The Chicago Tribune Captured the Moment

The Chicago Tribune just published a remarkable endorsement of Barack Obama -- their very first endorsement of a Democratic candidate for President. The article really captures the moment in this time in history. This is a must read for everyone -- whether you support Obama or not.

McCain Hurts Himself

"The McCain campaign’s recent angry tone and sharply personal attacks on Senator Barack Obama appear to have backfired and tarnished Senator John McCain more than their intended target, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll has found."

At one time I had higher hopes for McCain. His earlier campaign in 2000 seemed to stick to higher moral grounds. This time the Republican machine that got Bush elected seems to have dragged McCain down into the muck as illustrated by this recent article.

Admittedly, McCain is out of options. Obama is better at public speaking, is better educated, has a better team, and has better coverage of the issues that matter. So McCain has been forced to use character assasinations and falsehoods to try to win.

Plus, if you have an ill trained attack dog like Sarah Palin on your team, well then, you get what you deserve. Choosing Sarah Palin was a clear indication that McCain was going down the wrong track.

I am pleased that Barack Obama has a cleaner image and is sticking more to the moral high ground.

For more please read the New York Times article "Poll Says McCain Hurts His Bid by Using Attacks".

Palin Failure

Palin failed at the recent VP Candidates debate with Biden. Check out this MSNBC news fact check of what Palin said at the debate:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#27015466

I think there are two reasons the vast majority of the press have weighed in against Palin:
1) She is incompetent
2) She started attacking the press preemptively even before they had much to say about her

Desperate McCain Resorts to Smears

Since Obama/Bidin are winning so clearly on issues, in debates, based on qualifications, and in the polls, McCain/Palin have resorted to desperate smear tactics to try to take them down with false and misleading attacks Swiftboating style.

Palin is so poorly qualified and so extreme it is scary. Here is a great chart that shows how she approached the recent vice-presidential debate:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/03/sarah-palin-debate-flowch_n_131607.html

Fortunately both McCain and Palin have plenty of problems in their past which makes it easy for the Democrats to counter attack with relatively honest criticisms -- Keating Five, etc.

For more, please read:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081007/ap_on_el_pr/candidates_character_5

McCain vs Obama

When considering McCain vs Obama for President, I looked at major qualities and criteria to decide who I would hire for the job. I organized my criteria into 3 groups -- Character, Capability, and Issues. Here is how I think each candidate compares.


Character

Honesty & Trustworthiness - Winner: Obama. While not perfect, Obama has done a much better job of being honest and truthful. McCain and Palin have both been caught by too many lies or bending the truth. Also McCain has changed his mind more radically, more quickly, and more whimsically than Obama. Obama has had a steadier hand and been more consistent. Finally, the Republicans in general have done some very ethically questionable things of late so I trust them much less. Biden has had some problems in the past but has been better of late.

Respectfulness - Winner: Obama. Obama was very considerate of both the moderator and of McCain in the first Presidential debate. Obama looked at McCain. I never saw McCain actually look at Obama. Palin smeared community organizers (most Americans) as well as Obama. Biden has been pretty quiet lately.

Friendliness - Tie: Obama & McCain. Both seem quite personable and friendly.


Capability

Experience - Winner: McCain. McCain does have more experience than Obama. Although Obama's experience is sufficient for the job.

Intelligence - Winner: Obama. Obama has shown a much better capability to think quickly and accurately than McCain. McCain has seemed slow on the uptake or bumbling and stuck on the same old saw much of the time. Palin has fumbled when she was not carefully prepped.

Schooling - Winner: Obama. He has excellent academic credentials having done well both at Columbia and Harvard Law. McCain and Biden are ok (whereas Palin pales in comparison to everyone else).

Communication - Winner by a long shot: Obama. Obama has shown he is an excellent communicator. Obama is clear, crisp, well spoken, and inspirational. Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" is very well written and tells us more about who he is then we can know about just about any other Presidential candidate. McCain is more muddled and confusing when he talks. McCain uses lots of nice sounding words but ends up saying little of real substance. In the debate, Obama was much clearer on the issues. McCain kept trying to attack Obama's character and did not answer many of the challenges that Obama set before McCain.

Leadership - Winner: Obama. Not only has Obama shown himself to be a strong, consistent, reliable leader in the US, the rest of the world respects him as well so he can be a real world leader rather than someone who uses US military might to bully others. We need to have the rest of the world on our side willingly and not against us or only coerced to be on our side.

Health - Winner: Obama. The job of President is very physically demanding. It took a lot out of Bill Clinton. McCain is quite old and showing some physical vulnerabilities. Biden is older but not too old yet. Palin is quite healthy.

Balance - Winner: Obama. Obama is more of a centrist than McCain and especially than Palin. Read Obama's book, he is clearly a thoughtful centrist and not prone to make dogmatic statements or get stuck in dogmatic positions.


Issues

War & Peace - Winner: Obama. War is rarely justified and Peace should be the priority. I was strongly against the Iraq war and so was Obama. The Iraq war was a huge mistake and has been a huge waste of resources, money, and lives. Obama and Palin support the Iraq war, feel it is justified and can be won. (If you believe in War and might makes right, than vote for McCain.)

Economy - Winner: Obama. Obama recognizes that regular Americans are the backbone and strength of America. Obama wants to give these regular folks tax breaks rather than the wealthy. McCain says he supports regular Americans but plans to give the real tax breaks to the wealthy. Also McCain was one of the people who were around during the time we got ourselves into the financial pickle we are currently in. If his experience is so important, then why did he not succeed in doing more to prevent the current crisis? Also McCain has been wrong a number of times in the economic area -- saying "Our economy is fundamentally strong..." even though there has been horrendous financial mismanagement recently and now we are trying to rescue our economy from disaster. (If you believe in making the rich, richer, then vote for McCain.)

Education - Winner: Obama. Obama understands that education is fundamental for a strong nation and will strongly support it so our entire nation can be knowledgeable and strong. McCain and Palin seem to see funding education as socialism rather than an investment in our future. I believe that education is the best possible investment in our future that we can make. Our children are our future. Books not bombs. (If you believe in not spending money on education, then vote for McCain.)

Energy - Winner: Obama. Obama has a vision and a reasonable plan for energy independence. This must be one of our top priorities. McCain and Palin want to delay and mainly drill for more oil rather than solving the root cause. (If you believe we should just get more oil, then vote for McCain.)

International Policy - Winner: Obama. Experience is not everything. It also takes the right perspective and capability. The rest of the world recognizes Obama as someone they can trust and respect. (If you believe we are always right and should force other nations to get our way, then vote for McCain.)

Civil Rights - Winner: Obama. Obama knows that free speech matters. He also seems more aware of civil rights issues than McCain does. (If you believe our government knows better and should control our lives more, then vote for McCain.)

Right to Choose - Winner: Obama. I strongly believe in a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. It is a tough choice and she is in the best position to choose. McCain's side, and especially Palin, want to eliminate the ability for women to choose. (If you believe others should choose for women, then vote for McCain.)

Environment - Winner: Obama. Obama seems much more likely to be a good steward for our environment than McCain. McCain seems to more strongly support big businesses that are more likely to want to rape our earth than maintain and restore it. (If you believe the environment can take care of itself, then vote for McCain.)

Just about everyone recognizes Palin as bad choice

Earlier I noted that Sarah Palin is the bridge to nowhere and it looks like just about everyone else has come to a similar conclusion. See:
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE48S8JW20080929

Palin is the "Bridge to Nowhere"

Sarah Palin openly lied about what she did regarding Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" in her speech at the Republican National Convention. She said:

"I told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for that Bridge to Nowhere."

But she never talked to Congress about it despite her claims. And she supported it until well after Congress rejected it. Only when there was no hope left for it, did she turn out the lights. Google this yourself to confirm what I've just said.

How can anyone trust someone who lies so easily and so publicly?

Oh, now I remember, Republicans find it easy to lie and then claim that others are lying to distract from their own lying.

McCain and Palin have a "Palin Truth Squad" to root out false attacks, rumors, and smears against Governor Palin. They should have this Truth Squad focus on Palin and McCain first to clean up their own act. But instead they are trying to shift the focus to others. This is hypocritical. But it does follow the traditional Republican pattern (do a bad thing and then loudly blame others). [Strangely during the 2000 elections, McCain did try to be truthful. Unfortunately he has changed his tune. It appears the other Republicans wore him down.]

Yes, this is just another in a long series of Republican lies and deceptions which include:
McCain: "Our economy is fundamentally sound" (stock market crashed just after he said this)
Bush 2: Guantanamo
Bush 2: Abu Ghraib
Bush 2: "Weapons of Mass Destruction" (none were ever found, got us into the Iraq war)
Republican Party: "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" (not truthful at all)
Reagan: "Iran Contra Affair"
Nixon: "Watergate"
and many others.

While Nixon was impeached for Watergate, the "Iran Contra Affair", "Weapons of Mass Destruction", and the Iraq War should have easily been impeachable as major wrongs by the President during his administration. Wrongs that had real consequences for our country and for others. Why did Clinton face impeachment for a private sex affair which really only should affect his own family when these other significant events affecting our entire nation and real lives get off scot-free? It boggles my mind. But of course the Republicans are rich and much better at manipulating others behind the scenes using their money and power.

So back to Palin & McCain, they are clearly a bridge to nowhere and would lead our country to ruin (at least for normal folks maybe not the rich). Throw the lying bastards out.

Please vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. While not perfect, Obama and Biden are much more capable of leading our country and making all of us proud to be Americans again. Simply read Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" and you'll know Obama is capable, hard working, intelligent, truthful, and a centrist.

Sarah Palin: OMG, What a Liar!

News reports have been more polite in saying Palin "stretched" the truth. But my Mom, teachers, and friends would simply call me a liar if I'd stretched truth as far as Sarah Palin has.

See:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check
and
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Conventions/Story?id=5726571&page=1

The Republicans have long had trouble with truth. Nixon (Watergate), Reagan (Contras guns & drugs), Bush 2 (Weapons of Mass Destruction!, Terrorists in Iraq!). I'm astonished they can keep getting away with it (well mostly, Nixon didn't).

Unfortunately, Sarah Palin has been partly successful in castrating/discrediting the media:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20080904/pl_rasmussen/palinmedia20080904_1

Palin and McCain, like most Republicans, love labeling people so they label everyone who could get in their way, especially the press, as "liberals" -- trying to turn it into a swear word linked with the Democrats.

To help cover up all of Sarah Palin's own lying, what does she do? She loudly and promptly accuses her opposition of lying when they haven't been.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080905/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_103

Don't you hate hypocrites who attack others for what they themselves are guilty of?

But of course, attacks are what Republicans do best. They attack others incessantly -- everyone else are bad guys -- including any foreign nations who have a different viewpoint then theirs.

The Democrats are just too darn educated, polite, and thoughtful.

Egads.

Sarah Palin: Poster Child

In picking Sarah Palin as their Vice President candidate, McCain and the Republicans were clearly desperate. They knew if they picked a standard candidate, they would lose. So throwing caution to the wind, they picked a radical who had as many poster child credentials as possible while still having a bit of experience:
- former beauty pageant participant (capable of walking, talking, and being pretty)
- politician from a frontier state (Alaska)
- female
- hockey mom
- disabled child
- working mom
- teenage daughter who got pregnant on her watch
- son about to fight and perhaps die in Iraq
- sheer novelty and sensationalism of such an unlikely choice

By picking such an under dog (albeit a dangerous pit bull that wears lipstick), I think they are trying to gain as much of the sympathy vote as possible while making it hard for others to critique her while she in turn slams others around in an atrocious hardball manner.

If you look at her actual experience, it is quite small compared to everyone else. She has been the mayor of a small town in Alaska (population under 10,000) and the governor of a state with only 670,000 people -- about the size of the city of Charlotte North Carolina and smaller than 46 of the US states (only North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming are smaller).

Sarah Palin: Radical Right

Focusing on just Palin's own background, Sarah Palin is from the Radical Right.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/03/rosen.palin/index.html?section=cnn_latest

She has not pushed it as governor of Alaska, but she during her campaign for governor in 2006, she thought creationism should be taught in schools (!!!!). See:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gV5jvU52RD3WBflzbmSu5l6zwOqAD92V3VQG0

Sarah Palin is way too extreme to have her a heartbeat away from being President. And McCain would be the oldest President to have ever assumed office. Hopefully their winter-spring "romance" won't bear fruit.