Commie Obama

Watch Obama having a bit of fun with McCain's toothless "socialist" attacks:


And in keeping with the funny, check out this clip where my fellow alumnus "Joe Sixpack" attempts to reclaim his iconic status from Joe the Plumber.

See more Thomas Haden Church videos at Funny or Die

The Senator from West Virginia

It seems as though the longest serving Senator in U.S. history might be on his way out of his post as chairman of the Appropriations Committee. It seems as though Majority Leader Harry Ried wants to "clear things up" before he starts his reelection bid in late 2009.

We will just have to see how this thing pans out.

Politico

Yet, Another Blow to the Republicans

Senator Ted Stevens, R-Alaska was convicted today of 7 counts of bribery and a myriad of other things. Stevens, the longest serving Republican member of the Senate was already enbroiled in a hotly contested race in his home state. The Democrats had almost no chance of winning this seat, but after today's verdict, this just might be the opening they were waiting for.

While Sen. Stevens' conviction might be a blow to the Senate, he doesn't have to resign his seat; he can still run for reelection, and if he wins, he may still serve.
Notwithstanding, the 111th Congress begins in January and the Senate may, and they will, have to censure one of their own.

For further reading, Stevens Verdict

9 Days Left

With 9 days left in the presidential campaign, things are surely to get more and more interesting. From Palin's wardrobe and her "rougeness" things are really starting to shake, rattle and roll. Hitting the latter point, as my colleague pointing to in earlier editions, it really does seem that McCain isn't in charge of his own campaign. Here is what a McCain staffer had to say:

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone"

I don't know who Palin is getting her 'advice' from, but we will see in roughly a week and a half whether or not it pays off.

McCain Supporters Confront Bigots

I have little to add except bravo to the good folks at this McCain rally for standing up to these ignorant pieces of trash.

Powell Endorses Obama

Today, one of America's top Statesmen endoresed Sen. Barack Obama for President of the United States. Mr. Powell was very eloquent in his leading up to the endorsement of Obama this morning on "Meet the Press" with Tom Brokaw. When asked by Mr. Brokaw whom Mr. Powell was going to endorse, he led into it this way:

"Yes, but let me lead into it this way. I know both of these individuals very well now. I've known John for 25 years as your setup said. And I've gotten to know Mr. Obama quite well over the past two years. Both of them are distinguished Americans who are patriotic, who are dedicated to the welfare of our country. Either one of them, I think, would be a good president. I have said to Mr. McCain that I admire all he has done. I have some concerns about the direction that the party has taken in recent years. It has moved more to the right than I would like to see it, but that's a choice the party makes. And I've said to Mr. Obama, "You have to pass a test of do you have enough experience, and do you bring the judgment to the table that would give us confidence that you would be a good president."

Read or listen to the full endorsement HERE

Show Me the Money!

Well, this has been the most expensive presidential election in history, thus far. Both candidates have spent vast amounts of money on this campaign. Barack Obama has outspent John McCain almost 3 to 1.

Both candidates have been trying to raise copious amounts of money. As you will be able to see, the Obama camp has out raised and outspent McCain, but the RNC has outraised the DNC.
Here are some recent figures, courtesy of CNN.

Fundraising

Sarah Palin is Sad

Sarah Palin's speech at a rally in North Carolina as reported by the Washington Post:

"So North Carolina, I appreciate you all so much, who are here who already get it. You know, maybe I'm preaching to the choir a little bit here, but being here encourages me because I know that I'm not alone and I'll send this message back to John McCain also. At those times on the campaign trail when sometimes it's easy to get a little bit discouraged, when, you know, when you happen to turn on the news when your campaign staffers will let you turn on the news," she said, prompting laughter from the group. "Usually they're like 'Oh my gosh, don't watch. You're going to, you know, you're going to get depressed.'

And now the saddest thing I have ever seen a politician say (referring to poll numbers):

"We even saw today, thank the Lord," she said, looking upwards and raising her fist, "We saw some movement."

Christopher Buckley Crucified

Not surprisingly there is no room for divergence of opinion at the National Review:

Christopher Buckley has resigned from the magazine his father founded.

Soon all that will be left of the Republican party is Alan Keyes and Larry the Cable Guy.

Campbell Brown Nails It

Ms. Brown has been on a roll lately, but here she raises a very good and obvious point. Watch:

The Possible Illusion of Polls?

Many people have been wondering if this could happen to Barack Obama. The poll numbers for his campaign have been astounding since the economy took a turn for the worse and John McCain stuck his foot in his mouth on that Monday morning.

Tom Bradley was an African American politician running for Governor of California in the early 80's. He had strong showings in the polls, but on election day, it seemed as though those who said they would vote for him, they did not. This may or may not be a reality for the Obama campaign, but only time will tell.
Here is the full article from CNN.

The Bradley Effect

Christopher Buckley Endorses Obama

This is somewhat major news due to Mr. Buckley's position as National Review contributor but mainly because of his pedigree. Christopher Buckley is the son of William F. Buckley, considered by many as the godfather of modern American conservativism.

Excerpt here:

"This campaign has changed John McCain," Buckley wrote. "It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget 'by the end of my first term.' Who, really, believes that?

"Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis," Buckley added. "His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?"

Full article HERE.

The Race Card

I will leave you this to view. I know by posting this, I may or may not be helping the "cause." You be the judge.

Union Leader Speaks

More Polls...Who's Gonna Win?

Here are some Gallup Polls. Obama has taken a slight lead in most of the polls that were taken. McCain is even having to fight in GOP strong holds such as Wisconsin, Indiana and North Carolina just to name a few.

Gallup Poll

The Polls

According to CNN, things are looking good for Sen. Barack Obama. We'll just have to wait and see if this scenario will come to fruition or not.

CNN Election Calculator

The Debate...Sound Off!

If you watch this evening's debate, it's clear that Sen. Barack Obama won tonight. Not only is that my opinion, but all the opinion of CNN.

McCain came off as very erratic in some of his comments. He is on the defensive and that's good for the Obama Camp. As with earlier comments, this is Obama's to loose. He is going to have to be more "aggressive" but not too much if he wants to win.

There are a few states that were leaning toward the Republicans, but now are in play for the Democrats. States like Indiana, Wisconsin, and North Carolina just to name a few. The Republicans are in trouble this election cycle, it surely will not be a good one like they had in the 2002 midterms.

Good Ol' Keating

For those of you that did not know John McCain was a crook, well here is the proof:
Keating Economics

The Economy Spells Trouble for Incumbents

The above cartoon pretty well sums up the feelings many voters have toward the Wall Street bailout package passed on Friday. Just how is the economic crisis affecting the elections so far?

It's clear the fallout of the current economic turmoil will have repercussions on November 4th, though it's too early to tell how much. However, even before the news of Wall streets woes broke the GOP was in trouble. The number of once safe Republican Senate and House seats that are now in play or outright favoring Democratic challengers should be alarming to Republican strategists. With no Democratic held seats in serious jeopardy by Republicans, the Republican Party is going to need to fight hard to keep from being swept into irrelevancy on November 4th. Making their job harder, McCain's campaign has conceded defeat in Michigan and has effectively terminated his campaign efforts there. Many Michigan Republicans are not happy, to say the least. Even discounting this black news, hard work may not be enough to save the GOP as polling data suggests a miracle will be needed to retain even a handful of it's seats up for grabs this year. This is definitely going to be a watershed year in American Politics.

Data from FiveThirtyEight illustrates the grim prospects facing the Republican Party.



In a bit of a surprise, Democrat Kay Hagan is leading Incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole 46 percent to 38 percent in a Public Policy Polling survey conducted September 28-29. With a month to go, Dole has plenty of time to turn the tide, but as of now momentum is favoring Hagan. If NC goes for Obama, the resulting wave might be the nail in Sen. Dole's political coffin.

The above is just one example of the sorrows facing the Republican Party. GOP strategists fear that a tidal sentiment brought on by voters desire for change could push the Democrats up to the magic 60 seat number effectively making Republicans irrelevant at least until the next elections in 2010.

The Debate

Tonight’s debate between Sen. Joseph Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin was anything but. The structure and content focus of the debate was fine, but the responses by Palin were anything but direct. Overall, Joe Biden won this debate hands down. He was strong on foreign policy, with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan and he was strong when it came to the one social issue that was touched upon.

Community Reinvestment Act

Since some folks keep trotting out the lie that minorities are responsible for this financial crisis I thought I'd make an attempt at figuring out why. I've seen the Community Reinvestment Act cited as the primary cause of this subprime meltdown, as it supposedly forced lenders to make unwise loans to risky borrowers. The facts are however that the CRA was passed in 1977, 31 years ago. The current crisis is the second housing crunch since that time, and no one blames the S&L problems of the 80's on the CRA. Charles Keating and his like are widely accepted as the cause of that problem due to unscrupulous efforts to achieve deregulation.

Now, back to the current situation, it can in no way be attributed to the CRA. Nor can the blame be laid at the feet of minorities. The situation arose within the last few years as the result of a concerted push by the US government and various lobbying groups whose goal was to make "every American" a homeowner. One such lobbying group was the Homeownership Alliance, a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac advocacy group headed by Rick Davis who now runs McCain's campaign for President. This folks is the reason for this current crisis. Ethics, or the lack thereof on the part of those with the most to gain from ensuring that as many people as possible have home loans.