US 2008 Presidential Campaign/Debate Discussion Thread - Part Catorce!

[U2isthebest]

Originally posted by MrsSpringsteen


And I'm sure you've never taken an unflattering picture in your entire life. Is he running this year?

Bush has plenty of buffoon pictures as well, actually someone could probably publish a book full of them the size of War And Peace

Ah, yes. He perfected what my high school government teacher called "the deer in the headlights" look. We used to discuss that all the time during the Bush/Kerry debates.

[Diemen]

Originally posted by MrsSpringsteen
When confronted today with the decision of whether to stick with his conscience or cave to the right wing, McCain chose to ditch his principles and instead vote to preserve waterboarding.

Aaaaand there goes most of the remainder of my respect for him.

[hiphop]

Originally posted by Diemen


Aaaaand there goes most of the remainder of my respect for him.

Yeah.

If I was American I would vote Obama.

[deep]

Clinton Wins New Mexico


By Ariel Alexovich


Hillary Rodham Clinton has been declared the winner of the New Mexico caucuses, nine days after the event. Mrs. Clinton edged out Barack Obama by 1,709 votes, party officials announced.

The delay in naming a winner was due to organizational difficulties at some precincts. Long lines and a ballot shortage forced some 17,000 voters to cast provisional ballots, which had to be hand counted.

Mrs. Clinton gains 14 delegates from New Mexico, compared to 12 for Mr. Obama. She was the most popular candidate in 27 of the state’s 33 counties. In total, Mrs. Clinton earned 73,105 votes, besting the 71,396 cast for Mr. Obama.

[diamond]

it's joyful's fault

[2861U2]

Bush 41 to endorse McCain:

http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/...ndorse-mccain/

WASHINGTON — Former President George H.W. Bush will endorse John McCain in Texas on Monday, Republican officials said.

The endorsement represents another step in McCain’s tightening grip on the Republican presidential nomination. The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement is next week.

Since he took a commanding lead in the delegate count, the Arizona senator has been working to solidify his support from the Republican base. On Thursday, he picked up the endorsement of his one-time chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The endorsement of the former president and patriarch of the Bush family also could help with party stalwarts.

His son, the current President Bush, has not yet formally endorsed McCain because former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in still in the race, but he strongly signaled his support last weekend in a cable television interview.

The president told “Fox News Sunday” that McCain is a “true conservative” but may have to work harder to convince other conservatives that he is one of their own.

McCain “is very strong on national defense,” Bush said in the television interview. “He is tough fiscally. He believes the tax cuts ought to be permanent. He is pro-life. His principles are sound and solid as far as I’m concerned.”

When asked about criticism of McCain by conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, the president said, “I think that if John is the nominee, he has got some convincing to do to convince people that he is a solid conservative and I’ll be glad to help him if he is the nominee.”

Bush said some of the criticism of McCain was the result of “probably, some personal animosity toward me. You can’t please all the people all the time.”

[U2isthebest]

Originally posted by 2861U2
Bush 41 to endorse McCain:

http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/...ndorse-mccain/

WASHINGTON — Former President George H.W. Bush will endorse John McCain in Texas on Monday, Republican officials said.

The endorsement represents another step in McCain’s tightening grip on the Republican presidential nomination. The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement is next week.

Since he took a commanding lead in the delegate count, the Arizona senator has been working to solidify his support from the Republican base. On Thursday, he picked up the endorsement of his one-time chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The endorsement of the former president and patriarch of the Bush family also could help with party stalwarts.

His son, the current President Bush, has not yet formally endorsed McCain because former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in still in the race, but he strongly signaled his support last weekend in a cable television interview.

The president told “Fox News Sunday” that McCain is a “true conservative” but may have to work harder to convince other conservatives that he is one of their own.

McCain “is very strong on national defense,” Bush said in the television interview. “He is tough fiscally. He believes the tax cuts ought to be permanent. He is pro-life. His principles are sound and solid as far as I’m concerned.”

When asked about criticism of McCain by conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, the president said, “I think that if John is the nominee, he has got some convincing to do to convince people that he is a solid conservative and I’ll be glad to help him if he is the nominee.”

Bush said some of the criticism of McCain was the result of “probably, some personal animosity toward me. You can’t please all the people all the time.”

He's got some convincing to do to convince people. Eloquently spoken, Mr. President, eloquently spoken. And yes, I'm sure the base hates McCain because of you.

[BVS]

When confronted today with the decision of whether to stick with his conscience or cave to the right wing, McCain chose to ditch his principles and instead vote to preserve waterboarding.

That sliver of respect that I had left, that part that told me even if we had to deal with another Republican president at least it's McCain and not a Bush or a Huckabilly, is now gone.

You've sold your soul far too many times, now you are just a soulless, hateful dinosaur.

[verte76]

So Bush is going to endorse McCain.

[verte76]

Originally posted by diamond
BTW-
Doesn't Kerry look like a buffoon in this pic?:



dbs

He sure does.

[BonosSaint]

By Elisabeth Bumiller (New York Times)

updated 4:51 a.m. ET, Fri., Feb. 15, 2008
WASHINGTON - Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign said Thursday that it stood by a year-old pledge made with Senator Barack Obama that each would accept public financing for the general election if the nominee of the opposing party did the same. But Mr. Obama’s campaign refused to reaffirm its earlier commitment.

The McCain campaign’s latest stand on the issue was first reported Thursday by The Financial Times. On Tuesday, one of Mr. McCain’s advisers told The New York Times that the campaign had decided to forgo public financing in the general election, an awkward admission for a senator who has made campaign finance reform a central part of his political persona.

That adviser was speaking on the assumption that Mr. Obama, who has broken all records in political fund-raising and is currently drawing more than $1 million a day, would find a way to retreat from the pledge in order to outspend his opponent in the fall by far. Under public-financing rules, the nominees are restricted to spending about $85 million each for the two-month general election campaign, far less than what Mr. Obama might be able to raise on his own.



On Thursday, in an effort by the McCain campaign to speak with one voice and put the onus for abandoning the system on Mr. Obama, several McCain advisers called on him to make good on his pledge. Mr. Obama was the candidate who proposed the pledge in the first place, in February 2007, a time when he was not raising the prodigious sums he is now.

Mr. McCain, co-author of the McCain-Feingold act of 2002, which placed new restrictions on campaign financing, was the only other candidate to take Mr. Obama up on his pledge.

“We have a candidate who is quite serious about taking public funds if Obama does,” Mark Salter, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain, said Thursday. “It’s not a game to McCain.” Mr. Obama, Mr. Salter said, “gave his word, and he either places value on that or he’s just fooling voters.”

Bill Burton, the Obama campaign’s national press secretary, responded to Mr. Salter by saying Mr. Obama would deal with the matter later.

“We will address that issue in the general election, when we’re the nominee,” Mr. Burton said. “We’re just not entertaining hypotheticals right now.”

Mr. Burton’s remarks drew a sharp reaction from Fred Wertheimer, president and chief executive of Democracy 21, a group that advocates tighter campaign finance rules.

“I’m concerned with the position the Obama campaign is taking,” Mr. Wertheimer said. “He is now saying this is an option. But they made a commitment in 2007 to do this. There were no conditions, no arguments, that ‘we’ll decide this when we get the nomination.’ I think it’s very important for Senator Obama to reaffirm the commitment that he made.”

Mr. Wertheimer also pointed to one of Mr. Obama’s responses to a questionnaire released in November by the Midwest Democracy Network, an alliance of 20 civic and public-interest groups in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Asked if he would participate in the public-financing system if he was nominated for president and his major opponents agreed to do the same, Mr. Obama wrote yes. Then he added, also in writing, “If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.”

As the two campaigns dueled, people on both sides said it was possible that they would agree to accept public financing and then simply have each political party spend unlimited amounts on behalf of its candidate, including money for voter mobilization efforts and television commercials, as allowed by law.

Also: large union backing Obama http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us...litics&emc=rss

And Clinton superdelegate tilting toward Obama

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us...litics&emc=rss

[anitram]

Even more bizarre:

ABC News’ Teddy Davis Reports: On Wednesday, a top adviser to John McCain said more definitively than he has in the past that he will step down from the Arizona senator’s presidential campaign if the presumed GOP nominee faces Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in the general election.

"I would simply be uncomfortable being in a campaign that would be inevitably attacking Barack Obama," said McCain adviser Mark McKinnon in an interview with NPR’s "All Things Considered." "I think it would be uncomfortable for me, and I think it would be bad for the McCain campaign." [...]

"I met Barack Obama, I read his book, I like him a great deal," said McKinnon. "I disagree with him on very fundamental issues. But I think, as I said, I think it would a great race for the country."

[U2democrat]

Is this the craziest election year or what? Holy crap.

[martha]

ABC News’ Teddy Davis Reports: On Wednesday, a top adviser to John McCain said more definitively than he has in the past that he will step down from the Arizona senator’s presidential campaign if the presumed GOP nominee faces Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in the general election.

So is this a fracture in the Dems or the Repubs?

[deep]

"I met Barack Obama, I read his book, I like him a great deal," said McKinnon.
"I disagree with him on very fundamental issues. But I think, as I said, I think it would a great race for the country."


"I would simply be uncomfortable being in a campaign that would be inevitably attacking Barack Obama,"

Is Obama getting a free ride?


Or has the "fare" been "paid" by millions that were never allowed on board before?

[anitram]

Japan for Obama:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/vide...ama.town.japan

[Irvine511]

Originally posted by deep



Is Obama getting a free ride?

aren't all the clean, articulate ones?

[diamond]

not mitt.

[martha]

He's not all that clean. He just washes up pretty.

[diamond]