verte76
Blue Crack Addict
So the Germans really like Obama? They hate Bush. They opposed the war. So did France. Remember "freedom fries"?
US 2008 Presidential Campaign/Debate Discussion Thread - Part III
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verte76
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Well, for one thing, we need to get rid of the Electoral College.
Vincent Vega
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
verte76 said:
Who is France?
I haven't talked to many people about it, but I might go and take a little survey.
We are generally more leaning towards the Democratic party, and there to those who are more left, because that means they are kind of center-left in German politics, so it's not a surprise that many would take Obama over Hilary (though she, on the other hand, might profit from the great image and reputation Bill enjoys here).
But as long as the President is going to see us as equal partners, and listens to us as well, so we can have prosperous debates and negotiations, we will be very welcoming.
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
MANCHESTER., New Hampshire
(Reuters) - A family who says its daughter died because a health insurance company refused to pay for an operation campaigned with Democrat John Edwards on Sunday, reinforcing his election message that corporate greed is hurting Americans.
The parents and brother of 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who died of leukemia on December 20, recounted their story to an audience of around 500 and said Edwards struck a chord with their grief.
The event, two days before a nominating vote in New Hampshire where Edwards trails rivals Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, dramatized his message that the U.S. middle class is being threatened by corporate greed.
Edwards finished a distant second to Obama in Iowa last week, the first contest in the state-by-state process to pick candidates for the November election, and his campaign could lose momentum without a strong showing on Tuesday.
"This (the cause of Sarkisyan and others) is what drives me every single day. This is what this fight is all about. ... I am in it with heart and soul and with every fiber of my being," Edwards said to applause.
Edwards, who is proposing a $120 billion plan that would give health insurance to all, says many drug and insurance companies are responsible for creating a situation in which millions of Americans either lack health insurance or have cover inadequate for their needs.
Sarkisyan contracted leukemia at 14 and was treated with chemotherapy under her father's health insurance plan. Last summer the leukemia returned and she received a bone marrow transplant from her older brother Bedig.
Complications arose, her liver ceased to function and doctors at UCLA hospital recommended a transplant.
"But CIGNA HealthCare ruled that the treatment was 'experimental' because of the leukemia and not covered by her policy," said a statement from the Edwards campaign. The family would have had to pay $75,000 for an operation, it said.
Cigna eventually agreed to pay but Nataline died the same day. In a statement after her death, CIGNA said her father's insurance plan had not covered the transplant but that it had decided to make an exception.
"My heart is a hole. I didn't know any insurance company ... (could be so) careless," mother Hilda Sarkisyan said of her daughter who died aged.
"I haven't cried. I can't cry. It's very difficult ... I want to thank Sen. John Edwards and I wish you the best and I hope you become our president," she said.
Apparently drawing a distinction with Obama, former North Carolina senator Edwards said he was the candidate who would fight hardest to change the system.
"What kind of fighter do you need on your side when you're family is faced with this kind of crisis," Edwards said.
"Do you want somebody who has the right ideas and philosophy, or do you want somebody who has the right ideas and philosophy and the fight to bring about change because that's what this is about."
(Reuters) - A family who says its daughter died because a health insurance company refused to pay for an operation campaigned with Democrat John Edwards on Sunday, reinforcing his election message that corporate greed is hurting Americans.
The parents and brother of 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who died of leukemia on December 20, recounted their story to an audience of around 500 and said Edwards struck a chord with their grief.
The event, two days before a nominating vote in New Hampshire where Edwards trails rivals Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, dramatized his message that the U.S. middle class is being threatened by corporate greed.
Edwards finished a distant second to Obama in Iowa last week, the first contest in the state-by-state process to pick candidates for the November election, and his campaign could lose momentum without a strong showing on Tuesday.
"This (the cause of Sarkisyan and others) is what drives me every single day. This is what this fight is all about. ... I am in it with heart and soul and with every fiber of my being," Edwards said to applause.
Edwards, who is proposing a $120 billion plan that would give health insurance to all, says many drug and insurance companies are responsible for creating a situation in which millions of Americans either lack health insurance or have cover inadequate for their needs.
Sarkisyan contracted leukemia at 14 and was treated with chemotherapy under her father's health insurance plan. Last summer the leukemia returned and she received a bone marrow transplant from her older brother Bedig.
Complications arose, her liver ceased to function and doctors at UCLA hospital recommended a transplant.
"But CIGNA HealthCare ruled that the treatment was 'experimental' because of the leukemia and not covered by her policy," said a statement from the Edwards campaign. The family would have had to pay $75,000 for an operation, it said.
Cigna eventually agreed to pay but Nataline died the same day. In a statement after her death, CIGNA said her father's insurance plan had not covered the transplant but that it had decided to make an exception.
"My heart is a hole. I didn't know any insurance company ... (could be so) careless," mother Hilda Sarkisyan said of her daughter who died aged.
"I haven't cried. I can't cry. It's very difficult ... I want to thank Sen. John Edwards and I wish you the best and I hope you become our president," she said.
Apparently drawing a distinction with Obama, former North Carolina senator Edwards said he was the candidate who would fight hardest to change the system.
"What kind of fighter do you need on your side when you're family is faced with this kind of crisis," Edwards said.
"Do you want somebody who has the right ideas and philosophy, or do you want somebody who has the right ideas and philosophy and the fight to bring about change because that's what this is about."
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
Earnie Shavers said:
and this is why i think Obama, for his relative lack of foreign policy experience, could be so effective. other countries will listen to him.
can you imagine him saying, "you're either with us or against us?"
he'll be able to explain why the US is acting in whatever way he chooses, and it won't engender the automatic backlash that comes with anything Bush says or does.
U2democrat
Blue Crack Addict
Apparently Obama is giving speeches that even political veterans are saying are the best they have ever heard, trumping even JFK/RFK/MLK 
People in the audience are in tears by the time he finishes.
It's going to be extremely difficult to stop that.
People in the audience are in tears by the time he finishes.
It's going to be extremely difficult to stop that.
2861U2
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Irvine511 said:
Sure he will. Along with the Republicans, he's going to have the support of a majority of veterans and their families, and most middle-aged to older independents. Obama is putting a ton of stock in college kids, who when the general election rolls around, will be back at school and may forget or not go to the trouble of filling out a ballot and mailing it. That's kind of risky.
Irvine511 said:
McCain, easily. How does Obama have ANY credibility? What has done (other than endlessly talking about) to demonstrate this? McCain has political friends on both sides and has proven he can reach across the aisle. How is Obama credible about ANYTHING?
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
McCain is losing credibility fast, especially with moderates by his kissing the ass of the extreme right...
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
2861U2 said:
dude, the base of the Republican part HATES McCain, and the reasons they hate him are why i retain some respect for him. he called Falwell and his christofascists "agents of intolerance." he doesn't hate Mexicans and he refuses to play into the "brown peril" that's been sweeping through your party. and he's eloquently and passionately denounced the torture your party seems to think is part of security. the base HATES McCain for McCain/Feingold as well.
and Obama is scoring hugely amongst independents, and he's got the youth. and McCain is hugely hurt by Iraq. yes, he's gone to great lengths to support the war, but notice he's got to even greater lengths to distance himself from the *conduct* of the war and slamming Rumsfeld this morning on the news. he'd slam Bush if he could, but then there would be political hell to pay.
i think the Republican party elites -- the "fuck you i got mine" Republicans who have money and are socially liberal and don't give a fuck about anybody else so long as their tax breaks are delivered -- will vote for McCain. but the gay/secularist/Mexican/Muslim hating, torture loving base? nope.
we're talking about being an agent of change. Obama embodies that, and the fact that the independents are flocking to him speaks volumes.
you've also contradicted yourself. its precisely because McCain has reached across the aisle that the base hates him.
i hope McCain is your nominee. i really do. but there's no way i think he'd be a better president than either Hillary or Obama.
2861U2
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Another thought about the college vote that Obama is relying on-
As a college student, I've seen the Obama hype around campus the last couple of months. But like I said, when election day rolls around, many of them will not go to the trouble of bothering to vote. I think it is very risky for Obama to have a strategy thats depends so much on youth, when you can't even depend on college kids to show up to class on time. They can go out and campaign and wear the t-shirts and pin the little Obama buttons on their backpacks, but until the results come in on election day saying that 18-24s really went out and voted overwhelmingly for Obama, I'm not going to be too worried.
ETA: I heard a poll yesterday saying that while Obama may be leading among independents voting in the Democrat primary, Clinton is still leading among registered Democrats. Isn't it bad that the guy who might end up getting the nomination isn't even the favorite among Democrats? McCain, on the other hand, leads in both groups.
As a college student, I've seen the Obama hype around campus the last couple of months. But like I said, when election day rolls around, many of them will not go to the trouble of bothering to vote. I think it is very risky for Obama to have a strategy thats depends so much on youth, when you can't even depend on college kids to show up to class on time. They can go out and campaign and wear the t-shirts and pin the little Obama buttons on their backpacks, but until the results come in on election day saying that 18-24s really went out and voted overwhelmingly for Obama, I'm not going to be too worried.
ETA: I heard a poll yesterday saying that while Obama may be leading among independents voting in the Democrat primary, Clinton is still leading among registered Democrats. Isn't it bad that the guy who might end up getting the nomination isn't even the favorite among Democrats? McCain, on the other hand, leads in both groups.
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LarryMullen's POPAngel
Blue Crack Distributor
2861U2 said:
I think you're heavily underestimating young people, especially when they're so hungry for change as they are now.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
2861U2 said:
How do you think you get the nomination?
phanan
Blue Crack Addict
Reminds me of 1992. I was a college student here, and it was our age group that propelled Clinton to a second place finish (really a victory, since the winner was Tsongas of Massachusetts). Nobody thought we'd vote that strongly, either, but we were all sick of Bush the Elder. I would say that sentiment is ten times stronger amongst the younger voters this year.
namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
U2democrat said:Apparently Obama is giving speeches that even political veterans are saying are the best they have ever heard, trumping even JFK/RFK/MLK
People in the audience are in tears by the time he finishes.
It's going to be extremely difficult to stop that.
Anywhere I could hear/read any of them?
U2democrat
Blue Crack Addict
namkcuR said:
CSPAN has been showing speeches from all the candidates, I guess if you get lucky you can find it. You might also try YouTube.
Good luck
Jeannieco
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
namkcuR said:
I saw this morning on C-span that Obama's rally is going to be on at 6pm EST !! 3pm Pacific. I am taping it since I am at work today! Here is the schedule from the cspan website:
http://www.c-span.org/ ( cspan is great! )
2008 CAMPAIGN
New Hampshire: LIVE Events
Today, C-SPAN's coverage from New Hampshire continues. First, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attends
a rally at City Hall Plaza in Man-
chester. Next, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) talks to supporters at the Rochester Opera House (6pm ET). And finally, a rally with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) & Fmr. Pres. Bill Clinton (8:30pm ET).
MON., C-SPAN, 3:30PM ET
I saw Michelle Obama's speech yesterday in NH and it was moving as well. She has just as much grace as he does.
Just classy beautiful people.
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U2democrat
Blue Crack Addict
Hillary turned on the waterworks today. It'll be interesting to see how that one plays out.
By the way NBC Nightly News will have a behind the scenes segment and interview with Obama tonight.
Brian Williams + Barack Obama =
By the way NBC Nightly News will have a behind the scenes segment and interview with Obama tonight.
Brian Williams + Barack Obama =
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
U2democrat said:
i found it sincere, and i felt for her.
i really did. i do think she works hard. i do think she cares. i do think she wants to make a difference. and i think she's married into an impossible situation for her, so close and yet so far.
but it's so hard to get behind the Tracy Flicks of the world.
Jeannieco
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
U2democrat said:
By the way NBC Nightly News will have a behind the scenes segment and interview with Obama tonight.
Brian Williams + Barack Obama =
U2democrat
Blue Crack Addict
Irvine511 said:
i found it sincere, and i felt for her.
i really did. i do think she works hard. i do think she cares. i do think she wants to make a difference. and i think she's married into an impossible situation for her, so close and yet so far.
but it's so hard to get behind the Tracy Flicks of the world.
Too true. I believe that she, and everyone else, is absolutely exhausted, and when you're exhausted it becomes harder to control your emotions like that.
I felt for her too, but by no means am I going to vote for her.
diamond
ONE love, blood, life
she's not commander in chief material.
dbs
dbs
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Bush doesn't cry...
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
She's perfectly capable of being Commander In Chief. I don't know anything about her crying, haven't read about it. But there's nothing wrong with crying, and I don't trust people who don't cry. Men should cry some more too, and in public. I want a commander in chief who isn't afraid to cry.
phillyfan26
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BonoVoxSupastar said:
Because he is Commander in Chief material.
See what Diamond's getting at here?
diamond
ONE love, blood, life
usually when a canidate has an emotional breakdown on the campaign trail-it's the beginning of the end for that candidate.
dbs
dbs
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
Mitt Romney teared up twice recently in tv interviews, where's the big to do over that?
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Hillary Rodham Clinton's eyes welled up and her voice broke repeatedly Monday as she talked with voters in a restaurant about her campaign for the presidency. The former first lady was making a last-minute pitch for support as she spoke on the eve of the state's primary, with polls showing her trailing Democratic rival Barack Obama.
Asked by a sympathetic voter how she keeps going in the grueling campaign, she replied, "It's not easy. It's not easy."
"And I couldn't do it if I just didn't, you know, passionately believe it was the right thing to do," she said, her voice catching.
"You know, I've had so many opportunities from this country, I just don't want to see us fall backwards," she said, her voice trailing off. The voters crowded into the restaurant applauded encouragingly.
"So," she continued, then paused, seemingly to control her voice as her listeners applauded again. "You know, this is very personal for me. It's not just political. It's not just public. I see what's happening, and we have to reverse it. And some people think elections are a game. They think it's like who's up or who's down.
"It's about our country. It's about our kids' futures. It's really about all of us together. You know some of us put ourselves out there and do this against some pretty difficult odds. And we do it, each one of us, because we care about our country. But some of us are right and some of us are wrong. Some of us are ready and some of us are not."
She concluded, "And so when we look at the array of problems we have and the potential for it getting really spinning out of control, this is one of the most important elections America's ever faced. So as tired as I am and I am and as difficult as it is to try to kind of keep up with what I try to do on the road like occasionally exercise and try to eat right. It's tough when the easiest food is pizza . I just believe so strongly in who we are as a nation so I'm going to do everything I can to make my case and, you know, then the voters get to decide."
After she spoke several of the people in the Cafe Espresso audience crowded around Clinton and offered sympathetic support.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Hillary Rodham Clinton's eyes welled up and her voice broke repeatedly Monday as she talked with voters in a restaurant about her campaign for the presidency. The former first lady was making a last-minute pitch for support as she spoke on the eve of the state's primary, with polls showing her trailing Democratic rival Barack Obama.
Asked by a sympathetic voter how she keeps going in the grueling campaign, she replied, "It's not easy. It's not easy."
"And I couldn't do it if I just didn't, you know, passionately believe it was the right thing to do," she said, her voice catching.
"You know, I've had so many opportunities from this country, I just don't want to see us fall backwards," she said, her voice trailing off. The voters crowded into the restaurant applauded encouragingly.
"So," she continued, then paused, seemingly to control her voice as her listeners applauded again. "You know, this is very personal for me. It's not just political. It's not just public. I see what's happening, and we have to reverse it. And some people think elections are a game. They think it's like who's up or who's down.
"It's about our country. It's about our kids' futures. It's really about all of us together. You know some of us put ourselves out there and do this against some pretty difficult odds. And we do it, each one of us, because we care about our country. But some of us are right and some of us are wrong. Some of us are ready and some of us are not."
She concluded, "And so when we look at the array of problems we have and the potential for it getting really spinning out of control, this is one of the most important elections America's ever faced. So as tired as I am and I am and as difficult as it is to try to kind of keep up with what I try to do on the road like occasionally exercise and try to eat right. It's tough when the easiest food is pizza . I just believe so strongly in who we are as a nation so I'm going to do everything I can to make my case and, you know, then the voters get to decide."
After she spoke several of the people in the Cafe Espresso audience crowded around Clinton and offered sympathetic support.
MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
diamond said:
Emotional breakdown? Not according to that description I posted. Your idol Mitt has been crying too, is that why his is over?
diamond
ONE love, blood, life
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