Ron Paul for Most of the Cabinet

Congressmen Ron Paul may have left some of your radars since he failed to win a major nomination, but he has by no means fallen from the political scene. Not only does he continue to speak and write about his beliefs (his latest article appeared on CNN.com's front page), but he remains on the minds of many Americans. In a recent online poll of its readers, the New York Times asked its readers to select their own presidential cabinet. Although he was not listed on any of the website's drop-down selection menus, Ron Paul ranked in the top 7 of all five major postitions through write-ins. He was the 3rd choice for Secretary of the Treasury behind a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, and a previous Secretary of the Treasury.

bwA

60 Minutes Obama Interview

60 minutes tonight features a three segment interview with Barack & Michelle Obama. as i watched, i actually turned it off partway through the third segment. Obama was vague about cabinet decisions, and introduced nothing new about his time immediately after becoming president. it made me think about why would he be so uninteresting on 60 minutes, a fairly well viewed show?
I came to the conclusion that it must be a very awkward time to do interviews for Obama. He is not president yet, so he doesn't have any control, so when discussing policy, he still has the same material from the campaign trail. so theres nothing new there. furthermore, any decisions about his cabinet, he's obviously not going to discuss in detail, so he's limited in his speaking on that topic too. Overall, right now, he's just getting briefed about security info, and finding cabinet members, so theres not a whole lot of things to say in a big interview. in conclusion, i wonder why 60 minutes picked to do such a comprehensive interview at this stage in Obama's presidency? wouldn't they have realized there wouldn't be anything new to discuss?


Bwa

One President at a time. C'mon, do we have to? Really?

Barack Obama has taken an active stance on many of our country's problems. Yesterday he met with (still) President Bush, urging him to support bailouts of America's auto industry. Obama and Bush have, understandably, taken up very different viewpoints on our economic crisis. Only a week after his election, Obama is making his political presence felt at the White House. Still, over two months remain till Obama's inauguration. As much as the country and I want him to be President right now, the fact remains that he isn't. The transition period is always a delicate time, and until Jan 20, the Obama camp must strike a balance between governmental aloofness and personal concern. Meanwhile, Bush is trying to cement his legacy and end his second term as not-the-worst President in history. Speaking of legacy, maybe Obama's history-making will overshadow Bush's mistakes. We might remember our 43rd President simply as the guy who came before the first Black President. That's not too likely, though.

bwA

Obama Plans to Overturn Bush Decisions

Even before he was officially nominated at the Democratic national convention, Obama's team has been working on compiling a list of decisions made by the Bush administration that could be overturned by an executive order.   That is to say, without waiting for legislation from Congress.  Although the Obama campaign is hesitant to announce what changes will be made, they've let on that both limitations on stem-cell research and oil drilling are being heavily scrutinized.  Meanwhile, the Bush administration is pushing to have 360,000 acres of public land in Utah dedicated to drilling for oil and gas, a measure that, we are assured, will not harm the environment in any way.  

bWa

Whats China Stimulating?

China announced today that they're going to do a 586 billion dollar stimulus package. These packages seem to be the in thing, so with the Chinese spending virtually nothing, it seems like a good idea to pump money to citizens who will then spend money. but wait, there going to invest in infrastructure like highways, subways, and airports. i don't understand what that's going to do to stimulate the economy? Better highways aren't going to increase spending according to me. maybe im wrong. anyway, after reading a second article, this one from the UK, i learned well actually infrastructure and social programs, and top priorities would include low cost housing, and environmental projects. that doesn't seem like its going to do a noticeable amount much stimulating.
in America, we sent money straight up to people to increase spending. April and May people got their checks, and when the economic reports came out, spending was significantly up, thus business spending was up, and that lead to more money circulating, and the stock market being up. Now we obviously cant do that all the time, but it is very helpful.
i dont understand why China doesn't just do that. They need to increase spending NOW. They cant wait around, there GDP is dropping hard. They've cut their growth rate from 12% a year, to 4%.
A stimulus package similar to ours would make the most sense to me, but apparently Hu Jintao knows something i don't. i hope it all works out for them, because it their stock market/economy crashes, the US will be deeply affected no matter how well Obama does here.

Help Me will.i.am - You're My Only Hope

During its election coverage, CNN debuted some state-of-the-art hologram technology. On another day (like today, for example), this would have been some important stuff. But while everyone was occupied with the big news of the Obama victory, this little development understandably fell by the wayside. I think die-hard Star Wars fans probably appreciated it, though. What really gets me about this whole situation is that after the CNN team showed off its new machine with reporter Jessica Yellin, they set up a hologram of will.i.am. What business does will.i.am have being the second person ever on televised hologram? Sure he composed a memorable and inspiring song for the Obama campaign, but he was also featured on Fergalicious. Oh well. I guess somebody needed to be the first musician to appear on live tv hologram, and who better than "heartbreaker" and composer, along with Hans Zimmer, of the score for what's sure to be the smash hit of the year, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa?" Now that this election is over and much of the landmark news is gone, the networks need some other way to grab the ratings. Or at least it really looks that way.



bwA

ps - I really like that dance move he does at the end of the interview.

Jim Cramer For The Economy!!

I think we've sufficiently covered the election excitement; Obama won, made history, everyone's dreams have come true. so on to the next exciting thing. Who's Obama going to pick for his cabinet (if he decides to have one)?
well, Jim Cramer made it perfectly clear today on his show Mad Money(excellent show, on from 6-7 on cnbc) that he would like SEC commision chairman, Federal Reserve chairman, and Treasury Secretary. not too much to ask right? i mean, he just wants to be in total command of the economy? i actually like that propisition. Jim Cramer should be in charge of all things economic. he's arguable the smartest person in the stock market, and he would easily do better than Ben Bernanke( Federal Reserve), and Chris Cox(SEC). Anyway, the thing is Jim wasn't kidding when he was saying he wanted to be in charge of everything. so therefore, he explained to the viewers how he could fix most of our issues in 4 days.

day 1) Fix the auto industry, which is going to need a bailout within the next year. he see's opportunity to help America while at the same time, making a SAFE loan, which will be better off in the long run.

day 2) He'll solve the energy crisis. BAM. that easy. the US has a surplus of Natural Gas which will last forever (long enough where its not an issue). no one talks about Natural Gas, honestly i dont know a lot about it. i believe its related to oil, but the US has even more of it than oil, and its cleaner than oil. We will be able to use natural gas and oil to create drilling jobs, and keep energy in the US and not have to use all kinds of crazy alternative energies which aren't ready to be fully implemented.

day 3) stop immigration deportation. Illegal immigrants cant buy homes right now, and if we legalized them, they would be able to buy up the overbuilt home markets. the issue is a supply and demand problem. we have more houses than people who want houses, thus prices go down. the overbuilt areas are the places immigrants tend to buy homes, and they almost never default so they're a safe loan. that would seriously help relieve the crisis.

day 4) Rest. After that hes pretty much God.

if you want to watch the video of him going more in depth you can see it here....
http://www.cnbc.com/id/27559642

Bwa

Congratulations Are In Order

Congratulations to both candidates on a well fought election. Although it got a little patchy at times, it managed to end on a graceful note. Well done.

bwA

As I Speak

It's an historic day, one that many of us have been awaiting anxiously for months if not years. This last little while has been a blur of mixed feelings about the race, though my predominant sentiment has been a sort of timid optimism. It seems just too good to be true that things are going the way that they are, and as certain as I am in my logical mind that Obama's got the election, there's still a part of me left saying, 'what if?..'
But you don't want to sit there and listen to me talk about emotions. Let's get some facts down. The counting is underway, and exit polls predict Vermont going for Obama, while McCain has Kentucky. There are a number of battleground states such as Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia that are far too close to call, and even these all have less than 20% of their votes in. Nationwide numbers show Obama currendly ahead 53% to 46%. The polls should be closed nationwide by 11:00 EST, and we could have a new president as early as tomorrow morning. I'll try to keep this updated.

8:10 - Obama with 77 electoral votes, McCain with 34*
8:45 - Obama with 102 electoral votes, McCain with 34*
9:17 - Obama with 172 electoral votes, McCain with 64*
10:26 - Obama with 207 electoral votes, McCain with 135*

*according to exit polls
bWa

Too Much Excitement?

American voters are ready for tomorrow. The primary elections registered record voter turn out, and the early voting available at many polling stations already shows signs of an all time high. I'm not sure about you, but my doorbell has been rung by get-out-the-vote canvassers, and I've gotten election reminders in the mail over the past few weeks. The people are definitely ready, but is the system?
How will this election fair after the problems of the past two? Record voter turn out could create painfully long lines at voting stations, scores of first-time-voters, eager to participate in this landmark election, could be slowed by unfamiliar protocol, the sheer number of voters might cause low-tech stations to run out of ballot paper. This level of enthusiasm has already led to 3.4 million new voter registrations in battleground states, as opposed to 1.8m in 2004. Of course this phenomenon feeds right back into the ACORN controversy. But it seems that problems like new voter identification laws in many states and voting machine shortages in minority areas give us enough to worry about without considering fraud. Whatever concerns the American people may face tomorrow, apathy is most certainly not among them.

bwA

Health Care Doesn't Add Up

How is Obama going to pay for his new government based health care plan? I haven't really thought that hard about it. I guess the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, and increased taxes on the wealthy would pay, right? Obama says it will only cost 55-65 billion a year when in full phase, and since we spend 10 billion a month in Iraq, thats 120 billion right there we'll have free, so it all makes sense. But where is he getting the number 55-65 billion from?
On CNN today, our Tim Kaine was on talking with Wolf Blitzer, and the governer of South Carolina. Tim Kaine, when showing how perfect Obamas' health care plan is, said that everyone will be able to get insurance just as good as they get in congress, and thats 50 million people who will need to improve their coverage. Further, It will cost the government ONLY 7,000 per person to do that. Thats when the SC governer chimned in to say that the math adds to 350 billion a year, so even with the customers paying the 300 billion, that comes out to a cost of 6,000 per person that the consumer must pay, which at that point, John McCain's 5,000 credit makes more sense. The bottom line is, it seems like Obama's health care will cost at least 350 billion a year. Therefore, the goverment is going to be piling up more debt keeping Americans with health care, but rampant inflation (as social security is in shambles) and now another 350 billion a year is the price we'll have to pay.

Bwa

Obama's Ad

Obama smashed ratings with his paid political ad, which aired Wednesday on seven separate television networks.  On average, these networks will pull around 30 million viewers on a Wednesday night.  Obama's ad grabbed over 33 million; the baseball World Series got a measly 19.8 million, and the presidential debates topped the count with 57.4 million viewers.  Obama also appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart the night that the ad aired, and raked in a record 3.6 million viewers for Comedy Central.

bWa

A Look Back

With just 4 days to go till Election Day, I think its time for a little recap; you know for the sake of perspective. It feels like this election process has been going on for while. A long while. But just how long has it been? Well the first caucus was held January 3, 2008 in Iowa. But that was by no means the beginning of the race for the White House. The party debates were held in June of 2007: the Republicans' on the 5th, the Democrats' on the 3rd. By January of 2007, the field of candidates was already beginning to take shape. Names like Mike Huckabee, John Edwards, George Pataki, Al Gore, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Dennis Kucinich, and Tommy Thompson graced polling ballots across the country. Barack Obama announced his consideration of a presidential bid in December of 2006, and McCain formed a presidential exploratory committee just a few weeks earlier in November. That's a solid two years of campaigning for both major nominees. Yet we can push the start date back even further. The first Republican straw polls were held March 11, 2006. By the way, that poll saw John McCain recieve only 4.6% of the vote. Some would argue that the cycle began as soon as the final vote was counted in 2004. It was a few months earlier, July 27, when America was first publicly introduced to Barack Obama. He spoke at the Democratic National Convention, and from then on was the subject of presidential speculation. Conjecture about Hillary Clinton's candidacy existed as early as 2002 with Maureen Dowd's New York Times Article, "Can Hillary Upgrade?" So if after as many as six years of presidential gossip you're fed up with the whole process, the end is in sight. But rest assured, on the morning of November 5th, you can bet someone will start the ball rolling on Campaign 2012.

bwA

Obama's Not Socialist?

In the last few days, McCain has been calling Obama a socialist, as a last effort to get the few undecided votes left. i would think that that'd be a compliment since pretty much all of Obama's plans are socialist. i mean, im not a socialist, but apparently most people want socialized health care, government help with current economic problems, and a mass redistribution of wealth in this country. all of which Obama is proposing. On these issues and other key issues Obama promotes bigger government (classic socialism). Therefore, Obama is more or less a socialist. i don't think that's a stretch. i mean itd be tough to argue that Obama's for small government, and low taxes for all. okay, so McCain claiming Obama's going to socialize America is fairly truthful, and if i was Obama, i would say ya, i am. here are all the good things socialism will bring, and have brought in Europe. strangely, Obama has dismissing claims he's a a socialist, and has been complaining and asking McCain to stop. he routinely brings up in his speeches the 'desperate attacks' of McCain.
i think Obama should bring socialism to America, and why wont he say so. does he think he'll lose votes? i don't. i think most people in America want socialism. The grass is always greener on the other side (of the ocean).

Rogue Agent Palin

Gov. Palin has been branching out politically lately. Sources from the McCain camp indicate that her deviations from the McCain platform are creating real tensions within the campaign. It could very well be that her policy contradictions were completely unintentional; that she got confused when answering direct questions, or just flatout didn't know what she was talking about. Honestly, that's not too hard to believe. Other inside sources have said that Palin's "lack of fundamental understanding of key issues" after her appointment "was dramatic." The sources went on to say that Palin might well have been the least informed candidate in history. But certain McCain aides have accused her of being a "diva," who "takes no advice from anyone," believing her statements were premeditated. She definitely shops like a diva. Palin is not the only V.P. to take a stand against her ticket-mate. Biden's getting his fair share, what with the "international crisis to test Obama" schpiel. John Edwards in '04, Gore in '96 and '92, even Bob Dole and Dan Quail have all endured some strife with their Presidential partners.

bwA

Wow

When Brian Williams asked governor Sarah Palin in an interview Thursday night "Is an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist, under this definition, governor?", he was giving her a no-brainer.  Filler.  I don't think that anyone honestly expected her to reply,   "There's no question that Bill Ayers by his own admittance was one who sought to destroy our US Capitol and our Pentagon. That is a domestic terrorist.  Now, others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or facilities that it would be unacceptable to... I don't know if you're gonna use the word 'terrorist' there."

Now, Palin, I don't care what your actual beliefs are.  When you're asked in an interview if people who would kill American citizens for coercive purposes based around their own highly prejudices ideals are terrorists...  You say yes. There's no room for 'I don't know.'  But no, Palin hemmed and hawed, and eventually decided that the question was too hard.  I guess they can't really be terrorists if she shares their beliefs.

bWa

 

Gaining Capital Gains

The other night at dinner, i was discussing what the tax rates would look like under an Obama administration with my mom. Someone had sent her an internet calculator which showed how much money you would be saving under Obama compared to McCain. In this calculator it was shown most people would save 3 times as much as McCain, and as he boasts, 95% of middle class families would see lower taxes. hey, that sounds nice. but there are other taxes besides income tax. Sales tax, estate tax, capital gains tax, etc. while i dont know what hes doing about sales, or estate taxes, hes made it clear he'll be raising my capital gains tax. That sounds good to me, since well, only the rich invest, therefore we should take their money, and redistribute it to the poor. wait a sec, i dont like that idea. The current rate is 15% and John McCain has said he'll keep it the current rate. When talking to Maria Bartiromo, Obama said he'll raise it, but not more than 13 %to 28%( the Clinton rate). it comforts me to know Warren Buffet is advising him, so he wont raise it too high, and i trust Buffet to know what hes doing with the economy, which is who'll be essentially in charge of it.
Where im going here is that in theory a raise in capital gains sounds nice, and makes sense (even to me). Unfortunatly, itll make a lot of upper class people kinda annoyed, since its essentially stealing more of their "hard earned" money, which they need to go to Mortons, and Ruth Chris every night. Sounds funny, but i had to pay capital gains tax the last few years, and its just down right annoying to make X dollars and then have to give some of it to the government. im pretty sure theres not much intrinsic value difference in the tax raise, but there's some emotional discomfort with big time investors who wont like it, and they'll have to spend more time finding loopholes, which is time could be spent making more money.

Bwa

A Global Picture

So much of the media's election coverage revolves around domestic issues: policy changes each candidate will make, how they plan to help Americans, and more recently, heated accusations and challenges of character. Yet the domestic concerns are only half of a president's responsibilities. Foreign policy (that thing that Joe Biden is so good at and that Sarah Palin winds up embarrassing herself over) and how the US is represented on a global scale are just as important. Over the past 8 years, America's world image has suffered. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 recieved standing ovations world-wide. Large numbers of tourists, including a German couple I know who are quite fond of backpacking in the American West, plan trips to Canada to avoid Americans. We have generally established a persona of arrogance, impatience, and ignorance. But change is in sight: change we can believe in.
In a recent BBC poll, voters in each of the 22 countries studied preferred Obama to McCain, in an overall ratio of four to one. Almost half of these voters declared that thier view on the US would "fundamentally change" with Obama's election. This seems to fit with Colin Powell's theory that Obama's election would "electrify the world." Hopefully the world's hatred of Bush will be outwieghed by its love of Obama, and America's actions will reestablish its international legitimacy. But if not, maybe the fresh, modern, hip America that could elect Obama could also transform its own image. Electing him would sure help with that though.

bwA

Let's Go Shopping!

Have you noticed that Sarah Palin always manages to look flashy and stylish yet hardly wears the same outfit twice? Well that's because she and her family have spent $150,000 of Republican Party money on clothes since joining the McCain ticket. According to the campaign finance bill "coincidently" passed by John McCain himself, it is illegal for a campaign to provide for the personal needs of its members. However, the law places no restrictions on political parties. Accordingly, the Republican National Committee financed a neat little shopping spree for the Palins. To aviod concerns over the legality of this action, the RNC claims that the clothes are its property, and that following the election, they will be returned and donated to charities. So if you see a homeless woman walking around in a chic fitted jacket and little black skirt on November 5th, you'll know why. I just hope they'll be giving away some of those rimless glasses, too. I'm a big fan.

bwA

image: (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Politics Everywhere

I was just watching game 1 of the worlds series, when instead of going to a commercial break, Fox had a 2 minute film about the history of baseball and politics, narrated by none other than Barack Obama, and John McCain. Each of them took turns reading off a line or two about a bill or situation where baseball was relevant. I was surprised that the MLB or Fox got them to do the narrating. Even in a baseball game, we're still hearing about the presidential race.
This isnt the only unusual place though. I also saw some "campainging"(if you call it that) against McCain in an episode of family guy Sunday night. Some characters went back in time and killed a natzi to get his uniform. When he got the uniform he noticed a blue dot, and zoomed in. It was a McCain & Palin button, which they left zoomed in for a couple of seconds, which of course implies that natzies support John McCain. I was surprised that a funny cartoon which never so blatenly talks about current events, would mention politics.
At this point, you couldnt avoid things even if you tried. Every other add, is an Obama add or McCain add, McCain had adds up on youtube recently, and you cant even watch a baseball game without hearing about John McCain, and Barack Obama. I get that its the political season, and its the big thing these days, but have other elections been like this? It seems like literally everyone has some opinion on issues and the candidates, opposed to the usual vote for the democrat or vote for the republican.All this election fever makes me happy to see people actually looking at issues, and i hope voting non-partisanly, so that we can elect the president who will be able to make the majority of Americans satisfied.


Bwa

Obama's mama's mama

Obama will take a break from his campaign Thursday to visit his sick grandmother in Hawaii. Evidently Obama values family over politics.  Just kidding.  He may love his grandmother, but this visit is political.  He gets to show just how much free time he has, as his campaign is going so well.  Really, it looks like this race is wrapped up.  People are saying that Obama may have peaked too early, but they were saying that a week ago too.  Obama's peaked, he will continue to peak, and he's gonna win the election.  

Mark Warner Is For Real

Im going to make a little switch here, and talk about Mark Warner who's running for congress against Jim Gilmore. Mark Warner's a very liberal democrat who's against off-shore drilling, for socialized health care, yet i still support him, along with the majority of people in VA. Honestly, i don't know much about Jim Gilmore, but that doesn't matter to me, because i like Mark Warner. why?
Well, if you've watched tv recently, you'll notice a lot Mark Warner adds toting his "going across party lines" experience, as well as "being in touch" with the average Virginian. I was skeptical of his bi-partisan expierence, so I went onto a few websites, i saw he actually does talk,debate and work with republicans as well as other democrats, which gets the Brandan Zweig endorsment. He doesnt just do what the democrats are soppose to do, instead he does what he thinks is right by going to everyone(both parties) and getting it done, no matter which side of the aisle he works with. I think his track record of going across the aisle makes him the best candidate to actually help Virginians and not just his politcal career, which is why he's leading Jim Gilmore, 61% to 31% in the polls. not too bad huh?


Bwa

Good News is Hard to Find

It is difficult to remember the last example of pure, unadulterated good news for the McCain campaign. The Obama camp, on the other hand, is far from short on this precious commodity. Today former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama, turning his back on long time friend and fellow Republican, John McCain. Powell has said that Sen. Obama would be a "transformational president," capable of "electrify[ing] the world." Colin Powell joins Obama's already long list of celebrity and political backers which includes Oprah Winfrey, Al Gore, Toni Morrison, Ted Kennedy, and George Clooney. It was also announced recently that the Obama campaign has broken the monthly fundraising record, amassing over $150 mill in September. This brings Obama's total to $605 mill. Obama has opted out of the public financing system, becoming the first major candidate to do so since the system was introduced in the 1970s. John McCain, who has chosen to remain in the system, is limited to $85 mill for September and October, and has a comparatively miniscule fundraising total. These copious amounts of cash have enabled Obama to organize his campaigning in key battle-ground states and have paid for televised ads, including a 30 "closing argument" scheduled for Oct. 29. But Obama's success is not solely monetary. Yesterday, Obama spoke at a rally in St. Louis, Mo, in front of 100,000 people. That's more than the population of Charlottesville and Albemarle county combined. Some pundits fear that Obama has peaked too early in the race, but to me, it seems as though his peak is yet to come.

bwA

Serious Support for McCain

I was watching CNN today when they showed McCain at a campaign rally in Woodbridge VA. The crowd was extremely loud, and literally every sentence got chants and thumbs up, or a comment about Obama which dew huge boos. Its interesting McCain has recently got a lot of loud support, which I find strange, because McCain is really a very moderate republican. He doesn’t really energize the base, therefore, he’s mostly getting votes based on being not as bad as Obama, but it shocks me to hear such roars from the crowd in McCain's favor. i bet the 'real' conservatives are getting scared with Obama's lead, and now are coming out to really show their support for John McCain.
Obama on the other hand, has always had the roaring crowds on his side. i remember when he came to Charlottesville a while ago, and the place would go crazy, whenever he said end the war in Iraq, Socialized medicine, or Renewable energy. it actually legitimately surprised me that his supports would be so genuinely excited over campaign promises without concrete plans. anyway, this turn of events in crowd excitement is something that could turn momentum for John McCain a little, but not enough to move the needles in my opinion.


Bwa

The Newspaper Race

Quality Internet resources such as this blog and our colleagues' at electiontfs.blogspot.com are not the only places to find dedicated election coverage. Newspapers, one of our nation's oldest and most loved media forms, are very much involved in the race for the White House. Over the past few days, Barack Obama has added a few heavyweights to his already impressive list of print supporters. Today the Washington Post endorsed Obama "without ambivalence," as "the right man for a perilous moment." The Los Angeles Times backed Obama "without hesitation," offering its first endorsement since 1972. The Chicago Tribune, Obama's local newspaper, backed the Democratic Presidential nominee for the first time in its history. These three additions put Obama's endorsement count past 50, while McCain's trickles along at 16. The newspapers supporting Obama reach an audience of 5.8 million Americans. McCain's backers have a combined circulation of 1.6 million. Even though newspapers may be on the decline as a media format, they are still very much alive in our political process.

bwA

A Strategy We Can't Believe In

Over past few weeks Sen. John McCain has shifted the focus of his campaign towards personal attacks on Sen. Obama. I really noticed this change in tonight's debate. Certainly one of the night's most heated segments centered on the validity and respectability of recent negative press. John McCain's candor throughout the 90 minutes felt confrontational and snarky. He seemed to smirk at Obama's responses, and felt more comfortable challenging his opponent's plans than justifying his own. According to the latest New York Times Polls, this new strategy has backfired on Sen. McCain.

• 61% of all registered voters, including 41% of Republicans, feel McCain spends more time attacking Obama than explaining how he would change the country as President.
  
• 63% of all registered voters feel Obama focuses more on explaination than attack. 42% of Republicans share that view.

Because of his strategy change, McCain has most definitely lost support on a large scale. More importantly perhaps, nearly half of his party now feel he is overly confrontational. Needless to say, over 3/4ths of all Democrats agree. Obama, on the other hand, has gained support in the past few weeks, and while an overwhelming majority of Democrats are disappointed with McCain's new tactics, half of all Republicans feel Obama offers more than enough explanation of himself and his policies. It seems that McCain's new plans have already lost their appeal, and with less than 3 weeks until election day, he is quickly running out of time for the change his supporters can believe in.

bwA

The Final Debate

Tonight, starting in about an hour, is the final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.   Obama has everything to lose, and McCain everything to gain.  Obama leads on almost every major issue and dominates most 'battleground' states.  Essentially, he's going into this debate not to win, but to not lose.  He'll say what he's been saying for 20 or so months, and as long as he doesn't screw up he's in the clear. McCain, for his part, will have to propose something radical to even have a chance at swaying voters.  It's not enough for him to be adequate, or even stellar.  He has to bring something completely new to the table - and this debate will be held at an actual table, as opposed to others where the candidates were made to stand.  The debate tonight will be about mainly domestic issues, and the economy will certainly be discussed - today the Dow Jones industrials lost 733 points, their second largest loss ever.  All other major indexes are down at least 7 percent. We'll see how this turns out.

bWa

ACORN Commits Voter Fraud With Obama's Donation

The super leftist group ACORN(Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) has registered over 1.3 million voters. All of which will be voting democrat, which gives Obama more votes. Its clear ACORN doesn't want another republican in office, and they've gone to registering some voters not once, or even twice, but 72 times in order to acheive that. When these potential voters were confronted by police, they said that ACORN had promised them a cigarette for each time they signed up. Alright, so people are caught up in the political fever and what not, ACORN ill get punished i assume and the election will resume as usual. Not so. this situation provided a perfect attack at Obama. if you had read the actual name of the orginazation, its community organizers. hmm, Obama was a community organizer whose been associating with this group since the 90's. still no big deal really. But, just this year, 2008, the Obama campaign donated 800,000 dollars to ACORN, which according to Obama was used for lights, and chairs and other stuff..whatever that means. when questioned further, it was discovered that the money was used for "registering voters". hmm, i wonder how much of the Obama campaigns money was used to buy cigarettes as bribes to vote for Obama?

Im not suggesting that Obama had anything to do with the Fraud, but im curious to see how it plays out. its an issue McCain can and probably will bring up in ads, rallies, maybe the debate even. I wonder how Obama will react, since he wont want to seperate himself to much from ACORN, but at the same time he'll want to make it a point he doesnt approve of voter fraud.
Bwa

Tech Savy

Many of America's cyberphiles- techies, geeks, gamers- were disheartened by Barak Obama's choice of pro-Internet censorship Joe Biden. Yet, for the most part, they still preferred an informed but opinionated Biden to computer-illiterate McCain. Although McCain might not know how to use a computer, his campaign aids sure do. Sites like www.MeetBarakObama.com offer links to Republican sponsered sites. GOP webmasters are trying to appeal to today's youth through sites like www.barakbook.com, a play off of the popular social networking site facebook. There is even a place to create an onlie GOP profile and sign up for campaign assistance. A number of the featured sites are fairly basic and awkwardly put together, but the Republican party is not known for its ability to keep up with trends of the youth. While this is definitely a positive step for the Republicans, it feels forced and insincere. Besides, most of today's young voters seem precommitted to Obama and the Democrats.
-bwA

Palin's Ethical Violation

A report released last Friday by Alaskan lawmakers states that Sarah Palin violated state ethical laws. Way back whenever, before she was sworn in as governor, she became embroiled in a family feud, and began pressuring state public safety commissioner Walter Monegan to fire state trooper Michael Wooten, her brother in law, who was engaged in a messy divorce. Monegan refused her demands, and Palin fired him after becoming governor. While the report found that it was within her constitutional right to fire him, she violated ethical laws by pressuring and intimidating Monegan before her inauguration. Palin maintains that she's happy that the report cleared her of any legal wrong-doing. When it was pointed out that in fact she was, she diverted the topic back to the fact that she had the right to fire Monegan after attaining office, saying,

"I think that you’re always going to ruffle feathers as you do what you believe is in the best interest of the people whom you are serving. In this case I knew that I had to have the right people in the right position at the right time in this cabinet to best serve Alaskans, and Walt Monegan was not the right person at the right time to meet the goals that we had set out in our administration.

So no, not having done anything wrong, and again very much appreciating being cleared of any legal wrongdoing or unethical activity at all."

She concluded by saying that the investigation "did turn into a partisan circus".
-bWa

Obama Leads On All Major Issues

I woke up in time to watch the second half of Meet the Press this morning. I missed the talk with Jon Corzine (D-NJ) about the economy, but I did see a couple of people talking about the huge lead Obama has. He has a 11% lead in the total vote, but more importantly hes leading in ALL of the toss up states, and has a lead in 14 of the 15 most important issues. Therefore, Obama has 353 electoral votes, to 185 of McCain if the election ended today and they have to get just 270 to win. Thats a pretty serious lead. Obama pretty much just has to run the clock out at this point. McCain really needs something to turn his campaign around. Hes clearly not getting support from voters on major issues, so really the only thing left is to tear Obama down, which is what hes doing. Whats interesting is that Obama averaged about a 20% lead on the issues, but only has 11% of the vote, so clearly people are questioning his judgment, leadership, terrorist friends, etc. Essentially Obama is losing half of his potential voters becuase of things other than the issues, which leads to me the question, how many more people can McCain sway away from Obama? The answer is that he could sway the independents to his side, but i cant see that many independents going for the smear campaign about spending, leadership, and Bill Ayers. Ive seen the commercials, and they're alright. But at this point McCain needs more than alright, he needs more than pretty good, he needs at least 11% swing good. maybe he should get a 30 min. prime time tv slot right before the election. oh wait, Obama's alright got that covered. Really, the botton line is, I dont see where McCain's going to get an 11% move with a smear campaign, especially with Obama's momentum and strength going into these last few weeks.
-Bwa

The Great Schlep

While some politicians today find group unity only by firing those who challenge them, others inspire true loyal with only their presence. It is true that Obama is loved, not just liked, by many, prompting such catchy phrases as, "Obamanation," and "Obamanos!" (my personal favorite). But Coloumbus day weekend (this very weekend) an even greater display of unprovoked enthusiasm is happening. "The Great Schlep" encourages young Jews to fly to Florida and convince their grandparents to vote Democratic. The elderly Jewish vote, which proved so pivotal in the 2000 election, could be vital in clinching an Obama victory. It seems that the long awaited game-changing moved could come, not from either campaign, but from a group of ordinary citizens, compeled to make a difference.
-bwA

Economy part 2

The Wall st. companies took a calculated risk, but they wanted insurance just in case it didn't work out. thus, they agreed to credit default swaps with insurance/financial management firms like AIG, Lehman bros, Wells Fargo. they were willing to sell these credit swaps which said that the banks would pay a little money, and if the credit they loaned was defaulted on, these companies would pay them back. it wasnt an issue until recently. okay, so now its late 2008 and the people all the sudden cant make payments on their homes. well, they start to default on their credit they borrowed, thus foreclosures, and bankrupcy. so as these people couldnt pay for their houses, the finance firms who sold them the swaps couldnt pay them the incredibly huge sums they owed. thus, the banks like Bearn Sterns went out of business or got bought out cheap becuase their revenue cut off. wachovia had 80% of thier loans subprime, and they were recently sold for next to nothing. anyway, with these companies dropping the stock market started to drop, leading to losses for financial managment companies. through all this, hedge funds, saw an oppertunity to capitalize by selling stocks short (sell at current price, and then buy back in a certain period of for that price, for example, sell at 60 dollars..6 months later buy back at 30 for a profit of $30) All of this negitive sentiment and power to the negitive side drove prices even lower until Chris Cox finally banned short selling on banks for about a month, and now the ban has lifted. all of the stock market problems is leading to a recession..yes leading..were not in a recession yet. we need 2 or more quarters of negitive economic growth shown in the GDP. this quarter should be one, and next should be 2. it also lead to this bailout which is going to save everyone from great depression like declines, and help to the banks and finance houses (AIG, etc) to help them survive. anyway, thats how we got to where we are. SO WHAT ARE THE CANDIDATES GOING TO DO TO HELP US.

Well, McCain has talked about buying home mortgages recently, but previously talked about letting the free market do its thing. the American public doesn't want to hear that, considering the free market is what got us into this supposedly. less government intervention would have prevented this situation. how ironic that were going to be getting more reguation when it was reguations that got us into this. to me, long term we need to let the market work, but short term we definitly need government help. Obama has talked about similar mortgage programs, and tax relief for middle class families. i believe that we shouldn't have more government in the long run,and Obama has been clear that he intends to turn us into a near socialist country, Yet, i think that McCain is been pretty flip-floppy and he would do a awful job dealing with these problems. therefore, i would rather have Obama than McCain, but really neither of them have plans that i believe are really good in the long run, but i'd be willing to take a chance on the long run for the short term fixes....hmm that sounds familiar.
-Bwa

Understanding What Happened To The Economy

Over the past year, the stock market has gone down about 30%, and is going lower as i write this. The pain is felt across the board, from John having to cut back on his soccer games, to Wachovia employees watching their IRA's drop 90 % being generous( probably closer to 95-99%), to Ed McMahon foreclosing on his Hollywood estate. We're told this vague and confusing bailout will help (save) the economy, but who really knows. Obama and McCain point fingers at each other, and the general sentiment is that those evil wall st. CEO's created this, and now congress must fix their mistakes. that seems nice until you actually look into it and start to see the truth. clearly the economy is the the number one issue, and we deserve to know what exactly happened, so here it is...

It all started back in 2003/2004, when home values were skyrocketing. How great was it when you could buy a home and watch it go up 10-15% a year endlessly?...it was really really great. so with this idea, congress decided to deregulate the mortgage industry by allow sub-prime mortgages to be given out like welfare checks. if you wanted a house and had a couple bucks and a job, BAM!! you got yourself a house. Great idea since the real estate market was skyrocketing. this bill was backed strongly by democrats Chris Dodd, and Barney Frank. the loans allowed consumers to pay a low low interest rate for the first 5 years..and then it would adjust to the current interest rate after 5 years, and go like this for 30 years. its called adjustable rate mortgage. Hey, whats 2003+5...2008. hey, that's when the people couldn't pay their loans, since know they had to pay way more money than before. back to 2003. anyway, with pressure from congress since they're essentially government owned, Fannie mae and Freddie Mac, as well as the very sneaky Indie Mac started throwing these mortgages out like crazy, but the Wall st. mortgage houses, WaMa, Wachovia, etc dint. why not?(think for a sec) It was becuase these people weren't going to be able to afford it 5 years down the road, and those loans were WAY to much risk. after watching Fannie Mae and such, they realized when Fannie Mae goes bankrupt in 2008, where gonna have a financial crisis and they'll get bailed out. therefore, if they partake in this risky business, best case, the people make their loans and worst case they get bailed out by the government since theyll be willing to bail these companies out becuase of the magnitude. i have to finish this later...more to come
-Bwa

Let's Define 'Never'

Not long ago, just shortly after John McCain wrapped up the Republican party's nomination for president, a radio host hired to hype up the crowd at an event made a few personal attacks on both Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. McCain condemned the comments, saying,

"I absolutely repudiate such comments, and again I will take responsibility it will never happen again.”

Evidently John McCain has a very unique definition of the word 'never'. The McCain campaign has openly expressed its intention to attack the character of Obama, in what can only be described as a last-ditch measure intended to bolster McCain's waning popularity; and while McCain himself has personally refrained from attacking Obama directly, his running mate Sarah

Palin seems to have no qualms about it. During a speech after the October 2nd debate, Palin stated that Obama is "palling around with terrorists who would target their own country" and added "This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America. We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism."

Although Palin may not be aware of the full meaning of the word exceptionalism, the notion that the U.S. has the exceptional right to operate outside, and effectively ignore, international law, the hate's still evident. And while Palin at least hasn't been openly violent, the same can't be said of supporters at rallies. While the references to Obama's middle name, Hussein, by Palin have become more and more frequent, supporters have taken it one step further. ‘Treason,’ ‘terrorist,’ and ‘kill him!’ are phrases that are becoming commonplace during her speeches, and in some instances supporters are devolving into use of racial slurs; in one instance directed at a member of the sound crew for a news station. And though it's certain that neither McCain nor Palin would condone such bigoted remarks, their presence certainly speaks for the mindset of a growing number of McCain supporters.

-bWa

I Like Those Odds

Today, McCain launched a new attack add, claiming Obama's character flaws make him "too risky" to be president. Johnny Mc cites Obama's ties with ex-Weather Underground militant Bill Ayers as proof of his flawed judgement. Obama, meanwhile, said today that McCain's economic plan about buying up mortgages is a "risky idea." So we're not supposed to vote for the most compotent, or most experienced candidate anymore, just whoever isn't the riskiest. Whatever happened to the days when a little risk was attractive? Back in the day, when the mysterious drifter rolled into town (usually tall, dark, and handsome; not short, white, and old) all the girls went crazy. Or at the horse races, for instance, you never bet on Sure Thing, Smart Decision, or Economic Bailout. The best choices are always Cigar, Lugubrious Jack, or Thats Uncalled For. Personally, I think our candidates should stop, take a step back, and watch Ocean's 11. Those guys had it right. In three separate movies. Anyways, maybe Obama's terroist ties will make Al Qaeda respect him. Maybe then he'll be able to make some serious progress in the War on Terror. Maybe McCain's buyup policy will push us further into depression, or maybe it will miraculously solve our problems. Who knows? All I know is I've always liked a long-shot; the riskier, the better.
-bwA

Debate II

The stage was set. Nashville, TN. Red State. Town Meeting debate. Old man McCain was primed to work his maverick magic on young buck Barak Obama, and make up valuable ground in the race for the White House. So...what happened? Whiny jokes and awkward insults aren't going to cut it, Sen. McCain, I'm sorry. This was your shot! C'mon, game changer!
Supposedly, McCain is a master of Town Meeting body language, and really knows how to appeal to an audience. Like a puppeteer of the populace, he doesn't work a room, he let's the room work him. But in Nashville, he seemed old, stiff, and out of touch, like a confused patitent in a retirement home. He wandered around the stage during Obama's responses, often walking in front of the camera, and interrupted the Illinois senator with snide remarks which fell flat with live audience. To his credit, McCain did interact personally with the questioners from the outset, a tactic which Obama quickly picked up on. Yet overall, McCain's performance emphasized the generation gap, not only with Obama, but with some of America's most commited voters. The wierd grandfather personna he has developed was epitmoized with his referal to Obama as "that one."
For all McCain's shortcomings, Barak Obama was not stellar. He, like his running mate Joe Biden in his face-off with Sarah Palin, was adequate. He seemed knowledgeable and composed, and had a rather presidential demeanor. Most of all though, he just looked better than McCain.
-bwA

Welcome to USAP Lovin'

Why hello there! Welcome to USAP Lovin'. Please, make yourself comfortable. Take a seat.
Thank you for choosing USAP Lovin' as your source for all things Election 2008. I humbly commend your choice. We have assembled a crack team of political analysts eager to suit your needs as a voter, or simply as a keen follower of the governmental process. As the race for the White House is already nearing its peak, we will waste no time in our coverage. Rest assured, now that USAP Lovin' is off the ground, election breakdown will commence at once.
Again, welcome, and I sincerely hope you will turn to us for all your election needs.
-bwA