Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[Father Demon]

Sarah Palin in St. Louis to drop the puck tonight.

Sarah Palin caused an injury to Manny Legace.

I'm voting Obama.

[PhillyPhreak54]

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/17789356/detail.html

Why hasn't anyone posted this article yet? 

Kind of disturbing that people are being attacked for their views.

Go Obama!!

False.

She was arrested today.

Try again, sir.

[Magical_Retard]

Speaking for myself, I have made note of "non-issues" when they exist in stark contrast to the accusations made by McCain and the Republican party. 

Obama's pastor thinks the US instigated the terrorist attacks - Palin accepted the blessings of a witch hunter
Obama is an elitist - McCain has 7 houses, Palin spends 150k on clothes?
Obama is inexperienced - And Palin is experienced at what?
Obama's wife hasn't always been proud to be an American - And Todd Palin was a member of a secessionist party?
Obama "pals around with terrrorists" - McCain pals around with G. Gordon Liddy and Palin refuses to call those who bomb abortion clinics terrorists

So, to those McCain supporters who claim to focus on the issues: What would make McCain a good president? 

McCain would redistribute wealth to the wealthiest 5% and businesses. 
McCain would increase the cost of employers providing health insurance (by taxing it) and give tax credits that would pay less than half of the average cost of family health coverage.
McCain has demonstrated support for an adversarial approach to foreign policy that has the US pouring resources into two wars and has the country at odds with many of its former allies.
McCain stakes his claim as a "Maverick" on his opposition to earmarks but sees no conflict of interest in taking political action which returns orders of magnitude more money to corporations.
McCain has significant health issues which call into question if he'll be able to complete even one term, yet his VP candidate is one of the least qualified in history - even according to members of his own party.

Without talking about Obama, can you make a case for McCain?

Can you make a case for Obama?   

Politics is usually about the lesser of two levels.  In this case, I'm faced with voting for an inexperienced senator with no real initiatives in senate, who runs around promising change and socialist reform, or a moderately conservative senator who picked a questionable running mate.  I'll go for the later.  It's hilarious that the Obamaites point to Sarah's inexperience though.  She's not running for president, Obama is.  And it's a proven fact that at the end of the day, when people cast their ballots, they only care who at the top of the ticket.
In the end though, I'll vote for the guy who I think is going to keep the country the safest, and not the guy whose own running mate said he will be tested in his first months in office.

socialist reform? has this not been debunked already? wtf?

[PhillyPhreak54]

NYTimes;

Who was the highest paid individual in Senator John McCain's presidential campaign during the first half of October as it headed down the homestretch?

Not Randy Scheunemann, Mr. McCain's chief foreign policy adviser; not Nicolle Wallace, his senior communications staffer. It was Amy Strozzi, Gov. Sarah Palin's traveling makeup artist, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday night.

Ms. Strozzi, who was nominated for an Emmy award for her makeup work on the television show "So You Think You Can Dance?", was paid $22,800 for the first two weeks of October alone, according to the records. The campaign categorized Ms. Strozzi's payment as "Personnel Svc/Equipment."

In addition, Angela Lew, who is Ms. Palin's traveling hair stylist, got $10,000 for "Communications Consulting" in the first half of October. Ms. Lew's address listed in F.E.C. records traces to an Angela M. Lew in Thousands Oaks, Calif., which matches with a license issued by the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. The board said Ms. Lew works at a salon called Hair Grove in Westlake Village, Calif.

W Magazine's blog reported earlier this month that "the Guv has been traveling with a hairstylist named Angela, who usually works out of a salon called the Hair Grove," and that she was directed to the salon by none other than Cindy McCain, whose own hair stylist, Piper, works at the Hair Grove as well. (Related: To Look Good, How Much Is Too Much?)

The campaign's payment on Oct. 10 to Ms. Strozzi made her the single highest-paid individual in the campaign for that two week period. (There were more than two-dozen companies that got larger payments than Ms. Strozzi). She easily beat out Mr. Scheunemann, who received $12,500 in the first half of October, and Ms. Wallace, who got $12,000. Ms. Lew was the fourth highest paid person in the campaign during that span.

In September, Ms. Strozzi, who was first identified by the Washington Post this week as Ms. Palin's makeup artist, was also paid $13,200 for "communications consulting." But several individuals were paid more by the McCain campaign that month, including Mike DuHaime, the political director, who received $25,000 for "Gotv Consulting," and Mark Salter, one of Mr. McCain's senior advisers, who got $13,224 in salary.

Ms. Lew collected $8,825 in September for what the campaign labeled in its report as "GOTV Consulting."

There has been much attention this week, of course, on the $150,000 Republican National Committee spent outfitting Ms. Palin in September at high-end department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, as well as for makeup services.

The campaign finance reports filed on Thursday night, which showed the McCain campaign and the R.N.C. had about $84 million left in the bank on Oct. 15, did not immediately appear to show any similar payments in the first half of October.

[ATV]

Uhh, what?......

Officials at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, fearful of a union-friendly Democratic Senate, have dubbed the race "ground zero" in the effort to stop a 60-seat majority. The chamber and its affiliates have spent more than $3 million on ads designed to scare voters about (Al) Franken and Democrats, according to sources on both sides.

So our tax dollars are being spent on ads against someone running for Senate? I'm hoping either I'm reading this wrong or the Post in incorrect.

From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/24/AR2008102403593.html?hpid=topnews

[Phanatic]

If you people think this board is liberal, you're nuts.  Or your definition of liberal is pretty conservative.  Pun for Rome. This place is moderate left at most on balance.  And that's a development over time.  It used to be far more conservative than this.

Maybe is like the country as a whole.  Insofar as 'awful' could be compared, it's a fit.

I'm a R, i just think the conservatives drifted way to far right for me to even want to be a part of.  Mostly Religious crap, and the pandering to the evangelist

This though I've never offiliated myself with a specific party and I never will. I do consider myself a fiscal conservative and to be honest neither side has produced many of those.

The ONLY fiscal conservative by the record was Bill Clinton because of the surpluss. Either that or it was the GOP house and senate that made it so he couldn't spend anything. Either way the GOP took power and spent tax money like it was going out of style so at this point I think not. Will Obama be a fiscal conservative? No but niether is the other guy.

[bowzer]

Speaking for myself, I have made note of "non-issues" when they exist in stark contrast to the accusations made by McCain and the Republican party. 

Obama's pastor thinks the US instigated the terrorist attacks - Palin accepted the blessings of a witch hunter
Obama is an elitist - McCain has 7 houses, Palin spends 150k on clothes?
Obama is inexperienced - And Palin is experienced at what?
Obama's wife hasn't always been proud to be an American - And Todd Palin was a member of a secessionist party?
Obama "pals around with terrrorists" - McCain pals around with G. Gordon Liddy and Palin refuses to call those who bomb abortion clinics terrorists

So, to those McCain supporters who claim to focus on the issues: What would make McCain a good president? 

McCain would redistribute wealth to the wealthiest 5% and businesses. 
McCain would increase the cost of employers providing health insurance (by taxing it) and give tax credits that would pay less than half of the average cost of family health coverage.
McCain has demonstrated support for an adversarial approach to foreign policy that has the US pouring resources into two wars and has the country at odds with many of its former allies.
McCain stakes his claim as a "Maverick" on his opposition to earmarks but sees no conflict of interest in taking political action which returns orders of magnitude more money to corporations.
McCain has significant health issues which call into question if he'll be able to complete even one term, yet his VP candidate is one of the least qualified in history - even according to members of his own party.

Without talking about Obama, can you make a case for McCain?

Can you make a case for Obama?   

Politics is usually about the lesser of two levels.  In this case, I'm faced with voting for an inexperienced senator with no real initiatives in senate, who runs around promising change and socialist reform, or a moderately conservative senator who picked a questionable running mate.  I'll go for the later.  It's hilarious that the Obamaites point to Sarah's inexperience though.  She's not running for president, Obama is.  And it's a proven fact that at the end of the day, when people cast their ballots, they only care who at the top of the ticket.
In the end though, I'll vote for the guy who I think is going to keep the country the safest, and not the guy whose own running mate said he will be tested in his first months in office.

Don't really need to make a case for Obama.  Make a case for Palin.  It's not her inexperience that terrifies me, she's a farging idiot.
And McCain has had melanoma several times.  And, if he wins, would be the oldest first-term president ever.  So there is every possibility you could have President Palin.  If that doesn't scare the shtein out of you, you must be as dumb as she is.

Of course you can't make a case for Obama...it would be impossible to do so.  I'd be more worried about a vice president who thought FDR was delivering television addresses as a president during the stock market crash of 29.... 

[Cerevant]

Can you make a case for Obama? 

Yes, I can.  Guess you haven't been here that long.  In short, I like campaign finance reform (no lobbyist or PAC money), foreign policy that has more respect for the rest of the world than "farg you, we're going to do what we want", Healthcare subsidy rather than a single payer system, and the realization that deregulation is not an economic panacea.

But that wasn't my point.  My point was that I have yet to see a McCain supporter justify their choice based on policy, rather than attacks.

In this case, I'm faced with voting for an inexperienced senator with no real initiatives in senate,

Disagree, I'd go dig up the nice bit from the primaries on this, but I doubt you'd read it.

who runs around promising change and socialist reform,

you don't know what socialism is, do you?

or a moderately conservative senator

Who said himself that he voted with Bush 90% of the time.  In 2000 I might have voted for McCain.  Not now.

who picked a questionable running mate.

Country first!

I'll go for the later.  It's hilarious that the Obamaites point to Sarah's inexperience though.  She's not running for president, Obama is.  And it's a proven fact that at the end of the day, when people cast their ballots, they only care who at the top of the ticket.

Right now, the #1 drag on McCain is not the economy, it is Sarah Palin. 

In the end though, I'll vote for the guy who I think is going to keep the country the safest, and not the guy whose own running mate said he will be tested in his first months in office.

I have to agree with Rome here.  I'd rather have the guy who doesn't mind having diplomacy on the table, than someone who responded to the Georgia situation with sabre rattling.

McCain serves on the Armed Services Committee.
Obama (and Biden) serve on the Foreign Relations Commitee.

That just about sums it up for me.

But hey, thanks for confirming that you can't say anything positive about McCain without tying it to "Well, at least he's not Obama".

I just wish I could defend the candidate I support without being lumped in with the extremists.

[Cerevant]

BTW, Republican endorsements of Obama are meaningless when:
1) The endorser has any association with the McCain campaign.
2) The endorser has any association with the Bush admin.
3) The endorser is up for election this year
4) It gets closer to election day

There is only one reason these endorsements are happening: the rats see the ship is sinking and they want to get off.  When the election is over, these people want to have jobs, and the don't want to be blamed for this train wreck.

[Diomedes]

People like Scott McClellan are dirtbags.  Just because he's endorsing Obama doesn't make him less so. 

If I were Obama, I wouldn't be highlighting his support, you know?

[Magical_Retard]

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/taking-back-t-5.html

[PhillyPhreak54]

Ohio is slanting towards blue and good ol' W. steps in and pulls this;

http://www.pubrecord.org/nationworld/426-bush-orders-to-doj-to-probe-ohio-voter-registrations.html

President George W. Bush late Friday asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate whether hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters in the battleground state of Ohio would have to verify the information on their voter registration forms or be given provisional ballots, an issue the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on last week.

The unprecedented intervention by the White House less than two weeks before the presidential election may result in at least 200,000 voters in Ohio not being able to vote on Election Day if they are forced to provide additional identification when they head to the polls.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Bush Friday asking that he order the Department of Justice to probe the matter.

[ATV]

More angry, ignorant, white people for us to enjoy. Note, you may have to let it buffer first for a while...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/videos/2008/oct/22/983/

[bowzer]

Ohio is slanting towards blue and good ol' W. steps in and pulls this;

http://www.pubrecord.org/nationworld/426-bush-orders-to-doj-to-probe-ohio-voter-registrations.html

President George W. Bush late Friday asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate whether hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters in the battleground state of Ohio would have to verify the information on their voter registration forms or be given provisional ballots, an issue the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on last week.

The unprecedented intervention by the White House less than two weeks before the presidential election may result in at least 200,000 voters in Ohio not being able to vote on Election Day if they are forced to provide additional identification when they head to the polls.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Bush Friday asking that he order the Department of Justice to probe the matter.

I don't see why this is an issue.  I provide proper ID when I vote, why can't they.

Looks like Obama just lost the homeless vote.

[bowzer]

Can you make a case for Obama? 

Yes, I can.  Guess you haven't been here that long.  In short, I like campaign finance reform (no lobbyist or PAC money), foreign policy that has more respect for the rest of the world than "farg you, we're going to do what we want", Healthcare subsidy rather than a single payer system, and the realization that deregulation is not an economic panacea.

But that wasn't my point.  My point was that I have yet to see a McCain supporter justify their choice based on policy, rather than attacks.

In this case, I'm faced with voting for an inexperienced senator with no real initiatives in senate,

Disagree, I'd go dig up the nice bit from the primaries on this, but I doubt you'd read it.

who runs around promising change and socialist reform,

you don't know what socialism is, do you?

or a moderately conservative senator

Who said himself that he voted with Bush 90% of the time.  In 2000 I might have voted for McCain.  Not now.

who picked a questionable running mate.

Country first!

I'll go for the later.  It's hilarious that the Obamaites point to Sarah's inexperience though.  She's not running for president, Obama is.  And it's a proven fact that at the end of the day, when people cast their ballots, they only care who at the top of the ticket.

Right now, the #1 drag on McCain is not the economy, it is Sarah Palin. 

In the end though, I'll vote for the guy who I think is going to keep the country the safest, and not the guy whose own running mate said he will be tested in his first months in office.

I have to agree with Rome here.  I'd rather have the guy who doesn't mind having diplomacy on the table, than someone who responded to the Georgia situation with sabre rattling.

McCain serves on the Armed Services Committee.
Obama (and Biden) serve on the Foreign Relations Commitee.

That just about sums it up for me.

But hey, thanks for confirming that you can't say anything positive about McCain without tying it to "Well, at least he's not Obama".

I just wish I could defend the candidate I support without being lumped in with the extremists.

So one of your prime reasons is he doesn't take money from lobbyists??

http://www.alternet.org/election08/77492/