OBAMA WINS PRESIDENCY!

Well America, we did it.

Barack Obama wins the presidency

I posted this before: Barack Obama Wins Presidency And hoped it would come true... and it has.



The world will never look at America the same. Hopefully, this will take our country in a better direction. Other countries will see us different now. And we proved we can look past skin color and elect a president.

Say it, get used to it: President Barack Obama.

Congrats to the winners

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

The moment many have been waiting for.

According to the BBC:

US President George W Bush's first Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has endorsed Democratic election candidate Barack Obama for the White House.

He backed his fellow African-American over John McCain, the Republican Party's choice to succeed Mr Bush in the 4 November election.

He told NBC Mr Obama had the "ability to inspire" and was "inclusive".

"All Americans... not just African-Americans" would be proud of an Obama win, he argued.

He nails it. Barack Obama inspires people, can bring about unity and change. People are tired of the same old divisive politics in America.

We want to vote for someone who can help us get this country back on track.

As more news articles come out about this, we will get a glimpse into his reasoning behind this endorsement, but the certainly adds to the excitement of this election.

From CNN: Colin Powell endorses Obama

"I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Sen. Barack Obama," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I think that's inappropriate. I understand what politics is about -- I know how you can go after one another, and that's good. But I think this goes too far, and I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for," he said.

"Obama displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge," Powell said.

"He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president," he said.

Above are some quotes from Colin Powell about Barack Obama and why he endorses him.

What do you think of this highly public endorsement?

Chicago Tribune Endorses Obama

The first time it has endorsed a Democrat.

However this election turns out, it will dramatically advance America's slow progress toward equality and inclusion. It took Abraham Lincoln's extraordinary courage in the Civil War to get us here. It took an epic battle to secure women the right to vote. It took the perseverance of the civil rights movement. Now we have an election in which we will choose the first African-American president . . . or the first female vice president.

In recent weeks it has been easy to lose sight of this history in the making. Americans are focused on the greatest threat to the world economic system in 80 years. They feel a personal vulnerability the likes of which they haven't experienced since Sept. 11, 2001. It's a different kind of vulnerability. Unlike Sept. 11, the economic threat hasn't forged a common bond in this nation. It has fed anger, fear and mistrust.

On Nov. 4 we're going to elect a president to lead us through a perilous time and restore in us a common sense of national purpose.

The strongest candidate to do that is Sen. Barack Obama. The Tribune is proud to endorse him today for president of the United States.

Obviously the best part is the end, but its worth reading the whole thing.

The Tribune in its earliest days took up the abolition of slavery and linked itself to a powerful force for that cause--the Republican Party. The Tribune's first great leader, Joseph Medill, was a founder of the GOP. The editorial page has been a proponent of conservative principles. It believes that government has to serve people honestly and efficiently.

With that in mind, in 1872 we endorsed Horace Greeley, who ran as an independent against the corrupt administration of Republican President Ulysses S. Grant. (Greeley was later endorsed by the Democrats.) In 1912 we endorsed Theodore Roosevelt, who ran as the Progressive Party candidate against Republican President William Howard Taft.

The Tribune's decisions then were driven by outrage at inept and corrupt business and political leaders.

We see parallels today.

The Republican Party, the party of limited government, has lost its way. The government ran a $237 billion surplus in 2000, the year before Bush took office -- and recorded a $455 billion deficit in 2008. The Republicans lost control of the U.S. House and Senate in 2006 because, as we said at the time, they gave the nation rampant spending and Capitol Hill corruption. They abandoned their principles. They paid the price.

The give reasons why they do not endorse McCain.

We might have counted on John McCain to correct his party's course. We like McCain. We endorsed him in the Republican primary in Illinois. In part because of his persuasion and resolve, the U.S. stands to win an unconditional victory in Iraq.

It is, though, hard to figure John McCain these days. He argued that President Bush's tax cuts were fiscally irresponsible, but he now supports them. He promises a balanced budget by the end of his first term, but his tax cut plan would add an estimated $4.2 trillion in debt over 10 years. He has responded to the economic crisis with an angry, populist message and a misguided, $300 billion proposal to buy up bad mortgages.

McCain failed in his most important executive decision. Give him credit for choosing a female running mate--but he passed up any number of supremely qualified Republican women who could have served. Having called Obama not ready to lead, McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. His campaign has tried to stage-manage Palin's exposure to the public. But it's clear she is not prepared to step in at a moment's notice and serve as president. McCain put his campaign before his country.

The Chicago Tribune also states why it has chosen Obama.

We do, though, think Obama would govern as much more of a pragmatic centrist than many people expect.

And a great ending

Obama is deeply grounded in the best aspirations of this country, and we need to return to those aspirations. He has had the character and the will to achieve great things despite the obstacles that he faced as an unprivileged black man in the U.S.

He has risen with his honor, grace and civility intact. He has the intelligence to understand the grave economic and national security risks that face us, to listen to good advice and make careful decisions.

When Obama said at the 2004 Democratic Convention that we weren't a nation of red states and blue states, he spoke of union the way Abraham Lincoln did.

It may have seemed audacious for Obama to start his campaign in Springfield, invoking Lincoln. We think, given the opportunity to hold this nation's most powerful office, he will prove it wasn't so audacious after all. We are proud to add Barack Obama's name to Lincoln's in the list of people the Tribune has endorsed for president of the United States.

Good job, and go Obama!

Joe the Plumber

Things aren't looking so good again for McCain. A lot of news has been made about this Joe The Plumber guy. A citizen on the campaign trail, who got the attention of the media by posing a question to Barack Obama regarding raising his taxes. Come to find out...

According to Eisenstadt's blog:

John McCain did great tonight in the debate. But every time John mentioned “Joe the Plumber,” some of us in the campaign banged our heads against the wall. If Steve Schmidt had any hair left, I hear he would have been pulling it out tonight. He reportedly screamed at John’s debate prep team tonight (out of earshot of reporters, of course). “You idiots - he’s related to Charles Keating… of the Keating Five scandal!” They thought they had a real live Joe Six-Pack who’s spurned Barack Obama’s tax plan. But what they forgot to do was check on Joe Wurzelbacher’s background.

Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who’s Robert Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating’s son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan. The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to Republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.

Barack Obama took the high road in the final presidential debate by not retorting with the Keating Five scandal when McCain brought up William Ayers of the Weather Underground. But now it (the relationship between Mccain, Keating, Joe the Plumber) will be out in the open even more now. Wonder what will the ads be like?

Word on the internet is, the guy isn't actually a plumber. A licensed one anyway.

A staff person with the Toledo Division of Building Inspection told On Call this afternoon that her division will contact Wurzelbacher to notify him that he can't work without a license.

"We're trying to track him down," she said.

In the meantime, the Democrat-friendly local plumbers' union is fuming.

"He has no license whatsoever with the city of Toledo," said Tom Joseph, the business manager for Local Union 50 of the Plumbers, Steamfitters and Service Mechanics, which has endorsed Obama. "He has no license in the state of Ohio. He has no contractor's license in the state of Ohio. He is not a plumber. He works for a plumber."

Never a dull moment in politics.

After The Final Presidential Debate

What I saw at the Final Presidential Debate was John McCain acting like a desperate old politician trying very hard to make negative attacks, the other candidate Barack Obama doing a great job at not letting the smear tactics get the best of him.

CNN says: "John McCain came out of the gate strong, but Barack Obama gained strength as the night progressed Wednesday in the final presidential debate where each candidate tried to convince voters that he is better equipped to steer the nation through these troubled times.

Hours before the debate, CNN changed its Electoral Map. The new estimate shows that Obama now has 277 electoral votes to McCain's 174. To win the White House, a candidate needs 270."

I liked the split screen moments, where we could see one opponent speak while watching the reaction on the face of the other. I liked that.

McCain definitely came off as sarcastic, I can't stand that hissing like tone in his voice at times, nor do I consider it presidential the way he turns nasty and you can almost see that fury bubbling to the top. I have heard of his temper tantrums before, and you can see, even from these debates, that McCain is a hot head. Barack Obama kept his cool, calm temper, while McCain went on the attack, and McCain's snake-like grinning while he tries to tie Obama to terrorism turns me off as a voter. Obama is not connected to terrorists, and to see McCain lie over and over again, makes me never want to see him in politics after this. When is his term up???

Barack Obama did a good job on trying to remain on the issues, on topic, and McCain seemed willing, from the start, to try and dodge an issue but come in with a negative attack. We are tired of this, we want answers to the problems facing America, not more of this political back and forth.

McCain didn't get his knockout, and Barack Obama made him look even worse by sticking to the issues and dodging the negative attacks. In this debate, Obama did the right thing by taking the high road and not being tricked into defending himself against baseless accusations. McCain did bring up Ayers of The Weather Underground, and Obama did the right thing by addressing it, but he did not stick on that topic for long and quickly moved to ACORN, and the next attack McCain tried to deliver. I was proud of Barack's focus, and would be proud to have this man as my President. For the first time in my adult life, I will actually ben not only fond, but proud of the leader of my country. President Obama, I look forward to your leadership.

The people who wanted to see McCain strike and attack, will be happy. Those that like the calm mannered Barack will say he did a great job at withstanding McCain's constant attempts at causing Obama to waste his time defending himself versus stating his position. Obama did a great job at not letting those attacks become the focus of the discussion, and kept pulling the debate back to the economic crisis and what is really facing America.

Off topic, but I wanted to mention this: ExxonMobil was the biggest advertiser for the post debate commercials! Those big meany oil companies and their profits!!! ;)

I thought it was highly amusing, that ExxonMobil came up in the debate, their tax breaks and higher fuel efficient cars. Why? Because this is the company McCain wants to give billions of dollars in tax breaks to. Barack Obama specifically named them in the debate, and their ad was for? None other than, those fuel efficient cars we've been waiting for. However, just as in the documentary Who Killed The Electric car, you can tell how the commercial was made not to promote the idea of hydrogen vehicles or biofuel cars, but to show the schematics for tiny box cars that have no room or power. Ads of this nature have been documented by all car advertisement watchers. I won't go into it further here, this is part of my lifelong study of ads, watch Who Killed The Electric Car to gain a further understanding of that I am talking about here. Researchers compare the commercials made for fuel efficient cars vs Hummers, Titans, and other gas guzzlers. You'll be surprised to see how one vehicle is marketed, while the other commercials have negative messages regarding the vehicle they show, to keep people wanting the gas guzzler and not the "tiny sized" hybrid cars.

In the end, to use a McCain campaign line, Barack Obama won... hands down.

Waterboard Barack Obama

As I sit here, reading the news, awaiting the final Presidential Debate, I felt the need to prove Sean Hannity wrong.

"Nobody in the Republican Party has resorted to overtones of "race and fear" in attacking Obama."

Not only has it been shown that high ranking Republican leaders are training vote recruiters in talking points, to smear Obama claiming he has ties to Osama Bin Laden, we can prove Sean Hannity wrong by simple showing a graphic used by the Republican Party in California, on their official website.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is how the Republicans plan on gaining votes... "Waterboard Barack Obama" ads.



This was used on the official Republican website, although since removed, it shows how far this political party is willing to go to try and make Barack Obama look bad by claiming he has ties to Osama Bin Laden, totally false.

Here is what FoxNews had to say about it...

A California county's Republican Party Web site encouraged readers to "Waterboard Barack Obama" and compared Obama to Usama bin Laden, drawing criticism on Wednesday from Democrats and Republicans in the state.

The Web site of the Sacramento County Republican Party posted five illustrations saying that the terrorist group Hamas supported Obama and that "the only difference between Obama and Osama is BS." Another attacked Michelle Obama, reading, "Hey Obama! Want to see bitter?"

The graphics were removed from the site by Wednesday, after the state GOP urged the local group to take them down.

The state Republican Party learned of the controversial content when it received a phone call from a reporter, said party spokesman Hector Barajas.

"I called the Sacramento county chairman and I had them remove it," Barajas said. "I also noted to them that this is a complete distraction from what we're trying to do, and that's elect John Mccain and Sarah Palin as the next president and vice president of the United States."

I also posted about the GOP leaders in Virginia, equating Obama with Osama, and training vote recruiters to use the talking point that Obama and Osama are friends.

Anyhow, back to the topic of proving Sean Hannity wrong for his comment that no one in the Republican party has resorted to fear or race in this campaign. As you can see that is plainly, not the case.

Official Republican leaders have used racist graphics, as well as, images that promote fear. Not to mention, not only does the "Waterboard Obama" ad insinuate he is connected to Osama Bin Laden, the ad encourages torture against a United States Senator. Before John McCain switched his stance on waterboarding, he was against it. He said it amounted to torture, and American military had no place in torturing people. He has since, flip flopped, changed his policy and believes in torture as a means to gather info. The old McCain would have shunned this type of advertisement, and it shows the length to which these politicians will go to gain a vote during an election.

Even though the "Waterboard Obama" ad has been removed, it still proves that Sean Hannity did a little more than stretch the truth by claiming no one in the Republican party had stooped this low. They have. Here's the proof, Seany Boy.

I would also like to take this time to prove yet another point I have tried to make before. Notice how these racist things happening on the campaign trail, are actually not in the South? Notice how people say "oh the South is so racist." As I look at the electoral maps today, I see Obama is making gains in Southern states, while not suffering the hateful rhetoric he is getting from other states!

The latest hate is in California, not the South! Imagine that...

Seattle Times reports...

The Sacramento Bee asked Craig MacGlashan about the content after seeking his reaction to hate-filled graffiti that was spray-painted over an Obama display on a fence in Sacramento.

In recent weeks, MacGlashan, an attorney, joined local Democratic party officials in condemning vandalism to political displays.

The vandalism to the Obama display appeared to have been done overnight Monday. A racial epithet, profanity, "KKK" and the words "white power" were clearly visible from the roadway. Six of the nine fence panels were defaced.

"What you are describing to me is not free speech, it's vandalism. We don't condone it," MacGlashan said.

Those people spraying "KKK" on signs, and "white power" are nowhere near the South. As a matter of fact, due to population, there are more registered hate groups in California than the southern states combined, believe it. California has more registered race hating groups, than if you combined all the hate groups in the south. And as the news reports, you can see where all the hate is taking place. Not in the South.

Using fear like this in an election campaign in the year 2008, amounts to terrorism in my opinion. Our political climate should be free of these types of advertisements coming directly from the Republican Party. Sure, some wackos will always make racist ads or propaganda, but to have it being shown on Republican party web sites takes it to a whole new level.

You are wrong Sean, your party has in fact, stooped that low.

Final Presidential Debate

Tomorrow is the big day, and for many Americans, this has been a much anticipated moment.

The Final Presidential Debate of 2008 is upon us. And remarks, made this week, by John McCain may indicate this could be the most exciting of the debates of this election. McCain has vowed to "whip Barack's you-know-what." How Presidential.



The final presidential debate airs at 9 pm EST, 6 PST. The run time is about 90 minutes, and will be aired on every major network. CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX and CNN etc...

According to Associated Press, and as I've mentioned previously by barack showing leadership on foreclosures, the two candidates will both try and show themselves as a leader in the debate.

Barack Obama and John McCain will both pursue the image of a strong leader in troublesome economic times as they meet Wednesday night for their third and final presidential debate.

Joe Biden says he will be disappointed if John McCain brings up William Ayers.

"In my view, the ads that are being run picturing Barack Obama and people saying 'known terrorist' -- I think that's over the top."

As he continued his two-day bus tour across the Buckeye State stopping at Lisbon's Steel Trolley Diner for lunch, Biden said "Barack Obama was eight years old when this guy Ayers was doing bad things."

Biden said he felt "good" about tomorrow's debate, expressing "total confidence" in Obama.

Biden warned that he would be "disappointed" to see McCain bring up Ayers in Wednesday's third and final debate, though McCain has threatened to do so in response to Obama's suggestion that the Republican candidate doesn't have the guts to raise the issue to his face.

All Obama has to do, Biden says, is "repeat the performance he's had the last two times out."

Biden said the debates have contrasted "a guy who’s confident and steady and a guy who's not quite sure of where he wants to take the country."

Accusations of voter fraud in battleground states are beginning to make the nightly news, and we just await election day. I plan on voting early, and so should you! And make sure you tune in for the final debate of the presidential election 2008.

Republicans Try To Punish Their Own

Republicans are trying to censure fellow Republicans who are supporting Senator Mary Landrieu in Louisiana. Landrieu supports Obama!

With more than two dozen prominent Republicans publicly backing incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu over her GOP opponent, state Treasurer John Kennedy, the state Republican Party is considering ways to discipline Republican officials who endorse Democrats, the head of the state party said Saturday.

When high-profile elected Republicans endorse Democrats, it "sends the message that we are not united," state GOP Chairman Roger Villere said. "It confuses the Republican message. . . . We are not looking to punish people, but we don't want this to develop into a trend."

Speaking with reporters after the quarterly meeting of the party's governing body, Villere said several party leaders want to adopt a formal mechanism to censure GOP officials who break with the party's candidates. He said passing a resolution "without teeth" simply to sanction a Republican who backs a Democrat, as party leaders have in the past, "doesn't make sense."

He would not elaborate about possible sanctions.

Any censure resolution or bylaws change, however, likely will have to wait until after this year's elections. The party's board, known as the Republican State Central Committee, is not scheduled to meet again until early next year, though a special meeting can be called sooner.

I watched the Landrieu vs Kennedy debates last night, and the way I saw Kennedy try and tie Mary to Obama was embarrassing. This is what Republicans try, when they have nothing else to stand on.

Several prominent Republicans -- including eight officials elected parishwide in Jefferson, St. Tammany, Plaquemines, St. John the Baptist and Lafourche parishes -- have announced support for Landrieu in the Nov. 4 contest. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain appears in a TV ad for Landrieu.

At least four other major GOP officials from St. Tammany, where Kennedy lives, also have backed Landrieu. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, another Republican, joined the pack Friday.

Even Sheriff Newell Normand knows what is best!

As I said, the South Will Rise brothers and sisters! Get out and let your friends know, it is okay to vote for Obama in the South. It's time to change the image of the racist South, all these hateful comments at McCain rallies, aren't in the South, we are a peaceful people down here. We love Obama!!!

Send a message to the GOP, vote Democrat or Libertarian down the entire ballot. Let them know we mean business this time around, and will not let them "steal" the election this time!

Anyone else think this is to send a message to Republican voters in the state that voting for Obama is not right? I think it is. Keep up the good fight people. Voting for Obama is what a patriot would do today. Not stand with the same people who have helped the corporations get rich while you can't afford gas prices. Stop believing these Republican lies, and vote for the Middle Class!

Karl Rove: Obama Has The Electoral

Despite the excitement over Americans casting their vote for who they feel is the best President is the United States, the electoral vote is what actually elects the President. So how is Barack Obama doing in the electoral college?

Well, even according to Karl Rove, Barack Obama has the electoral votes to win! All you need is 270.

Republican strategist Karl Rove said over the weekend Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has clearly pulled ahead of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). But Rove also cautioned that the race could still drastically change, just as it has in the last two weeks when news of McCain's suspending his campaign, Congress' financial bailout package and the first presidential debate affected voters' perceptions.

Rove said on Sunday on his website that Obama had reached more than the 270 required electoral votes to win an election. Citing 39 new state polls in the first three days of October, Rove said the freshman Democrat now has 273 electoral votes while McCain has 163 and 102 votes remain in a toss-up.

LA Times has Obama at 277 electoral votes.

National electoral map: McCain gains Indiana while Obama holds 277

Nearly two dozen new state polls in recent days show the Democratic Party ticket headed by Sen. Barack Obama holding strong with 277 hypothetical electoral votes, 7 more than needed for election, but Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have regained traditionally Republican Indiana from the tossup category.

This according to the latest state-by-state poll research compiled by Karl Rove & Co. and published in The Ticket by permission every few days.

With Indiana's 11 electoral votes, the first time since early September that the Republican ticket has gained, McCain-Palin now hold 174 electoral votes while another 87 remain in the tossup category.

Barack Obama is outspending McCain, who is running 100% negative ads right now, that many feel is not helping his campaign.

Couple those factors with a massive spending edge for Obama on television, and it's not hard to understand why the Illinois senator sits above 300 electoral votes for the second week of Fix picks in a row.

And, even this map may undersell Obama's strength somewhat as his heavy advertising in places like Florida, North Carolina and Indiana -- 53 total electoral votes -- have turned all three states into true tossups. If Obama were to sweep those three states, he would stand at 364 electoral votes -- the most since Bill Clinton won re-election over former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole with 379 electoral votes in 1996.

While it is important that people get out and vote on Election Day, it is vitally important for Barack Obama to gain the "electoral vote."

McCain Not Doing So Good

Lots of people criticizing, not only McCain, but his campaign, trends in donation spending, and more.

In an article about Florida, Florida Republicans cast blame as McCain trails in polls, I read...

John McCain's plunging poll numbers in Florida have top Republicans second-guessing and starting to distance themselves from the campaign.

For the first time in more than a decade, Florida Republicans are considering the almost unthinkable: Their presidential nominee could lose the state.

The economy, an unpopular president, a strong opponent, and the inability of John McCain to reverse poll numbers despite repeatedly revising his strategy has top state Republicans looking for someone to blame.

When things get rough, the blame game begins.

No Republican has won the White House in modern times without carrying Florida. The last to lose the state was McCain's former colleague, Sen. Bob Dole, in 1996. Some Republicans say the state party hasn't done enough, while others blame McCain's national campaign.

Roger Stone, a longtime McCain supporter, said the state party and the national campaign bear almost equal blame.

''This effort lacks coordination and a cooperative spirit and it's showing,'' Stone said. ``But it's more than mechanics. The campaign has no consistent message.''

Over the summer, the Obama camp spent at least $10 million on Florida television ads -- 4,000 of the spots attacking McCain -- while McCain spent nothing.

The failure by the party and McCain's campaign to respond to an Obama radio ad in Florida that bashed McCain over embryonic stem-cell research was ''a perfect example of them not being on the ball in Florida,'' Stone said, echoing numerous Florida Republicans. But national campaign officials said McCain is within striking distance of Obama in the polls, has ample time to turn things around, and had a winning strategy until Wall Street's crash.

I always like reading about the amount of money being spent on the ads in elections...

Some Florida Republicans are concerned that state donors sent $34 million to McCain's national campaign, while only $14 million has been spent here. Meantime, McCain fruitlessly spent money in Michigan -- where he has now pulled out.

McCain's campaign expects to spend much more as the state becomes more competitive. Obama has boasted that he'll spend $40 million in the state. Moving into the final stretch, Obama spent nearly five times as much as McCain during the first week of October -- $2.9 million to McCain's $623,000, according to Data Source, a market-research firm.

Many have started to question McCain's campaign strategy.

From the start, there have always been two separate but equal questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to the second: Yes.

from The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

Could the old racial politics still be determinative? I’ve long been skeptical of the incessant press prognostications (and liberal panic) that this election will be decided by racist white men in the Rust Belt. Now even the dimmest bloviators have figured out that Americans are riveted by the color green, not black — as in money, not energy. Voters are looking for a leader who might help rescue them, not a reckless gambler whose lurching responses to the economic meltdown (a campaign “suspension,” a mortgage-buyout stunt that changes daily) are as unhinged as his wanderings around the debate stage.

To see how fast the tide is moving, just look at North Carolina. On July 4 this year — the day that the godfather of modern G.O.P. racial politics, Jesse Helms, died — The Charlotte Observer reported that strategists of both parties agreed Obama’s chances to win the state fell “between slim and none.” Today, as Charlotte reels from the implosion of Wachovia, the McCain-Obama race is a dead heat in North Carolina and Helms’s Republican successor in the Senate, Elizabeth Dole, is looking like a goner.

Americans are tired of the George Bush policies that have gotten us in this mess, and we won't let color of skin get in our way. Go Obama!

“I mean, when people are facing the challenges in their own lives they are facing, no one wants to hear that stuff. It’s dumb,” Ed Rendell Criticizes McCain Attack Strategy

Nailed it. Some have even called for McCain to tone down the hateful rhetoric being spewed at his political rallies across America.

According to Rep. Lewis Has Harsh Words For McCain:

The Georgia congressman wrote that he is “deeply disturbed by the negative tone” of the McCain campaign. He did not offer any examples, but recent press reports have detailed angry and hateful comments from some people attending McCain and Palin rallies. At a townhall meeting Friday afternoon, McCain himself called on supporters to be more respectful, though aides downplayed the effort and said McCain was acting as he always has.

Lewis was harsh in his assessment of the Republican ticket.

“What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse,” he wrote.

He went on to compare the Republican candidates to Wallace, who ran unsuccessfully for president.

“George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama,” Lewis wrote. “As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all.”

And according to Raw Story:

A conservative columnist called McCain's campaign "stupid" for continuing to run attack ads that criticize the character of Democratic opponent Barack Obama when "they haven't worked.

All these are signs that McCain is not doing so good. Let's hope Barack Obama continues to gain in battleground states and wins, not only the Popular Vote, but the Electoral Vote as well!

Obama Leads By 10 Points Or More

Depending what poll you look at this morning, it's no doubt though, after all this week's negative ads by McCain, Sarah Palin's abuse of power, and other factors, Obama still remains in the lead in public polls.

Barack Obama has a 51% to 41% lead over John McCain in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report involving interviewing conducted Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights.

Can't wait to see the next debate and if his popularity continues to rise amidst all the negativity from the McCain campaign.

The major news of the day is the economic crisis and its dramatic effect on the world's financial markets, which to some degree drowns out the typical campaign back and forth that characterizes the presidential race at this point. About half of Americans indicate in Gallup's economic tracking measures that they personally had worried about money the day before they were interviewed, underscoring the major impact the economy is having on Americans' lives and the degree to which their presidential choice may be filtered through the prism of economic angst. The next and final presidential debate will be held Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Hofstra University in New York.

I always like to look at the polls before the debates, and compare them to after. This week has been exceptionally rough, but as we move into the next debate and closer to the election, we can only hope for the best!



Not much of an increase since his 9 point lead, but at least it's going up.

According to AP:

Democrat Barack Obama opened a double-digit lead over rival John McCain in a key opinion poll on Saturday while investigators found Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had abused her powers as Alaska governor.

Just over three weeks from the November 4 vote, Obama leads McCain 52 percent to 41 percent among registered voters, according to the latest survey conducted by Newsweek magazine.

A similar poll a month ago showed the two candidates tied at 46 percent.

As many as 86 percent of voters said they were dissatisfied with the way things were going in the United States, and only 10 percent said they were satisfied.

With voters preoccupied by the faltering economy, Obama has broadened his base of support. According to the survey, he now leads McCain among men 54 percent to 40 percent and women 50 percent to 41 percent.

Even those aged over 65, a formerly solid Republican constituency, now back Obama over McCain 49 to 43 percent.

Even former Republicans are turning their support to Barack Obama.

Barack Obama in Portsmouth, Ohio

I gotta admit, I enjoy seeing Barack Obama speak to audiences, I wish I could see him in person.

Here's a clip from a rally yesterday in Portsmouth, Ohio.



He talks about stopping at a diner and talking with people, taking pictures with employees and meeting the Republican owner and asking him "how's business?" You gotta see it!

The guy says "his customers can't afford to eat out right now."

Barack Obama is a much better speaker than John McCain. He knows how to talk about what matters to the people. McCain always sounds as if he is a grumpy old man talking down to his grand kids or something. When people hear Barack, they hear change. They see someone who wants to lead. Someone that will finally take this country in a different direction.

Obama does a great job at bringing up the fact that the economic issues facing our country right now is serious and at the top of most American's priorities.

He also very effectively, discusses how the Republican campaign advisers have stated that "if we don't turn the page and stop talking about this financial mess, we're going to lose." Barack takes a jab back, "its the people losing their home, losing their jobs, that McCain should be thinking about, not his campaign!"

Good stuff. Take a look if you have a second.

Rednecks For Obama

Some things just make ya proud to be an American.



This picture from Associated Press captures the moment perfectly. Americans in the street, showing their support, holding a "Rednecks for Obama" banner, being greeted by Senator Barack Obama.

When Barack Obama's campaign bus made a swing through Missouri in July, the unlikeliest of supporters were waiting for him -- or rather two of them, holding the banner: "Rednecks for Obama."

In backing the first African-American nominee of a major party for the US presidency, the pair are on a grassroots mission to bridge a cultural gap in the United States and help usher their preferred candidate into the White House.

Tony Viessman, 74, and Les Spencer, 60, got politically active last year when it occurred to them there must be other lower income, rural, beer-drinking, gun-loving, NASCAR race enthusiasts fed up with business as usual in Washington.

Viessman had a red, white and blue "Rednecks for Obama" banner made, and began causing a stir in Missouri, which has emerged as a key battleground in the run-up to the November 4 presidential election.

Being from the South, I grew up seeing a good bit of racism, some of it I will never forget, nor feel the need to go into here. However, when you look at stories like this, and understand that the New South, is not what it once was, you can see that fine thing that makes America what it is. People no matter the skin color, down in the South, learn that we are all in this mess together, and hating each other because of skin color will get you nowhere.

"I didn't expect it would get as much steam and attention as it's gotten," Spencer told AFP on the campus of Washington University in Saint Louis, the state's biggest city and site of last week's vice-presidential debate.

"We believe in him. He's the best person for the job," Viessman, a former state trooper from Rolla, said of Obama, who met the pair briefly on that July day in Union, Missouri.

The candidate bounded off his bus and jogged back towards a roadside crowd to shake hands with the men holding the banner.

"He said 'This is incredible'," Spencer recalled.

It's been an unexpectedly gratifying run, Viessman said.

Rednecks4obama.com claims more than 800,000 online visits. In Denver, Colorado, Viessman and Spencer drew crowds at the Democratic convention, and at Washington University last Thursday they were two of the most popular senior citizens on campus.

"I'm shocked, actually, but excited" that such a demographic would be organizing support for Obama, said student Naia Ferguson, 18, said after hamming it up for pictures behind the banner.

"When most people think 'redneck,' they think conservatives, anti-change, even anti-integration," she said. "But America's changing, breaking stereotypes."

A southern comedian, Jeff Foxworthy, defines the stereotype as a "glorious lack of sophistication".

Philistines or not, he said, most rural southerners are no longer proponents of the Old South's most abhorrent ideology -- racism -- and that workaday issues such as the economy are dominating this year's election.

"We need to build the economy from the bottom up, none of this trickle down business," Spencer said. "Just because you're white and southern don't mean you have to vote Republican."

Stories like this are great and should make us all proud to be American. I do not like reading the stories about hearing people shouting "kill him" or "terrorist" when Barack Obama's name is mentioned, things like this show us the side of humanity that is often loss in the negative campaigning and ads. I do enjoy reading stories showing everyday citizens doing something, getting involved, whatever they can do. That's nice. That's American.

The Rednecks for Obama are definitely winners!

After Second Presidential Debate

Here's a brief look at some of the things that have happened after the Second Presidential Debate last night. Oddly enough, quite a few things have happened...

While clicking around on political sites and blogs today, I noticed a lot of Barack Obama ads, and I thought to myself, "he must be spending a lot on those." Well, I clicked around a little more and then I found this blog entry on a WSJ blog: Obama’s Big Day: $3.3 Million Spent on TV Ads

Barack Obama spent $3.3 million on TV ads on Monday alone—a remarkable one-day expenditure that more than doubled rival John McCain’s spending that day, according to the ad tracking firm, Campaign Media Analysis Group.

The Obama campaign has been ratcheting up its ad spending over the last month, increasing it by about 20% per week.

Wow, nice strategy, and very impressive.

In addition to referring to Americans as "my fellow prisoners" today, Cindy McCain also jumped into the negative campaign fun and had her own moment.

Cindy McCain got in on the attack action Wednesday while introducing her husband, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, at a rally here.

The mother of four, including two sons in the military, challenged Democrat Barack Obama to “change shoes” for a day. “The day that Sen. Obama decided to cast a vote to not fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body,” she said

McCain’s charge is based on a single vote Obama cast as a senator. Factcheck.org called the claim “misleading” based on the fact that Obama voted in favor of troop funding on 10 different occasions. The only time he voted against it was a vote in which President Bush vetoed a version that included a date for withdrawal.

So by that logic, George Bush is actually the one to blame for not funding her son. Barack Obama has voted 10 times to fund the troops!

Hey! Remember that Sarah Palin email hacker that busted Palin's use of multiple Yahoo accounts for government business? Well, he pleaded not guilty today.

Today, David Kernell, son of Mike Kernell, chairman of Tennessee’s House Government Operations Committee, pleaded not guilty in federal to charges that he intentionally accessed Palin’s e-mail account without authorization. He was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

It's been an eventful day in politics so far, and it's not over yet! Let's see if anything else happens today/tonight. But what could top the "Kill Him" scandal?

After the debate last night, I really hope the final one is the best!

Secret Service Investigating Kill Him Shouting

Having just blogged about the Sarah Palin "Kill Him" rally scandal, I wanted to dig up a little more info on the subject.



This image is not intended to be humorous, I believe that when you actually see the words in an image, it sinks in exactly how hateful and real they are. Sarah Palin could have stopped herself and identified whoever it was that was screaming "kill him" about Barack Obama, and did not. Instead she kept on talking and said, "Boy, you guys just get it."

When you put those two quotes side by side, you can see how much of a threat these type of people are to freedom in America.

No one on either side of the aisle should want to see Barack Obama shot, and if that happened I don't think America would ever recover from the image of a nation so racist they shot the first racially mixed man running for Pres.

I am also glad to read that the Secret Service, according to RadarOnline, has started an investigation...

The Secret Service is following up on media reports today that someone in the crowd at a McCain/Palin event suggested killing Barack Obama, according to Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley. The shout of "kill him" followed a Sarah Palin rant on Obama's relationship with radical Chicagoan Bill Ayers.

Wiley says the Secret Service did not begin looking into the matter until press reports, namely Dana Milbank's article in the Washington Post, surfaced today, because no agents at the event heard anything. "The Secret Service did not hear any threatening statements directed at targets under its protection and no threatening statements were reported to us by law enforcement or citizens at the event," Wiley told Radar. Also unclear: whether the remark was directed at Obama or Ayers if the words were actually "kill" and "him."

If you don't take things like this serious, where do you draw the line?

McCain Supporters Threaten To Kill Obama

Under any normal circumstances, uttering the words "kill him" towards a Senator and especially someone running for president would be greeted by Secret Service members or at least Homeland Security. However, what we see from the John McCain campaign is exactly the opposite.

During a Sarah Palin speech, McCain supporters began screaming racial obscenities towards a black camera operator, and even "kill him" when she mentioned Barack Obama by name.

Although it is hard to make out, here is a video of the "kill him" rally:



According to The nation...

Sarah Palin was on the verge of inciting a race riot in northern Florida yesterday. At her rallies, the Republican faithful hurled a racial epitaph at a black sound man, and screamed "kill him" and "treason!" at Barack Obama.

"Boy, you guys just get it!" Palin responded. This reaction, presumably, was what Palin had in mind when she urged John McCain to "take the gloves off."

As a concerned citizen, I demand the Secret Service and whoever else needs to be involved, do some investigating and find out who exactly it was screaming "kill him" about a United States Senator and presidential hopeful, Barack Obama.

Here is a video of McCain supporters shouting "terrorist" when asked "Who is the real Obama?"



Notice McCain just smiles and does not correct this? I would not be surprised to find out if the person screaming "terrorist" was actually involved in the campaign to be honest at this point. McCain should have stopped his speech and corrected the heckler, instead he smiled and continued on. Eerily as if expecting it and knowing it was coming.

Like him or hate him, Barack Obama is a US Senator and is protected by Secret Service, no one in America should be screaming 'kill him" when his name is mentioned. This should be taken as a serious threat and should be investigated.

Key Moments In Last Night's Debate

Last night was the second presidential debate of 2008, and there is only one more remaining.

What I want to do is grab some quotes from various news articles this morning and point out some good moments in the debate:

A couple of things I noticed right off the bat, he did not mention Sarah Palin a single time, nor did he bring up William Ayers, as I predicted he would not. Had McCain mentioned William Ayers, the Keating Five would've been brought to light in front of millions watching! So McCain chose the coward route and kept his mouth shut.

According to NY Times...

John McCain on Alternative Fuels

Obama appeared well-prepared to parry Mr. McCain’s criticisms, matching him statistic for statistic as they argued over domestic and foreign policy.

“Senator McCain and I actually agree on something,” Mr. Obama said. “He said a while back that the big problem with energy is that for the last 30 years politicians in Washington haven’t done anything. What McCain doesn’t mention is he’s been there 26 of them and during that time he voted 23 times against alternative fuels.”

McCain constantly tries to cast himself as someone who supports alternative fuels, but his record speaks the truth. McCain has voted against alternative fuels throughout his entire career.


McCain stated Obama spoke too loudly when talking about taking out targets in Pakistan...

At another point, Mr. McCain criticized Mr. Obama as saying he would speak, without preconditions, to the leaders of countries like Pakistan, quoting Theodore Roosevelt — at first incorrectly — explaining the way he would deal with leaders of foes.

“You know, my hero is a guy named Teddy Roosevelt,” he said. “Teddy Roosevelt used to say walk softly — talk softly, but carry a big stick. Senator Obama likes to talk loudly.”

“Senator McCain suggests that somehow, you know, I’m green behind the ears and, you know, I’m just spouting off, and he’s somber and responsible,” he said. “Senator McCain, this is the guy who sang, ‘Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran,’ who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don’t think is an example of ‘speaking softly.’ ”

You could actually see McCain facial expression go from smiling to a more somber tone as Obama jabbed back effectively.

McCain tried to link Barack Obama to the current financial mess in America

Mr. McCain sought to blame Mr. Obama for the crisis in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac housing agencies, saying that Mr. Obama “and his cronies” had failed to speak out when the organizations began making the risky loans that he argued were at the heart of the financial crisis.

“Fannie and Freddie were the catalyst, the match that started this forest fire,” he said. “There were some who stood up against it. There were others who took a hike.”

Mr. Obama nodded disapprovingly. “Now, I’ve got to correct a little bit of Senator McCain’s history, not surprisingly,” he said “Let’s, first of all, understand that the biggest problem in this whole process was the deregulation of the financial system.

“Senator McCain, as recently as March, bragged about the fact that he is a deregulator.”

This should not be overlooked, McCain's deregulation is what helped the Keating Five scandal continue for years after it should have been stopped, and his deregulation attitude is exactly what has helped fan the flames of the current financial crisis in America.

From Washington Post Blog...

When asked if health care is a right or responsibility

One moment struck me as particularly unfortunate for McCain: When Tom Brokaw asked whether health care was a privilege, a responsibility or a right. McCain said it was a responsibility, but left unclear whose responsibility it might be. Obama said he believed it should be a right, and talked about how his mother, who died of cancer at 53, had to spend the last months of her life arguing with insurance companies. Pretty powerful, I thought.

As usual though, not much of a debate. The structure won't allow for one, and even when you could tell one of the opponents wanted to continue, time limis and no follow up questions continue to make these "debates" look more and more scripted. Full of rehearsed one liners and talking points and no real substance. Despite those feelings, I think Barack Obama Won Again.

Hopefully the final debate will be the big finale!

Barack Obama Won Again

Face it, you can't debate it. Barack Obama won again tonight.

I think it was more than obvious that often John Mccain kept using his same distortions as fact. Such as trying to twist Obama's comment about attacking Osama Bin Laden if he were in Pakistan and the government there was unwilling or unable to deliver him, should we take him out?

McCain sought to make it sound as if Obama wanted to attack Pakistan and not just the terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

That's just one example, but enough about McCain, let's talk about the man who did a great job at delivering his points instead of a plea for presidency.

What I saw in Barack Obama was someone who was ready to lead, who cares about America's reputation among the world, and a genuine patriot.

There were a few times where I wanted him to attack and I applauded Obama's insistence to do a follow up retort to McCain's mud slinging regarding the Osama-in-Pakistan comment. However I did cheer out loud when McCain was served and owned on that forced follow up...

McCain wanted to paint Obama as "talking too loud" about what he would do in regards to military force, he even cited Teddy Roosevelt about "talking softly but carry a big stick."

Well, Barack Obama responded with a great reply like, "John, aren't you the guy who was just singing Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Iran?" He did a great job at showing how McCain will condemn Obama while consistently doing something even worse.

McCain talked a lot about "cronyism," but it is his cronyism like with the Keating Five that got us into the financial mess we are in right now.

America needs change and we need to put an end to the Republican policies that McCain has voted alongside Bush and supported.

I also get tired of hearing John McCain cheerleader for "lots of nuclear power plants" even saying "build a bunch of em, they are safe and clean." Is this guy going senile already?? We need energy independence in this country, but we don't need to destroy our land with nuclear reactors and nowhere to put spent fuel that will contaminate our rivers and be around for 10,000 years.

I also thought it was hilarious that McCain mentioned eBay and how many people are doing business on the site, but he left out the fact that eBay has just laid off 1,000 employees... this really shows how out of touch he is with the rest of us. Why? One of his advisers is ex eBay executive Meg Whitman. The people at the top are doing great, but the people who just lost their job aren't doing so well, but McCain will try and make it look like eBay is doing great and everyone is happy. Not the 1,000 who just got laid off.

I watched the second Presidential Debate tonight, and I think Barack Obama won.

Republicans Pay "Terrorist" To Speak At School?

When Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of being pals with terrorists, I bet she had not thought the comment out too far. In a classic retort to such hateful association attempts, Obama's brilliant campaign has sought to bring to light the fact that Republicans may have actually paid William Ayers (the guy they claim Obama is friends with) to speak at the University of South Carolina.

According to an article I just read from the Associated Press...

Barack Obama's campaign is citing the University of South Carolina's speaking invitations to William Ayers and Republican Gov. Mark Sanford's role as school trustee to counter GOP efforts to link the presidential candidate to the 1960s radical.

The governor dismissed the effort as "totally bogus" and said he never heard of Ayers.

If Republicans really consider Ayers a terrorist, why is this school paying him to fly there and speak? Wouldn't that mean Republican Governor Mark Sanford is in fact, "paying terrorists to speak at a school?" And, according to Palin's logic, "pallin' around with terrorists?"

In an e-mail to reporters, the Obama campaign said Ayers is a "distinguished scholar" at the University of South Carolina, where Sanford serves as the ex-officio trustee while governor.

"By Governor Palin's standards, that means Governor Sanford shares Ayers' views," the e-mail read.

Something tells me if John McCain even hints to this in the debate tonight, it could be the breaking point where one of the opponents must overcome the other verbally or lose control and get "erratic" the way McCain has been since the current financial crisis.

the campaign did not back down, saying the connection in both cases is equally tenuous.

"The point is that by Sarah Palin's logic, serving on a board with someone establishes an association with them," said campaign spokeswoman Melanie Roussell. "Obama has served on the board but did not have a relationship with William Ayers. He only met him a few times.

"If her logic is to stand, it could be said that Gov. Sanford has been palling around with William Ayers," she continued.

I would say, paying a "terrorist" to speak at your school would make you more of a pal to a terrorist than being 8 years old and having no connections to Ayers while he was committing crimes.

When will the Republicans ever learn that this stuff will only backfire on them?