AMY GOODMAN: So, here you are, anti-choice, pro-life, and pro-Obama, Senator Obama, who is fiercely pro-choice.

FRANK SCHAEFFER: Right, right. And you know what? It’s an imperfect world, but I would rather have a president that I disagree with on the issue of choice who’s fit to be president than an old man who has just shown such a lack of judgment as to literally connect himself to the lunatic fringe of the lunatic fringe. It isn’t just someone you disagree with politically. That’s one point.

And I’d say something else about the choice issue. I am pro-life. I haven’t changed in that regard. If people read my book, Crazy for God, they’ll see that I’ve gone left, if you want to put it that way, in many, many areas, but not that one. But I actually believe that if your interest is not ideology and ideological purity, but rather abortion itself, i.e. you want more or less abortions, that the medical and social programs that Barack Obama is talking about for our country, in terms of care of women and children and families, improvement in education and possibilities for all Americans, actually will result in less abortions. So my interest in the abortion issue is that I think abortion is a tragedy. My interest is not the politics of it, as in always appearing to vote for the person who has the correct ideology.

And so, I think there’s a choice for Americans interested in this issue who are like me, pro-life, and that is, do you want to choose ideological purity attached to a party that will so destroy our economy and all the social programs that there will be more abortions, i.e. as there have been through the Republican-controlled years, when they’ve been talking about this issue for thirty years and done nothing about it for actually helping women and children, or would you rather have a president like Barack Obama, who you disagree with on this one ideological point, in terms of what you might call the theology of the issue, but whose program would practically result in a more conducive environment for families to prosper, for people to have children, for kids to go to school, for women to be taken care of? And I would rather vote for a person who’s going to do the job rather than just have the correct ideology.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/13/for...ses_the_senator

It's not as if all the past POTUS's haven't been Christians, moderate ones who didn't take steps to let their beliefs shape policy like Bush has. And of course Obama's a Christian, so American will be electing a Christian regardless of which candidate they choose. Simplistic thinking helps no one.

To me what's insane is the idea of electing someone to that level who thinks bringing about Armageddon is A Good Thing (y'know, because it'll mean the 2nd coming of Jesus in our lifetimes! Yay!) - ie, Palin.


Adam Serwer in The American Prospect, What Right Wingers Mean When They Call Obama a "Socialist": Right-wing attempts to paint Barack Obama as a socialist aren't just disingenuous. They're rooted in a history of conservative smears against black leaders.

John Cleese on Palin (Youtube)

Polly and nohope: thanks for those posts: I am sooo gonna quote those.

Speaking of 2nd Coming, tonight someone I know said "If Obama is elected President, the Rapture will occur." I held my tongue and didn't say that that's not even real, but it blows my mind that those around me focus on the religious thing. "Obama has ties to the Islamic Nation" "God wants us to shield Israel, and if Obama is elected, that won't happen and we'll be displeasing god" blah blah blah. Nobody around me seems to be focusing on real things that are really affecting us.

"If we pull out of Iraq, we'll soon be fighting a war here in America." No. I really doubt that. But if we continue to blow money on this war, with our economy already circling the bowl, we will end up with nothing but a massive debt. And who'd want to bail our collective ass out? NOBODY. We're so freaking unpopular, I'll bet plenty of other nations would love to see America in a major national security crisis. We'd be screwed. What then? Suppose this war in America they're convinced will happen occurs then. We'd be doubly screwed.
Opinions, anyone? I haven't seen much talk about the war on this thread, and I'd like to get your POV. I hear so many people say that we should stay there until we "win." Win what? And how?? We're just not going to be able to force the people of Iraq to adopt our form of government. Seriously, look at how long it took us to get to where we are. And the powers that be here in the States want to implement our form of government over there in a matter of a few years? N.O.T. G.O.N.N.A. H.A.P.P.E.N. What a colossal waste of lives, time, and money.

Exactly. They're talking from ideology and emotion. Ask them for specifics and most of them won't be able to come up with details.

National Strategy for Victory in Iraq

John McCain . . . considers victory to be an Iraq that is "a democratic ally." George W. Bush has defined victory as a unified, democratic, and stable Iraq. Neither man has explained how he will transform Iraq's ruling theocrats into democrats, diminish Iran's vast influence in Baghdad, or reconcile Kurds and Sunnis to Iraq's new order. Remarkably, neither the Democrats nor the press has challenged them to do so.

Interesting background (I can't remember if I've posted this here before so apologies if I have): John McCain believes the Vietnam War was winnable. . . . Is McCain’s quest for victory a reflection of an antiquated pre-Vietnam mind-set? Or of a commitment to principles we abandon at our peril? Is there any war McCain thinks can’t be won?

from last week, A nearly completed high-level U.S. intelligence analysis warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year.

Holy hell! McCain just said that Palin is "a role model for women." To hell she is! She's an enemy to women's rights, and she's flat-out dumb. What a colossal slap in the face. Bastard.

ugh. mccain is a jackass.

Go ahead old man, say "pro-abortion" one more time.

That's what I thought...
Okay, somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but when the moderator (forgot his name) was asking about appointing SC justices, did McCain say that he doesn't think someone who would uphold Roe v. Wade is someone who's really qualified to be a justice (or something to that effect)? Did I misunderstand? If he did say that, wow. That's all I can say. The nuttery of that idea leaves me speechless. Wouldn't it be hard to reach over from that far to the right?

ETA: I love how Obama kept his cool. At a few different points during the debate, it looked like McCain was flailing, and getting pretty frustrated. It doesn't look like he accomplished what he needed to, to start gaining more favor.

yeah now THAT was a debate. i was thrilled that they tackled the ayers/acorn bullshit and the fact that people yelled "kill him" at mccain rallies--of course mccain tried to twist that to make it like obama was saying people who go to mccain rallies are as a rule incendiary, but i don't think anybody bought it.

yeah, trig has down's and not autism and the two are pretty polar opposite, but the point was about special education in general and both fall into that category. hilariously, though, republicans do not have a strong history of supporting special needs programs and NOTHING has been said about any specific proposals for help. and it doesn't stop after the kids with special needs graduate either...they need help all their lives, and republicans' standing on social programs is not very good.

that frank shaeffer quote was so so so good. i wish that was the stance obama had taken when the issue was raised in this debate. it was such an excellent way of saying it.

mccain was a little asshole this debate. i loved how every time he called obama "eloquent" it was an insult.

i don't know if anyone else was watching cnn's little graph of undecided ohio voters but obama's graph hit the top several times, whereas mccain's actually dipped below the median. i am holding my breath. i can barely handle waiting three more weeks.

i also loved how mccain made it a point to say that he DOES support stem cell research programs...cos that's gonna make him real popular with the sarah palin auxiliary. and yeah, he did say that anyone pro choice wouldn't have the qualifications to be in the supreme court.

fuck it, we only have to listen to him for a few more weeks. then he's gone.

ok. we get it, joe is a good guy.

*whatever*

sorry, but the phrase "spread the wealth around" isn't threatening if you're not wealthy, you shmuck. i suppose you wouldn't know that since you've been living off of your wife's $$$ since forever. i'm not surprised that the polls say o won. *shrugs* mccain sounded like a rich guy interested in trickle-down republican bullshit.


i'm amazed at how diplomatic o is.

is sarah palin qualified?

my answer would have been, "are you kidding me? FUCK NO. anyone who says she is? they're as low wattage as she is."

there was a local debate that slayed me. they had a lightin' round. they were given three cards: yes, no, and "waffle"

they were not allowed to speak, or elaborate, simply hold up a card stating where they stood.
it was brilliant.

and i am so with you, mouse. this is driving me nuts, esp. with the voter suppression thing. i'm optimistic but scared shitless.

I'm freaked, too. I'm still afraid of that "Bradley Effect" despite some people's efforts to dismiss it. Hopefully I'm dead wrong when I think that white male southern democrats won't vote for a black man. My dad has already said that he's going to vote republican, and he has strong democrat leanings... But then, he tends to be really racist, and it wouldn't be right to go by him...

shite!

I had a whole post written, but the computer ate it.

Rudderless....that was the best moment of the whole debate, I thought....the "Zero" answer. McCain was dumbfounded.

And Jsmith, yep, that's what I heard in McCain's answer to the justices question....he said he wouldn't omit any quailified person from consideration b/c of their views. But then in the next sentence he said he doesn't consider anyone who agrees with Roe v Wade as "qualified." Unbelievable.

I was proud of Obama for his answer to McCain's talk about autistic children. Uh, yes, if you want to provide programs like that, it takes actual funding.

if i had to pick between John McCain and Obama, i would vote McCain..... Problem is this itty bitty thing.... Palin...

While John McCain, I believe has more credibility of standing up for what is right,.... if John died, and Palin was presidnet, it would all be over.... she is a crasy religious fanatic... who still believes in witchcraft.

Do we really want to have witch trials in America and flint stones taught in science classes?

Was the women's "health" thing near the end? I listened to the end in the car, so I must have missed the visual. What an ass.



I thought the same thing- reminded me of that Chris Rock bit from several, maybe even 10 years ago, where he says people always talk about how "eloquent" and "well-spoken" Colin Powell is. I couldn't find a transcript of the exact bit from the show, but here's Chris making a similar joke on Larry King:

What's the first thing they say when they talk about Colin Powell? What's their compliment? He's well-spoken. Well-spoken is not a compliment. Well-spoken is something you say about people you don't expect to be able to speak. How do they expect Colin Powell to sound? Like, "I'm gonna drop me a bomb today!"

Obama did a great job of standing his own. I loved that he pointed out all the rethuglicans on the committee he was on with Bill Ayers.

Hehe, he wanted to skip around the question, but when the moderator demanded a real answer, he was forced to show us what he's really like. Love it. I think the moderator last night should have been there for all three debates.
On the eloquence thing.... I'm acquainted with someone that says the same thing that McCain was saying. My thinking is, only those who don't understand an eloquent person when they speak will use the term "eloquence" like it's something shady and should be feared. Yes? That's been my observation.

ETA: Mouse, I also enjoyed the bit where McCain tried to say that Obama was knocking his supporters for what a few said. It was painfully clear that nobody was saying ALL of his supporters were like that, and that the real issue was how Palin would not try to silence those people who were acting way out of line. The fact that he tried that just made it clear (hopefully to everyone that was watching) that he was cornered and didn't have a leg to stand on. He and Palin allowed this awful behavior to go on and didn't make any real efforts to check it, and he finally had to face up to it.

Yeah, that seemed to be the consensus on NPR last night, that he did the best job.

Hmm, seems there really is a Joe the Plumber and he's not even registered to vote. Interesting.

Seriously, he isn't registered? That's too freakin funny. And I'll bet McCain was counting on that vote

*sigh*

gosh, if mccain wanted to win my vote, he did such a shitty job yesterday. do we really want another inarticulate leader in the white house? even with his "experience," i believe that mccain's lacks the leadership skills to create collaboration between political parties, let alone working with other countries. he came across defensive and unprepared in speaking about his own policies. i am concerned he would create more enemies in his impulsive and reactive approach as a leader. his move from being an independent towards a republican and his choice of VP has presented nothing more than his manipulative behavior to become top dog. i'm still not convinced, like i wasn't with hillary, that he has the country's best or the interest of the american people at heart. he seems very self-serving to me.

Bob Schieffer did such a great job last night. I agree, I wish he'd have done all the debates, too. Leherer was too slow, Brokaw was too pompous (as always, I can't stand that man). Schieffer hit it just about right.

I loved how McSame said he wouldn't have a litmus test for SC justices, then in his next sentence said that he wouldn't put anyone up who agreed with Roe v. Wade. How, exactly, is that not a litmus test? And I could slap him for what he said about women's health in an abortion scenario. How dare he!

If I have to hear about Joe the Plumber again, I'm going to rip my hair out.

Loved how Obama spoke directly about Ayers/ACORN. That's the flat-out honest kind of answer we need. But what I'd love to hear about are McSame's role in the Keating 5. Obama was too polite to bring it up, though.

THAT was the debate I was waiting for.

Hmm, not only is he not a registered voter, he also owes the State of Ohio $1200 in back taxes and is operating illegally without a plumbers license.

I'm guessing he's going to regret opening his mouth at that rally with Obama.

yeah, joe the plumber must not be that smart to realize the media will dig up what they can on him.

this note is totally random, but, um, i found Joe the Plumber kinda hot. but, i have a thing for the bald head look.


sorry, continue on with the discussion...

I, too, wanted to hear about the Keating 5. But Obama seems like he'd rather keep the conversation on important issues at hand. Too bad McCain doesn't know what's going on. If he did, he wouldn't resort to slamming Obama for his alleged "shady associations"...
Nobody had better dare bring up Joe Plumber to me. I'll be quick to let them know about how savory a person he is.

i have to say i admire joe the plumber for not saying who he's voting for. he could have a lot of influence, but instead he's saying "weigh the facts for yourself. make the decision yourself". i admire that.

Greetings from the a battleground state. I wonder if the deep-deep red states and the deep-deep blue states are getting the kind of mail & seeing the kind of ads I've been seeing lately. It's been interesting ... especially the mail.

As for TV ads, every single one that I've seen out of the McCain campaign or other Republican groups is just anti-Obama stuff. None of these ads are pro-McCain. None of them give any reasons why people should vote for John McCain. It's all doom-&-gloom music & unattractive photos of Democrats, and then suddenly there's this happy, tinkly piano music as McCain's voiceover gives his approval for this message. Obama also has some negative ads, but I've seen so few that I can't even remember much about them. The vast majority of the Obama ads I've seen from his campaign focus on policy & are much more positive. There's an ad where Obama talks directly to the camera about his mother dying from cancer at 53 (cue old photo of Barry & his mom) which leads to him talking about healthcare policy. There's another ad where Obama talks about his tax policy. Seeing these ads reminded me that I have not seen one single TV ad in which McCain is speaking directly to the camera. I certainly haven't seen a pro-McCain ad of any stripe that lays out what his plans will do for Americans. It's an interesting contradiction to witness.

I'm registered as a Democrat, which means the campaigns have my name, address, & my party affiliation. As a result, they send me mail. In the past week, I have received 4 pieces of mail concerning the presidential election. One was pro-Obama and the other 3 were anti-Obama. Notice my word choice there. None of these pamphlets are Pro-McCain.

I can't find my pro-Obama mailer right now (the other 3 mailers are on my desk), but I know that the message was totally focused on Obama's planned presidential policies. I believe it mentioned health care & taxes for those who make less than $250K a year.

The 3 negative pamphlets say the following:
"Paid for by the Republican National Committee
www.GOP.com Authorized by McCain-Palin 2008"
That is the only place on any of these glossy, colorful publications where you see the names McCain or Palin. That's it. Instead, every one of them states that Barack Obama is "not ready to lead". Their entire focus is negative.

The mailer that annoys me the most is the one that has a photo of the Iwo Jima Memorial statue on the cover & says "It used to be easy to recognize patriotism." Then you open it up And there's a close-up photo of a male chest wearing a demin shirt, American flag pin affixed on the left side, and, of course, a wrinkly white hand placed over the heart. So yes, these people are still pushing the whole lapel pin = patriot shit. Gimmee a fuckin' break. The whole message on the inside is about taxes, implying that Obama wants to raise taxes on everything. It finishes off with this message (the all caps are not mine. That's how the pamphlet really looks):
"That's the same old Washington you'd expect from a CELEBRITY POLITICIAN WHO VOTES 97% OF THE TIME WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERSHIP."
First of all, that percentage is higher than what I've heard. But more importantly, why are they sending something like this to a person who is a registered Democrat? Wouldn't a registered Democrat be more likely to side with the choices made by Democratic party leadership and, therefore, not be as bothered by that sort of voting history? I feel like I've somehow gotten on the wrong mailing list with the GOP.

Anybody else out there getting mail like this?

Obviously, I'm in a solid blue state (which is why I don't know why I see Obama ads at all- couldn't that money be better spent elsewhere?) but we saw one last night from a third party group that was pro-Obama that was a bunch of quotes from McCain saying stupid stuff about several topic- pro-war, anti-choice, anti-immigrant, lies about Obama etc.- then a quote from Goebbels; I don't remember what it was, so I looked up Goebbels quotes and it could have been this one: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” You know it's trouble when they pull out the Goebbels quotes.

Then they showed the Abraham Lincoin quote, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." and then a picture of Obama.

LeBoy and I were stunned, then we cheered. I'm not even sure who paid for it- the type was so small at the bottom.

the shit is hitting the fan.(i love the freep!)

the obama campaign suspects that the bush whitehouse/department of justice is coordinating with the mccain campain re: the acorn "fraud" investigation. they are asking for the investigation to be turned over to special prosecutor nora dannahey.

so freaking smart. goddamn that dude has big brains. and a smart campaign. i was kind of miffed at obama for kind of throwing acorn under the bus. yeah, he had little contact with acorn, but--- these people are engaged in the same sort of community organizing that you did. so the least you can do is defend them. but i digress.

if it's taken out of the department of justice's hands, then it'll be free of the sort of partisan manipulation/corruption that we've seen in the bush administration for the last 7 years.

they want to steal this election. no mistake about it.

on the upside, with the supreme court deciding against the ohio rethuglicans, today, it looks like the supreme court hasn't got the stomach to hand the country over to mccain, like they did 8 years ago....





********************************

QUOTE

if i had to pick between John McCain and Obama, i would vote McCain..... - nohope

ok. you'll have to explain this to me. you've done some funny things with logic in the past (i'm thinking of your recent, "let's abandon women's right to choose for healthcare!" post a bit a go), so this one is sure to be impressive. you'd vote for mccain?

really?

why exactly?

never mind the "i-would-but-palin" thing. i want to know how you arrived smack dab in the middle of that funhouse of mirrors.

really? given the choice of mccain or obama, you'd choose mccain?

I'm in Texas (a RED state) and haven't seen a single McCain ad. I guess that makes sense since the repubs don't have to worry about Texas going blue (damn it all). I've only seen one Obama ad, several times over. It's the one talking about healthcare and tax breaks. I hate to say it, but I'm afraid Texas is a lost cause. This state is dominated by the conservative type who doesn't listen to anything but the issue of abortion. As long as the candidate is anti-choice, the fact that he doesn't know what's going on, has shit politics, and has an idiot for a running mate won't matter. He'll still get the vote.
At least I saw two more Obama yard signs today. So that's at least five people in Texas that are voting for him! Heh. I'd so love it if Texas would go blue.

let me preface this by saying that fuck yes i am voting for obama.

but i'm curious how all you lot feel about his stance on gay marriage--that is, anti. in california here one of the state propositions that we have to vote on at the same time as the pres election is proposition 8, which wants to turn over the recent state ruling of legalizing gay marriage. it's pretty hotly controversial right now and there are lots of local tv ads running pro and con (the pro one is ridiculous--it shows a little girl coming home from school saying "today i learned that a prince can marry a prince, and i can marry a princess!" i mean, fuck yeah, if i had a kid, i would want them to learn that they could marry whoever the hell they fucking fall in love with when they grow up, so that tactic is kind of lost on me.

i know that obama is pro civil unions and visitation rights and all that. but his devout christianity is the one thing that really irks me...i mean, i love him. i want him to be president. and i know he has a game to play. but i don't think this stance is him playing the game, i think he genuinely does not want "marriage" to be about anything other than boy + girl. and while i still think he is miles away from mccain and i am absolutely voting for him, this is a concern.

any thoughts?

i have to say i was bugged by the answers when they brought that up at the vp debate. but...


i don't know, mouse, for me it seems like one of those don't-ask/don't-tell kind of things. i think that like clinton, o would rather go for legalizing gay marriage, but doesn't want to stir up that hornet's nest. one thing you can say about o is that he is all about the long term strategy. i don't know if he does view it thru that kind of xtian lens, but i don't know that he doesn't either.

blacks tend to be socially conservative, but he seems to be the kind who thinks deeply, and in nuanced, complex terms about most things. he strikes me as being one of those policy wonk kind of people who understands that gay marriage is needed. obama was a law prof, after all. for someone so familiar with law, and aware of black history, the idea of 'separate but equal,' a fallacy which soooo applies to "civil unions," it's impossible to walk away thinking that gay marriage shouldn't be a right. however, to make an issue of it is to hand the gop a golden ticket. it's to breathe life in to the slowly decaying corpse that is the gop.

i'm sure you, and most busties know, the one thing that they have been deprived of this season is a culture war issue on the ballot-- the exception is in california. usually they would have had props like prop 8 in crucial/swing states to motivate their base. so the tactic is to make it a non-issue, to neutralize it, take it off the table.

more than that, tho, i think the state by state route is a very, very good thing. if it were to be nationalized, if gay marriage was to be legalized overnight, i think you would see a huge backlash, and revitalized gop, where as now, they've lost their way. if it were suddenly changed, it would be the new rallying cry, the new roe v. wade. but this way will take longer, but there will be less anger. the kids coming up aren't as scared by the idea of it as their parents are. state by state, people will see that there is nothing to fear from gay marriage, the sky doesn't fall, and people don't start getting hitched to their ferrets, and life goes on.

time is on our side on this one mouse, and it's better fought as a war of attrition, slowly, fight by fight, city by city, state by state.

at least that's what i think.

A gay friend of mine is really bothered by Obama's stance as well-he is voting for him, but doesn't want to because he's not strictly 'pro-gay marriage'. I respect his wish to have a candidate who will clearly state that they are pro-gay marriage, but I completely understand why they won't come out and say it during the campaign.
What I do believe though is that any reasonable, intelligent person who gets elected is pliable. We don't want someone in office who is rigid in his or her beliefs, but someone who will carefully consider all perspectives of an issue, throughout their entire campaign and time in office and be *willing* to change if presented with the right case-not just the one that their religion or political party dictates, which I really think Obama will do. I mean, what's the point of activism if persuading a politician is hopeless? I think Obama is very likely to change his mind, given the right considerations.

I agree with GT & Humanist. I have a feeling that Obama is pro-gay marriage, but thinks that it'll take more time and effort to get it legalized on a national scale. In many people's minds, the first step is civil unions. Civil unions are not the final destination, but just the beginning. Once civil unions are legalized, it's far easier to accuse the government with a separate-but-equal argument & from there, it could be easier to win the right to full marriage. I'm not saying everyone feels that's the best course, but I've heard from a few who do. This is one of those issues that's going to take time & some strong legal muscles to get it to where we want it to be, but we're definitely taking steps in the right direction.

JSmith, I feel for you! I only moved to NC a couple years ago. Before that I spent my years in Oklahoma, which is just as red as Texas. It could be very discouraging sometimes ... especially in 2004 when the constitutional amendment against gay marriage came up on the state ballot. I knew I was far outnumbered, but I made a point of voting against the amendment anyway. I still wanted my voice to be heard. I wanted to know that, even if it was defeated, at least I tried to do the right thing. If the day ever comes when I have kids & they ask me how I reacted to that situation, I want to be able to tell them that I didn't just sit at home and say, "What's the point?".

The odd thing is that NC has always been considered very red. This was the home of Jessee Helms, after all, so it's been a bit of a whirlwind lately. This morning when I drove back from the grocery store, I counted all of the new campaign signs in my neighborhood. There are 12 new Obama signs. Twelve! And just one new McCain sign. I think that makes a total of 17 Obama signs and just 2 McCain signs for the whole neighborhood. I see Obama bumper stickers all over the place. It's been at least a month since I saw my last McCain bumper sticker. It's the complete opposite of what I expected to see here.

Which reminds me: both Obama and McCain will be in the state this weekend. I think McCain is speaking today & Obama tomorrow. Also, James Taylor (whose music annoys the crap out of me but whatever) is having 2 concerts in my area in order to support the Obama campaign. Tickets sold out in one day. Lastly, early voting started here on Thursday. In my town of about 250K, there were 11K votes cast in the first 2 days. I'm sure it'll be busy this weekend, so I'm waiting until next week to vote in the hopes that the lines will be a little shorter.

Sorry to abruptly change the subject but I found this pretty interesting. From the NY Times:

"The size of the disparity has even surprised aides to Mr. McCain, who traded accusations with Mr. Obama over the advertising battle in this week's debate, with Mr. Obama telling Mr. McCain that "your ads, 100 percent of them have been negative" and Mr. McCain saying that Senator Obama has spent more money on negative ads than any political campaign in history.
The most recent analysis of the presidential advertisements by the University of Wisconsin, based on the period from Sept. 28 through Oct. 4, found that nearly 100 percent of Mr. McCain commercials included an attack on Mr. Obama and that 34 percent of Mr. Obama advertisements, which were more focused that week on promoting his agenda, included an attack on Mr. McCain."

Obama's Ad Effort Swamps McCain and Nears Record

I call bullshit on McCain

ETA: 17 Obama yard signs! Maybe I should look in another part of town... The area I'm in seems to be dominated by older people...
I don't remember when Texas had the constitutional amendment against gay marriage. I just know that I wasn't old enough to vote at that time. I really wanted to, though. It blew my mind that everyone around me was voting for it. I couldn't (still can't) understand why they feel the need to knock something that has absolutely nothing to do with them, and doesn't even effect them in any way. Very judgmental and nosy, if you ask me. And downright communistic

i like the yard sign thing, but i don't know how indicative it is, washington is pretty blue, but even when a friend and i drove out to the stix, the signs were pretty much even. and if you need solace, j, check out that 7 election/ 7/11 map, althought it's hard to believe, it's usually pretty accurate, and i am hoping a lot of the flood (katrina, etc) displacement changes the balance in texas, it may be my colorado blood, but texas needs help.

yay! got my ballot yesturday! whoooo-hooo!
i was worried for a second there. i'm thinking i'll do it this weekend and send it off on monday!

Oh, I know the number of signs don't really mean anything substantial, GT. For one thing, there are still a hell of a lot of us who don't have any signs at all displayed in front of our homes, so there's no way to know which way the majority of the neighborhood is voting. Secondly, I live in an area that is very popular with university professors & grad students. My town pretty much always leans left. It's always been a puddle of blue amongst a sea of red. However, it's still very very different from where I used to live. EVERYthing is red in my old home state.

Even with the overwhelming number of Obama signs in my area, the state is still split pretty evenly. It'll be interesting to see how things break down county-by-county after election day.

thanks for those viewpoints, ladies.

Powell Endorses Obama
Yes! I can't wait to rub that in some faces...

sweet baby jesus....according to cnn's electoral map calculator, even if mccain wins all the red states, all the leaning-red states AND all the tossup states...he still won't get 270 electoral votes. which means not only does he need to get ALL undecided voters, he needs to lure NINE more electoral votes back from obama. uhhhhh, not gonna happen.

holy cannoli i can't breathe you guys

In case any of you missed it, here's a link to the statement by Colin Powell on "Meet the Press". It's just over 7 minutes long. The bit starting around 4:30 brought tears to my eyes.


ETA: Here's a video of Colin Powell speaking to members of the press this morning after announcing his endorsement.

Wow, Colin Powell is one hell of a speaker. The part about the muslim fellow who died in Iraq was very moving. Thanks for providing those links.

I still have a tear in my eye.

Obama's having a rally in my city on Thursday. I'm taking off work to go.

yay tree! i wonder if it's gonna look like those pix of st. louis.


yeah, i loved hearing colin powell on mtp. he took mccain apart.
george will and rush are claiming powell is only endorsing obama because he's black, but his conversation says otherwise. he's put a lot of thought into this. but here is what rush said:

QUOTE

"Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race... OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."

as someone pointed out, he hasn't endorsed any liberals, but as for inexperienced and white, powell endorsed dubya in 2004.....

a former national security adviser called Powell's statement a "comprehensive indictment."
i'd agree. he really left nothing out. it's impressive in it's thoroughness.

huff/post has an interesting thing about all the papers-- particularlly right leaning papers that are endorsing obama. seems o is leading 58 papers to mccain's 16.

in ohio, a man has hung "obama" in effigy in his front yard. local news report here.

My computer is acting up so I couldn't watch the news report about the man who has hung an effigy of Obama in his yard. However, I saw some of the photos on a different website & read that the whole reason why that person will not vote for Obama is because Obama is black. What a horrifically nauseating sight. There are no words.

I saw the page on Politico about Limbaugh's comments. Some of the replies to that post are truly frightening. There are people on that site who still claim that Obama is a Muslim & wasn't born an American. What a bunch of wackos. Oddly enough, these inflammatory responses just prove that Powell's statements were true. There are members of the Republican party who are going too far to the right & making gross, inflammatory statements that do nothing but make them look small-minded, ignorant, and prejudiced. It's kinda sad to watch because I know that not all Republicans feel that way.

I think it makes sense for the Republicans to be angered by his endorsement, just as so many Dems were angered by Lieberman's endorsement of McCain. Since Powell even made a financial contribution to McCain's campaign many moons ago, I can see why they might have thought they had his vote. They forgot one little thing, though. Powell is a Republican, but he's always been a moderate ... which is why he's always been so popular.

There's a little part of me that still feels torn about Powell's endorsement. A part of me is still hurt regarding his actions while working in the Bush administration. I would love to believe that he was mislead and/or forced to make statements on behalf of the administration that he personally did not believe, but I don't know. I really liked him in the '90s, but I'm a little bit wary of him now. On the other hand, he left the Bush administration. And I feel that today he beautifully expressed many of the feelings I have had about the campaigns thus far. That was wonderful to hear.

the LA times has endorsed obama--the first time they've endorsed ANY presidential candidate in over 30 years, AND the first time they've EVER endorsed a democrat--this from a nearly 130-year-old paper.

Yet something else I don't understand about US politics.....why is a non-partisan body not overseeing the election???

"Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.

This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".

In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.

They also blamed voters for not being more careful."

For the full article click here

see, that is what terrifies me, that we will have another stolen election. It's why I find myself so terribly stressed out even though there are so many positive signs for Barack.

Well, GT, we had 80,000 here for Kerry, and I think the enthusiasm is much higher this year so I'd be willing to bet 100,000 isn't out of the question. I'm really looking forward to it. The Dem Madison rally is a tradition that goes back to the 80s. The only thing potentially limiting huge, sweeping pictures is the location the SS has authorized for the rally is kind of lousy...it's pretty congested and I am not sure 100,000 will physically fit.

Here's a link to a pic of the Kerry rally which was on a much better street.

Colin Powell's endorsement on Meet the Press was inspiring and eloquent. Though I knew it would happen, it is maddening that some still insist he's endorsing Obama based on the race factor. Powell took great pains to thoroughly explain his thinking and what has led him to this point. And like he said, if he was going to endorse Obama b/c he's an African American, he could have done that months ago.

I hope the McCain campaign sees that they lost a lot of votes and endorsements by the way their campaign has been conducted.

Early voting started today in Texas. I went in today to vote, and was given the option of electronic or paper. I chose paper because of this very sort of thing. Paper just feels safer.
It wasn't nearly as crowded as the papers anticipated. I was expecting that I'd have to wait, but I didn't. Got in, got out. I really hope my vote ends up counting..

This pisses me off.

that sux tree. and omg, that picture is NUTS.

the o campaign just put out a press release. he's cancelled thurs and fri's appearances to fly to hawaii. seems his grandma is being released from the hospital because she is in poor health and he is going to be at her bedside.

geek, the reason we don't have non-partisan group running our election is because we are americans. no really. that's it. we are americans, and as such we suffer from severe arrogance. see americans can't imagine that anything that we do could possibly be done better. that's why the idea of universal medicine is so revolting to us. it's why we've rejected international vote monitoring. we're americans. we think not just that our shit doesn't stink, but that it smells like roses and tastes like ice cream. honestly. think of 9/11. we really think that it happened because all the other countries are just jealous cos they aren't as hot as the us is they hate us for our freedom (and that our freedom is sooooo much hotter than theirs is). *sigh*