocution lessons and a stint in ‘community work’, would be an advantage. should you consider a career in public service.
Remind yourself of what happened to ‘duck brain’ Sarah Palin.
The Republican Bus has run out of fuel.
We know this.
John McCain has no clue about
vetting V.P.’s foreign policy, and as for the economy,
well, even the best economic minds in the world
are clueless as to how to repair the current
American economic demise.
I might add that John owns more cars and homes than Obama and this is unacceptable.
More importantly, McCain is frequently alluded to as half dead as is rumored to have a permanent medical entourage in his wake. Furthermore, McCain’s onset of senility is evident. How can he refer to Obama, as “that one.”
Scandalous!
Readers, Obama has already won the White House.
The Republican Bus has run out of fuel.
We know this. Look at the polls. Avail
yourself of this information and know that
the Republicans cannot win this election.
I thank America for the most entertaining
spectacle of the year.
I will now cease my observation of this election from my perch on my ‘third world’ rock.
Sarah Palin’s abuse of power and multitude of trangressions
are just too much for me. Can Obama not ‘pull some strings’ and detain her in some Chicago prison? Surely the justice system have enough to indict her on inciting hatred against the Democrats?
Thank you for reading.
Peace Out from South Africa.
Comment by Pippa — Saturday, October 11, 2024 @ 6:43 am
As part of an ongoing (and highlyirregular) series of posts on difference political signs this election, here are some more from AL02 as well as from a Montgomery County election.
First, here’s another sign from the AL02 race and another example of the “Mickey Mouse ears” add-ons that I noted before:
The “America First” add-on started showing up a few weeks or so ago. My initial reaction was that it was an odd concept that in a U.S. House race that either candidate could claim “America First” as surely both were, well, Americans and all. I think it is also a reference to fears over illegal immigrants and about American jobs.
I have long thought the “A Proven Leader” tagline was hilarious, as the quotations look like scare quotes rather than a direct quote from someone (indeed, the sign belongs here).
Here’s another set of Bright signs (forgive the poor quality, as it is a blow-up of one section of a photo taken from across a busy intersection):
Not only does this configuration have the “America First” add-on sign, but I was intrigued by the fact that the “I’m a Proud” portion of the “Bright Republican” sign is covered up (Bright is the Democrat in the race, although he is running as an almost-Rep).
Speaking of Republicans, here’s another example of the Mickey Mouse ears add-on signs:
Ingram is a shoe-in for reelection and has had signs up for months and months. The Republican add-on are new, however, and I thought it was an interesting choice, only insofar as a) why spend the extra cash? and b) because it underscored that even in a campaign cycle wherein being a member of the GOP isn’t necessarily a big bonus, it clearly still is in my portion of Montgomery County (if not in AL in general). I also noticed because it seems that the trend in local elections around here is to avoid placing party identifiers on campaign signs, and so this very blatant signal was of interest (to me, anyway).
If I were Bright’s opponent, I would use the “America First” tag against him. Here’s my proposed speech:
“My opponent is running a campaign where he seems to propose to put Washington first. Well, I’ll tell you, I’m not going to sell out to the Washington insiders. My job is to be the representative for the citizens of the second district.
“So you can be rest assured that I will always put Alabamans first-not New England liberals, Washington lobbyists, or Hollywood infidels that my opponent apparently favors.
“Vote for me and I’ll put Alabama’s Second district first-you will never take a back seat to all of the other entrenched special interests.”
Comment by Ratoe — Friday, October 10, 2024 @ 6:30 pm
indeed. i find it strange that there’s almost an attempt to distance the candidate from his campaign, as if there are things mccain would want to do, but is being prevented from doing so by his campaign.
if it is true that he is allowing himself to be restrained by outside forces, then that does not speak well of mccain’s ability to lead.
it does not help that obama’s campaign appears to be a quite a smooth running machine, with the candidate pretty much at the helm.
Comment by kouji — Monday, October 13, 2024 @ 1:36 pm