2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign Discussion Thread-Part 11

[JOFO]

Originally Posted by U2isthebest

I just wanted to step in and say that I think it's a bit unfair to question whether or not Obama is actually a Christian. It's just irksome when people criticize the Christian Right (which I do on a regular basis, I have no problem with that) and wish that Christians would behave differently in the political arena. Yet, when have a Christian who comes along that does live his/her faith differently in the public eye we question their beliefs. There are a lot of us Christians (myself included), who are intellectual, reasonable, and proponents of both theology and political policy that aren't typically held by the majority of evangelical or mainstream American Christianity. There's no reason to doubt that Obama's faith isn't genuine. As for the gay marriage, example, I too would be disappointed if he disagreed on religious grounds, but, I personally feel that most politicians disagree on political grounds. .

I agree with everything you say, except this:

Originally Posted by U2isthebest

Frankly, I'd be willing to bet that Bush supports gay marriage in his heart of hearts, but could never say so.

I would have a real hard time believeing he actually would support it at all.

[deep]

Originally Posted by Varitek

I have to be up at 7am too, and I'm in Europe, so I'm just really screwed. Luckily we have better coffee over here.

I am sure you have better coffee.

But we get free coffee just for saying we voted.

YouTube - Starbucks Vote = Free Coffee

[Varitek]

I'm more jealous of the ben and jerry's free scoop.

[Vincent Vega]

Just saying I voted? No need of showing identity?
I'm not a great fan of Starbucks, but free coffee is always welcome.

[Varitek]

On another note, I have been listening to this with tears in my eyes

I see no changes all I see is racist faces
misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under I wonder what it takes to make this
one better place, let's erase the wasted
Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right
'cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight
and only time we chill is when we kill each other
it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
And although it seems heaven sent
We ain't ready, to see a black President, uhh
It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact
the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks
But some things will never change
try to show another way but you stayin' in the dope game
Now tell me what's a mother to do
bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you
You gotta operate the easy way
"I made a G today" But you made it in a sleazy way
sellin' crack to the kid. " I gotta get paid,"
Well hey, well that's the way it is

If 2pac were still here, maybe he'd have rewritten it for Tuesday.

But Nas did a pretty sweet job....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j7s2...eature=related

[U2Fanatic4ever]

Originally Posted by deep

I am sure you have better coffee.

But we get free coffee just for saying we voted.

posted that a page or two back minus the video..



also, Ben and Jerry's are giving out free ice cream on tues.

[JOFO]

Anyplace giving out free Valium's?

[VintagePunk]

Obama and Clinton reach common ground - Carrie Budoff Brown and Glenn Thrush - Politico.com

Obama and Clinton reach common ground

GARY, Ind. — While the relationship between Barack Obama and the Clintons remains complicated, associates in both camps say the dynamic has improved dramatically in recent months.

...

The former president was a bit wary before his first private meeting with Obama in September. Even though he and Obama had chatted amicably about politics a few times, the former president expected the get-together to focus on the bloodless, nuts-and-bolts questions about strategy in the homestretch of a presidential campaign. He was in for a surprise, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

“Obama had really done his homework and was well-briefed” about how to approach the mercurial Bill Clinton, the person said. “There was very little talk about politics. He basically asked, ‘What’s it like to be president? What should the next president do?’ ... Instead of talking about the eight battleground states, they talked about the world, and that was really smart.”

That lunch meeting Sept. 11 in Harlem marked the beginning of the thaw, since aides have learned to know when Clinton likes someone: After a meeting, he might remark, “He’s really smart” or, “He’s impressive” — often meaning his companion responded positively to his advice. After the Obama confab, he said both, according to people familiar with the situation.

The two aren't best friends, but they talk more often than either side has previously disclosed. An Obama aide said they speak "regularly," while a source close to Bill Clinton said they talk two or three times a week to swap strategic ideas.

...

Hillary Clinton’s relationship with her former rival is still constantly evolving.

After it became clear her in the spring that her comeback against Obama would come up short, Hillary Clinton plopped down into the front seat of her campaign plane and shared her thoughts on the general election with a handful of wrung-out staffers.

Clinton, whose relationship with Obama was still tense and tentative at that moment, professed no great affection or admiration for Obama, whom she regarded as less qualified than herself. But she would support him, body and soul, she said, because she was so terrified by the prospect of McCain sitting in the Oval Office. And that was before the credit markets crashed, setting off a domino effect on the U.S. economy.

“John McCain’s my friend; I really like him,” she said, according to a person who was within earshot. “But there’s just no way we can let him be president.”

Clinton’s relationship with Obama has improved markedly since then (although associates say she occasionally betrays her belief that she’s be a better candidate), but friends and associates say her manic work on behalf of her longtime Democratic rival is motivated not so much by Obamaphilia but, rather, by a bone-deep fear of McCain.

“She’s convinced he would destroy the country,” said a source close to the former first lady.

Her impression of McCain has gone even farther south since the troubles on Wall Street surfaced a few weeks ago. When supporters call to complain about Obama, as some still do, she invariably regales them with a polite but steely description of how McCain will drive the country off an economic cliff, people close to her say.

...

An aide to Sen. Clinton said she has helped raised more than $10 million for the Democratic ticket and held “well over 75 events and activities,” which have included donor calls, conference calls, media interviews and fundraisers. She’s also building up political chits around the country, assisting 80 House and Senate candidates in 30 states, and she has given more than $735,000 to various candidates through her political action committee, HillPAC.

Bill Clinton has stumped for Obama from rural Nevada to suburban Florida. He has hosted fundraisers in Texas and Georgia and stood in for Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden at three more in New York when Biden's mother-in-law died.

...

Obama chief strategist David Axelrod said he has seen an evolution in their interactions.

“When you compete as hard as these two competed for as long as they did, you don’t just sort of say, ‘Well, that was that’ and lock arms and move forward without any feelings,” Axelrod said. “What I saw last week was just a real ease of comfort between them and a strong sense of collaboration.”

The former president took off from Kissimmee and headed to Ohio, where he drummed up the party base Thursday in the Democratic strongholds of Toledo and Youngstown.

His wife, meanwhile, was prepared to follow him and Obama through the weekend into three states that will determine the outcome Tuesday: Ohio, Florida and Virginia.

“I have no question they are giving us their full effort,” Axelrod said.

[U2Fanatic4ever]

Originally Posted by JOFO

Anyplace giving out free Valium's?

seriously a good idea. my nails will be all bitten off and my stomach twisted in knots the whole day. I am already getting a start on this now..

[VintagePunk]

Originally Posted by VintagePunk

Wow, it's incredible hearing what you guys go through to vote. Here, I've never heard of registration hassles or people being turned away (although in our election earlier this month they changed the rules about what kinds of ID were acceptable. It was well publicized, though, so people had plenty of opportunity to make sure they brought the correct ID), and any time I've gone to vote, no matter which level of government was holding elections, I've never spent more than 5 or 10 minutes at a polling station. I can't even imagine standing in line for hours. Do they make exceptions for the elderly or the infirm? What do they do?

I posted this a few days ago in the I Voted Early thread, but I think the topic bears repeating. I just saw a piece on CNN regarding calls made to their voting problems hotline, and several of the calls they just highlighted focused on senior citizens who had waited in line to vote for several hours, found they still had several more hours to go, so they finally left because they are not physically capable of standing for several hours. They did say that a few polling stations seem to have made provisions for people in this position, but that many don't.

This is an outrage and something I'm surprised we're not hearing more about. I'd expect something like this to occur in a developing nation, or nations with sketchy election processes, but not in the US.

[JOFO]

While I've never had any trouble at the voting booths myself, I find it absolutely appalling that there's STILL problems going on in spite of the 2000 election. Eight years to fix the system, and nothing has been fixed.....
If they can figure out how to do it on "American Idol" why can't they do it on American president???/

Republican, Democrat, or Independent, this is totally unacceptable. I'd rather have my candidate lose in a fair, honest, and complications-free election than to have them win under any dubious circumstances.
I wonder if everyone would say the same.....

[coolian2]

Originally Posted by VintagePunk

nations with sketchy election processes, but not in the US.

By which you mean the US?

[VintagePunk]

Originally Posted by coolian2

By which you mean the US?

Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention before, but it's only been since 2000 that I recall hearing problems about their election process.

[coolian2]

Originally Posted by VintagePunk

Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention before, but it's only been since 2000 that I recall hearing problems about their election process.

I must admit, I've only been paying attention since 2000.

[deep]

Originally Posted by Vincent Vega

Just saying I voted? No need of showing identity?
I'm not a great fan of Starbucks, but free coffee is always welcome.

I heard they have 2 Starbucks in Montana

so you can get a free coffee, too.

You don't even have to have voted
but perhaps with the help of Obama and ACORN you will have.

[toscano]

Originally Posted by deep

I heard they have 2 Starbucks in Montana

so you can get a free coffee, too.

You don't even have to have voted
but perhaps with the help of Obama and ACORN you will have.

ACORN can only register you for the coffee...........

[yolland]

Originally Posted by VintagePunk

I just saw a piece on CNN regarding calls made to their voting problems hotline, and several of the calls they just highlighted focused on senior citizens who had waited in line to vote for several hours, found they still had several more hours to go, so they finally left because they are not physically capable of standing for several hours. They did say that a few polling stations seem to have made provisions for people in this position, but that many don't.

I think part of the problem there is the hugely unprecedented early voting turnout this year (far fewer polling stations are open for early voting), which caught many states by surprise. I've worked the polls locally before, and we've always kept a (limited) amount of chairs and drinking water available for elderly and/or infirm voters. We're taking a couple elderly neighbors of ours to vote on Tuesday morning, and I sure hope the crowds won't be that bad, as they both walk with canes and neither has a wheelchair.

[anitram]

I don't know that I've ever seen turnout like this before, but I do know that a friend of mine who has worked the polls on election day in Canada several times over said that there is a policy in place to always move the obviously elderly and disabled to the front of the line - this included anyone who would appear to require chairs to begin with.

[VintagePunk]

Originally Posted by yolland

I think part of the problem there is the hugely unprecedented early voting turnout this year (far fewer polling stations are open for early voting), which caught many states by surprise. I've worked the polls locally before, and we've always kept a (limited) amount of chairs and drinking water available for elderly and/or infirm voters. We're taking a couple elderly neighbors of ours to vote on Tuesday morning, and I sure hope the crowds won't be that bad, as they both walk with canes and neither has a wheelchair.

Oh, so this is an unusual situation then, and it hopefully will not be repeated on the 4th due to larger numbers of polling stations being open, which in turn will have fewer voters to accommodate, since many have voted early. I'm glad to hear that.

Originally Posted by anitram

I don't know that I've ever seen turnout like this before, but I do know that a friend of mine who has worked the polls on election day in Canada several times over said that there is a policy in place to always move the obviously elderly and disabled to the front of the line - this included anyone who would appear to require chairs to begin with.

Exactly. Which is why I was wondering why it wasn't being done in a lot of cases in the US, from what is being reported. It's blatant discrimination.

[yolland]

There are some states that allow elderly and disabled voters to move to the front of the line if they request it, but this is not universal. About all that's guaranteed nationwide is wheelchair-accessible polling places and assistance with voting for the blind and those unable to read English.