To borrow a Douglas Adams line, ‘Don’t panic’

Don’t worry, just do what needs to be done: register new voters.

And tell all those new voters to do likewise. (Also tell them to get their picture IDs ready if they don’t have one!)

Ground game is key, ask anyone in Texas.

I still think Obama’s ground organization will pleasantly surprise us all. Well, I mean, it won’t surprise me because I’m expecting it. After the conventions, I also expect a change in Obama’s aggressiveness. The money advantage will really start to show itself in September.

and after a barrage of negative attacks and smear tactics from McCain, Obama’s favorable rating has slid from 59% to 48% since June.

The American people are endlessly gullible. My favorable rating of John McCain has fallen below nothing for exactly the same reason, he’s the one all these smears reflect poorly on. The man clearly has no honor or character at all.

Something feels right about getting McCain to blow his negative wad this early in the campaign. Come Fall, he’ll be shooting blanks.

To hear him say, “battling big oil” and “d-d-drill now” at the same time… that kind of silliness won’t hold over time, so the sooner he spouts that nonsense, the better.

Jesus, change your blog name to the Dr. Pangloss Report why don’t you. Obama’s campaign has been inept and the damage is probably beyond repair, especialy given Obama’s stupidly arrogant decision to smash Democratic 527s. Obama and his campaign managers (and contrary to CW, I don’t think it took great brilliance to defeat–barely–a primary candidate largely despised by the activist base of the party) will become some of the most hated figures in the Democratic party after election day. Rightfully so.

I guess I agree that Hon. Sen. McCain “won” the week in part because of his response to events in Georgia, but I can’t help wondering if we’d now be in a shooting war if Senator McCain had been President. It isn’t at all clear to me how his tough talk did anything to help, and the only reason it didn’t hurt more, was that it wasn’t actually the President who was shooting his mouth off.

Racism aside, Americans like to vote against their own best self interests. None of this news surprises me. McAce has kept it close for a while because a of of Americans are closet racists. Add to that the negative campaign that Rove put together in a basement and handed to his protégée to give to McAce to lob at “low information voters” (read:stupid) and you end up with this.

Hope spring eternal but with these kinds of numbers showing up McAce’s team is going to go for Obama’s jugular, very quickly, and even more mean-spiritedly. Panicked? No. Nauseated? Yes…

…about one-fourth of Democratic voters withholding their support for Obama.
Now we have a hard number to answer the question “How many Democrats won’t vote for di shvartze?

The Republic won’t survive a McCain administration, And this is how the national Original Sin of slavery is finally expiated.

The salient fact in American politics is that there are enough people who would volunteer to live with their family in a cardboard box under a railroad bridge, and toast sparrows on an old curtain rod over an open fire, if you would only guarantee them that the people in the next box over — black, gay, foreign, liberal, different — don’t even get the sparrow, to elect a president.

So Zaphod McBeeblebrox (who has, appropriately, two heads) will be President of the Universe?
— Mad rush for the Infinite Improbability Drive.
I believe they’ve found water on Mars.

Thank you for a much needed note of calm.

I think that Obama’s followers may be more inclined to hit the panic button than usual given the lack of long term perspective about how campaigns ebb and flow – this is not a criticism, simply a statement of fact that so many of Obama’s supporters are new to the political process and I think that many of them see the “juggernaut” going off the rails after apparently rolling over the opposition with relative ease (how quickly we forget that the primary battle was a long drawn out campaign as well). Like all Democrats I’d rather see Obama kick McCain to the curb and leave him, but that’s not going to happen realistically. So let McCain surge now rather than after Labor Day and see how he stands up once the conventions are over and the general public start thinking in general election mode.

Bill Maher was on with Larry King last night; he summed things up pretty well- Americans are too stupid to be governed.

And whaddya know – people are remembering why they liked George Bush?

Don’t call it panic, but it is frustration. The test of any Democratic nominee is how well they handle the swiftboating. Praising McCain’s honor and tacking to the center post-primary wrap up did wonders, didn’t it? At the very least we can say that caving in on FISA did not stave off a dip in the polls.

Still there are some positives to Obama’s approach and it, along with structural advantages for Dems worked well enough against Clinton to reinforce CB’s no-panic message.

Rather than belabor an often repeated line of argument about attacking from the left as better than crouching in the middle, I offer a real time comparison. Al Franken’s challenge to Norm Coleman for the Minnesota senate seat is the kind of explicitly liberal, confrontational campaign that I’d like to see Obama run. Right now Franken’s behind, but gaining, Obama’s falling, but well ahead of where Franken stands vs, Coleman. The races aren’t identical, but they are close enough to test how each philosophy works. Ideally both of them win in November.

Obama makes bold statements like “I will win” … but, Obama doesn’t deserve to win. After all, what has he done? What qualifies him to run this country … working as a community organizer, followed by being a junior senator who spent his 16 months running for President. But, the point that’s bigger than the fact that Obama doesn’t deserve to win, is the fact that the American people deserve much more than an empty suit like Obama. The American people deserve an experienced qualified leader, who truly loves this country … a leader who can competently guide us through all the challenges that are currently facing this country … and, that leader is Senator John McCain.

Obama has been pacing himself,…

He did the same in Iowa to great success.

couple of ignorant trolls running around

I’ve gone through this too many times before (1988, 2000, 2004) to accept your sports analogy. Bubba’s campaign showed in 1992 that you have to hit back immediately and continuously. He didn’t go on vacation during the campaign either! Did they hire Susan Estrich to run the campaign when I wasn’t looking? (And no, Hillary would be in even worse shape at this point. Even without a vacation.)

Man, am I sick of this Pollyana bullshit. How far are we going to move the goalposts? Obama’s always about to start kicking ass, our liberal blogospheric overlords tell us. Meanwhile, his numbers have consistently been going in the wrong direction. This is Gore and Kerry all over again. And I don’t feel that way because I lack “long term perspective about how campaigns ebb and flow.” No, in fact, I know how this media trick works. It’s depressingly familiar. McCain gets a pass on everything while Obama is called out on every meaningless nitpicking detail.

I can’t wait to see everyone try to convince me that “we’ll get them next time” on November 5th. Wake up, fellow liberals. Lucy ain’t ever gonna let us kick that football. The punditocracy runs this country and they have chosen for us. The sooner we concede that our endless losing has nothing to do with the merit or lack thereof of our chosen candidates and everything to do with the press’s zealous sabotaging of progressives, the sooner we can sleep better at night knowing the truth.

Namely, we can’t win. Ever again. The country’s done. Buy an SUV, have a cheeseburger, and get ready for the upcoming season of American Idol. Hope is dumb.

Howard, that’s the smartest thing I read all day.

Of course, I HAVE been reading nothing all day but the diaries of manic-depressives who have committed suicide, looking for patterns in their behaviors that might indicate what triggered their final psychotic episode, so take te compliment with a grain of salt.

I agree with Howard, Amerika deserves to be lead by the guy with the mental capacity of a gnat, the scruples of a hyena, and the dispostion of a snapping turtle, as the Country continues it’s inevitable decline into medocrity. God bless Amerika!

I think RentedMule@11 is entirely correct in his/her post.

The poll showed Americans preferring McCain on the economy by nearly double digits …

You mean the guy who admits he doesn’t know shit about the economy?

You mean the guy whose economic adviser called Americans “whiners” because they’re having a hard time affording food?

You mean the guy whose only difference from Bush on economic policy is to give the rich even MORE tax breaks, while screwing everyone else with record deficits?

You mean the guy who is perfectly fine with giving oil companies even more tax breaks, despite their record profits?

That guy?

**blinks**

It’s official — we are a nation of clueless fucking idiots and have a media that should be taken out behind the woodshed and shot. Repeatedly. With an RPG.

Face it, folks: The media has too much of a financial interest in the GOP to let a Democrat win, and their reluctance to cover McCain honestly, while willingly and knowingly spreading countless lies and smears about Obama, proves to me they intend on keeping that financial interest secure.

Not sure announcing a VP is going to make that magically go away.

Combine the media’s Maverick Love with a disturbing number of people who won’t vote for Obama simply due to his race or middle name, and I just don’t see the silver lining … unless McCain makes some serious mistakes during the debates. But not sure that’ll matter since Bush looked like a buffoon in 2000, yet all the media talked about were the sighs of Gore.

Sorry to be so glum, but I don’t see that dynamic changing.

Sorry Steve but I’m furious. Yes, there is no reason to panic – it’s early. But there is also NO REASON that Obama should be behind. This is a Democratic year and the “Putz” team has frittered away its advantage.

Let’s look at the idiocy:
1) No attack ads for months, and very little advertising in key battleground states until just recently.
2) High campaign administrative costs.
3) Responses to McCain attack ads have been weak.
4) No real unified message.
5) Vacationing while Georgia is being attacked.
6) Letting McCain steal last week’s financial news; McCain publicized his “grand” $27 million July take the day before Obama released his figures and the news was filled with McCain’s “record” haul. Meanwhile, Obama pulled in $51 million and almost nothing was mentioned.
7) Obama let McCain frame him as a vacuous celebrity/flip flopper. Meanwhile, Obama said nothing about McCain’s 70+ flip flops.

Does Obama really want to win? Is he willing to pay the price to win? His team is making John Kerry’s campaign staff look almost competent.

couple of ignorant trolls running around

Awwww…let Howard win his golf club covers, or whatever. What a meanie. I bet you shut the door on the Girl Scouts come cookie time, too.

I don’t believe the polls because did MSM tell us about the possibility of John McCain telling a fib regarding his time as a POW? Did the MSM investigate the truth or falsity of “the cone of silence”? NO! They are not going to reveal anything negative about John McCain unless it spreads like wildfire via the internet blogs where in the real reporting is getting done.

This a story that the MSM is not reporting on regarding a story that John McCain is telling that is possibly false — the cross in the sand story, goes to credibility. Americans are tired of being lied to. After all we were lied into a war. We demand more from our politicians — truth, honesty, integrity? Is that too much to ask from someone who would be leading our nation? After all do we like being lied to from our spouse, lover, children? I think not. This is the same kind of relationship. If there are any investigative journalists out there, they need to get to the truth or falsity of this story. Americans have the right to know the character and morals of the people they will be electing into office. We already know that McCain was not in the so-called “cone of silence” and therefore possibly had an unfair advantage.

And, you don’t need Washington experience to be experienced. You need to be smart, forward thinking, independent of big business and oil companies, knowledgeable about economics and the Constitution. This election is about taking back the American Dream and getting back to the American way and values. It doesn’t take rocket science to know how to get along with other people around the world — just treat others like you would want them to treat you.

‘The massed power of goodwill,
the dynamic effect of intelligent and active understanding, and
the potency of a trained and alive public opinion,
which desires the greatest good of the greatest number
are beyond belief.

This dynamic power has never been employed.
It can today save the world.’
Djwhal Khul

Howard,

Just out of curiosity, how many McPoints did you earn for that? Do you get points taken off for improper use of ellipses, or does looking like a dipshit actually net you bonus points?

Anyway, I sure hope you get that mustache comb you’re saving for.

Watching Obama, I have visions of flaccid Kerry, and it’s making me very scared.

Here’s how I like to look at it.

The large, well-trained, well-equipped Obama army is dug in. The army’s many fighters are standing in trenches, all facing the same way, guns drawn and aimed, facing the oncoming McCain soldiers, who are running as fast as they can towards the Obama fighter’s trenches, yelling at the top of their lungs. They’re getting closer and closer.

General Axelrod is calming but firmly issuing instructions to the tense Obama troops: “Hold your fire… hold your fire… let them get closer…not yet… not yet…”

Oh, and by the way – why would Obama even think of releasing the news about his VP pick on a SATURDAY??????????????? Who’s going to pay attention? Why not tell us NOW??????????

Again, Obama’s campaign is demonstrating that it’s not really ready for the show.

It’s ebb and flow. Hawaii and Indonesia are islands, relative to Arizona. When you grow up on an island, you move with the waves and the tide. You certainly don’t go rigid and scream in the face of fluctuating fortunes. It’s certainly good game strategy to let your opponent show their colors and do their worst early in the play: they get a false sense of security, they’ve exposed their tactics, and they’ve nothing to fall back on.

Of course, it may be nothing like that at all. And the next shuttle to Mars will be… ?

I’m not too concerned about the numbers. I’ve seen a couple of desparate right-wing trolls here trying to fan the flames – good luck with that Marlowe/Howard.

The Democratic Convention hasn’t happened yet, and much like 2008 Democratic primaries, Obama’s campaign is based on a grounded, steady consistent message. Many people, including those in the media and the right-wing thought he was doomed, till he got started.

I know we hear so much from polls, and will probably hear much about his from the media, but we should all know the corporate media is slanted to the Republicans. It’s in their interests to keep things the way they are, and to convince their viewers to be the same.

And much like all the other manufactured controversies the media is fed by the GOP, these numbers will be just another one.

But to me the campaign hasn’t really begun, and won’t really start till the convention.

The poll showed Americans preferring McCain on the economy by nearly double digits, and about one-fourth of Democratic voters withholding their support for Obama.

I can’t fathom why McCain would be preferred on economic issues. It defies logic.

I believe the withheld Dem support from Obama stems in part from his FISA flip. I know a handful of Dems that either stopped sending $ or are going to Barr. He had little to gain by flipping from supporting a filibuster to voting for cloture on that awful bill. He loses the ability to hammer McPancake for his flips.

I have visions of flaccid Kerry…. -woundedduck

That’s TMI and a mental image I will be hard pressed to shake for days. Thanks.

America will get the President she deserves. I’m sure of that.

The poll showed Americans preferring McCain on the economy by nearly double digits …

Come hard times. there’s only two ways to make it through — everyone pitch in together, or beggar-your-neightbor.

It looks to me like America has realized hard times are coming, but are going with plan B — beggar-your-neighbor. The GOP’s approach to the economy after all is like a flood control policy consisting of ‘The tall guy drowns last. Be the tall guy.’

Obama needs to fight back. I just spoke with my field organizer who said that she has been hearing this refrain on the ground. She said that people are getting a bit demoralized because they do not see him fighting back especially against the celebrity meme. People want to see a fighter so they are willing to bat for him. She said that she’s been submitting reports expressing those concerns. From my impression the top people in the campaign are in a bubble. It also my impression that there’s a lot of crap going on within the democratic party that we don’t know about.

Howard–
Please tell us what qualifies McCain to be President.

Seriously. Tell us. What has McCain done that shows us he has the decision-making skills necessary to lead the free world. After all, let’s review some of his past choices:

Finished near dead last in the Academy, thus proving he’s: a.) not that bright; b.) not willing to work hard; c.) is willing to skate by on his family’s name; d.) all of the above.

Crashed two planed due to hotdogging it.

Cheated on the wife who stayed loyal and raised their kids while he was a POW.

Was involved in the Keating scandal, where he traded cash for political favors.

In more than 20 years in the Senate, he has personally authored a whopping two bills, both of which he’s now against.

He was for the invasion of Iraq, saying we would be greeted as liberators and the whole thing would take no time.

Has admitted he knows nothing about the economy, modern technology, and basic geography.

Has continuously gotten the dynamics incorrect in the Middle East.

Is currently breaking the campaign finance law he helped write.

Has a notorious temper — so bad, even many fellow Republicans refuse to work with him on issues.

I could keep going, but if anyone — and I mean ANYONE — else had shown the type of ignorance, temperament, lack of morals, laziness, and just plain stupidity that McCain has, the press would roast them repeatedly and the person would be forced out of public life.

Instead, he granted the media access, and they ignore all his failings while spending weeks discussing whether or not Obama wears a flag pin.

Of course, all of this ignores the fact Obama has held state and national elected office longer than Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton did when they ran, yet no one brought up their “lack of experience.”

It’s just another canard thrown out by people who are too stupid to discuss actual policy and, instead, go after false and pointless character assassination.

When Obama was ahead the press snored. When McCainiac told fib after fib, the press snored. Oh, and Obama ran just as many negative ads as McCrank (if you believe the press). Suddenly he is behind and the press starts moaning OMG HEZ DOOMED!

I’m not saying the press is a Republican tool. They’re just tools and for whatever reason this is the narrative they want to push. This week.

a leader who can competently guide us through all the challenges that are currently facing this country … and, that leader is Senator John McCain.

Ha ha ha! You’re too funny Howard. John McCain, lobbied to lead! A great American Zero! Let me guess, we need more tax cuts for large business and the wealthy in order to pay for the war and fund government programs and services. I’m John McBooosh and I approve this message.

I’ve been saying it for months as well, polls induced panic is the consummate exercise in pointlessness. You’re better off worrying about the after-life.

I was going to ask if this means, John Sidney being the front runner and all, would the MSM now start focusing on his flip-flops, lobbyist ties, bad temperment and outright lies, but apparently the opinion here is we can only expect that from Keith and Rachel (go girl by the way).

Howard said: “Obama makes bold statements like “I will win” … but, Obama doesn’t deserve to win. After all, what has he done?”

It is not a f**king popularity contest. We are electing a President of the United States, not a Prom King!

When it comes to the question between McCain and Obama, the right frame is “What wil they do for (to) the Country?”. It is pretty clear that John Sidney will get us mired in more wars, increase our debt, and basically sell us out to [his Mancurian Candidate masters] the Communist Chinese.

Obama won’t win this election because he deserves to be President more than McCain.

Obama will win this election because America deserves him to be President more than McCain.

Oh, and by the way – why would Obama even think of releasing the news about his VP pick on a SATURDAY? -Barry

He’s not releasing the news on Saturday. He’s speaking with the VP in Springfield, IL on Saturday. We will know who it is by then.

The MSM didn’t see or report on Obama’s internet organization – which effectively won the primary campaign – because they don’t understand it. They still don’t. Not to mention that the polls do not call cellphones, which means they don’t get 80% of voters under 30.

I call all over the country for the campaign. People are nervous, the the nervousness is converting itself into even more hardcore and enthusiastic support.

I always said this campaign has to be run like we’re 12 points down. Go look at the poll results. Every one of them is within the margin of error, outside of the states like Louisiana where nobody expected a victory anyway. McCain’s only comfortably ahead in Confederate Moron Land.

76 days, folks: GO OUT AND WORK FOR THIS!!!

I agree with #28 geometric logic. I think the Obama team knows exactly what it’s doing. Look, they beat the Clinton machine pretty decisively. Obama is holding back, and after the convention, look out McCain. The debates will kill him.

Yes, it’s time to panic. What should have been a blowout for Obama could become a landslide for McCain. And it could be that the public is beginning to regard Obama as little more than a pleasing motivational speaker, with no more right to the presidency than any other young, inexperienced freshman senator. If that’s the case, I’m afraid he’s toast.

But we don’t know yet. There’s time to pull this out, if the public hasn’t written Obama off as a hollow, empty suit. But the Democrats have got to learn how to fight. They can’t win this way.

Confederate Moron Land

Funny, I prefer Inbred Transylvania but Confederate Moron Land gets snaps!

Team Obama is awesome and smart. Don’t panic. The best is yet to come.

And remember that McSame can’t even get close to the 50% mark in a state he has represented in Congress for the lion’s share of three decades. In Arizona he is leading by ten points, but the spread is 30% Obama and 40% McCain – with 28% undecided.

Maybe Panic is the wrong word but WAKE UP isn’t. One of the reasons why Democrats have lost the last few elections is because they assume that the American electorate will understand their arguments for change. They won’t, remember 2004. Republicans are successful because they frame the debates in simple (read stupid) terms. Corsi’s book about Obama is garbage but it will fuel conservative talk shows and get uneducated gullible voters to the poll. Articulate rebuttals fall on deaf (read dumb) ears.

The Democrats need to find a strategy that speaks to both educated liberal populations and uneducated populations that should be concerned about the economy.

23.On August 20th, 2008 at 11:58 am, Barry said:
Let’s look at the idiocy:
…
2) High campaign administrative costs.

You make some excellent points, but this criticism is way off-base. The high administrative costs are for a local presence in more areas than Dems have been in since machine-era politics. Those expenditures will pay off on election day far more than wasting the same amount of money on additional advertising would.

We’re in phase 2 of an insurgent campaign. Right now, McCain’s guys are making noise and focusing on unimportant points and ideas. What McCain’s done is basically give away his entire game plan (dirty tricks, lies and grandstanding) while Obama’s seemingly sat on his hands and done nothing except observe and plan.

It’s not enough to just lash out and attack if you don’t have an coherent idea of what the hell you want to do and how you’re going to do it.

As I’ve explained before, Obama’s rope-a-dope strategy worked in primaries because Obama was the one enjoying the friendly press coverage. He did not have to take out the knives against Clinton because:

1 – Clinton came into the election with high negatives to begin with

and

2 – His campaign could rely on the press to do much of the hatchet job on Clinton for them, leaving Obama and most of his surrogates ‘above’ the fray.

But that strategy will not be as effective in the general because McCain starts with much higher positives than Clinton and the press corps loves the man and gives him a virtual free ride.

The Obama campaign has seriously underestimated the how rapidly the press coverage would shift against him and just how much the press would shield McCain from himself (if Clinton made the mistake of confusing Shiite and Sunni the press would have spent a month crucifying her).

Obama needs to bring the knives out and go for McCain’s throat. The last couple of days he’s been better, but he needs to take the gloves off the 527s and tell his surrogates to go full out. He can not rely on the press to cover his responses to McCain’s attacks as they did during the primary. He needs to go on the offensive and MAKE the press cover him. That means shorting up his answers, cutting back on some of the nuance (like it or not, American’s do not like smart people) and feed the idiots in the press 30 second sound bites that play better on the news.

Where is the commercial showing mc Nut hugging Bush and underscoring his support for Bush’s policies and is plans to go even farther in that direction? Instead, we get wind machines with platitudes that look indistinguishable from mc Nut’s. McNut can assert that he knows something is going wrong in the country and that both parties are corrupt with silence from Obama. When will the Dems learn to craft an effective message and fight?!

I also think that the vacation is going to pay off (but I’ll grant it was risky to let McMaverick own responding to the Georgia/Russia events… even if his responses were often blockheaded, not many readers got to the third paragraph to understand any of the actual issues).

I think a well-rested Obama is going to pour it on, and wear McCain out. I’m pretty certain they weighed the risks and rewards of an August vacation quite closely.

I submit that who’s ahead in mid-august is fairly meaningless. The actual policies McCain supports have not become any more popular (excepting offshore drilling, as long as it’s not in my state). This is the time when people are least likely to pay attention.

Nonetheless, it should be a reminder to team Obama that they need to go out and WIN this thing, not merely try not to lose.

Lewis Black once said [and like most things he says it’s offensive but true] that John Kerry not being able to beat George Bush in 2004 was like a normal person not being able to win an event in the Special Olympics.

Poll numbers like these have an eerie “fall of Rome” sound to them. If it’s true, Republicans have successfully turned our nation from an industrious, intelligent, innovative, open-minded, forward-thinking, charitable, accepting, and glistening community into a greedy, ignorant, caustic, xenophobic society of fat-asses. And they’ve done it by: taking money from education, welfare and healthcare and giving it to privatized industries and the military thereby making us dumber, poorer and sicker; trading the moral truths of equality and responsibility for the ridiculous “morals” of obsessive and blind Christian “faith”; and at every opportunity cultivating a wicked culture of fear that squarely places all responsibility for our collective weaknesses and missteps on an imaginary but easily definable enemy that only the “self-righteous right wing” can defeat. The dumbing down of America is what happens when you replace books with tanks. The fearful America is what you get when you eschew personal and collective social responsibilities and put “God” in charge of moral decisions. The fat, lazy America is what you get for allowing businesses to buy public policy.

The idea that dreams are for rich people is incessantly hammered into each and every one of us every single day. What’s left is a dying democracy that stinks like feudalism. The lords faces may change every few years, but the money is in charge. And the money will be obeyed.

I guess you could say these poll numbers bring out the pessimist in me. And they make me wanna puke.

Uh, Hello. I’d like to chime in on a couple of things here:

In the top story it says, “there are far too many racists who question the color of Obama’s skin” And in post 12 from Bcinaz, Bill Maher states that Americans are too stupid to be governed. You know, it’s crap like that that turns swing voters away from your guy. Do you think that guilting white america to vote for Obama just because he’s black/muslim is going to work? And then saying that if you don’t vote for him that you’re racist. Do you really think that’s the direction this country wants to go in. That a majority of Americans should walk on eggshells because they might be afraid to offend someone. It’s that PC crap that ticks people off. And calling Americans too stupid to be governed, that doesn’t help either. It’s not the governments job to govern my life you duck-faced freak(Maher)!!

Mark D at post 37, you are an idiot. You ask what qualifies McCain to be President. Are you blind or just stupid? If you ask that question, you also have to ask that question about Obama. Just what qualifies the junior Senator, former senior lecturer, former Community organizer to be President? I’ll tell you, it’s a hell of a lot less than McCains.

Lance at number 40 calling McCain a Manchurian candidate sounds like your trying to project Obama’s traits onto McCain. If anyone fits the Manchurian candidate mold, it’s your boy Barry Barrack Hussein Soeto “Pinnochio” Obama Jr. There has got to be somebody pulling that string to have gotten him to where he is today, oh yeah, it’s George “Gepeto” Soros.

So yeah, I guess it is time to panic. America is getting sick of all the whining like a bunch of babies coming from the left. Keep it up and you’ll just hand the presidency to the man that deserves it more, and no, it’s not Pinnochio.

And there’s the turd in the punch bowl!

Just out of curiosity, how many of you regular readers here at CB have been called by one. or for that matter ANY, of these polls. I have never been called for any election polling and I am a faithfull voter who never misses an election at any level of goverment. How do they choose who to poll and how are the questions asked is what I would like to know.

I keep waiting to hear Obama talk about millions of people losing their houses, the cost of food skyrocketing. Even cheap staples like pasta and flour are drastically more expensive than a year ago and people are really up against it. It’s the economy, Obama! Yet all I see is that Obama made it a top priority to talk to some daft preacher about his eternal soul or whatever. Please- that spiritual stuff is a luxury. I think this country is in serious trouble and Obama’s campaign is not conveying that message. Where is the sense of urgency?

Wow, it sounds like some of you are already panicking.

Chad: #59 Wow, it sounds like some of you are already panicking.

I get panicky whenever pure evil pulls out in front of reason and hope.

You know, Chad brings something up that I’ve always wondered at. Why do these complete morons always assign some sort of otherwordly, mythical power to George Soros? Really, especially in recent history, what has he done to even have name recognition?

I’ll bet more than half the country doesn’t even know who he is, yet everyon,e from the bottom feeders to the page diddlers, in the Republican party bandies about his name as if he were some sort of Republican boogyman they scare their second wife’s kids with at night.

It’s not the governments job to govern my life… -Chad

Yeah, and it’s not the polices’ job to police things.
Or the firefighters’ job to fight fires.

Apparently, along the way, it wasn’t an educator’s job to educate Chad.

Chrenson, yes, I’m pure evil. I am the embodiment of Satan himself. All republicans are my demons. You f’ing moron, if it’s not Democrat, it’s evil to you. You do know that we live in a two-party system don’t you. People have different views and are allowed to express them through discussion and debate. It seems to me that you’d rather live in a utalitarian (sic) society with big brother (uh, that wasn’t racist, it was only a reference to George Orwell’s book, it wasn’t meant to infer anything about B.O., so apologies if I might have offended anyone) running your life.

And Doubtful, it’s okay to accuse Carl Rove of running all that is evil on the GOP side, but bring up Soros and that’s not right. I love the one-sidedness on this board.

Why do these complete morons always assign some sort of otherwordly, mythical power to George Soros?

Because unlike Grandpappy Bush, he didn’t help the Nazis … ?

What I find so damn funny about the right’s whining about George Soros is that while they accuse the left of having a billionaire control everything, they have at least three guys who actually do control conservative discourse: Ailes, Murdoch, and Moon.

Combined, they own the wingnuttiest and inaccurate news outfits (Fox and the Washington Times) and are quickly ruining another paper (WSJ) … buy up rightwing books in bulk in order to game the NYT best seller’s list … pay for countless “think” tanks (term used loosely) that employ people who otherwise couldn’t get a job running a fry vat … and just generally keep alive policy ideas that an overwhelming majority of Americans reject.

It’s just another sign of their amazing and pathetic lack of self awareness.

People have different views and are allowed to express them through discussion and debate.

The problem is that you’re obviously not interested in either of those.

Instead, you come in here and post things that are demonstrably false, only to turn around and act as if they are undeniable truths. You personally insult anyone who disagrees with you politically, and seem surprised when they return the favor. You use dog-whistle and coded language, unaware that most people here can see right through it.

And, of course, you display your partisan colors in every comment, yet try to bash any other partisan for being so.

It’s almost as if you’re a three-year-old, only capable of understanding what happened in the past five minutes, perfectly content in your ignorance of actual reality.

It’d be funny if it weren’t so pathetic.

I don’t really care how he does it, but what I want to see is Obama hitting McCain as hard as he can. Of course he’ll be called negative and mean-spirited and whatnot, but he does have the advantage that he doesn’t have to tell a single lie to make McCain look like a deranged and ignorant warmonger.

(One thing I’ve been predicting is that Obama is going to wipe the floor with McCain in the debates, and then everyone is going to talk about how mean he was.)

But I really agree with Frak up there: The best strategy for Obama might be to focus on a single simple message: McCain = Bush.

Above all, though, I agree with Tom Cleaver: Whey am I sitting here posting comments on an already like-minded blog when I could be out there working to defeat McCain? (Rhetorical question, actually–I have signed up with my local Obama people.)

When Obama wakes up and stops campaigning like a zombie Democrat, that’s when I’ll stop panicking. Until then, I’m standing on the ledge of the 101st floor.

And Doubtful, it’s okay to accuse Carl Rove of running all that is evil on the GOP side, but bring up Soros and that’s not right. I love the one-sidedness on this board. -Chad

First, it’s Karl Rove. Second, he ran George Bush’s campaigns in 2000 and 2004 and was a member of his Administration. Then he was a contributor to FOX News and is now an adviser to the McCain campaign. He’s actively involved in these campaigns. It’s not just donation here or there; he’s part of it, and therefore a legitimate topic of discussion

I asked a salient question, which you only answered with stupidity.

Honestly, what has George Soros done? He’s not involved in any of these campaigns. He may have donated to some, but he’s not an adviser to any of them.

The only ‘side’ there is to this blog and these comments is intelligent discussion. Disagree all you want, but throwing the Soros name around as Obama’s puppeteer without any proof other than you insipid insinuation, well, it chafes my grits. Not a single person here would mind having an intelligent debate with you on the influence of Karl Rove and George Soros in modern Presidential campaigns.

But you’re not open to intelligent discussion. So you get disdain and ridicule. I believe one of the first replies I ever left for you was that you were way out of your league. You haven’t made a single comment since to make me think otherwise. If you’re the cream of the conservative commenting crop, I’d hate to see the whey. Embarrassing.

Jesus Christ, Chad, I wasn’t talking about YOU being pure evil! I was talking specifically about John McCain. In fact, I’ve not seen any evidence that YOU could pull out in front of anything.

I’m aware that we’re in a two-party system. But you seem utterly unaware that your chosen party has been commandeered away from the relative reason that once guided it and taken over by a bunch of corporatist cronies that are euphorically, callously mindful of how very ignorant people like you are. And that’s evil. You see, Chad, I don’t like the fact that you are being lied to and don’t realize it. I don’t like the fact that your fears are being preyed upon to coerce you into voting for an obscenely corrupt system. I don’t like the fact that you’ve been misled into believing that you can fix a budget deficit by spending more and taxing less. I don’t like the fact that you’re being deceived into believing that fighting a destabilizing and dangerous war, “justified” with utter proven fabrications, is still in the nation’s interest. I don’t like that the leaders who dismantle your civil liberties and spy on innocent Americans like you also work to convince you that it’s somehow liberals who want to “Big Brother” you. I don’t like people taking advantage of the weak-minded like that. In fact it sickens me. And I firmly believe that those in the Republican party who work to maintain this tissue of lies are, by even the most rudimentary definition, irrefutably evil.

But you know what’s funny, Chad? That you thought I was talking specifically about you merely proves my point. Thanks for the assist!

Mark D, doubtful, et al.: It’s pretty clear where fools like Howard and Chad stand in this election. Why waste your time on people who are never going to vote for Obama when you could be working on people who might?

Chad @ 55:

You ask what qualifies McCain to be President. Are you blind or just stupid?

Translated: “I can’t answer that question, either.”

No thanks necessary, just glad I could help you out with that one.

I get panicky whenever pure evil pulls out in front of reason and hope.

Best stay off I-70 West near Dayton, because pure evil drives a Hummer in these parts.

“there are far too many racists who question the color of Obama’s skin”

There are alot more people voting FOR Obama BECAUSE of the color of his skin than against him for that reason. Lets just see the number of black voters this election compared to the last election, its gonna be a huge increase! Have you seen the Obama signs that say “He’s Black enough for me!”

If their are people voting for Obama because hes black, than its only fair that people can vote against him because hes black! No difference.

And by the way if you vote against Obama because hes black your not a racist! Your a bigot, just thought I’d clear that up for ya!

If Chad is right, that mean Obama supporters are driving thoughtful, sensitive voters (the implication being, like him) away to McCain, then — yes, indeed, this nation is done, because the independent voters are too stupid to live.

I don’t believe it. Statistics says only half the population is below average intelligence, and you wouldn’t even have to be of average intelligence not to make decisions based on what people you don’t know say about politics.

Daniel #71: If their [sic] are people voting for Obama because hes [sic] black, than [sic] its [sic] only fair that people can vote against him because hes[sic] black! No difference.

If you don’t see the difference between voting for someone out of racial pride and voting against someone out of racial hatred, then you truly belong in the Republican Party.

Chrenson @ 54 pretty much nails the stuff of my own nightmares these days. As a historian and former journalist, some of the parallels between current events and the decline of the Roman empire are really scary.

As portrayed in the excellent PBS drama “I, Claudius”, one of the major causes of that decline was the serial execution by the corrupt ruling class of anyone who showed the slightest bit of competence and integrity because they represented a threat to the rulers’ own power. And that meant, of course, that only the corrupt and incompetent were left in charge who were totally incapable of actually governing.

While we don’t have people dropping dead in the streets (not yet, at least), the right wing tactic of character assassination by mockery, lies and the promotion of ignorance over understanding for no other reason than to maintain their own power is the greatest threat to the nation’s existence we have ever faced. I truly shudder to think what will happen if Obama doesn’t become president and the Democrats don’t secure veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate this November.

To paraphrase a popular TV reality show, “Make it work, people. Make it work.”

Why waste your time on people who are never going to vote for Obama when you could be working on people who might?

Because it’s entertaining?

I remember vividly in 2006 when Ken Blackwell ran against Ted Strickland, the polls showed dead heat and the trolls did the same thing on local boards here in the Buckeye. Somehow, repeating RNC talking points ad nauseum on any board that didn’t ban them would somehow win the election for the Republican candidates. At first it was very odd, like spambots taking over. But after a while, when no new talking points were being issued, or the new talking points were the same as the old ones, the cracks started to appear. Cracks became fissures, and the fissures presaged one of the biggest voter turnouts in recent history that put a full Dem slate in the Statehouse and sent Bush-bot US Senator Mike DeWine packing, replacing him with one of the most liberal Democrats in Ohio, Sherrod Brown. Strickland and Brown both won handily, laying waste to umpteen polls that showed a close contest.

Now its just me and my not-so-humble opinion, but seeing the same effect re-appearing just warms my little die-hard liberal progressive Democratic heart.

As for “Don’t Panic,” that is right on. It’s August – voters are thinking back to school, getting a last shot at a summer getaway, wallowing in the Olympics (THANK YOU, TEAM USA!!!!), just about anything but politics. On September 12th, stop back and read this post again, and note the wind shift – it’ll be a whole different climate.

chrenson,

At the end of the day its voting for/against someone because of their “color”, and that shouldn’t have any place in politics.

And by the way if you vote against Obama because hes black your not a racist! Your a bigot, just thought I’d clear that up for ya!

“I didn’t shoot him, your honor, I strangled him.”

Enjoy the election, Daniel.

… one of the major causes of that decline was the serial execution by the corrupt ruling class of anyone who showed the slightest bit of competence and integrity because they represented a threat to the rulers’ own power. And that meant, of course, that only the corrupt and incompetent were left in charge who were totally incapable of actually governing.

The only difference is we’ve traded outright execution for the more effective taunts of “treason!” and “traitor!” both veiled and obvious. I must agree, however, that a McBush administration will put America’s recovery beyond my life expectancy. I doubt she’ll ever fall outright, but she’s gonna wallow like drunken frat boy with his pants around his ankles if we don’t set her back on the straight narrow right quick.

Why waste your time on people who are never going to vote for Obama when you could be working on people who might? -Stephen Stralka

I need troll juice to survive. 🙂

Mark D at post 37, you are an idiot. You ask what qualifies McCain to be President. Are you blind or just stupid? If you ask that question, you also have to ask that question about Obama. Just what qualifies the junior Senator, former senior lecturer, former Community organizer to be President? I’ll tell you, it’s a hell of a lot less than McCains.

First of all, good to see you, just like howard, are incapable of explaining what makes McCain so much more qualified.

For Obama, there is:

His health care plan — Not perfect, but sure as hell better than the one we have now, and leagues better than McCain’s “plan” (which amounts to “Don’t get sick unless you have government health care like I and all of Congress does.”)

His Iraq plan — He was correct from the beginning, and continues to have a policy backed by almost every credible and sane foreign policy expert.

His economic plan — Unlike McCain’s plan, Obama’s won’t double the deficit, won’t give millionaires a handout, and won’t continue to cut taxes for huge corporations making record profits. Instead, he’ll give a tax cut to the real middle class and make the rest of the system more progressive.

His terrorism plan — Both Bush and history in general have proven you cannot fight terrorism totally with a military. You fight it as a intelligence and police operation because that’s the only way to get to the small, de-centralized cells we need to destroy. It’s just proven to work time and again.

And those are just the first four that come to mind. I could keep going.

You see, I don’t give rat’s flea infested ass about what a person’s middle name is … what religion they follow … where they went to school … or whether or not they broke the rules of engagement, flew too low, and got shot down because of it.

I look at what the person will actually do once elected. And when I do that, Obama wins time and time again, whereas McCain will just keep us on the path we’re on now.

So … what about McCain makes you love him so much? What is it about his policies and/or past that makes him ssoooo much more qualified in your eyes?

Or is just being a POW 30 years ago enough for you?

The contrast between the Dem convention and the GOP convention will be stark. McCain has tried to bury the divisions in the GOP, but his veep pick will undoubtedly draw fire from one of the two warring wings of the GOP.

And I really expect that Obama will have a better acceptance speech than McCain (who will be going against NFL Opening Day). DON”T PANIC.

Daniel, I disagree. If black people vote for a black candidate because he or she is black, it is out of collective pride which is a positive effect of awareness. If white people vote against a black candidate because he or she is black, they do so out of hatred, which is born of ignorance. And that’s a negative.

Of course, the opposite applies as well. Blacks voting against a white candidate is a negative as well, while whites voting for a white candidate is a positive.

But, the reality is that this is the first time in our history that we all have the opportunity to vote for a black presidential candidate. If you believe that a black voter [who not so long ago would not even be allowed to cast a ballot] voting for a black president because he is black is somehow racist [or bigoted], then I think it’s safe to say that the other 43 presidential elections have been exercises in Christian white male supremacist doctrine.

I do agree with you that “color” shouldn’t have any place in politics. Nor should gender, sexuality, height or baldness. The reality is that it does. And it’s comments like yours that keep it there.

You know Chad may be many things but he is correct that calling people ignorant, racist, inbred transylvanians, bigots, idiots etc is really not the way to convince either swing voters or undecided to join your side. Indeed it is much more likely to push them into McCain’s camp. And if the Obama campaign field workers and operatives are as bad as the posters on this board then panic is the correct response.

Register as many people as you want- if they don’t come out and vote for your candidate then it doesn’t help you one bit.
And so far Obama has been abysmally poor at getting anyone who wasn’t on the original bandwagon to support him, including many democrats. It was the same during the primary and if he hadn’t front-loaded the caucuses with true believers, he would have lost. Unfortunatley Its pretty hard to front load the general election.

Daniel,

If, after evaluating two candidates, both appear equal in every way, but are different colors, then certainly it is acceptable to decide you prefer the green one.

What is not acceptable is when people (and I’m speaking strictly hypothetically here) have as their primary reason for not voting for a candidate his race or color, but make a pretense about the other candidate being better.

One of the reasons Obama is not running away with this election is because the press, in their desire to make a race out of it, is playing the “even-handed” game, where they ignore McCain’s faults, gaffes, age, lies, and outright pandering, but pounce on and amplify everything which might detract from Obama. This is what they do, and what they’ve done for decades, of course. It sells.

But by doing this, they allow the crypto-racists to hide behind the screen of a faux equality. The fact is that, in temperament, in intellect, in education, in experience, in approach to problems, and in not being beholden to lobbyists, the disciples of Rove, and Bush administration policies, Obama is far the better candidate for president.

I will take a poll seriously when I see one that went door-to-door. Telephone polls rely on land-line telephones service with published numbers, and a whole slew of Obama supporters are highly unlikely to be subscribers to that archaic technology. They rely on cellular and VOIP services, which are excluded.

Hell, I am in my late forties and my husband is in his early fifties, and we don’t have a land-line phone and haven’t for year. It’s WiFi and cellular for us, and for our three 20-something kids.

GREAT NEWS!!!

This is what the media has been angling for all summer long – a real dogfight…and with it comes what they really love – RATINGS!

I’m fully confident that they’ll start hammering McCain now, I totally expect to see some serious thought pieces on how old and out of touch McCain looked at the Convention. The opinion makers have achieved what they wanted, made sure we keep paying attention – now they’ll swing the other way. I have complete faith that age will become THE theme of the fall, and it won’t reflect well on McCain.

mark my words.

Don’t Panic indeed, rejoice, for Phase I has been completed, and Phase II is all about our side.

Obama doubled McCane in fundraising, doubles McCane in crowds and yet some poll of 1000 people is suppose to convince me that McCane is the prefered candidate.

I don’t by these polls one bit. They are used as a tool to sway public thinking one way or another. The only thing that matters is the vote in November when Obama will win in a landslide.

You know Chad may be many things but he is correct that calling people ignorant, racist, inbred transylvanians, bigots, idiots etc is really not the way to convince either swing voters or undecided to join your side.

If someone thinks Obama has no ideas, they are ignorant — Obama has shared his ideas in every speech he’s made, and his policy proposals are on his site.

If people won’t vote for Obama because he’s black (and polls have indicated there are many out there), they are racists — there’s no other definition that comes close to fitting.

If someone is willingly ignorant and racist, then calling them “inbred” seems like an innocuous insult by comparison.

If someone keeps not only spreading the lie that Obama is a Muslim, but also thinks that disqualifies Obama or makes him less worthy, they are a bigot.

If someone thinks being a POW automatically qualifies one for the Presidency, they are an idiot — the guy will do nothing but keep Bush’s policies, yet with even more wars.

Sorry, but it isn’t an insult if it’s true.

As far as turnout goes, my one hope is that the all the youngsters who have registered and showed up to rallies actually vote. They have a tendency toward Shiny Object Syndrome and are a tad bit unreliable, at least historically. Hope it’ll be different this time.

I’m sure Obama is a great closer. Then again, wasn’t that also true of John Kerry?

I didn’t consider the pre-convention polls to be predictive when Obama led and I don’t consider them predictive when Obama trails. The fundamentals still favor Obama this year, and what he does from the convention onwards, when the undecided voters begin watching more closely, is what will decide the election.

His first step (and this is coming from someone who backed Kerry in 2008) is not to repeat the mistakes Kerry made during the summer to lose his lead. We have good indication that he will not do this:

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3974

As an observer from another country I can only say that America is one of the most stupid populations on Earth. Literally stupid. And yet one of the most powerful, and thus the most dangerous. A population that is more focused on stuffing yet another hamburger into your faces that educating itself, a population that votes more for people of TV shows than the President of your own country, a population in which 30 percent are not just fat and overweight, but OBESE. And another 40 percent that is fat and overweight. And the same population in which 30 percent can’t even find your own country on a world map, and 50 percent that can’t find Iraq. A population that gets caught up in all the lies , outright lies, deceptions, smears, and the mocking of candidates versus what their actual policy positions are that affect your very lives. A country in which your Corporate journalists get paid millions, in order to lie to you on behalf of the Corporations that own them, and yet your teachers, the teachers of your children for God’s sake, make about $30,000 a year. A country that has one of ten of your citizens in jail, a country in which 50 million of you have no health insurance, and another 70 million have are under insured. Yet your ‘doctors’ make millions, the health insurance companies make billions, and people literally die on your streets. All this while being a country that emits over 25 percent of all toxins into the air. Yes, not only are you a stupid country, but, in my view, you are in fact THE REAL EVIL EMPIRE.

I spent time with a group of my friends this weekend, and though they are a limited and flawed sample, here are some of the opinions I heard:
> Obama is not experienced enough. Period. McCain is assumed to have experience, and nobody seems focused on what kinds of reactions and policies that experience might bring about.
> A female friend whom I consider to be pretty disinterested in politics, felt “resentment” about the treatment of Hillary. It was a very nebulous feeling, and I did not risk pinning her down on it. (My friends view me as too radical; anything that I have been “right” about w/respect to GWB stems only from my deep disdain for him, i.e., I only disagreed with his policies because I could not stand him. I do not get credit for feeling disdain for him because of his policies.
> Another female friend felt that a choice of a woman as Obama’s running mate who is NOT Hillary “doesn’t make any sense.”
> A third female friend still judges Hillary on her choice of Bill as a husband.
> Male friends tend to view the McCain mythology as fact, and they believe his economic policies, which I do not think they could describe, are sound. They consider themselves to be “social liberals / economic conservatives, and so they give McCain the benefit of the economic doubt. The one point they distrust Republicans on is the deficit. But, I do not hear them saying that they believe Obama would get the deficit under control.

Recently CB noted that Joe Klein was souring on McCain’s negative campaigning. What struck me about Klein’s disillusionment was that he was in a snit because McCain was not remaining true to Klein’s own vision of the man. It was personal to Klein. He and the rest of the Kool Kidz do not see it as their job to debunk lies told by McCain. They only can moan about being personally let down. Obama is going to have to call McCain out on his lying. He should have done so at the VFW. He should have hammered on McCain’s deception about his support for veterans. Calling out the campaign’s lies must (and can) be done in a way that is not an attack on McCain’s personal character. They have to find the way and they have to do it now.

I read a report today, saying that it could have been McCain’s hot temper that caused this Georgia war, apparently he and his lobbyist/foreign adviser have been urging them on for quite awhile, also promising American aid, the naive pres of Georgia listened and did not get what he was promised. He would not have taken on the Russian military without these assurances. Now the American taxpayer has to pay 1 billion for rebuilding in Georgia, and we are in a new cold war with Russia who most certainly will not give us the help they were going to with Iran’s nuclear ambition.
If this is an example of McCain’s foreign policy – God help us!

Show me a poll that goes door-to-door and I will lend it some credence. Current phone-polling relies on published numbers to land-line phones, and young people – who are registering and getting involved in the political process in record numbers are highly unlikely to subscribe to such archaic technology. If they even own a conventional telephone, it is likely to be connected to VOIP. I have three 20-something kids who have never had a land-line phone. My husband and I are on the verge of geezerdom and fired the phone company years ago.

… and 50 percent that can’t find Iraq [on a map].

How DARE you!!

It’s actually 63 percent who can’t find Iraq … and 88 percent who can’t find Afghanistan (and I don’t want to know how many more can’t spell it) … and 33 percent who can’t find Louisiana (which, last I checked, is actually within U.S. borders) … and one candidate who flubbed and said there were 57 states, and another who doesn’t know Czechoslovakia no longer exists.

So if you’re going to call us stupid, at least recognize that we are, in fact, number one.

NUMBER ONE, BABY!!

😉

(More seriously, I’d love to disagree with your post … but really can’t. Although one should note that Neoconservatives want people to be stupid. It’s why they attack academia, ignore science, hate the Internet, and just generally do everything they can to dumb down America as much as possible. After all, facts have a well known liberal bias, which is why the Necons ignore them at all costs.)

Mark D said:

Sorry Mark for not realizing just how stupid your population actually is. You are, indeed, NUMBER ONE. And , within this, to pretend that are a CHRISTIAN NATION while at the same time passing laws that prohibit the feeding of homeless people, the very people that you out of control CAPITALISM is responsible for creating, a ‘Christian’ nation that values personal greed over the common good. Boy , that sure sounds like what Jesus talked about, eh ? Your country is one of the most deluded of all in terms of it’s own self image. Narcisstic, Stupid, and Self-Rigtheous all at the same time. Boy that is quite a combination.

When you watch a self-destructive authoritarian hot headed ego maniac pump bullshit out for 40 yrs you realize the choice is clear…ANYBODY BUT McCAIN.

We are not electing kings here but representatives of the people. Quit thinking about what they want and start thinking about what you want and which candidate represents what you want.

The past executive acted like a monarch ignoring congress, the rules and the law…but his party went right along with it in lockstep. Had they said no he would not have been able to plunge the country into chaos and economic disaster. His policies didn’t work but they were supported by his party.

We are electing parties and their platforms and the media is turning it into personality driven politics. It is the neocon republicans that McCain represents that we are voting against…it is the progressive liberal changes that Obama represents that we claim we want.
It is as simple as it was from the beginning…either you want more of this republican disaster or you want a change and are willing to give dems a chance.
In the past 8yrs we went from a huge surplus to a record setting deficit, from a respected nation to one that tortures and lies. More of McSame or the Change Obama represents.

So many commenters act like this is a smackdown wrestling match and want that kind of performance with something that is far too serious to be looked upon in that matter…a leader of this great nation. It’s part of the dumbing down of America to want “matches” rather than discussions. They give up looking for truth and replace it with opinion.

Our democracy will not survive another four years of going down this disastrous road Bush/Cheney have paved. Who cares who does best with the rock throwing in a given week. Either you want more of the same of you want change. Our president does not act alone or without the other branches of government. We are electing representatives…not monarchs or dictators or kings.

Mark D, you idiot. The only reason Obama doesn’t have McCain’s laundry list of sins is because he hasn’t been in politics long enough.

You REALLY think this empty suit is ready to be president? We are DOOMED!!!

joey(bjobotts) said:

“In the past 8yrs we went from a huge surplus to a record setting deficit”

By cutting our military. Thanks, Bill. And thank you, media, for making sure that idiot liberals (too concerned with their Starbucks coffee to serve) forget that fact.

Your country is one of the most deluded of all in terms of it’s own self image.

OK, points made. Now if you want to keep kicking dirt at those who would change all of that, that’s up to you, but you will wear out your welcome eventually.

Just sayin’.

The only reason Obama doesn’t have McCain’s laundry list of sins is because he hasn’t been in politics long enough.

… and this is why we should all vote for McBush in 2008? The compelling nature of your argument is surpassed only by its irony.

The only reason Obama doesn’t have McCain’s laundry list of sins is because he hasn’t been in politics long enough.

So it’s okay to be unethical, corrupt, philandering and a liar as long as you’ve done it consistently for two decades?

Um … okay.

By cutting our military. Thanks, Bill.

You know, before calling everyone else idiots, you might want to make sure you are not, in fact, an idiot yourself.

For example, blaming military cuts on Clinton when it was actually Bush 1 and his Sec. Def. (a guy named Richard Cheney) who did so, would make you an idiot.

From the DoD’s own Web site:

The DoD budget faced Cheney with his most immediate and pressing problem when he came to the Pentagon. President Bush had already said publicly that the proposed FY 1990 Defense budget of more than $300 billion had to be cut immediately by $6.3 billion, and soon after Cheney began work the president increased the amount to $10 billion. Cheney recognized the necessity of cutting the budget and downsizing the military establishment, but he favored a cautious approach.

[…]

Early in 1991 the secretary unveiled a plan to reduce military strength by the mid-1990s to 1.6 million, compared to 2.2 million when he entered office.

So the actual facts show it was Bush 1 and Cheney, not Clinton, who reduced the military’s size.

Thank you, wingnut pundits and the media, for making sure conservatives (too concerned with killing brown people, adding discrimination into state Constitutions, and ensuring poor people stay poor) forget that fact.

Sorry, John, but you’re outkicking your coverage by posting here. Go back to the Free Republic — they revel in ignorance and idiocy over there.

It’s way past time to panic. This campaign looks just like Dukakis/Gore/Kerry: the GOP attacks, the Dem smiles placidly and gets roasted in November. I thought Obama had learned those lessons, but obviously I was wrong.

John said: “joey(bjobotts) said:

“In the past 8yrs we went from a huge surplus to a record setting deficit”

By cutting our military. Thanks, Bill. And thank you, media, for making sure that idiot liberals (too concerned with their Starbucks coffee to serve) forget that fact.”

Like you are ignoring the fact that George Herbert Walker Bush started the process of reducing the Military after we WON THE COLD WAR!

This is America. We don’t like huge standing armies. We had a chance to reduce the size of our military budget and we went for it.

blue #91 and #96:

Lord knows there are plenty of Americans who are dumber than a box of hair. And you make some salient points about why America is unquestionably the Evil Empire.

Thing is, I don’t recall you mentioning your nationality…

blue–
First of all, the only people calling it a “Christian Nation” are wingnuts who have no clue what Jesus actually said or proposed. To them, all that matters is that the Bible lets them discriminate against gauys (just as other groups have used it to discriminate against … well, pretty much everyone at one point or another).

Second, you do realize that most of us here actually want to get this thing righted and headed the correct way, don’t you? Granted, a small — but insanely vocal — group seems to think torture, trampling the poor, tossing out rights for an illusion of safety, and everything you list are all just peachy. Most of us, however, do not.

Lastly, in what country do you live? Honestly. Unless it’s Denmark, or Sweden, or some other really progressive nation, odds are we could all find plenty of stuff to shred about your country. And while I think we can handle some criticism (I know I can), if all you’re going to do is get on your high horse and act superior, you best make sure your shit is together.

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Things have changed. Thanks to a boundless archive of free information available on the internet, Americans who are willing to look for it can uncover the real story behind the groomed and edited news report issued by the media, in many cases within mere hours after the story is released.

AND NOW, A WORD FROM OUR SPONSER…

It should be noted that the American public is not the naïve flock of sheep it was back around September 11, 2001. Again thanks to the wealth of resources available on the internet, we have become savvy to the influence of government and corporate funding on media organizations. What was once called Mainstream Media [MSM] is now more appropriately tagged Corporate Media.

For those of you who are not aware of these influences, you owe it to yourself to do some research. Look into the funding sources of corporate media and how these sources influence the news we watch, read and hear, particularly politics. It’s a real eye-opener, trust me. While you’re at it, do some Googling for independent news sources. Compare their version of any given political news story to the version issued by mainstream/corporate media. The differences are glaring, if not stunning.

Mainstream Media journalism is biased according to the special interests of the political and corporate sponsors attached to that particular media source. News reports are carefully groomed and edited to comply with those special interests. Our government has become the biggest political influence on the media, with strong funding and sponsorship ties.

Media bias can be and is used to alter the reality of the world around us, covertly shaping our opinions and decisions to fit into the status quo. Propaganda, cover-ups, skewed facts, fabricated polls – powerful tools used by corporate media to manipulate and deceive the American public.

Today these machinations are working at a feverish peak, focused on manipulating the presidential election to an outcome that will favor the corporate media, its special interests and the government forces controlling it.

Let’s hope that 21st century American is indeed wiser now than it was in the fall of 2001. God save America.

It would not surprise me if McBush wins. Apperently, there is more idiots out there than smart people. Otherwise, Bush wouldn’t have won two terms. The US needs to have an IQ test before people can vote. Or a litmus test first.. did you vote for Bush? Yes.. Sorry you cannot vote, you’re an idiot!

So where did Chad go?

Did his keyboard fall into the fry vat, or did his mommy find out he was spreading stupid on the Internet and send him to his room?

Inquiring, troll-hunting minds want to know!!

Mark D:
to answer your question about my own country of origin: it is Denmark. Nor do I come from a ‘high horse’ place eventhough, admittedly, I may seem that way, I once lived in your country many, many years ago as a student in one of your universities. I remember the America of old, a country in which almost the entire world looked up too because it did symbolize and represent for many years the common good, a country that stood for actual freedom of peoples everywhere. That’s when poor people could actually go school of higher education so as to try to better their life conditions: this is when ‘community colleges’ were formed to do so, when those community colleges were almost free to go to. Now those same community colleges are charging thousands of dollars per semester, and your actual universities are simply out of the question for almost anyone except the rich. Yes, if you can even get a loan anymore, you can go to these but come out the other side in massive major debt.

The point is that the old, once wonderful, American is no more. It is simply one massive Corporation, fascist actually because you now have a government that does the bidding of the Corporations themselves. And these very corporation, 95 percent of them, PAID NO INCOME TAXES TO YOUR GOVERNMENT. The poor are getting poorer, the rich are getting richer, and the ‘middle class’ that subsidizes each is dying because of. Your Corporate State is now very busy trying to recreate a historical kind of serfdom relative to the rich. And, at the same time, trying do dominate the entire world.

Of course there are millions of good souls in your country, soul like yours and souls who show up on message boards like these, who want to change it all. You have a candidate running for President in the form of Obama who wants to bring a renewed hope to your country, who wants to refocus upon the ‘common good’, not just the good of the corporations and all their greed. Yet because you now have a CORPORATE STATE who only concern is to maximize their profits they now are of course destroying that candidate. And thus the destruction of the hope that he is brining to average American who is in a state of total despair and hopelessness. And they are destroying people like you and others who share in that hope. Anything that stands in their way they will find a way to destroy. And all with the essential CORPORATE MEDIA doing what the Corporations want them to do: lie, deceive, manipulate public perceptions. And they of course get paid millions to do so.

Very few countries are perfect of course, in fact none are. Yet yours, sad to say, is one of the most fucked on this planet now.

Random end of thread thoughts:

If the polls are all fucked up (q.v. ~Blue Girl #85, et. al.) then it’s good for us. The McC*nt gang will get complacently drunk on false hope, then — WHAM, it all goes haywire on them.

George Soros has done a mountain of good helping to restore economic and educational viability to eastern Europe. He’s an extraordinary and exceptional philanthropist who has earned the gratitude of millions and merits our unqualified admiration. Hey, trolls, grab that.

Interesting, whenever the comments here pass the 70 mark, you can be sure trolls are on board.

blue–
I can’t say I really disagree with your post.

Sure, it will seem to some on the right as if I hate America for agreeing with it — primarily because they demand fealty and blind loyalty over hard and often uncomfortable truths. Of course, they don’t realize that if I didn’t care, I wouldn’t waste too much time posting comments about how we got here, where we’re headed, and how I (and others) can help steer us toward a better destination.

Thanks for your thoughts — they’re obviously heartfelt, and have the bonus of being spot-on.

Oh, and if McCain winds up winning in November, any chance you have room for a family of three and a pair of dogs? My family survive a third Bush term.

😉

That should read:

“My family won’t survive a third Bush term.”

Sorry for the Swan impression everyone …

Mark D:
You would be more than welcome in Denmark brother. You would never have to worry about not having a place to live, or worry that if you became ill that there would be no place for you to go: it’s free here for all. We are a very peaceful people that respects and honors true individuality and diversity. And we don’t start wars for no reason. And we are not out to dominate the world. And we have the most free media in the entire world. Of course are tax rate is very high but that is to great a social system that IS FAIR TO ALL. We still have capitalism of course, but it’s not out of control. We do focus on the common good, not personal greed and selfishness. And, gee, there is a lot of great hashish to smoke too ! God Bless ………

blue–
I’m well aware of the tax rates over there — but, as you point out, they wind up not being as bad as they seem when one considers all you get for those taxes: An effective and universal health care system, the cost of hobbies supplemented by the government, amazing educational opportunities, roads that aren’t full of pot holes …

It’s amazing what can happen when a government is free not just of overbearing corporate influence, but also free of people who are convinced government doesn’t work. After all, that’s like having an auto mechanic who doesn’t think transmissions can work, so he doesn’t bother to fix them. It makes no sense.

Sadly, the Danes aren’t allowing any Americans in unless they have certain degrees (engineering, doctors, etc.).

I know — I checked after the ’04 elections.

🙂

Oh NO Mark, are you saying that if McCain is elected, you’re family will die? Wow, did you and P. Diddy go the the same propaganda school?

Panic? I don’t have enough energy to waste on something that unproductive. I’ll just keep on plodding — one step at a time; eroding the rock — one drop at a time; gnawing at the roots of the mighty Ygdrasil — one capillary at a time. I cannot do much, but I’ll do what I can. That’s how you learn to fight in small and powerless countries.

And I’ll hope that Geometric Logic, @28, is correct. That the tactic is “don’t shoot, till you see the whites of their eyes. Let not a single bullet be wasted; let every one of them hit its aim squarely”.

Mark D:
Yes, it’s true our country has had to greatly limit immigration because the nature and quality of the country were becoming downgraded without doing that. Plus, as you know, we are very tiny country with very limited space for more people. Most of us who live here feel very, very lucky to be able to live here.

Government in your country is working: FOR THE CORPORATIONS. Not for the people. It’s amazing in a way because historically you had a great president named Teddy Roosevelt who followed McKinnely after he was killed. At that time Corporations were out of control like now: this is why Bush and his goons have tried to dismantle all the regulations upon Corporations in order to return to that kind of time. Roosevelt recognized this so clearly and set in motion a radical change: the necessitty of regulating Corporations including the Banking industry. He almost single handedly got this done. It was needed to have a stable and fair country for all.

Then comes along Bush and his evil goons ………. and he has undone everything that Roosevelt accomplished. So of course these Corporations now are doing all they can to get the Corporate Slut called McBush installed as the next president so that the Greed can be continued. It’s like American has become a Zarathustra nation.

Living in your country now would be like living in a waking nightmare …. a nightmare of Corporate Evil ……… The entire global economy, in so many ways, is dependent on keeping the people there buying and buying and buying ……. crap …. like China for example. If Americans don’t buy the goods made from all over the planet the entire global enconomy can go ‘tits up’ …. so the Corporations are invested in keeping the population stupid and fat and buying ever more hamburgers, so to speak .. all the while doing the ‘slight of hand’ so that their agendas are not threatened.

Lying has become a virtue now in America ……..lying. Lying because the ‘end justifies the means’ .. meaning yet more profits for the corporations themselves. Personal greed therein. So of course the Corporate Media will continue to lie , deceive, and manipulate public perceptions. And they can do so because of the underlying stupidness of the general population itself.

God Bless

Anyone who’s victory depends on a strong voter turnout by students and minorities is in deep doo-doo in George Bush’s America.

I hope these two voting blocs actually come through this time and prove me wrong for a change.

Blue:

Your tax rate may be high in Denmark, but look at all the good it provides for everyone. Here in America we’ve bastardized the notions of “choice” and “freedom” so that they are now synonymous with wealth and buying power. We’re told that if we nationalize our health care we won’t be able to choose our doctor. Public schools get nothing because we “need to be free to choose where our kids will learn”, not to mention “what they’ll learn!” But, the only people who are free to choose anything in this country are the people with money. Golfing should be a choice. Horseback riding should be a choice. But people shouldn’t have to choose between food, gas and medicine. That’s not freedom. It’s poverty. Yet, plenty of uninsured Americans will tell you that free health care is a communist plot perpetrated by “freedom haters.” It’s like there’s this slow corporate brainwashing going on.

The great American irony is that conservatives point to war and say “Freedom Isn’t Free!” And those same assholes don’t want to pay their taxes.

And one more thing then I will shut the fuck up: The entire world wants Obama to be your next President. Look the Berlin turnout. Now why is it that the entire world wants this ? And there is only one country in which ‘apparently’ the majority does not: your own stupid country. God help the world because of.

chrenson said:

Yes, and only restates the point that I have been trying to make: that the general population is simply stupid. They ‘vote’ against their own self interests. You can’t get more stupid than that. A country of slogans and sound bites of stupidity. It is truly incredible. When you live outside of the USA as I do to witness this stupidity is as appalling as it is astounding. And the most amazing part of it is that this very stupidity does not KNOW THAT IT IS STUPID. It actually thinks that it is ‘smart’ .. and thus the arrogance of self-rigtheousness that is so repulsive to the rest of the world.

OK here we go… Obamma is losing ground because people are starting to see through his smoke and mirrors act and you morons blame it on racism…. well that dog wont hunt my freinds…. the hand writing is on the wall..like I told y’all weeks ago the light in his eyes.. thats the career disapation light …it is blinking in max cackle about now…. the American public is starting to see him for what he is… a low class carney act.. the ole three card monty…… the shell game…. yup.. only a matter of time and Hilary will start to look pretty good to you guys.. it will be like rats jumping off a sinking ship….Hey dont you all remember me posting this a few weeks ago…. that the polls will start to slide.. of course y’all said I am a red neck chicken coop dwelling racist… nope not at all. I am an American and I have faith in our citizens to do the right… yup da RIGHT thing……
Bubba said that…..♥y’all

“Well, uh, you know, I think that whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or, uh, a scientific perspective, uh, answering that question with specificity, uh, you know, is, is, uh, above my pay grade.” – Sen. Barack Obama, on “When does a baby get human rights?”

These statements are why he is losing. Stop thinking and spit it out already if you are really that intelligent. Ugggghhhhh!!!

Yup, it is time to open the window.

While I’m not too worried, I can’t help but be reminded by the layman’s definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome. Some Americans, despite knowing that John McCain will offer the same failed leadership as Bush, want to elect McClone anyway.

McCain has experience; experience in taking money from lobbyist, experience in playing the same old politics for 20+ years. That is all the WRONG kind of experience we need right now.

blue: aside from Chad and the other trolls here, you are preaching to the choir. Believe me, we are trying our hardest to turn things around in our country.

One statement that you made puzzled me: “passing laws that prohibit the feeding of homeless people”. I’m not sure where you read this, but I’m sure that that’s not true in most of America. For sure it’s not true in my town.

“McCain has experience; experience in taking money from lobbyist, experience in playing the same old politics for 20+ years. That is all the WRONG kind of experience we need right now.

Obama’s hands are not clean. Please check your facts. I said it already, Obama’s list is simply smaller because he is GREEN with inexperience.

I like both candidates, but can’t vote for either of them for obvious reasons.

We have failed, and the end is near…

Major difference between underestimating Obama in the primary and now CB…

Obama is now weighed down by the Democratic party.
While the Republican brand is toxic dog food, the Dems have a talent for making sow’s ears out of silk purses.

Fortunately, I still think Obama can overcome the major liability that is his party.
It’s not yet September folk, and Obama has lots of powder he’s kept dry. McCain is going through money with Paris Hilton ads and has already been forced to jeopardize Florida and write off California by advocating off shore drilling. What strings will the Illuminati choose to pull next? What next will the hand up his… back… make him say?

What new kink must he put in his straight talk to fund his scrabbling to the top?