US 2008 Presidential Campaign/Debate Discussion Thread - The Fifth Installment

[2861U2]

Yeah, he should give the "news" station that thought his middle name, him in a bathing suit, the fact that he was Muslim, and might be a cigarette smoker, etc... 'NEWS' the time of day.

Just another conspiracy right?

Yeah, FNC is the only news outlet that has mentioned any of those things

 

[BVS]

Yeah, FNC is the only news outlet that has mentioned any of those things

What other legitamate sources made these issues actual "news"?

 

[deep]

Yeah, he should give the "news" station that thought his middle name, him in a bathing suit, the fact that he was Muslim, and might be a cigarette smoker, etc... 'NEWS' the time of day.

Why not?

If some of these red necks can take their eyes off of their daughters long enough to look at the TV

Obama's charisma might win them over

 

[A_Wanderer]

What other legitamate sources made these issues actual "news"?

WorldNetDaily of course!

 

[diamond]

If some of these red necks can take their eyes off of their daughters long enough to look at the TV

Obama's charisma might win them over

Not this Clinton supporter:


« All Kristen All Eliot All the Time All Weekend | Main

Clinton camp roots out a rogue element
A work week partly consumed by an uproar sparked by controversial remarks by one of Hillary Clinton's high-profile supporters -- Geraldine Ferraro -- ended, at least at the presidential candidate's Philadelphia field office, with a minor flap caused by an anonymous backer.

The Times' Peter Nicholas was observing Clinton's grassroots operation in the City of Brotherly Love when a man who had been making calls at a phone bank on her behalf walked over, unbidden, to explain what motivated him.

"I'm supporting Hillary because I love the Lord and I don't want a person named Al-Barack Hussein Obama to be our next president,'' he said.

Told that Barack Obama is a practicing member of the Christian faith, the man said he believed Clinton's rival to be Muslim.

He went on to say that Obama "would be detrimental to the church.''

Nicholas relates that word of the incident ...

quickly spread through the suite of offices. And in short order, another campaign worker came over as the man was about to make another call and grabbed the campaign-issued cellphone out of his hand. The worker then escorted the man, who said he was 55 years old, out of the room.

A spokesman for Clinton's Pennsylvania campaign, Mark Nevins, who was in another office at the time, told Nicholas afterward: "That guy's not going to be making phone calls for us anymore. Sometimes people have their own agenda. And that's not what our campaign is all about.''

The ill-informed worker, however, was not immediately drummed out of the corps. Asked a little later what became of the man, Nevins told Nicholas that he was assembling Clinton yard signs. He added that other campaign aides planned to talk to him.

"I don't think we want someone like that associated with the campaign,'' Nevins said.

Nicholas on Thursday night had visited Obama's campaign's field office in Doylestown, Pa., about an hour north of Philadelphia, and was allowed free access to roam without an escort. But he found the Clinton office more buttoned-down; a campaign volunteer shadowed him throughout his visit.

-- Don Frederick

 

[U2DMfan]

“We bombed Hiroshima! We bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye. We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians, and black South Africans, and now we are indignant (cheers) because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards! (cheers and applause) America’s chickens are coming home…to roost.”

 

[A_Wanderer]

Sounds like a vote winner.

 

[Anu]

McCain is supported by a preacher called Hagee who said this about Katrina:

All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are — were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. And I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.

McCain is supported by another preacher called Parsley who said Planned Parenthood were Nazis and said this about Islam:

There are some, of course, who will say that the violence I cite is the exception and not the rule. I beg to differ. I will counter, respectfully, that what some call "extremists" are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam.

 

[martha]

Everybody wants squeaky-clean presidential candidates. It's never gonna happen. You can't get to that level of politics in the US (or anywhere else) without some soul-selling, some unholy alliances, and some very questionable financing. It just isn't possible.

 

[2861U2]

Everybody wants squeaky-clean presidential candidates. It's never gonna happen.

Well then Obama shouldn't be running his entire campaign on that premise.

 

[martha]

Aren't they all?

 

[deep]

Democrats say mail-in re-vote in Florida looks unlikely

By Josh Hafenbrack and William E. Gibson

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

March 14, 2008

TALLAHASSEE


Looking for a do-over vote to resolve Florida's disputed Democratic presidential primary? Don't count on it.

Florida's Democratic leaders Thursday all but pulled the plug on the day-old idea of a mail-in mulligan election to ensure the state gets a say in the historic battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. State party officials said they have just a few days to get fighting factions to embrace a new round of voting that would end on June 3.

"I know that it won't happen," said U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Boca Raton Democrat and Obama supporter.

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman added at a news conference in the state capital: "I have the feeling it's getting closer to no than yes."

The re-vote plan submitted late Wednesday to the Democratic National Committee would involve mailing ballots to the state's 4.1 million Democrats. There would also be 50 regional voting centers where people could vote in person or drop off their mail ballots. The $10 million to $12 million cost would be underwritten by private donations, party officials said.

While the state party would hire private election and accounting firms to handle the balloting, the state is needed to play an oversight role in verifying signatures to authenticate the ballots.

Republican Gov. Charlie Crist pledged Thursday to provide that help as long as there's consensus behind the plan and the state's role is "reasonable and within applicable Florida law," spokeswoman Erin Isaac said.

Time is short. Party leaders need a consensus to move forward by Monday, state Democratic officials said, in order to comply with a 30-day comment period and leave enough time to mail ballots to military members serving overseas.

But the mechanics of a re-vote might be moot with Democrats in South Florida, Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., predicting it won't happen.

"At the least, it's on life support," said U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D- Miramar, a Clinton supporter.

Florida's Democratic leaders are scrambling to get a voice in the nominating process after its Jan. 29 primary was invalidated by the DNC for holding the vote too early. Clinton won the state handily, getting 50 percent of the vote to Obama's 33 percent, although neither candidate campaigned here.

Thurman said the re-vote is a "non-starter" unless both the Obama and Clinton campaigns agree to the plan.

It seems like the Democrats in Michigan will get a chance to have their votes counted.


And it also seems like there are people hell bent on not having the Democrats in Florida included.

By all appearances, it is Obama's people that are trying to keep Florida voters out of the equation.

If he comes by the nomination without Florida Democratic votes counted,
he will be as tainted as Bush was after 2000 debacle.

 

[deep]

Will this be the official record on Florida?


Hillary 50 percent of the vote

to Obama's 33 percent.



or will Obama have the testes to support a new vote?


We don't need any more gutless wonders.

 

[Vincent Vega]

That's certainly disappointing.

I think the uproar will only be if the margin by which Obama wins is as low as to make Florida's result turning the scale. Otherwise it might rather be an artificial one.

 

[deep]

I have thought of that

very good chance he will be ahead with the delegates


but, most likely it will come down to what are being called "super" delegates

if they all move for one candidate
that one gets to 2025 and gets the nomination


by keeping Florida out,

Hillary's case that she is the stronger candidate because she won all the major states, and the battleground states is not as strong

Obama's claim that he has won more states is really silly when you look at them

The Republicans can easily win 30 of the 50 states and lose in a landslide to the Democrats

 

[indra]

Everybody wants squeaky-clean presidential candidates. It's never gonna happen. You can't get to that level of politics in the US (or anywhere else) without some soul-selling, some unholy alliances, and some very questionable financing. It just isn't possible.

I just figure all politicians at a fairly high level (congressional positions, governorships, presidential, etc.) are crooked scum sucking creeps who don't give one single damn about me. My vote goes to the one who in trying to get what he/she wants, manages to inadvertently get me more of what I want than the other creeps.

Am I jaded? Duh. But I'm never disappointed, and very rarely surprised.

 

[deep]

I just figure all politicians at a fairly high level (congressional positions, governorships, presidential, etc.) are crooked scum sucking creeps who don't give one single damn about me. My vote goes to the one who in trying to get what he/she wants, manages to inadvertently get me more of what I want than the other creeps.

Am I jaded? Duh. But I'm never disappointed, and very rarely surprised.

most people vote

"their self interest"

If I did that
I would have voted
enthusiastically for W both times

I did not.

 

[indra]

most people vote

"their self interest"

If I did that
I would have voted
enthusiastically for W both times

I did not.

Ok. You're a saint then.

I'm too broke to be a saint, but I'll bet what is in my self interest is better for more people than what is in your self interest, so me voting my self interest and you voting against your self interest achieves pretty much the same thing.

 

[anitram]

most people vote

"their self interest"

If I did that
I would have voted
enthusiastically for W both times

I did not.

If I voted in my own self interest, I would be voting for the Conservatives here, given my tax bracket.

But I would rather pay 46% tax than make 1/4 of my salary to escape it...

 

[deep]

I try and ask myself,
what is fair and reasonable?

While others,
make statements like "not paying or paying the least taxes possible is patriotic or the American way".

Cheney and Romney make statements like the above.

We have Romney making billions and taxed at only 15%.

Working stiffs are paying more than twice that amount.


Cheney supports Haliburton, and KBR moving their headquarters to offshore Hotel rooms to avoid U S taxes.
They pay no taxes on record breaking profits from the no bid contracts that are filled with over-billing.

You got to love how the GOP has managed to get the working (white) stiffs in the solid South
to keep sharpening the blade and baring their own throats.

All the time being happy,
that they are the ones that get to spin the sharpening stone.

 

[deep]

If I voted in my own self interest, I would be voting for the Conservatives here, given my tax bracket.

But I would rather pay 46% tax than make 1/4 of my salary to escape it...

100,000 income, taxes of 46 % = 54,000


1/4 of 100,000 = 25,000



it sounds like 54,000
is more in your self-interest

than 25,000

 

[anitram]

Well, clearly.

But you constantly hear people in the highest bracket kvetching about their marginal tax rate and voting solely on promised reductions.

 

[deep]

This is the day

that the Democratic party

and in particular Obama and his people lost the November election.


they will let the Michigan voters be heard and counted

I guess the election will be close
and if they divide delegates on votes

it won't give the wrong candidate any help

but,

There will be no re-vote in Florida

no way to fix that

and we do not want to re-iterate that one candidate can not win the most important swing state.


So Florida is a "give me " for McCain

 

[deep]

This is unbelievable!!


Why would anyone want a coward for "Commander in Chief"?

Plan for new Michigan Democratic primary falters

Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:02pm EDT

By Kevin Krolicki

DETROIT (Reuters) - Michigan Democratic Party leaders on Tuesday said a proposal to re-run the state's contested presidential primary in June, which could potentially benefit the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, was stalled and unlikely to be approved before a deadline this week.

Opposition from lawmakers backing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's campaign seemed certain to scuttle any proposal to hold a June 3 "do-over" Democratic primary in the Midwestern state.


"There are definitely not enough votes now to support the proposal," said Callie Collins, a spokeswoman for state Sen. Tupac Hunter, co-chairman of Obama's campaign in Michigan.

 

[Irvine511]

i see you've already decided the black kid in class is the troublemaker. no matter what he does, that's what he'll be.

 

[martha]

This is unbelievable!!


Why would anyone want a coward for "Commander in Chief"?

What an overreaction.

 

[deep]

why not hear from the democratic voters in Florida and Michigan?

especially now or in June

Obama will get many more votes than if the primaries were held at the time the party would have approved.

To get the nomination by not counting votes in Florida is very BUSHleauge.

 

[BVS]

What were the numbers of how much a re-do would cost?

 

[A_Wanderer]

Get ready for 4 more years

PRINCETON, NJ -- John McCain's 67% favorable rating is the highest of any of the three major candidates running for president, and ties for his highest in Gallup polling history.

McCain's favorable rating matches the 67% he received in February 2000, when he was in the middle of his first run for president. But since that point, McCain's image in the eyes of Americans has undergone significant shifts. The Arizona senator had favorable ratings in the 57% range as he began his presidential campaign last winter, but as his campaign floundered this past summer, his favorable rating dropped as low as 41%. At that point, many observers had written off the former POW's campaign. But McCain came roaring back, winning the New Hampshire primary and then clinching the Republican nomination. His current favorable rating represents a gain of 26 points since last summer, including an 11-point increase since he won enough delegates to ensure his nomination on March 4.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/105073/McCains-67-Favorable-Rating-Highest-Eight-Years.aspx?version=print

The funniest thing would be if Sting2 turned out to be right

 

[deep]

Get ready for 4 more yearshttp://www.gallup.com/poll/105073/McCains-67-Favorable-Rating-Highest-Eight-Years.aspx?version=print

The funniest thing would be if Sting2 turned out to be right

Obama is also the only candidate who a majority of Americans -- roughly 60 percent -- say does not have the right experience to be president, the poll showed.

That number is significantly higher than the 38 percent who say Clinton isn't experienced enough and
the 31 percent who say the same for McCain.