Politcs Plus - Mike's Blog - Victoria Advocate

Politcs Plus - Mike's Blog - Victoria Advocate http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike I will be writing the 2008 presidential election and anything political in between. Although I am a Democrat ,come on in and tell me where I am wrong. lol I will be writing the 2008 presidential election and anything political in between. Although I am a Democrat ,come on in and tell me where I am wrong. lol en-us Grand Slam http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8619 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8619 Barack Obama gave a masterful speech before 84,000 enthusiastic Democrats at Invesco Field.  Denver, Colorado last night. Another 38 million watched at home and abroad. Nearly all the pundits said it was the best acceptance speech ever.  Even Pat Buchanan (Richard Nixon's speech-writer) was glowing over it.  This speech is what the Democrats have been waiting for a Democrat to do since Michael Dukakis.  It was filled with challenges to John McCain to quit painting people as being unpatriotic, just because they are against the war in Iraq. <o:p></o:p> The Obama team made sure that 35,000 of the free tickets went to citizens of Denver for a promise to work in a grassroots effort to get Barack Obama elected.  The last text messaging gimmick they used ,got several e-mail addresses of potential voters.  I thought the Clinton machine and Karl Rove were the campaign models.  This Obama team will be the model for generations to come, using technology and grassroots efforts to maximize votes.  Says a lot about the organizational, temperament and leadership skills of a Barack Obama.<o:p></o:p> Rumor has it, that they are still looking for that ball he hit out of the park last night.<o:p></o:p> "No way,no how,no John McCain" http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8592 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8592 That's what Hillary Clinton said to 20,000 enthusiastic Democrats last night. It's going to make a hot selling bumper sticker.  Hillary Clinton gave her best speech ever.  She set up her best line saying, by telling the crowd that John McCain did not believe that women deserve equal pay for the equal work.  She went on to give my favorite line "with an agenda like that., it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities because these days there’re  awful hard to tell apart.”  And Pat Buchanan said she would not tear down John McCain because they were Senate buddies, and she will be running for president in the year 2012.  She proved them wrong.  A class act, because I have never heard a second-place finisher endorsed the winner in such a fashion.<o:p></o:p> The McCain camp fired off their talking points which every surrogate used line by line.  They said Hillary never mentioned Barack Obama was ready to be commander-in-chief.  It left out the fact that she lowered John McCain status, to way below Obama’s.  She emphasized their similar views on the issues that matter to the Hillary supporters.<o:p></o:p> The Democratic convention is getting little testy, I guess the pundits are having too much together time.  First there was the CNN flare up, between John King and Paul Begala. This started because Paul did not want anyone to say he was active in trying to stir up the Hillary Clinton delegation.  Then David Shuster and Joe Scarborough got into it over Iraq wanting our troops to leave on a timetable.  David Shuster said “your party, Joe” and it took off from there.  Shortly afterwards Joe Scarborough and David Shuster hugged....I left out the Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews  jabs, and the Keith Olbermann Chris Matthews taking pot shots at Howard Wolfson of  Fox for being a lap dog.  The clip I provided,sorta reminds me of this forum ,without the hugs. Here are some other good lines from the convention. <o:p> Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., told the convention crowd that McCain "calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush 90 percent of the time. That's not a maverick, that's a sidekick." Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland used a baseball analogy about job losses. Bush "came into office on third base, and then he stole second," he said. "And John McCain cheered him every step of the way." <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jTzDH5H9uCP7GCHsekb1ZcUFvnbQD92QR0500">http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jTzDH5H9uCP7GCHsekb1ZcUFvnbQD92QR0500</a> </o:p> Tonight it's Bill Clinton and Joe Biden’s turn.  I'm pretty sure Joe Biden will take off the gloves, and go after John McCain, but Bill Clinton is a different story.  Bill Clinton claims he has not written a speech yet, so the Obama camp will not get a good look see before he goes on stage.  I'm pretty sure Bill Clinton will give a great speech tonight, because he is a very competitive man, and he will want to place the bar very high for Barack Obama Thursday night.<o:p></o:p> A worthwhile clip.<o:p></o:p> http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/yikes-joe-scarborough-and-david-schuster-fight-on-msnbc/<o:p></o:p> The Hillary Factor and why http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8574 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8574 After watching all the pre convention coverage, I came away feeling CNN believed the disgruntled Hillary voters will cause mischief at the convention.  This was their first question to any Democrat they interviewed hour after hour "why wasn't Bill or Hillary consulted on the vice presidential pick?"  John McCain has tailored his ads to take full advantage by portraying Hillary as the poor, disrespected victim.  <o:p></o:p> CNN's Anderson Cooper was saying that Paul Begala and James Carville were pushing the story that Obama disrespected Bill and Hillary.  These two loyalists cannot let go.  This puts the pressure on Hillary to release her delegates earlier and have a speech tailored to try and sway her followers.  <o:p></o:p> Due to a recent Gallup daily tracking showing McCain and Obama at a statistical tie  47% to 47% , the pundits started speculating.  Depending on the poll, ABC /Washington Post, Wall Street Journal/ NBC news or CNNs showed the Hillary voters favoring Obama, anywhere from 52% to 66%.  Those same polls had the Hillary voters favoring John McCain,anywhere from 22% to 30%.  The undecided were at around 13%.  Since the Congressional Democrats have a 15% lead over their Republican counterparts, people have wondered why Obama did not follow suit.  Traditionally the Democrats will come back to Obama for the most part, but it is a problem and a reason for this year's party theme "Unity 08.” If John McCain garners 30% of the Democratic vote; he will run away in a landslide.<o:p></o:p> The Republicans,John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, and Fox would like nothing better than another 1968 Democratic convention. Fox News started pretty early, sending Griff Jenkins out this week-end to try and antagonize the Democrats with shouts like "whats your message?" and “do you believe in freedom?”.. As expected, he was greeted with expletives. I love that “fair and balance.” All is fair in love, war and politics, I suppose.<o:p></o:p> Excellent Choice http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8553 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8553 Last night around 7:00 p.m. Andrea Mitchell of NBC News reported that Tim Kaine and Evan Byth  were not selected.  Then about 10:45PM MSNBC reported that the Secret Service were summoned to Joe Biden’s house  and about 25 minutes later CNN reported that a high Democratic source told them that Joe Biden was a man chosen to be Barack Obama's vice president. Joe Biden is a working-class Irish Catholic senator from Delaware. He was the youngest senator ever sworn in, since Thomas Jefferson.  A 2006 summary, listed him being the poorest Senator.  His assets were  -$300,000. This year he is worth about $150,000. Like most Americans, he has only one house with a mortgage.  He will do well in the rust belt and Pennsylvania.<o:p></o:p> Joe Biden has a bull dog approach to politics, so the GOP Rovian style will suit him just fine. This will let Barack Obama stay on message.  Obama did not pick a yes man, which would be vital if he really wants to reach across the line and get things done.<o:p></o:p> Since this race is close, this means that Obama’s VP might influence McCain's pick. He most likely will have to go with Mitt Romney.  Joe Biden will destroy the young governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty. McCain can no longer  alienate his base by picking pro-choice candidates like Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge.<o:p></o:p> In my opinion, polls are useless at this point, approaching the Democratic convention because conventional wisdom will tell you Barack Obama will get a good bounce after the convention and so will John McCain.  In mid-September the polls will be more significant. At 2:00 PM Barack Obama & Joe Biden will appear together in Springfield,IL for the first time...Darn I planned my vacation a couple weeks too early. Conservative columnist David Brooks of the New York Times wrote a good piece about Joe Biden. I provided a link. <o:p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/opinion/22brooks.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/opinion/22brooks.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin</a></o:p> Nuance v Steadfast http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8531 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8531 The presidential race poll numbers are tightening and the pundits are salivating. Their interpretations are quite disturbing.  The recent Russia-Georgia crisis and John McCain’s quick response was a major factor.  Even though we only have one president at the time, John McCain was quicker to respond than the White House. John even dispensed Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, as unofficial envoys.  Georgia requested Joe Biden.  This conflict has been going on for over two years, and Georgia is no match for Russia. We are bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, so we really don't have a military option on the table.  Condoleezza Rice recently signed a missile defense shield agreement with Poland angering the Russians even more.  In the meantime, the Defense Department announced they will be sending 15,000 more troops to Afghanistan at the end of the year, so they don't seem to be worried about this conflict militarily.<o:p></o:p> The second part of the poll is disturbing.  It showed that over 30% of the respondents do not think America is ready for a black president. OK, when? <o:p></o:p>  In 2004,  George W. Bush got 75% of the evangelical vote, after the Rick Warren debate, McCain will get at that amount or more ,because steadfast will beat nuance every time with a crowd that has the "either you're with me or against me" mentality.  One of the questions was "Is there evil in the world and can we defeat it?"  Naturally Obama gave a nuance answer explaining that evil can be defined in many ways, and the crowd remained silent.  John McCain came in on cue and said “I will defeat it” and then he went on into his "I will follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell” and was rewarded with a rousing applause.<o:p></o:p> The pundits are saying John McCain will pick Joe Lieberman as his running mate, leaving us to believe that he will only serve one term; thinking any Republican could defeat a liberal like Joe Lieberman in the next election.  Now the polls are tightening McCain might to go with safer choice like Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.  Therefore, where is putting the country first, in these calculating choices? If you have time read this funny article by Maureen Dowd <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/opinion/20dowd.html?hp">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/opinion/20dowd.html?hp</a> We had eight years of steadfast. Do we really want another eight years? Start the real campaign http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8451 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8451 It's about 2 1/2 more months before the general election, and I have yet to see an ad where the Independents can make a clear choice between John McCain and Barack Obama.  What's the message so far?  John McCain has an ad painting Obama as a celebrity, like Paris Hilton.  Obama counters with McCain shaking hands with Letterman and Jay Leno.  I can see the bear hugs with George W. Bush being effective, but shaking hands with Letterman and Leno?  It's really bad when Paris Hilton, had a better energy policy than either of the candidates.<o:p></o:p> Hillary supporters get over it, your candidate lost fair and square.  If you want to join the Republican Party and vote for John McCain be my guest, but the Democrats are preparing for the convention and your whining is becoming a distraction.  Bill and Hillary Clinton will give major speeches in prime time, so Obama has not dissed them.  Roll call at the convention is not necessary, nor does hypothetical’s like the one Howard Wolfson (Clinton communication director) put out recently.Mr. Wolfson claimed that Hillary Clinton would be the nominee if John Edwards would have disclosed his infidelity before the Iowa primary.  Not according to the exit polls, because the Edwards voters second choice were for Obama.<o:p></o:p> We recently got a glimpse of how the candidates might treat a real crisis, such as the Russia- Georgia conflict.  John McCain made empty threats and Barack Obama’s remarks were about McCain having a lobbyist supporting Georgia in his camp.  Thank God Russia backed off on its own.  Why didn't Obama use this opportunity to say, because we're bogged down in Iraq,  we have become a paper tiger.  He should have exposed the neocons supporting John McCain and their plan for constant war. Bill Kristol said “Georgia has had the third-largest military presence — about 2,000 troops — fighting along with U.S. soldiers and marines in Iraq. For this reason alone, we owe Georgia a serious effort to defend its sovereignty. Surely we cannot simply stand by as an autocratic aggressor gobbles up part of — and perhaps destabilizes all of — a friendly democratic nation.” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/opinion/11kristol.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/opinion/11kristol.html</a>  The Washington Times issued the same sentiments.<o:p></o:p> I am confident that the people get it, this election will not be won by Swift boating or cheap gimmicks.  I read where a college in Iowa is paying for bicycles for their students and installing bike racks.  How does the college benefit from that?  The college did not have to pay for another parking garage, because the students overwhelmingly took up their offer. Side benefit, a healthy body makes a healthy mind.  Another article in Friday's USA Today confirmed that people are serious about the high gas prices.  The article went on to say customers cannot wait to get their 2008 Toyota Prius,so they are offering to pay $1500 over the list price of a used 2007 Toyota Prius.  The drill now, everywhere gimmick might sound good, but people do not trust the word of a politician to answer their everyday needs.<o:p></o:p> Glad to be back http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8445 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8445 We arrived in steamy, hot, West Memphis, Arkansas at about seven o'clock Saturday evening.  It was 98° ,but it felt more like 138°.  We left next morning at about seven o'clock and arrived in Chicago at four o'clock that afternoon. At three o'clock Monday afternoon(for the 7:00PM game), we headed out to the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) at Midway Airport to board the L. train to the Roosevelt transfer point, where we took the many, many, stairs to catch our L. train to Wrigley where we climbed more stairs downward to the stadium. My daughter worked three days on eBay to find tickets for a sold-out Monday night game, between the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs.  She won the bid of $160(two tickets that originally sold for $32 apiece) for Lower reserved end seats.  Happy anniversary mom and dad.  Unlike Minute Maid, Wrigley Field restrooms are all located downstairs.  My wife was not impressed with the concrete ramps, not even when I told her, it was built in 1914 and Babe Ruth and Ernie Banks played at the stadium. About the fifth inning, with the Astros leading 2-0; we heard a loud crack of a lightning bolt and then the buckets of rain started coming down. We were under the protective roof, but we gave up after a 30 minute rain delay and decided it was time to head back to the hotel.  Unfortunately, so did, much of the crowd.  As we're waiting for the delayed L. train, we could see from our vantage point, the good work.  the police were doing bypassing all the cars around the stadium.  All of a sudden, we heard a loud, tornado warning siren go off, and then the pushing and shoving started as we boarded the L. train.  About an hour later we finally made it to our car, we're heard on the radio that the Chicago area had experienced three tornadoes, with winds up to 90 miles an hour.  Luckily, Bridgeview, Illinois (where we were staying) did not suffer any damage.  We later heard that 250,000 people had lost power in Illinois and Indiana, where to tornadoes landed. Wednesday night, we decided to go to the White Sox- Tiger game. What in difference, as we drove up a few hours before game time and got pretty good seats in the outfield.  The parking lot was easy to get in and get out, much like Minute Maid. The GPS system was a lifesaver, made us feel like we knew where we were going.  Once we missed a turn because of the traffic, but the old GPS recalculated and got me in at a different entry point.  The Toyota Prius got 52.5 miles per gallon, now if only my bladder could do that well.  I think we made every rest stop to and from Illinois. Hats off to the caretakers of those rest stops.  What a good feeling to look over to GPS screen and see rest area 15 miles or 12 minutes. Vacation bound....Destination...Chicago http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8327 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8327 Two years ago my wife and I vacationed in Chicago, and we enjoyed it so much that we made a vow to do it again.  Tomorrow morning we will begin our journey, leaving here at 5 a.m. continuing on to West Memphis, Arkansas where we will stop for the night.  After we leave West Memphis we should arrive in Chicago sometime Sunday afternoon.  It’s all part of our 41st wedding anniversary celebration. The last time we went to Chicago, we enjoyed a three-game sweep of the Cubs by our beloved Houston Astros.  Wrigley Field is old, but nice, and the people are passionate about their Cubbies.  In fact, a fight broke out, on the L-train, between the Chicago White Sox fan and a cub fan.  That hate is genuine between the fans of these two teams.  A lot of “Sox’s suck” memorabilia is sold outside of Wrigley Field.  Several fans noticed my Astros cap told me to stomp the Sox, if we got into the World Series.. The Astros got to the World Series, but they didn't do any stomping. This year to we plan to take the hop- on hop- off tour again, but we are going to skip the Sears Tower and Navy Pier and substitute visiting the neighborhoods and the theater district. We will also go to the Astros-Cub Monday night and maybe a White Sox game since they are in town also.  I have been told that the Brown line offers a unique view of the skyline of Chicago downtown, we intend to find out.If you know of anything to do that is not on the brochures let me know ,because we intend to explore that region this time, and not just the tourist destinations. Tonight I will fill up with cheaper Texas gasoline, program the GPS system, and go on-line to look at the weather in Arkansas and Illinois. It's not too late, I don't do tornadoes. Do negative ads work? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8305 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8305 <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> All the political pundits agree on one thing, John McCain cannot win this election, but Barack Obama certainly can lose it.  What does that mean?  It means the country knows John McCain, yet he cannot get  Over 45. % This year, the stars are aligned for the Democrats, because a generic Democrat will beat any GOP candidate, in most cases.  It's not because the Democrats are so great, its because we continue to throw the incumbents out, and start all over.  According to a WSJ/NBC poll, 74% of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction this country is going.  To be fair, Barack Obama has not capitalized, because he currently has a 55% risk factor, which means “I'm not exactly pleased with John McCain, but I don't know about this Obama fellow.”  Eventually it will be about the economy, unless Israel attacks Iran before then, and neither candidate has produced a workable plan.<o:p></o:p> In my opinion (and some pundits) believe John McCain has been taken over by the RNC, having Karl Rove in the background and Steven Schmidt calling all the shots.  McCain looks uncomfortable, unlike his happy warrior mood in 2000.  The McCain campaign, witnessed the powerful Clinton campaign win the Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Indiana primaries by hammering away on Obama's thin resume.  Remember the 3:00 a.m phone call?  The John McCain campaign and their surrogates have likened Barack Obama to Hitler, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton in recent ads and talk show rhetoric.  This will keep the Obama busy responding, because they vow not to be swift boated.<o:p></o:p> Rap star Ludicrous recently released a new song filled with hate and over-the-top lyrics on Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush and John McCain. Why is this important?  Early in the campaign, Ludicrous held a fund raiser for Barack Obama where Obama praise the rap star as a talented individual, and admitted his songs are in his IPOD.  Yesterday, the Obama campaign issued a release, condemning the lyrics of Ludicrous’s new song.  Pat Buchanan of MSNBC said, this incident will play into the stereotypes and help John McCain.<o:p></o:p> How does Barack Obama combat all this?  The campaign will quickly put up an ad, reminding people that this is the same old politics; he has been running against all along.  The emphasis will be on old.  He really needs to choose a Vice President to answer all the negative ads, leaving him to stay above the fray and on message.  John McCain knows these tactics were the reason George W. Bush destroyed him in the South Carolina primaries, and he used them again to destroy John Kerry with the Swift boat ads.  For some reason the Democrats will not get down and dirty like the Republicans and they have paid the ultimate price.  It’s all about winning.<o:p></o:p>   Will be vice presidential choice influence your vote? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8288 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8288 It this 24/7 news cycle we live in, the pundits are making Obama's and McCain’s choice for vice president the story of the hour. Have you ever told yourself now that the candidate has chosen X, I am ready to vote for he/she for president?  I think the Democrats will vote for their own and the Republicans will do the same, it's those "I came make up my mind” Independents that might consider the vice president as a reason to cast their vote for that candidate. In McCain’s case, if he were to choose pro-choice Tom Ridge, I think the social conservatives would stay home.<o:p></o:p> Conventional wisdom tells us that candidate must first choose someone they are comfortable with, satisfy it’s needs like a state or excellent credentials in foreign or domestic matters.  They must do no harm.  Personally, I wish the candidates would let the public know the makeup of their cabinet prior to the election.  Now they would let the voters know exactly the direction the candidate wants to take this country. If the cabinet was filled with old hands, then it would be a status quo, if a mixture was used, then a message of diversity would be delivered, if it contained a lot of non-Washington types; the candidate wants to throw out the old and bring in the new.  The latter would never get below 55% in the risk factor.<o:p></o:p> The pundits have narrowed it down to Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, Senators Evan Bayh and Joe Biden for the Democrats. Those same pundits think Obama will choose Tim Kaine, because he has supported Obama since the very start, he is 50 years old, not from Washington, Catholic, pro-gun ,pro-life, speaks fluent Spanish, and they think he can deliver Virginia.  On the Republican side, the short list has Mitt Romney, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Washington insider Rob Portman and dark horse, former head of Homeland security Tom Ridge.  If it comes down to Pawlenty and Bayh, you want avoid that debate, unless you have trouble sleeping at night.  Now Biden and Romney would be worth watching.<o:p></o:p> I always hear the pundits say no one makes their choice based on the vice president.  I can see a scenario where the 18 million voters that voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries, or the Ron Paul supporters being swayed’ if their first choice for president was on the ticket.  Like every presidential election, there are those that say they will vote for the lesser of the two evils, I disagree, and I think this presidential election will break all voting records.<o:p></o:p> I am very interested in what my fellow Victorians think.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>