Pajamas Media

144 Comments

1. David Thomson:

“What does Obama need to secure a win?”

Huh, what is this? Why are you even considering to help Barack Obama? This man is our enemy. He has every intention of destroying our First Amendment rights and possibly even putting us in jail. We should not be giving him advice out of some naive sense of “objective analysis.” Barack Obama deserves to be treated like some sort of secular “Anti-Christ.”

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:47 am 2. dfjlaw:

How about he proposes revoking Jimmy Carter’s passport?

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:44 am 3. Ed Wallis:

I second “David Thomson’s” comment, Ms. Rubin.

Unless the article, “What does Obama need to secure a win?”

consists of one sentence, “He needs to buy a lottery ticket with 6 correct numbers”,

we will be better off without it.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:12 am 4. Boris:

“Huh, what is this? Why are you even considering to help Barack Obama? This man is our enemy. He has every intention of destroying our First Amendment rights and possibly even putting us in jail.”

I hear that tinfoil can block the tax rays from the black liberation helicopters.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:26 am 5. Bobby65GA:

Advice to McCain…Please take the kid gloves off!My God!America is about to elect a quasi-socialist with ZERO achievements or specifics other than “change” and John McCain is showing NONE of the fire that he has in the past!I support you Senator but you’re running this campaign as if you’re on sedatives!Go after him!
Bill Ayers,ACORN,Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac,the danger of an Obama/Reid/Pelosi run government!Start fighting for us!!!!Fight the liberal media bias!Take it on head-on!
This guy,Obama,is so dangerous to this nation!Inform us on his real record and beliefs!

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:28 am 6. Kevin McCann:

Two things John & Sarah should say to turn the economy: 1. Saturation with energy and technology. 2. Publicly prosecute the people who caused this.

Not just a little more energy, but SATURATION! Prices will fall. Employment will fly.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:32 am 7. Ron J:

McCain needs to grow a pair. If he needs some, he can always borrow them from hillary Clinton.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:48 am 8. Leed:

On the economy - he needs to mention the small business tax rate is 2nd highest in the world (don’t say corporate tax rate because Liberals portray corporate as a selfish groups of executives). Say how can small business compete when they are taxed to death? Are we going to let other countries take our businesses? Barack Obama will.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:51 am 9. Michael Eaton:

Ms. Rubin: this piece is spot-on; I only hope that 1) the content is widely circulated so more of the voting public can see it and 2) that McCain campaign officials actually see it and realize its profundity. We withstood Clinton’s years because they coincided (by a complete accident of history) with the economic effects of the dot com boom; we have no such happy coincidence of history to protect us from an Obama presidency. Obama as president would be more damaging to America and Americans than any presidency in history, period.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:53 am 10. SteveL:

This election is over. The entire GOP (not just McCain) is toast.

When voters see that they have lost 50% or more of their 401(k) and IRA nest eggs, they’re going to blame the POTUS and the party in the White House. That’s what they always do. I’ve never heard of an election in my lifetime where voters blamed the Speaker of the House or the Majority Leader of the Senate or the party controlling Congress for bad times in the nation. The President’s desk is where the buck always stops. And his party takes the hit when he doesn’t.

Not since 1876 has a President as unpopular as Bush been succeeded to the White House by someone from his own party.

And when the voters are facing financial ruin, they’re not going to give a damn what Ayers or Ahmedinijad said.

Polls are now showing that even GOP congresspeople in deeply Red states are down some 20% on average.

This election is so over.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:55 am 11. Leed:

On energy - be more to the point. If Obama and the Democrat Congress are in place there will be no Drilling period. Right now - Cuba and China are drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in places the Democrats will not allow us to drill.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:56 am 12. SteveL:

Energy has vanished as a top-level concern of voters, now that oil prices have dropped below $80 a barrel.

Look for gasoline prices to be around $3.00 a gallon by Election Day. Folks didn’t start grumbling about gas prices till they rose above $4.00 and seemed to be headed to $5.00.

McCain and the GOP are trying desperately to change the subject. Folks, it’s not going to work. McCain CANNOT change the subject if the subject won’t go away. The current subject occupying the news headlines is the collapsing stock market (worldwide, not just in America), falling home prices, and the credit crunch, leading analysts to start seriously worrying about a deflationary depression.

When voters hear the words “deflationary depression” and “stock market collapse,” they’re not going to care about drilling, abortion, Ayers, Rezko, Iran, or even al-Qaeda. They’re going to be contemplating the possibility of their own poverty (possibly for the first time in their lives).

If McCain can’t explain why he can fix the economy, he’s toast. And so far, he’s been absolutely incoherent. Drilling for oil won’t ease the credit markets, boost housing prices or stabilize world stock markets. It’s a distraction from the deflation issue.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:10 am 13. Joseph Marshall:

Unlike some of your previous commentors, as a Democrat, I take you seriously. Which is why I don’t take them very seriously. I think you are right that McCain needs to articulate more clearly why what he is proposing will help. I would like to know this myself. But he really must go beyond the mere assertion that it is “Reaganomics”.

Because that is the issue. From our standpoint Reaganomics [wild and underegulated equity speculation, tax cutting combined with insane levels of deficit spending, and fiscal policies by the Fed that make a 401K the only serious investment alternative for the vast majority of Americans--exposing them to too much market risk for their actual income] is the problem, not the solution.

But I must say that this constant attempt to blacken Obama’s character is cutting your candidate’s throat.
Consider the figure you cite of Obama’s lead from RCP. It is 6%, rounded up. Tomorrow there will be 24 full days left. For McCain to win, he will have to gain at least 1% on Obama every four days. Possible, but very difficult.

However, the problem is not just Obama’s numbers going up, it’s McCain’s numbers going down. Over on Pollster.com they have a very insightful graph that is a regression trendline of all national polls where you can see McCain’s downward spiral very clearly. His current aggressive tactics are losing voters, not gaining them. At the present rate of his decent, his popular vote share would be 40%

Moreover, if you go to the RCP Electoral Vote map, Obama is already sitting on 277 EV. The magic number is 270. McCain could win every toss-up state, including Florida and Ohio and still lose. And Obama is actually ahead by at least small margins in 28 of 51 states and DC. Give him all of those, and his EV total pops up to 353!

Your dude has a very tall hill to climb, and I think the way he is now trying to climb it is darn near suicidal.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:19 am 14. Gavin McDougald:

Boris: Putting you in jail for what?

/just curious

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:20 am 15. LeighB:

Here is what the McCain camp could do…one of the most effective communicators on his team about the economy is Carly Fiorina. McCain and Fiorina (or Meg Whitman) could do some joint appearances and Palin could team up with Romney, Thompson, or Graham. Having both “sides” of the ticket be able to draw large audiences would allow a lot of people to take one more look–I think they will like what they see and hear.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:32 am 16. Sandy Salt:

Steve well said. The voters are scared and mad, which is a dangerous combination for McCain. They absolutely hate the Republicans at this point, fairly or unfairly is irrelevant. The only reason that this isn’t a runaway election is that Obama is such a bad choice, but there are a lot of people that are looking past his short comings and saying he isn’t them, so he has to be better. This is the same thinking that got us Jimmy Carter, so very careful what you wish for because you might just get it.

McCain will need a true October surprise that disqualifies Obama in the eyes of the American public, but that isn’t going to happen because Hillary would have already used it. We as Americans must force our elected officials to answer to us and not to the lobbyists. We have to force spending cuts or toss them out in 2010 because that will be the next opportunity. What is going to stink is that Obama, Pelosi and Reid will be running the show for two years basically unopposed. We will get our chance to take back Congress in 2010, but it might be too late by then because who knows what crazy stuff they will have enacted by then.

I hope all the conservatives realize that you must hold your elected officials accountable for their votes on your behalf. If they are greedy or corrupt then vote them out, don’t allow them to submit earmarks to waste federal money. McCain says he will make them famous, but he won’t because he hasn’t yet and he has a track record of folding under when it comes to Democrats. McCain is no reformer and no conservative, period. Obama is a socialist. There isn’t a good choice, so start planning now for 2010.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:35 am 17. Sandy Salt:

Boris is referring to the Muslim anti-defamation law that outlaws saying anything anti-Muslim to include anything Christian that is circulating in the UN. This would outlaw any anti-Muslim speech anywhere, which sounds great because hate speech is bad right? What is not said is that this includes any pro-Christian speech which is punishable by death in many countries. If you think this is way out there it isn’t because there was legislation introduced in the country under hate crimes which did almost the same thing, but was voted down.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:41 am 18. LouisianaDoug:

It’s truly sad to see the once great Republican party give up on trying to win based on isses and policies. This fear-mongering, rumor spreading stuff was terrible back in 2000 when Bush did it to McCain. Now McCain’s using the same tactics? Truly disappointing. McCain is a great man, a patriot, and he should have taken the high road. I fear that these Palin rallies/lynch mobs are going to backfire. My fellow Republicans fail to realize that much of Obama’s appeal is his message: hope and cooperation. McCain has adopted a policy of fear and diviseness… and desperation. It’s disheartening to say the least.

By the way…. the Rezko, Ayers, and Wright stuff was discussed ad nauseam months ago. Was nobody else paying attention?

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:43 am 19. Pierre Legrand:

My fellow Republicans fail to realize that much of Obama’s appeal is his message: hope and cooperation.

Muhahaha…Fellow Republicans. Baloney. Republicans look at Obama as the Anti Christ…not some savior.

Well said Jennifer…but let me say are you crazy giving Obama advice? If Obama gets into office I fully expect that our free speech will go down the tubes so fast it will frighten us.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:06 am 20. Sandy Salt:

The Republican Party sold out a while ago because it worked for them. They are not your grandfather’s party, they are what conservative democrats used to be. There is no true conservative party anymore because the Republicans got into power and acted liked Democrats with big spending and corrupt practices. Washington has become the home of career politicians from both parties with their hands out to the lobbyists. McCain can talk about reform, but nothing will happen, just more of the same gridlock and finger pointing. Obama, Pelosi and Reid will drive the economy further into the ground with even higher spending and additional taxes. Pick your poison.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:06 am 21. Webutante:

The American people do not understand the credit crisis, nor the rescue. McCain needs to get a grasp and present simple points on the situation and a compelling case for his package of solutions.

Yet, I have my doubts as to whether panic selling won’t translate into panic voting for his unqualified opponent.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:16 am 22. proud elitist:

Once again, McCain will need new tactics. His recent tactics have not been producing the results that were expected. The recent ramped-up attacks on Obama’s character are despicable and quite frankly, dangerous. Hatred>/i> is being spewed about Obama at these events by the attendees. Falsely linking Obama with a terrorist (Ayers) or as a Muslim/terrorist is dangerous ground. Witness the church shooting in Tennessee…recall what that man said in his suicide note. The hatred must be admonished.

McCain, sadly, has spent his entire political and media capital. The media, once his “base”, no longer trusts him. No longer respects him and is questioning whether they even knew McCain at all. Even long-time McCain supporters in the media are disgusted.

And if you want to talk about radical/bad associations, ponder these:

–Charles Keating** (S & L Crisis)
–U.S. Council for World Freedom (related to Iran-Contra scandal)
–Chryson/Stoll/AIP
–Bishop Thomas Muthee

**Admitted by McCain himself

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:53 am 23. cfbleachers:

Jennifer, I liked this article…but, I would add a few things to it from my own view in the centerfield bleachers, if you don’t mind.

1) I believe there is a need to connect the dots for folks on the concentric circles that whirl around Sen. Obama. By definition and design, they all share the same center. And it is not Sen. Obama…but rather, a very radical worldview which contains a fair amount of rage and certainly antipathy toward the US and Israel.

When politically expedient, someone who orbited within an inner circle for years, or who was assigned a position within a circle much closer to its center or core of said antipathy…may be pushed into an outer ring and “shelved” for later use.

For reasons related to not alarming Middle America, these radical faces and voices are shoved out of public view, because to unveil them now would scare the living daylights out of centrist voters. If Middle America believed that this truly represented the raison d’ etre for this candidacy, those votes would evaporate into vapors within minutes.

Rev. Wright, Samantha Power, Robert Malley, Khalid al Mansour, Michael Klonsky, William Ayers, Rashind Khalidi, Frank Marshall Davis…have all at one time circled very close to the center of Sen. Obama’s belief system….and now have been forced into “deep background”.

There has emerged a consistent pattern of bringing in these folks in some manner into the campaign…and then, forcing them into an orbiting pattern out of plain view…this “distancing” effort accompanied by an immediate claim that “they weren’t that important or close to the campaign” to begin with. Since the Shroud & Shill media is in the bag for Obama, they run interference for him and try to kill the story before it gains legs or traction.

The talking points for these associations…”smear”, “distraction”, “guilt by association” should fall on deaf ears. It would take an IQ of a chia pet to believe that it is not relevant to our voting base…that Sen. Obama is now, and has been his entire life…surrounded by people who hold extremist views, engage in radical fringe speech and actions and are particularly antagonistic to America and Israel. Only a fool or a liar would suggest that pattern of willing embrace of such hatred is not a factor for rational voters.

But most of middle America don’t know anything but the periphery of this issue. They are not yet able to connect the dots…and if they don’t read blogs, they will NEVER connect the dots by themselves. If they get their “facts” from the corrupted information stream of the Shroud & Shill media…they will have NOTHING to convince them that this isn’t merely a “smear”, “guilt by association” or “distraction” from the “real” issues. Just looking at the comments here…there are two types of folks. The spectacularly uninformed who believe that it IS a distraction and the spectacular underbelly of Marxist deceit, willing to say anything or do anything to replace our system with theirs….by any means necessary.

It is a difficult tightrope act. The Shroud & Shill media will excoriate Sen McCain for this, no matter how he brings it up. They will run interference for Sen. McCain and they will do so aggressively. But, he and Gov. Palin MUST connect the dots for the voters. It is imperative.

And EVERY non-leftist…of EVERY part of this country must join in the chorus. Anyone who has any credibility must assist in getting out the “connect the dots” message. And it must be a thorough, thoughtful, respectful but unrelenting presentation of the facts.

To wit: Sen Obama writes in his book “Dreams of My Father” that he was mentored by “Frank”. This “Frank” is Frank Marshall Davis…and here is what he said to Sen. Obama and here is what he said about America.

Then, Sen. Obama went off to college…and he sought out his most radical professors. Now, we don’t know what classes he took, what transpired there…because he wishes to keep those matters secret and hidden, but at some point he came across Edward Said…and here is what Edward Said said, taught, believed about America and Israel. And here are pictures of Edward Said and the Obamas. And, at that same time, he may have met William Ayers. Here is what William Ayers said about America etc. And the association with Ayers was, as far as has been uncovered to date…involving these actions on education and here is what Ayers and Dorhn say about America and what they did.

And then there is Michael Klonsky and the New Party. And here is how they interacted and what the New Party was all about. And here is a history of Robert Malley and his parents and here is what they did and here is what Malley was in the campaign. And here is what Walt and Mearsheimer wrote and let’s look at Brzyzinsky and McPeak and Power’s response to this line of thinking. And how they fit into the campaign.

And let’s look at the association for 20 years with Rev. Wright and Michael Pfleger and Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. And how their Marxist inspired political ragings are all part of the same lifelong pattern….not a series of isolated incidents of “mere associations”. Rev. Wright and the twenty year mutual lovefest was because of SHARED ideals, …almost identical to Frank Marshall Davis, the radical professors, William Ayers and his wife of no soul, Said, Khalidi, Klonsky, Sam Graham-Felsen, Carl Davidson, …there isn’t a dustmite’s speck of difference…nor do they veer very far from the pathway upon which Sen. Obama has traveled his entire lifetime. His father held these same beliefs…and Sen. Obama is chasing the dreams of his father….for a Marxist world.

And non-leftists have to methodically and painstakingly connect the dots that tie to extreme fringe radicalism, how they tie into the training received at the Alinksy inspired Gamaliel organization, and how Sen. Obama taught workshops there…and has proceeded on that path until this point….but now, he needs to keep this pathway hidden from view.

Do this…and fight off the ferocious interference that will be run by the Shroud & Shill media…and he may FINALLY convince voters on the issue. Do it not…or worse…do it with pitty pat half-hearted efforts…and Sen. McCain won’t need to take the gloves off …unless he wants to paint his nails.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:09 am 24. cfbleachers:

Jennifer, on the economy…Sen. McCain has to stop trying to be all things to all people. And he has to stay focused and not ramble…falling back into the “maverick”, “take on my own party”, fight corruption meme. He made that point, it’s in the public consciousness…but repeating it over and over waters it down. And distracts the conversation from moving forward.

Look, the economy is in this mess based upon one primary factor. Easy credit. This is a credit crisis, not a crisis of other economic fundamentals. Housing leads this downturn, because a correction was long overdue…and the single largest factor in turning up the temperature on the housing market…is the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac debacle.

Jobs related to housing (real estate, furniture, builders, contractors, landscaping, mortgages) employed THOUSANDS of people during the boom years. Some states (California) are real estate driven economies in large part.

When Fannie/Freddie and the DEMOCRATS (Barney Frank, Dodd, and yes, Obama) played Humpty Dumpty and tried to build the wall bigger and bigger…based upon a foundation of wet paper and quicksand…there was an INEVITABLE fall…a crash that would follow. And all the king’s horsemen and all the king’s men are stuck trying to put Humpty back together again.

Sen. McCain…and ALL non-leftists…have to join in a connect the dots THOROUGH examination of what happened, why it happened and who benefited. Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson MUST be named…and shown to be ACTIVE participants in the inner circle of Sen. Obama’s campaign.

This is NOT Sen. McCain’s long suit. He simply does not stay focused enough on the step by step explanations necessary to articulate how, why and who made this happen. Someone has to step in for him…in fact, a number of someones have to step in for him to do this, otherwise…it is going to get lost in the muddle of distortions by the Democrats and the Shroud and Shill media will cover for them.

1)here is how easy credit came about

2) here is who benefits from that easy credit

3) here is how it got expanded to dangerous levels

4) here is who was involved in that expansion

5) here is why it was obvious it was going to crash, and here is who ignored the warnings and what they said

6) here is what happened in the crash and here was who was involved in cooking the books, who is under a grand jury indictment and who is likely to be prosecuted

7)here is how they are tied to Sen. Obama’s campagin.

Do this in a thorough, organized, focused, respectful…but no holds barred discussion of the facts…and Sen. McCain will FORCE the issue into the open. Do it in haphazard, unfocused, “sound bites”…and the Shroud and Shill media will bury it…and it will gain no traction.

The RESPONSE in an economic plan…must FOLLOW an explanation of what the “crisis” really is…and is not. The way to fix this…is not to spout empty platitudes about “I feel your pain”. Nobody believes that either candidate is feeling any financial pain.

The answer that is needed…is a clearheaded discussion about how to stave off the WORST possible impact of the Humpty Dumpty syndrome brought on by the liberal Democrats…and that is by buying time for the housing market to reach an equilibrium point and start to gain some momentum back into the housing market. Buyers (and indirectly, sellers) need a market in which to deal. To do this, available credit is necessary…and to get available credit…we have to TEMPORARILY infuse the lenders with some protection…while the real estate market stabilizes.

This is the WORST possible time to start infusing the market with bureaucratic red tape, mountains of paperwork on government regulations and threats of fines, (which got us, at least partially, into this mess under the CRA and threats of ECOA lawsuits), ten layers of do-nothing political hacks slowing down the recovery by agency officious intermeddling)

And a government culture of hating corporate America is NOT going to help the stock market or anyone’s 401k’s, their mutual funds or their life savings. It will have the direct opposite effect…and the leftists are infamous for hating corporate America.

Finally, it is infuriating that Sen. McCain is allowing this campaing to continue with the ridiculous notion that Sen. Obama is going to CUT taxes for 95% of the people who PAY taxes.

He most certainly is NOT. He will RAISE the amount of taxes paid…and when Sen. McCain speaks of this…he has to start talking about ALL the ways in which the government taxes people…and who PAYS those taxes. Inheritance taxes, capital gains taxes, …the marginal tax rate is based upon a myriad of things…not just INCOME tax.

And by the way…the bottom 50% of the people do NOT pay the overwhelming share of those taxes…and raising taxes in the midst of this economic situation is INSANE.

If you increase the amount that people pay on capital gains…you HURT the economy. NO economist of any credibility could argue otherwise. Imposing death taxes on people is simply cruel and heartless. Sen. McCain has done a piss poor job of explaining this to the American people and he has let Sen. Obama get away with murder (not literally, like Dorhn and Ayers…but figuratively speaking). ALL taxes must be discussed…and ALL non-leftists have to get on the stump and start making noise about this.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:42 am 25. Boris:

“Boris is referring to the Muslim anti-defamation law…”

Actually Boris was quoting somebody else. Please don’t confuse me with a right wing paranoid.

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:56 am 26. Navy Vet:

What astonishes me is how many LV in this country can’t recognize a Marxist when it’s right in front of their face.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:15 am 27. Mark Swanson:

If McCain wins it will be because voters decide that they want someone who will provide a check on the Democratic Congress. If he doesn’t, there won’t be any check and the ensuing disaster will cause the “Democrat” brand to slide even lower than the Republican, leading to big gains in 2010.

However: How big the gains are, and whether they will do the nation any good, largely depends on whether the Republicans clean up their act in the interim or not. If they remain status quo and offer merely a less repulsive alternative both the political and real gains in 2010 will be minimal.

But I still think McCain will win (see opening sentence) if he is within 5% the week before the election.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:28 am 28. GRANNY:

Re Obama’s capital gains tax plan: McCain and Sarah NEED, NEED, NEED to illustrate it with a SIMPLE EXAMPLE like this that everyone could understand.

If you bought a home for $250,000, sold it for $350,000, you have a $100,000 capital gain. Obama wants $38,000 or more your capital gain profit.

Ditto for investment capital gains.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:32 am 29. AJ:

Voters wont support Obama. These polls are biased and meaningless. After McCain wins 35-40 states, hopefully the media — conservative and liberal — will realize polls of 600 people in states with 10 million folks are silly and misleading.

BHO will thankfully be a blip on history’s radar after 11/4.

His supporters, after whining and protests, will see what fools they were.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:37 am 30. PatD:

It surprises me how rightists and their sympathizers carry on pronouncing how horrible and cataclysmic an Obama administration would be. They fantastically act as if the last eight years never took place ! The same tired old spectres of taxation or governmental interference are raised, the crowd goes nuts and all discussion of pragmatic policy proposals get drowned out.

Face it, the right has had it all their way for six of the last eight years and a two year long rear-guard filibuster happening in the Senate. With total command of all the levers of power all the Republican party could manage was the steaming heap we get to read about in the daily headlines. None of it is pretty.

Some day the bitter little lump of bile and hate known as the GOP will be expiated from our body politic. And no, pigs won’t fly the day after.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:50 am 31. Gavin McDougald:

So - if you’re not a right wing paranoid, like Sandy there, what are you concerned about?

/still curious

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:50 am 32. Believer:

I’m with Ed Wallis and David Thompson, Ms. Rubin, you can help BO when the “Fairness Doctrine” kicks in.

“cfbleachers” makes the case for educating the voters on the source of our present crisis.

I don’t think it can be done by McCain, though. Especially in a debate. Maybe if he’s sitting down, discussing it with someone. Too often, McCain garbles his words - and his delivery of thoughts isn’t as effective as it could be.

I’d love to see him, Giuliani and Romney - earlier I suggested Horowitz with Giuliani - go before the people and explain what’s been going on. At the same time announce these are guys to have in his administration to right this wrong. Giuliani as AG and Romney in some other post.

I heard BO has bought 30min. Prime Time just a few days before election. That was something I’d hoped - and suggested - McCain do.

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:06 am 33. Robert Hurley:

Granny:

What capital gains are you imagining in this market?

AJ:

Do you ever wonder why MCCain is paying attention to the polls if they are so biased?

Navy Vet - What will you do if Obama wins?

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:17 am 34. westToast:

No, no. This “argue to the Beltway” approach is why he’s losing. He needs to reach over the reporters and bloggers to people who don’t read blogs every day and don’t carry copies of National review in their brief cases.

He has limited time and canot cover all the points listed in a manner that will appease informed people. Half the people don’t understand the references to “earmarks.” They might understand some specific references, but he seems too oblivious to life outside DC to make them.

McCain is a decent man but with no overall vision. Bob Dole without the mean side.

He has been incapable of articulating what he stands for. He knows the right thing to do but cannot say it in terms people can understand. He is a decent man–you can tell–and that is one of his strongest points. He should not waste it being mean to Obama.

Those tough pints ought to being made by commercials–where are they? Oh–forgot–very few till just now.

He’s wasted time: He could have spent the last year reading Reagan’s speeches, running comemrcials, raising money or selecting a better tie than that eye-bending red and white one. Blue suggests trust; red someting else. But…

Worse, he cannot say why Obama is the worse candidate. (except by real winners like “he doesen’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy”).

His references are over 20 years old (e.g., the “KGB”). He has obvously never sat and practiced what to say.

Its tough for him because he has never stood for anything for a long time…yes, he’s made passing stands like in 2005 for regulating Fannie and freddy but he never stood there and pushed. Nixon and Reagan stood for somehting in people’s minds.

He hasn’t even been able to make hay of his 2005 stance for heavier regulating of Freddie now,when it ought to really matter. Why not? Its a god send! Why not? Why sin’t that playing on every comemrcial 24/7: “I knew this three years ago. I tried to warn eevryone.”

He is a good and decent man. His judgment seems good also. He ought to be pushing the non-war times he has been right (enough on the surge for heaven’s sake).

He really ought to win on the merits–if only he could discuss them.

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:37 am 35. HonestAbe:

AJ, time to put country first:

http://www.mlive.com/grpress/news/index.ssf/2008/10/former_governor_milliken_backs.html

Republican Governor Milliken

Oct 10, 2008 - 11:49 am 36. Andy:

Yeesh, you’re all a bunch of paranoid loons.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:36 pm 37. Vinprose:

With all due respect, Ms. Rubin, what Sen. McCain should do is to allow Gov. Palin to make this speech- http://www.wegotsarah.com. Thanks for the forum.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:39 pm 38. proud elitist:

but, westToast, he doesn’t really have them.

He was with Bush many a time throughout GWB’s administration.

His stance on Veteran’s affairs is deplorable. And considering his past, that in itself is a deplorable situation.

He’s just too old and set in his ways for this new world.

We MUST talk to our enemies (see Christiane Amanpour’s “The Next President, World of Challenges”).

McCain is NOT decent. Read about his past. Read about the Reagan’s, the McCain’s and Nancy’s disgust for him after he left Carol. Read about what some of his former Navy boys really have to say about him.

Read what current/past Congressmen and Senators have said about him, his temper and his judgment.

A “decent” man wouldn’t run a campaign like this.

And judgment? Two words. Sarah. Palin.

Insta-disqualification.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:46 pm 39. petrita:

I loved how clearly you articulated what McCain has to do.

Here is something we all can do. Even if you can’t follow the tour cross country, you can get involved. You did mention respect, but here is a challenge against Obama’s executive experience:

http://www.ourcountrydeservesbetter.com/nationaltour/index.html

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:54 pm 40. SmokeNMirrors:

There are two problems with McCain:

1) He has not reformed the Republican Party, rather it has reformed him.

2) He’s gone insane and it shows.

Oct 10, 2008 - 12:59 pm 41. AJ:

Proud elitist wrote: “And if you want to talk about radical/bad associations, ponder these:

–Charles Keating** (S & L Crisis)
–U.S. Council for World Freedom (related to Iran-Contra scandal)
–Chryson/Stoll/AIP
–Bishop Thomas Muthee

**Admitted by McCain himself”

Wow, sir! You DO prove that we are right about how clueless the left is. Do you actually believe these groups are as bad or dangerous as Wright, Farrakhan, Phlegler, Ayres, ACORN, or the 100% of terrorist organization who seek an Obama win?

if so, wake up–

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:00 pm 42. et:

Rubbish!

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:09 pm 43. Marc Malone:

What McCain really needs to do is to STOP TRYING TO SOLVE THE CURRENT CRISIS! He’s not president, yet. If he gets elected, he won’t be President unitl 1/20/09. Does anyone honestly believe that any solution he promises now will have any meaning 4 months from now?!? May as well guess which stocks you’ll be buying in 4 months!

He needs to say that this is the current administration’s, and the current Congress’, problem! Anything he does now just gets in the danged way!

The same goes for future policies and promises. Who knows what even the most immediate future brings? We can’t make any policy proposals in this situation. We have no valid information upon which to base our ideas, so it needs to stop.

That means you make it about character, period. Make it clear that any promises made now, during this turmoil, are totally empty, empty, empty! Did I mention empty promises? That means it comes down to whom you trust. Remind them of his servie to his country, and that he’s a hero and a patriot. They don’t hear enough of that in the Rust Belt.

Next, he needs to fulfill his campaign promise of “making people famous”. (Actually, it should be infamous or notorious.) Start now! Call them out. Dodd, Frank, et al. He has to blame the GOP of not trying hard enough to stop it, when he, McCain tried to stop it. There were 3(?) co-sponsors on s190, and McCain talked it up, but got no support. He needs to make the case that he saw it coming and actually tried to stop it! IT IS DEFINITELY NOT HIS FAULT, AND PEOPLE SHOULD QUIT PUNISHING HIM FOR IT IN THE POLLING!

It’s simply not that complicated. Make the issue go away by pointing out that proposals now are meaningless. Make it about character.

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:25 pm 44. Tom:

There’s so much hysterical right-wing whining on this board it reminds me of the Whitewater days. So, calling the other guy a marxist is seriously your best argument for McCain? Get real. The problem with your argument, in my opinion, is very simple. Your wild accusations about Obama simply don’t match up to what everyone can see in the debates and speeches - that Obama is thoughtful, measured and intelligent. And it’s McCain who came out of left field with a plan for the government to buy $300 billion worth of housing from people who took out bad loans? And you’re saying the other guy’s a marxist? I was never going to vote for McCain, but I still liked him. That is, until he started this shrill, sleazy Rovian swift-boating, just proving that he actually is very much like Bush after all. Very sad.

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:32 pm 45. SMG:

Well, Ms. Rubin, it would certainly help McCain if your suggestions had TRUTH to them. Obama’s plan involves a tax reduction for 95% of Americans. Only the top 5% (those making more than a quarter million dollars) would see their taxes increase. I love how Republicans inherited a significant surplus from a Democratic administration, have manage to transform it in 8 years into the largest deficit in American history, have gotten us into a massively costly war, and supported a bailout of Wall Street. Face it: the party is fiscally irresponsible, not to mention morally and intellectually bankrupt. I was once a Republican, but that was before the Republican Party lost its soul.

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:48 pm 46. SeanLA:

I’ve been a democrat all my life, and many times, growing up in NY I just voted democrat because thats what everyone else did. Since 9/11 I’ve changed my views considerably. And this election I’ve chosen to follow the GOP.
And its funny, because I can seriously ask, what GOP?
There is no party, group, or affiliation here, theres no unity. Its everyman for himself and here you are going to offer Obama advise for winning, and others, at PJM writing `objective’ blogs for HuffPo!
Its crazy, how can the republicans ever win, its crazy!
I voted for bush because I didn’t like Kerry or his wife, I didn’t really `look’ at what the GOP was all about, now that I’m lookiing and reading the various blogs, NR, powerline, etc. I see no unity, little common ground and no agreement at all. I’ve seen several articles here trashing Palin, advising Obama, etc that its a negative to really call this a conservative site. PJM would do better to have more democrat and socialist bloggers and just open the thing up as a wide opinion portal.

The democrats stick together, many friends and people I meet are democrats and automatically assume I’m with them. When I met my father in law for the first time thats what he said to me: This is a democratic house, no republicans allowed in here. The democrats have a real party. The Republicans, not so much. I think thats why they have and will continue to have control of nothing.
Right now its up to moderate democrats, who vote along party lines, because thats what political PARTIES DO. They stick together.
The moderate democrats, hopefully, will keep the constitution going, many I know own guns and hunt and are for using our own natural resources, these are the people I need to find. The Republicans, as a base, as far as I can see, have no base at all.

Oct 10, 2008 - 1:50 pm 47. USAF Captain:

GRANNY writes:

“If you bought a home for $250,000, sold it for $350,000, you have a $100,000 capital gain. Obama wants $38,000 or more your capital gain profit. Ditto for investment capital gains.”

..especially salient, GRANNY, for those buying stocks or real estate in this down market. The long term capital gains AS SOON AS October 2009 would be crushing and/or might stifle the urge to sell off the purchased assets.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:40 pm 48. sheryl:

Why should anyone put their trust in Obama?

Why should the American people trust Obama when he said he’d would take public financing and he didn’t.

Why should the American people trust Obama when he just recently flip flopped on issues like FISA, NAFTA, guns, abortion, capital punishment and almost every other position he took in the primaries.

Why should the American people trust Obama when he gave $800,000 to ACORN an organization that is being investigated for voter fraud in over a dozen states…undermining citizens most precious right in a democracy….the fairness in their votes.

Why should the American people trust Obama when he funneled thousands of dollars to Tony Rezko who with that money produced dilapidated buildings for the citizens of Chicago and their homes.

Why should the American people trust Obama with their children’s education when he gave millions of dollars to education projects run by William Ayers, a domestic terrorist and the outcome was that test scores in reading, writing and math didn’t improve.

Why should the American people trust Obama when he’s taken the second highest amount of money in the history of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, organizations that have proven to have contributed greatly to this current financial crisis we are all in.

Why should the American military trust Obama when he says to a crowd that they are just air raiding villages and targeting civilians in Afghanistan.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:44 pm 49. Marc Malone:

SeanLA - The Dems act as a Party, and the Pubs have no agreement at all, bickering with each other.

WHICH party actually sounds more Democratic?

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:44 pm 50. Marc Malone:

SMG - The Pubs did NOT inherit a surplus. It was all smoke and mirrors.

First, it was based on the dot.com BUBBLE lasting far into the future.

Second, Clinton cut expenses by running our military and CIA and other truly important governmental organizations into the ground.

At the end of the Bush (I) administration, the military had 30 divisions able to go to war within the first 30 days, and properly equipped. The Navy and Air Force were likewise in great condition. By the end of the Clinton years, the military was down to 3(!) divisions, and everything else was gutted, too, including ammo and the Stategic Petroleum Reserve. None of those divisions were ready to go to war right away. The CIA and others were in similar straits. But ACORN had more money, and the FHA had cast aside lending restrictions.

Bush(II) inherited that mess, and then enjoyed the dot.com bust. Smoke and Mirrors.

Oct 10, 2008 - 2:55 pm 51. Greenpointguy:

I’m with Tom…although a democrat (not a “leftist”), I always liked McCain, and the thought “well, if he wins, it won’t be that bad because he’s a centrist, bucks his party, etc.” actually went through my mind.

It all screeched to a halt when he made the blatant, political move of placing a seriously unqualified, intellectually incurious governor on his ticket. I mean, are you kidding me? And none of these responses (nor your piece) have even mentioned that Palin has become a drag on his ticket and is driving women into the arms of Obama in droves.

And to the guy who says the polls are always wrong: each major poll has a page where they show their final polls against the actual results of the last few elections…all of them were accurate within a point or two…so, don’t blame the polls…blame the McCain campaign.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:00 pm 52. 888:

Body count: in the last six months, Chicago - 292 killed (murdered) and Iraq - 221. Chicago is a combat zone. Who is in charge? Here’s the leadership in Illinois:
Senator Barack Obama (Democrat)
Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat)
Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (Democrat) Governor Rod Blogojevich (Democrat)
House leader Mike Madigan (Democrat)
Attorney General Lisa Madigan (daughter of Mike) (Democrat)
Mayor Richard M. Daley (Democrat)
Of course they’re all blaming each other. Why? They can’t blame Republicans, there aren’t any! State pension fund $44 Billion in debt, worst in country.
Cook County (Chicago) Sales tax 10.25% highest in country.
Chicago school system one of the worst in the country. Bill Ayers/Barack Obama??
This is the political culture that Obama comes from in Illinois. And he says he is going to ‘fix’ Washington politics?

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:07 pm 53. Edward A.:

McCain is still identified too closely to Bush. And, the direction the U.S. is heading frightens every American. Voters believe McCain will only be a continuation of the Bush disaster.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:11 pm 54. starryeyes:

Yes, McCain has been running like he’s on sedatives. LET THE PEOPLE KNOW what they are not seeing with their own eyes! Give ‘em the facts! They’re drinking the Kool-Aid, McCain, and they’ll make us drink it too if this imposter gets elected. Oh, America, will you be SO sorry. But it will be too late.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:19 pm 55. drew:

You need not read any further than the first line of the article, or the first comment on the forum, to see why McCain has lost.

He flounders and flubs every crisis from Iraq to the Economy, and tells us that Obama can’t be trusted, despite McCain’s “Reagan” deregulationism being 5 for 5 in miserably failing every industry it’s tried in. (By miserably failing, I mean requiring government bailouts.)

Then, McCain supporters all the way up to his Vice President (who welcomed a SECESSIONIST party to their convention) question not only Obama’s patriotism, but the patriotism of the majority of Americans who support him.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:33 pm 56. 888:

Edward A., the only reason McCain is being linked to Bush is because Obama and his surrogates keep repeating that. Everyone with half a brain knows that McCain fought Bush and the Republicans countless times over the years, and that’s why the Republicans at one time thought he was more of a Democrat than a true Republican. Remember McCain is “friends” with Ted Kennedy, Biden and Lieberman (all Democrats), unlike Obama who is totally beholden to his party and could never cross the aisle to compromise. That Bush-McCain ‘link’ is all Obama has because Obama is no war hero, always votes the party line, uses the most unsavory characters to get ahead, has been voted the most liberal politician in Washington, is a typical tax-n-spend Democrat, and has no experience or record to show for.

And especially now that McCain has come up with that great economic recovery plan to allow homeowners to stay in their homes and pay their mortgages at the home’s current value — Obama is shouting louder than ever that McCain is just a continuation of Bush. His camp couldn’t come up with a brilliant idea like McCain’s (remember they’re for $1 trillion worth of NEW spending and taxing large and small businesses), so they’re hitting hard on the same boring lies. And lately, Obama’s been saying McCain’s recovery plan will cost $300 billion. People who aren’t mesmerized by Obama should be able to see that McCain has a plan that will help the homeowner and businesses, and by extension, allow the economy to stabilize and grow, unlike Obama’s $1 TRILLION spending plan that will kill jobs, keep people forever on welfare, does not do anything for homeowners facing foreclosure and bankruptcies, cut defense spending while we’re at war with terrorists, and worsen America’s already badly beaten economy. In short, Obama will be a disaster for America.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:46 pm 57. Mandy:

If this is what McCain should do, Obama should be polishing his inauguration speech.

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:53 pm 58. cfbleachers:

My post at 9:42…and raising taxes in the midst of this economic situation is INSANE.
If you increase the amount that people pay on capital gains…you HURT the economy. NO economist of any credibility could argue otherwise.

Dont’ believe me…how about 100 other guys, including 5 Nobel Prize winners.

Economists Statement on Barack Obama’s Risky Economic Proposals
100 Economists Warn That With Current Weak Financial Conditions Barack Obama’s Proposals Run A High Risk Of Throwing The US Into A Deep Recession

ARLINGTON, VA — Today, McCain-Palin 2008 released the following statement signed by 100 distinguished and experienced economists at major American universities and research organizations, including five Nobel Prize winners Gary Becker, James Buchanan, Robert Mundell, Edward Prescott, and Vernon Smith. The economists explain why Barack Obama’s proposals, including “misguided tax hikes,” would “decrease the number of jobs in America.” The prospects of such tax rate increases under Barack Obama are already harming the economy. The economists conclude that “Barack Obama’s economic proposals are wrong for the American economy.” The proposals “defy both economic reason and economic experience.”

The full economists’ statement on Barack Obama’s economic proposals and a complete list of economists who support it follows:

Barack Obama argues that his proposals to raise tax rates and halt international trade agreements would benefit the American economy. They would do nothing of the sort. Economic analysis and historical experience show that they would do the opposite. They would reduce economic growth and decrease the number of jobs in America. Moreover, with the credit crunch, the housing slump, and high energy prices weakening the U.S. economy, his proposals run a high risk of throwing the economy into a deep recession. It was exactly such misguided tax hikes and protectionism, enacted when the U.S. economy was weak in the early 1930s, that greatly increased the severity of the Great Depression.

We are very concerned with Barack Obama’s opposition to trade agreements such as the pending one with Colombia, the new one with Central America, or the established one with Canada and Mexico. Exports from the United States to other countries create jobs for Americans. Imports make goods available to Americans at lower prices and are a particular benefit to families and individuals with low incomes. International trade is also a powerful source of strength in a weak economy. In the second quarter of this year, for example, increased international trade did far more to stimulate the U.S. economy than the federal government’s “stimulus” package.

Ironically, rather than supporting international trade, Barack Obama is now proposing yet another so-called stimulus package, which would do very little to grow the economy. And his proposal to finance the package with higher taxes on oil would raise oil prices directly and by reducing exploration and production.

We are equally concerned with his proposals to increase tax rates on labor income and investment. His dividend and capital gains tax increases would reduce investment and cut into the savings of millions of Americans. His proposals to increase income and payroll tax rates would discourage the formation and expansion of small businesses and reduce employment and take-home pay, as would his mandates on firms to provide expensive health insurance.

After hearing such economic criticism of his proposals, Barack Obama has apparently suggested to some people that he might postpone his tax increases, perhaps to 2010. But it is a mistake to think that postponing such tax increases would prevent their harmful effect on the economy today. The prospect of such tax rate increases in 2010 is already a drag on the economy. Businesses considering whether to hire workers today and expand their operations have time horizons longer than a year or two, so the prospect of higher taxes starting in 2009 or 2010 reduces hiring and investment in 2008.

In sum, Barack Obama’s economic proposals are wrong for the American economy. They defy both economic reason and economic experience.

Robert Barro, Harvard University

Gary Becker, University of Chicago

Sanjai Bhagat, University of Colorado

Michael Block, University of Arizona

Brock Blomberg, Claremont-McKenna University

Michael Bordo, Rutgers University

Michael Boskin, Stanford University

Ike Brannon, McCain-Palin 2008

James Buchanan, George Mason University

Todd Buchholtz, Two Oceans Fund

Charles Calomiris, Columbia University

Jim Carter, Vienna VA

Barry Chiswick, University of Illinois at Chicago

John Cogan, Hoover Institution

Kathleen Cooper, Southern Methodist University

Ted Covey, McLean VA

Dan Crippen, former CBO Director

Mario Crucini, Vanderbilt

Steve Davis, University of Chicago

Christopher DeMuth, American Enterprise Institute

William Dewald, Ohio State University

Frank Diebold, University of Pennsylvania

Isaac Ehrlich, State University of New York at Buffalo

Paul Evans, Ohio State University

Dan Feenberg, NBER

Martin Feldstein, Harvard University

Eric Fisher, California Polytechnic State University

Kristin Forbes, MIT

Timothy Fuerst, Bowling Green State University

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Hudson Institute

Paul Gregory, University of Houston

Earl Grinols, Baylor University

Rik Hafer, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Gary Hansen, UCLA

Eric Hanushek, Hoover Institutions

Kevin Hassett, American Enterprise Institute

Arlene Holen, Technology Policy Institute

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain-Palin 2008

Glenn Hubbard, Columbia University

Owen Irvine, Michigan State University

Mike Jensen, Harvard University

Steven Kaplan, University of Chicago

Robert King, Boston University

Meir Kohn, Dartmouth

Marvin Kosters, American Enterprise Institute

Anne Krueger, Johns Hopkins University

Phil Levy, American Enterprise Institute

Larry Lindsey, The Lindsey Group

Paul W. MacAvoy. Yale University

John Makin, American Enterprise Institute

Burton Malkiel, Princeton University

Bennett McCallum, Carnegie-Mellon University

Paul McCracken, University of Michigan

Will Melick, Kenyon College

Allan Meltzer, Carnegie-Mellon University

Enrique Mendoza, University of Maryland

Jim Miller, George Mason University

Michael Moore, George Washington University

Robert Mundell, Columbia University

Tim Muris, George Mason University

Kevin Murphy, University of Chicago

Richard Muth, Emory University

Charles Nelson, University of Washington

Bill Niskanen, Cato Institute

June O’Neill, Baruch College, CUNY

Lydia Ortega, San Jose State University

Steve Parente, University of Minnesota

William Poole, University of Delaware

Michael Porter, Harvard University

Barry Poulson, University of Colorado, Boulder

Edward Prescott, Arizona State University

Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University

Richard Roll, UCLA

Harvey Rosen, Princeton University

Robert Rossana, Wayne State University

Mark Rush, University of Florida

Tom Saving, Texas A&M University

Anna Schwartz, NBER

George Shultz, Stanford University

Chester Spatt, Carnegie-Mellon University

David Spencer, Brigham Young University

Beryl Sprinkle, Former Chair Council of Economic Advisers

Houston Stokes, University of Illinois in Chicago

Robert Tamura, Clemson University

Jack Tatum, Indiana State University

John Taylor, Stanford University

Richard Vedder, Ohio University

William B. Walstad, University of Nebraska

Murray Weidenbaum, Washington University in St. Louis

Arnold Zellner, University of Chicago

Oct 10, 2008 - 3:55 pm 59. Jerry:

There is an interesting fact that many of you are overlooking-
Election day may be Nov 4th but the fact is that up to about 1/3 of all votes are cast early-i.e. early voting states, absentee ballots, mail in ballots- This early voting has been increasing with each election since 2000. With the current polls showing Obama leading from 3-11 points- one can easily assume that he already has a significent lead so even if McCain pulls even in the polls it will be much to late as Obama will already have a substantial lead.

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:20 pm 60. Satan:

Indentured servants, all of you.

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:43 pm 61. wayne:

if you are waiting for the debate for McCain to bring all this out you can forget it. all the questions in the debate’s are centered around Obama by media that favor him instead of the truth that they are suppose to be reporting.

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:43 pm 62. Seth:

The only thing more delusional than the original article is the bulk of the responses to it.

All a bit sad really. But worry not. There will be nice comfy padded cells for all of you in 21st century America. Really the 21st century is no scarier than an Obama presidency. You’ll all be just fine.

Oct 10, 2008 - 4:59 pm 63. James:

I’ve been thinking about Obama’s tax philosophy of late and either my conclusions are completely misguided, or they’re right and yet virtually nobody in the media seems to have come to the same conclusion yet (or is willing to point this out - more likely).

Obama, in pandering to the middle classes, seems set upon stinging big business with billions in new taxes. The sentiment is obvious - punish those greedy corporations in order to give small businesses a break.

But it seems to have been forgotten just how much influence “big businesses” has on our economic growth and general prosperity. Economies of scale mean that large businesses can produce and sell things with a higher per-unit efficiency - which is why our daily mass produced and chain-sold staples are so relatively cheap. Even the poorest in capitalist countries have TV’s, video games, microwaves etc.

But sting big business with higher taxes and they are going to get this money back the only way they can - by raising the price of their goods. This means that there will be fewer dollars chasing the kinds of goods and services that small businesses provide. Budgets that could just about handle a daily dog walker or monthly carpet clean will begin to edge these things out - which means that small businesses will see a loss in revenues.

And this could more than neutralize any tax cuts that Obama has promised the smallest businesses. When we’re paying more for our staples, our wages are worth less and we’re all poorer. When we’re all poorer, small businesses will suffer. Those who operate on the smallest of profit margins will cease to be viable. Expect large numbers of small businesses to fold, and many layoffs.

Obama, like most leftists (or anyone who has been raised on a diet of liberal media) fails to understand a basic economic truism. That is, you cannot achieve economic growth without producing more. And since big business are the biggest producers, to stifle that production is tantamount to thrusting a knife into the heart of the economy.

The trouble with this election is that Obama is the one distributing brightly colored candy to an adoring crowd, while McCain is the adult spoilsport who’s telling everyone that candy is bad for the teeth and that he’s got a nice side of beef roasting in the oven. The liberal media has turned much of our population into a bunch of starry-eyed kids. Guess which offer they’re going to take?

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:20 pm 64. Jade:

I wish Obama was (or could be) more critical of Isreal, but I’ll vote for him anyway. Time to recover the United States’ standing in the world. Maybe McCain should have switched parties when he was in discussion with the Dems about that after 2000. In 2000 he was a good candidate, and the GOP destroyed one of their own. Too late now.

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:22 pm 65. jk:

McCain should endorse Obama.

Palin and her religious nuts aren’t Republicans, they aren’t even Americans.

Give it a few years, somebody will figure out that a second party will be a good idea. For now it ain’t what’s left of the Democrats.

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:56 pm 66. sheryl:

“The only thing more delusional than the original article is the bulk of the responses to it.
All a bit sad really. But worry not. There will be nice comfy padded cells for all of you in 21st century America. Really the 21st century is no scarier than an Obama presidency. You’ll all be just fine.”

Seth, go back to your bong, the grown ups are talking.

Oct 10, 2008 - 5:58 pm 67. jk:

“The trouble with this election is that Obama is the one distributing brightly colored candy to an adoring crowd, while McCain is the adult spoilsport who’s telling everyone that candy is bad for the teeth”

Not quite. The problem is that the GOP is dead and buried and the folks that pretend to be Republicans are profoundly ignorant.

For example, they buy the idea that it wasn’t Bush who implimented “McCain’s” mortgage fix weeks ago, and they pretend Obama didn’t support their president on that, two weeks ago.

They buy the idea that Palin’s more than an inflatible GOP party doll.

They buy the idea that McCain, who’s always been happy to bend over for correction whenever somebody noticed he didn’t agree, is a “maverick.”

Forget it. Enjoy Obama.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:01 pm 68. Jane Doe:

“Obama, like most leftists (or anyone who has been raised on a diet of liberal media) fails to understand a basic economic truism. That is, you cannot achieve economic growth without producing more. And since big business are the biggest producers, to stifle that production is tantamount to thrusting a knife into the heart of the economy.”

James,

Brilliant post. Smart, right and wise….I think I’m in love!

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:04 pm 69. SeanLA:

Marc Malone:
good point. E pluribus unum and all that. But still, if socialists and terrorists and killing the `system’ see S Kurtz and what hes writing about, if even all THAT can’t unite the `party’, then I ask you what can?

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:08 pm 70. YellowDogDemocrat:

Those of us raised as liberals view large corporate economics differently that conservatives, which is suprising since we both drive toward the same goals. Liberals believe small business is the backbone of the American economy and only through economic independence are we truly free. We temper our desire for money with a degree of service to others. This includes paying taxes for the public good. We are called socialists because we want to level the playing field for the small business owner. Health care is the classic example. Many Americans are afraid of going solo because one major illness and their children go hungry. We have a health care system that protects large corporations against the advancement of smaller competitors. Liberals believe that energy independence from the Reagan-Bush — Saudi Arabia-Exxon evil empire is in America’s best interest. When Obama says he’s going to tax large corporations, I hope one of his plans moves executive salaries below line, meaning they’re not a business expense but a direct payment from net earnings. Big companies are slow, lumbering giants in search of legal protection against more nimble competitors. They are wasteful with both natural and human capital. It is a failure of the American system for the big three automakers to not have a fourth and fifth on-shore competitor for all these years. Liberals would like a more fluid economy, not one ground in protectionism for old-school conservatives with Harvard MBA’s who are stealing money in the executive boardroom. When WalMart kills Main Street, we all lose.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:41 pm 71. rachel peepers:

Everybody gives John McCain advice, but, franky, he is what he is.

In the final debate, I pray he gets his backbone back, and wipes the floor with Barack and his tax and spend, protectionistic Hooveristic economic programs, his tree-hugging energy policy, his devotion to Party and self above country, his affinity for insider dealing, earmarks and history of relationships with everything bad from terrorists to criminals to American-hating pastors.

Yet, even if McCain gives BH a real drubbing, McCain’s chances of winning are iffy. Because the playing field isn’t level. From the mainstream media to talk TV to comedy shows, American haters have been pummeling the Republicans from day one. Many Americans have bought into their lies and fearmongering. Which makes a Barack election all the more possible.

Assume, if you will, that Barack is elected. What’s the worst case scenario is unfortunately the likliest one, also.

It’s not about tax schemes or, one Party government or whatever health insurance program Barack and his Democratic congress want. It’s not about immigration. Or energy policies. Or wasteful earmarks. America can survive for four years with a full wagonload of Barackian, left wing, idealogic programs.

The issue is safety. The challenge is survival.

Does anybody think Barack will maintain and constantly update a missile defense shield? Of course not. He’s on the record as being against it. Does anybody think Barack would be diligent about safeguarding national secrets? Are you kdding? Or honing our military into an even more potent force? Not on your life. Barack is a brilliant idiot. He has an absent sense of good and bad. He’s partially color blind; can’t see white or black. Can’t distinguish from good and evil. He’s a man without a moral compass. Worst, he’s a pawn of evil.

Do you realize that the the world’s Islamo-facists, socialist and communist governments view Barack as a friend? At worst, they view him as a naive stooge who can persuaded through lies, promises and intimidation into making gross miscalculations and mistakes of Biblical proportions.

Here’s my best guess of the kind of things that would happen in a worst case scenario.

Within three years of Barack’s election, a country hostile to the free world, probably Iran, with the help of Russia, will develop nuclear missiles capable of reaching any part of the United States.

In other words, elect Barack, and your children will know, as our parents knew in 1963 during the Cuban missile crisis, what real fear is like; what it feels like to know that, after a few minutes warning, you could be vaporized by a nuclear attack.

Admittedly, for this fear to seep into the very marrow of our children, five things must occur.

1. Barack follows up on his threats to dump the U.S.
missile shield.
2. Russia is taken over by more hard liners than Putin.
Putin is tough, but not reckless.
3. For whatever consideration, Russia provides to a
country with a sociopathic leader the kind of cutting
edge missile technology and training necessary to
launch ICBM’s.
4. The offending country would be 90% certain that
its attack would result in significantly less than a
full retaliatory response from the United States.
5. Barack Obama is elected President of the United
States.

Epilogue: This is my final Rachel Peepers post. Wriing for the last three months on Pajamas Media has been fun. Lately, though, it’s become very frustrating to say the least. I believe in every fiber of my being that wanting Obama to be elected is as close to having a death wish for this country as you can get. Yet, that seems to be what millions of Americans desire. If anybody out there has any advice, I’m ready to listen. I plan to finish this school year, and then decide what to do with my life. Some of you over time have given me words of encouragement that I value highly. With others, it’s like talking to a stone wall.

I’ve taken up too much of your time as it is. Bye.
Love, Rachel

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:52 pm 72. Kay:

If McCain wants to win, he has to leave the land of stupid. First, ditch that nit wit VP - she’s an embarrassment. She’s corrupt. She’s a witch. She’s lost far more votes than she gained.

Second, stop with the idiotic character assaults on Obama. I would never vote for someone who believed there was such a thing as an anti-Christ let alone one who accused a political rival of it. This makes McCain look like a raving lunatic. Ditto the silly attacks because Obama once served on a board with Ayers. Anyone with a brain knows a person isn’t responsible for the behavior of someone else on a board, especially their behavior 30 years earlier. That is a ditzy, losing argument that makes McCain look stupid, desperate and nasty.

McCain won the primaries because he portrayed himself as a moderate. People liked that. They didn’t like Romney or Huckabee. Huckabee was creamed in the primaries. When McCain chose a dumbed down version of Huckabee in drag for a VP, he lost the moderate vote. We felt betrayed and we are more scared of the angry, emotional right than we are of the liberals right now. Obama may not have much experience but he’s smart and level headed - two things that seem to be missing from the Republicans right now.

McCain needs to shut up the angry mobs, leave Obama alone and talk about his plan and why it is better than Obama’s. We need logic now, not lunacy.

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:53 pm 73. Palincomparison:

How entertaining to see desperate Republicans throw tantrums over what McBush’s last gasp should be, all the while predicting “socialism” and “THE END OF THE WORLD” when Obama is elected. There’s more panic here than in the stock market (and, yes, McBush-Fey has already crashed). Better forget about 2010, too, ‘cuz once Obama gets that Bush stench out of the air, the increased oxygen flow will even convert lockstep Rush-Rove robots into realizing the Democratic party was the right choice despite their seething petulance prior to the inevitable. Have a happy January 20th…I’ll be thinking of y’all with a smile…

Oct 10, 2008 - 6:56 pm 74. Ben Chod:

This is so full of the brown stuff it’s not funny.
Obama is the best thing since sliced bread for America.
The Republicans screwed the country these past 8 years and you want another four more years? You must be doggone crazy.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:14 pm 75. Bill S.:

Simple question for John McCain: do you see this election as our “Munich?” Do you understand that you can be either be our Chamberlain or our Churchill? Today he sounded too Chamberlain for my tastes.

Today Senator McCain said Obama is a “decent” man, with whom he has “some disagreements.” Does McCain truly believe that a terrorist apologist, who is willing to meet face-to-face with our enemies without preconditions, is “decent?” That a man whose campaign gave $800,000 to a group that is rushing around the county fraudulently filing voter registrations is “decent?” that a man who sat in the pews of a church for 20 years whose pastor promulgated hated of this country with statements like “God damn American” is “decent?” That a man who got his political start in the home of an unrepentant domestic terrorist is “decent?” If Senator McCain truly believe he is facing a “decent” advisory, then we will be left with a “peace in our time” post election world and pay dearly for another Chamberlain’s stand against an advisory he fundamentally misread. I pray McCain prove me wrong.

An Ode on Delusion:

When the One declared war on the capitalists,
I sent money to ACORN & MoveOn.org;
War is Peace.

When the One called on us to shout down his critics,
I followed his commands blindly and flooded the media with protests;
Freedom is Slavery.

When the One promised to meet with America’s enemies (without preconditions),
I was proud of my country for the first time in my life;
Ignorance is Strength.

When the One came for me,
it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished;
I loved Big Brother.

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

- Bill S.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:18 pm 76. Conway F.:

If I had any thoughts of voting for McCain, they were erased by the angry mob in Wisconsin yesterday. After watching that episode and others like it, there is no way I would vote Republican. The thoughtful, Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Republican Party no longer exists.

Some in this forum say they are worried Obama will take away civil rights. Where have you people been the last eight years?? Did you protest when Bush took away civil rights? Did you protest the secrecy and all of the end-runs on the constitution? Sheesh.

Oct 10, 2008 - 7:52 pm 77. bipolar2:

** Sarah So-White wants to dominate **

Welcome to Dom Sarah’s little world of pain! Old Salty is a doddering dupe. Now he’s just along for the ride into an all-American abyss of fundamentalist political ideology, dominionism.

Dominatrix Sarah comes “wrapped in a flag, carrying a cross.” She is exactly the gender traitor dominionists need to jumpstart their wet dreams of a holy, xian dictatorship.

Like some pernicious Peter Pan, Dom Sarah would make “The Handmaid’s Tale” come painfully alive. Voiceover the trailer: In a polluted dystopia policed by xian thugs, a rebellious 20 year old finds herself condemned to sexual slavery because she possess a rare gift, her fertility. (adapted from IMDb.com/title/tt0099731)

Dominatrix Sarah really energizes core Bible-Dom fans. She’s a true believer, a puritanical atavism. What’s wrong with whipping up fervor among consenting male voters? Dom Sarah just wants to treat all American women to some faith-based, strict discipline.

bipolar2 ©2008

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:09 pm 78. James:

In response to “yellowdogdemocrat”:

>>>”Those of us raised as liberals view large corporate economics differently that conservatives, which is suprising since we both drive toward the same goals.”

You don’t drive towards the same goals as me - that much is clear. And I really wish socialists would stop calling themselves “liberals”. Classical liberals - REAL liberals - believed in economic freedom and the right of the individual to trade with others as and how they please so long as it doesn’t interfere with the rights of others to do the same. Socialists and Marxists hijacked the name “liberal” in the 60’s because “Marxist” is rightly associated with the deaths of over 100 million people and the Gulag and thus a dirty word in the Land of the Free.

>>>”Liberals believe small business is the backbone of the American economy and only through economic independence are we truly free.”

That’s true. But you’re not a liberal, you’re a socialist. Nor do you believe in economic freedom, because of what you’ve said throughout your post.

>>>”We temper our desire for money with a degree of service to others.”

You would best service others by leaving them alone to conduct their business and their lives how they wish. Your “service to others” is fine. I do my share of service to others too. But of my own volition. I do not wish to commandeer the state to act as my “muscle” in forcing others to bow to MY idea of “service to others.”

>>>”This includes paying taxes for the public good.”

Taxes are essential to pay for our national defense, law enforcement and our criminal justice system. All of those things are essential to sustain the conditions of freedom under which the self-reliant individual can get on with his or her agenda, whether that agenda be one of self-interest, that of providing for family, or “serving others” in a wider sense. It is completely just to tax people in order to pay for a government which ensures these conditions. But beyond that, the idea of “public good” or a “common purpose” is purely subjective and hence it is wrong to force everyone to bend to any one interpretation of it.

>>>”We are called socialists because we want to level the playing field for the small business owner.”

One thing you socialists will never understand is difference between the concepts of ensuring equality under the law and forcing equality of result. “Leveling the playing field” in the form of penalizing large businesses in order to give smaller businesses an artificial, state-coerced advantage is unjust and immoral. Large businesses are comprised of individuals who have just as much right to conduct business as anyone else. If a small business can make a profit and survive in the market, that means they are providing a product or service which people want, at a price which they are prepared to pay. This is the “will of the people” - by people, I mean a group of independently thinking individuals acting of their own volition, not a group acting as one.

>>>”Health care is the classic example. Many Americans are afraid of going solo because one major illness and their children go hungry. We have a health care system that protects large corporations against the advancement of smaller competitors.”

That’s not the way to describe it at all. We have a health care system that’s so weighted down with regulation and mandate that it’s impossible for health care providers to compete in the same free market conditions that has made virtually everything else cheap and affordable. This is why even the poorest in capitalist countries have access to TVs and microwaves, and why working class people in America have computers on their desktops which contain chips a thousand times more powerful than the ones which launched the first Space Shuttle. American health care is the best in the world bar none - the only problem is its price. And the free market is the best way to make medical technology as cheap and affordable as other forms of technology. Socialized medicine is not adequate for America. British renal wards have been described as “3rd world quality.” Canadians routinely travel to America to receive life saving treatment that their own government prohibits them from having. Additionally, the vast majority of medical advances come from America - not countries which have socialized medicine. To destroy our means of innovation by socializing health care would be a crime against humanity.

>>>”Liberals believe that energy independence from the Reagan-Bush — Saudi Arabia-Exxon evil empire is in America’s best interest.”

Reagan is dead. Bush’s natural term is about to expire and he’s to be replaced in a democratic election. Please - enough with these tediously childish left wing bromides. If you want energy independence then let’s drill.

>>>”When Obama says he’s going to tax large corporations, I hope one of his plans moves executive salaries below line, meaning they’re not a business expense but a direct payment from net earnings.”

Wage and salary levels have nothing to do with you or the state. They are the business of whomever owns the business. If you don’t like the salaries that a company’s executives receive then don’t buy their products and don’t accept employment from them, it’s as simple as that. The idea that executive salaries are responsible for unemployment, low wages of workers or anything else that leftists claim is a myth, by the way. A typical breakdown of revenues shows that on average, labor (wages) accounts for around 60-75% of those revenues, then of what’s left, most goes towards production costs, reinvestment, research and development and then you have around 3-5% in the form of profits, of which a fraction of this goes toward “executive salaries”. Even if you paid the executives nothing and gave it to the workers instead, it would be a negligible increase.

>>>”Big companies are slow, lumbering giants in search of legal protection against more nimble competitors. They are wasteful with both natural and human capital.”

Like most things leftists say, this is the exact polar opposite of the truth. Since large companies enjoy the benefits of economies of scale, they are able to manufacture and distribute goods and services with a far smaller expenditure of energy per unit. This is why “big companies” on the whole are able to offer such lower prices than small businesses. Those who care about the environment should realize that if mass manufacture was taken out of the hands of big business and “redistributed” among small businesses, the result would be less efficiency, a far greater carbon footprint and higher prices. Does the socialist/leftist/”fake liberal” care about any of this? Of course not. That would mean having to think beyond the immediate range of the moment.

>>>”It is a failure of the American system for the big three automakers to not have a fourth and fifth on-shore competitor for all these years.”

If foreign auto makers can produce cars more efficiently and cheaply than us, then let them! What is this obsession with the manufacture of cars that the left seems to have? If they can make cars more cheaply abroad then this means that the capital which would have been used to manufacture cars here would be best put to some better, more efficient use. What American consumers save in buying cheaper foreign cars can be spent on other things - which means the economy grows in other areas. If American had always taken the left wing view of industry protectionism throughout its history, we’d still be producing cotton as our main product. I thought you people were supposed to be “progressives.” I guess that’s not possible when you’re still peddling the dog-eared, outdated philosophical ideas of the 60’s and 70’s.

>>>”Liberals would like a more fluid economy, not one ground in protectionism for old-school conservatives with Harvard MBA’s who are stealing money in the executive boardroom. When WalMart kills Main Street, we all lose.”

Firstly, you do not want a “more fluid economy.” You want one which is reshaped in the image of your socialist principles regardless of whether or not the result is more fluid or not. For instance, outsourcing makes our economy more fluid and efficient in the long run, yet the left screams blue murder at that idea. Your views above SCREAM of protectionism. You’re not a proponent of the free market at all - despite the fact that the free market has done more for the living conditions of man than any force in human history. That’s not conjecture, it’s empirical fact.

How can executives be “stealing money”? Who does that money belong to? You? If not…who are they stealing it from? The owners of the company? They are the ones who decided to pay those salaries. You would be better off forgetting how much executives are getting and instead campaign towards the kind of greater economic freedom which allows competition and progress.

So OK, shut down WalMart. This means millions of US families will pay higher prices for the goods they used to buy there. This means less dollars chasing the other things they usually buy. It also means the value of the wages of all of those families diminishes, since they can purchase less with them.

Tell me - are there any socialist principles which DON’T lead the death of economic growth and worse conditions for everyone in the long run?

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:12 pm 79. James:

ConwayF:

You didn’t have any thoughts of voting McCain anyway, so that’s alright.

Those of use who see how bad Obama would be for this country have been disgusted by the “mob” of Obama supporters for some time now.

When Obama told them to “get in the faces” of Republicans, it disgusted us.

By the way, which of your civil rights did Bush take away, how did it affect your daily life and how did it affect your right to do what you need to do on a daily basis to survive and lead a fulfilling life? You idiots really need to get over your Bush Derangement Syndrome - America is just about to elect a career socialist who has spent his entire adult life collaborating with people who hate America and wish to subvert its deepest principles. I guess it’s too late for you to wake up now.

When Obama told them to disrupt and swamp any radio stations who had opponents of his on as guests (and they complied), that disgusted us too.

When Obama’s favorite community organizers ACORN (who he used to work for) committed some of the worst election fraud in US history (which is still going on), that disgusted us.

When we found out about Obama’s ties to an unrepentant terrorist with whom he served on an “educational” board which sought to deprive Chicago kids of the marketable skills they need to survive and instead to replace them with “revolutionary” ideas of “social justice”, that disgusted us.

When we found out that Obama was for 20 years a close friend and mentor of a pastor who hates America and is an anti-white racist (and sat listening to that crap in the pews for those same 20 years), that disgusted us.

When we learned just how guilty Democrats and left wing organizations like Obama’s friends ACORN were in causing the sub-prime loan crisis which is crippling us today, that disgusted us.

All of these things disgusted us a thousand times more than you were disgusted at the sight of a few losers in a crowd of strangers shouting a few dumb things. Wow, I bet you’re going to have to go into therapy now.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:23 pm 80. James:

To Ben Chod:

Obama is the best thing since sliced bread? I dare say electing a slice of bread would do less harm to America.

If you want to get into the ways in which the left have taken every single opportunity to screw America over the last 40 years then just say the word.

If you want to get into the ways in which Democrats are largely responsible for the worst financial crisis since the Depression then just say the word too.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:26 pm 81. Someone75:

Well, the BI-partisan Alaskan committee investigating Palin has spoken. Her firing was unlawful. Call it a partisan smear if you must, but BOTH SIDES were in on this and they all came to the same conclusion. McCain is done.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:42 pm 82. Terence:

Clint Eastwood said it in Unforgiven: “Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.”

McCain is a decent guy. He doesn’t deserve to have the Bush mess hung around his neck, but it’s there. He doesn’t deserve having to select the Alaskan Loony Bird to pander to the female vote and neo-cons, but he did. He doesn’t deserve having an opponent who gets a free pass from the media on tough questions, but it’s happening.

He does deserve a little bit of heat for surrounding himself with erstwhile lobbyists and disgraced business execs like Carly Fiorina. The day I heard about that was the day I understood his Achilles heel: he isn’t a good judge of character.

People have invoked the name of Jimmy Carter here, and to me the parallel is striking: McCain has very good intentions, but without a very clear vision of the future and a group of good people supporting him, he would be destined for disaster in the White House.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:58 pm 83. nm_gold:

I am the only progressive moderate in a family of ultra-conservatives. I have been registered as an independent since 1980. I have always voted my conscience - not by party propoganda.

What has been missing in the discussion is that both side have skeletons in their closets - all politicians make deals they later regret in the name of the ‘greater good.’ The Republicans were swept into a congressional majority with the ‘Contract for America.’ With a majority - they passed only one of their promises. With a majority - they gutted the military, and approved every one of Clinton’s spending measures. At the end of the Clinton 2nd term Phil Graham (R - Texas) authored the repeal of a law which had protected the American consumer and economy since the Depression - the Glass-Stengal Act. This deregulation led the creation of hybrid bank / financial institutions that created investment vehicles called mortgage backed securities, which were backed only by debt. The 1999 law not only took away a needed protection, it created a new financial system with no regulation.

What is often forgeten in the political debate is that liberal means liberty, and conservatism means a rejection of change. When Obama takes office on Jan. 4,perhaps we will see long lines of conservatives waiting to leave the country. Without their whining about the civil rights they are afraid to loose - oh wait, they already let GWB take them away - the remaining citizens can unite as a antion, and not a division of class. I dream of a replay of the French revolution, with the Republican heads rolling out of baskets. They’re are way more of us, and maybe a semi-socialist state won’t be as bad for us. Of course,you’ll be the one’s standing next to the freeway offramps, and sleeping under bridges.

Oct 10, 2008 - 8:58 pm 84. Believer:

Conway F.: “If I had any thoughts of voting for McCain…”

Who are you trying to kid? You never entertained the thought. “Sheesh.”

Oct 10, 2008 - 9:37 pm 85. Far from over… « Politico’s Politics:

[...] Finally, Jennifer Rubin has some advice for McCain here. [...]

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:12 pm 86. 888:

Terence, bad judge of character??? You’ve got to be kidding your readers. Nothing compares to Obama’s friends —

1) racist, Jew-hating, America-hating reverend Wright (small ‘r’ because he doesn’t deserve to be a real Reverend)

2) unrepentent terrorist bomber and self-professed hater of American ideals and military members, Bill Ayers

3) radical, extremist, guilt-ridden, Catholic-wanna-be father Phleger (small ‘f’, too)

4) radical, extremist bent-on-brainwashing Chicago children, Dohrn

5) convicted slum lord, Tony Rezko, who wouldn’t even give heating to his frozen Chicago tenants but helped Obama get his million dollar mansion

6) corrupt thief, Franklin Raines, who destroyed Freddie Mac after collecting $90 million from the housing program

7) corrupt thief, Jim Johnson, who destroyed Freddie Mac and Countrywide Mortgage after getting a sweetheart mortgage deal

angry wife

Shall I go on??? There is no comparison one iota between the respected gentleman, bi-partisan senator and war hero, John McCain, and the arrogant, ultra-elitist, most liberal candidate in US history, no experience, no record of anything, including what he did as a community organizer, Barack Hussein Obama.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:13 pm 87. James:

Someone75:

What are you talking about? The firing wasn’t unlawful. She will face no charges. The report gave its opinion that she overstepped the mark, that’s all.

You really think this is more important than Obama’s collaboration with a terrorist and his links to an organization which has committed some of the worst election fraud in U.S. history?

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:15 pm 88. James:

nm_gold:

The sheer unadulterated simplicity of you infantile leftists will never cease to astound me as long as I live.

The repeal of Glass-Steagall was not responsible for the current situation, I don’t care how long you’ve spent reading the talking points on the HuffingtonPost and DailyKos websites. This is set to become yet another lefty legend, unmovable by any amount of fact, logic or reasoning.

If it wasn’t for the repeal of Glass-Steagall, the current situation would be much worse right now. It is because of that repeal that Bank of America was able to take over Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Chase Bear Stearns.

The repeal - also supported by Obama supporter Jim Leach and signed by Bill Clinton - was a good thing because without it, we would have lost a lot of business to companies that didn’t operate under such regulations, like Switzerland’s UBS. Others to support the bill included John Kerry, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, and Joe Biden, by the way.

It didn’t cause the current panic. Note how the institutions that have gone bankrupt or been acquired - Bear Stearns, Lehmann Bros etc - were pure investment banks that had no commercial side like the repeal would have allowed. The banks that did diversify were in a better position to cope with the bad loans because they also had depositors funds as well as loans on their books - Bank of America being a good example.

The mess had far more to do with Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae promoting loans to unqualified buyers and repackaging them as securities. Democrats blocked every attempt to rein in Fanny and Freddie. If they hadn’t, we would not be in this mess. And who have been the biggest beneficiaries of contributions from Fanny and Freddy? Democrats, including Obama who ranks 3rd.

As for your “conservatism means a rejection of change” baloney. You’re laboring under the delusion that all change is a good thing and that fundamental principles that work should never be kept. How about we change America to the kind of socialist country that has failed all over the world and done nothing but oppress its citizens? Would that kind of “change” suit you?

Please don’t tell us that “liberal” has anything to do with “liberty” any more. It once used to. The far left took over the term in the 60’s as they filled their tiny minds with socialism and Marxism. You name me ONE socialist country in the world with more freedoms than America. The phony “liberals” of today want to expand government and regulate the economy as much as possible; they want to control speech and commandeer more and more of the money that we earn based on the arrogant principle that they know how to spend it better than we do. I don’t know where the hell you get the idea that this has anything to do with “liberty.”

I’m still waiting to hear exactly which of your civil liberties that George Bush has taken from you and to hear one example of how he’s affected your daily lives. In fact, George Bush, since 9/11, has done everything he can to protect your most important right of all - the right to go about your daily lives without being blown to smithereens by Islamic suicide bombers. How many attacks on US soil since 9/11? Islamic terrorists have carried out over 11,000 fatal terrorist attacks since that day and yet they have not managed to pull off ONE against their most hated enemy, their #1 target: America.

I really wish you socialists would grow up and realize that your ideology has done nothing but cause economic misery, stagnation and oppression throughout the world. Your dreams of “class warfare” are not shared by the common working person who wants to climb up the economic ladder and one day own property - but who above all wants the freedom to plan his or her own life independently, without the coercion of the state. If you want to live your life believing in adult fairy tales then that’s fine but just remember that you’re investing your heart and soul into something which is destined for the trash cans of history.

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:51 pm 89. sxs537:

I agree with the post but do you think in the tsunami sized economic crisis we have here, people will ignore the other points about Obama. Will they just see that under Clinton we had good economy and under Bush we did not, and since McCain belongs to the same party it is going to be the same? I think McCain needs the markets to pick up the next couple of weeks to help him. Also he needs to pick maximum of two points (economy and taxes, people are easily distracted by 5 point programs) and use that to relentlessly drive home his point. I am not sure connections with Ayers/Rezko et al however legitimate points they may be, may not matter. What is everybody’s opinion?

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:58 pm 90. Layne:

http://www.votinghelper.com is showing Obama will win. Why do people still think McCain stands a chance?

Oct 11, 2008 - 12:51 am 91. Trevor:

Over 40 years ago when I was about to vote in a national election for the first time, I consulted my grandfather for advice. What he said was disturbing and I have spent my life thinking about it.

“If the Republican gets elected, the economy will probably be screwed up. If the Democrat gets elected, the country will probably go to war. Take your choice, son.”

In 1964, I doubted my grandfather and voted for Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded in scaring the country into opposing Barry Goldwater, a conservative senator from Arizona who was portrayed as extremely far right and warlike. In one famous TV ad, the Johnson campaign showed a little girl in a flower-filled meadow. In the ad, as the girl pulls petals from a blossom, a countdown is heard, and she suddenly looks up as a mushroom cloud appears on the screen. Johnson’s voice was then heard saying “These are the stakes” — an obvious suggestion that Goldwater would blunder into a nuclear war.

Nine months after Johnson’s election, I received my draft notice for the war in Vietnam.

Look at 100 years of American history and you will see that Grandfather was right — until the Bushes. Father and son managed both to start a war and screw up the economy.

Whether you are politically left or right, if you look back to 1900 and move to 2000, every time the USA has gone to war, a Democrat has been in office. Every time the worst economic downturns have occurred, a Republican has been in office. Those are facts. Can anyone explain them?

The Obama administration may fix the economy, but the USA will probably go to war again. What country will he go to war with? Pakistan, I think, before his first four years are up.

Politics is a lot of bullshit. Either side promises the end of the world if the other side gets elected, but nothing so drastic ever happens. My grandfather, however, looked at history and spoke the truth.

Oct 11, 2008 - 1:35 am 92. Believer:

Dear Rachel,

Don’t stop writing - here or anywhere! You have a real talent for it.
You’ve entertained and informed us with wonderful wit and wisdom — delighting us with laughs when we sorely needed them.

You’ve been a bright light here at PJM. Don’t bury your creative mind.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who missed your posts — I thought maybe exams were keeping you busy lately. Following the election, many of us may drop off. It would be great to check in, though, to hear a familiar ‘voice’ once in a while. And yours has surely been a favorite.

All the best to you, Rachel, whatever you choose. But I hope there’s another post in you - with your name highlighted to take us to your new site. Give it a try!

Oct 11, 2008 - 2:17 am 93. Dave Surls:

“If the Republican gets elected, the economy will probably be screwed up. If the Democrat gets elected, the country will probably go to war.”

Grandpa got it half right.

The war part.

Oct 11, 2008 - 2:21 am 94. 888:

YellowDogDemocrat, your “Liberals believe small business is the backbone of the American economy and only through economic independence are we truly free. We temper our desire for money with a degree of service to others. This includes paying taxes for the public good.” is bizarre.

You’re inferring that Republicans and conservatives don’t pay (enough) taxes for the public good and don’t believe that small businesses are the backbone of the American economy and don’t provide service to others???

Excuse me, but Republicans and conservatives are the most generous people when it comes to charity and donations and service to their community, whether it be through giving to food banks, orphanages, church, volunteering in schools and hospitals, or fighting the wars abroad for your right to speak badly about us. I know because I and my husband and friends have all done that, and are still doing it.

Look at what Mrs. McCain has been doing with her time and money for over 30 years, despite being a businesswoman and mother? You will never find a liberal Democrat, like Pelosi or Boxer or Obama, go to Cambodia or Bangladesh or Sudan and help the people of those countries. But that’s what Mrs.McCain has been doing for 30 years without any fanfare. Compare that with Mrs. Angry and Mr. Elitist who live a charmed life and who didn’t do anything for their southside Chicago community, let alone Africa or any other worthy cause. In fact, when the Obamas gave over $10,000 to the Congressional Black Caucus, they wrote it off in their tax return as a charitable donation. That is so disgusting. Talk about Franklin Raines, the Democrat who ripped off Freddie Mac by $90 million and drove it down to the dirt and now advising Obama. Talk about Barney Frank who didn’t want to piss off his Freddie Mac executive boyfriend so he destroyed people’s bank accounts and investments by saying there was nothing wrong with Freddie Mac.

Don’t ever talk about Republicans or conservatives as we if don’t give to our community and to this country. We’ve done more for the country than those liberal elitist hypocrites bent on brainwashing our kids, have ever done, or ever will.

Oct 11, 2008 - 2:38 am 95. Rachel Peepers:

Believer,

As I was reading your words, it felt like some kind of empty spot inside of me was being filled up by mom’s chicken soup. I felt better inside.

Like a lot of us, I guess this has been a frustrating election. In ‘04, I did some video with some Vietnam era POW’s for Bush and a guy named Michael Connelly. And consulted with Paul Hoffmann, admiral of the Swift Boat guys. I knew every step of the way how to handle John Kerry. A bunch of us did. And we had a bunch of videos running at once. But this year, we got no Party leadership or money funneled through my Dad. I was relegated to writing stuff pro bono for Hannity. But without a voice other than Hannity willing to call Barack on all his missteps, he’s gone pretty much unscathed. Kerry was such an easy target. With Barack, we have a mindless voting block he can count on. And the press and network TV has killed us. Between Oprah, Colbert and the vicious View girls pretty much unloading on McCain without day in and day out without counterattacks, and with McCain not itching to mix it up with Barack in the debates, we’re pretty much left with Sarah and Sean doing all the heavy lifting.

I feel outmanned and outgunned. Maybe the Acorn thing will be the Sunday punch. But with so few days left, and a turncoat press, I have my doubts.

I sware, Believer, Barack’s done just about everything an opponent could ask. From Fletcher, to Wright, to Ayers to 57 states, to handing out millions to Ayers radicals, to consorting with Farrakan, to clinging to guns and religion, to denying and stonewalling questions about his past. To raising capital gains taxes on stock holders, to canceling the 1997 private home sale exemption. Granted, the mainstream media deserves about a decade in the time out room before they’re allowed back into polite journalistic society.Granted, MSNBC needs to be lashed to the yardarms and eventually be made to think they’re walking the plank. When you get right down to it, the Swift Boat guys made news. This Benedict Arnold national news teams refused to fall into the same trap. They played dumb, and played up all of Barack’s positives. All McCain had to do was look the enemy in the eye and make them blink for doing all these nefarious things, from running with terrorists to lies unchecked to raising capital gains taxes. Barack bought his house from a criminal, Tony Rezko. With a fair press Barack would have been toast. But we knew the press was going to lick Barack’s boots so we should have allowed for that. We needed the equivalent of Washington crossing the Delaware. A moment that would catch the public’s imagination and that the press couldn’t refuse to publish. The enemy was David Letterman, the morning news people, the network news and MSNBC, Oprah, Whoopie and SNL. They all should have been attacked figuratively, not literally, with flamethrowers. But they weren’t. Now we’re in the position of the battling bastards of Bastogne. But there’s no Patton coming to save the day. Oh, look. I’ve gone on and on. Again.

It’s almost six o’clock in the morning and did I really compare us to the battling boys of Bastogne. When they were asked to surrender, McAuliffe’s reply was “Nuts.”

Nuts, Rachel Peepers is ready to pack it in. Not when there’s a war to be won. See you tomorrow. And, gang, let’s hold our fire, till we see the whites of their eyes.
Rachel, back on the frontlines. Thanks, Believer. Rachel’s back.

Oct 11, 2008 - 3:54 am 96. Ed Wallis:

I wish to add to “888’s” commment of 2:38am, regarding the contradictory post of “YDD.”

IF “we [are] truly free” “only through economic independence,”

THEN paying MORE taxes to government erodes/defeats that independence.

Furthermore, your phrase “a degree of service to others” suggests to me charity or voluntary help/aid…which are based on the premise of FREEDOM. In contrast, TAXES ARE MANDATORY.

You, as most Leftists, fail to make this fundamental distinction. It is an error which can lead to fatal consequences under slogans such as “works will set you free”. You may know it berret as “Arbeit macht frei.” Google that one, buster.

Oct 11, 2008 - 4:02 am 97. CV:

McCain is in freefall, Palin has become more liability than asset. In trying to shore up the Republican base he has alienated the only group that would get him the White House, moderates and independents. Moderates (like myself) watch the Right wing angry mobs at Palin and McCain rallies and realize that these divisive, irrational and down right scary people are the ones that want McCain and Palin in office. Palin is making a pit bull look tame and it is back firing big time. It is looking like someone trying to insight a riot vs. someone who is presenting a better vision for the future of our country. McCain has sold his maverick honorable soul to the Right wing neo-cons who will do and say anything to get elected. By going to the gutter trying to knock Obama off his high horse, it is McCain that is coming up smelling.

Given the political climate of our country after 8 years of Right-wing George W., all the Democrats needed to win is someone with a pulse. The fact that McCain up until the economic meltdown was neck and neck says a lot about him. I believe his downfall started when he picked Palin as opposed to someone who would appeal to moderates and independents and how he reacted to the economic crisis, like an erratic fool not knowing what to do. Obama was cool as a cucumber and looked much more presidential. Nail in coffin. Obama will be the next president, Democrats will control both houses and the executive branch and then they can be blamed for all the countries ills for the next 4 years.

Oct 11, 2008 - 5:17 am 98. James:

sxs537:

Let’s be clear about this. Clinton did little for the economy. The technological boom which was responsible for the growth which happened during his administration was a direct result of the policies of Reagan starting to take hold. This boom was started by a boon in entrepreneurship in the early 90’s, and epitomized by Bill Gates and Jerry Yang. Neither of those guys went into business as a result of anything Clinton did.

Many of the jobs that were created during Clinton’s term were in the dot com sector and were unsustainable and short lived. The idea of his “surplus” is also a myth - for an in depth technical explanation, just Google “myth Clinton surplus.”

The left loves to peddle the idea that “Reaganomics” didn’t do us any good and that they actually screwed the economy but this is just not true, incidentally. For instance, the black middle class grew more under Reagan than under any other US president in history. When was the last time you heard the left offer any kind of recognition of that whatsoever?

Oct 11, 2008 - 10:57 am 99. James:

Trevor:

I can explain why the economy often takes a downfall after a Republican is elected. It’s because the economic folly of the previous Democratic President has just began to take effect.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/presidents_and_the_economy.html

Oct 11, 2008 - 11:00 am 100. Shelley Williams:

Mr. McCain needs to start offering sage advise, show his father figure authority. The Crisis is global, only time can solve it. It’s a correction that is so way over do that it is going to be very hard, and very scary. Mr. McCain needs to let the voters know, this is who you want in the White House, by telling voters it is happening, and your personal responsiblity is, quit charging, pay down your debt, quit spending on non essentials, eat at home more, cook from scratch, grow some of your own food, pack your lunch, etc. Tell America what a Dad would tell his own son in a financial crisis, pull up yer boot straps and weather it out by stopping what got you there in the first place. Just my two cents

Oct 11, 2008 - 12:00 pm 101. Believer:

“Rachel’s back.” Best news I’ve heard in weeks.

Now I know why I found it hard to believe you’re as young as you are — sounds like you’ve already had some great work experience.

The troops are ready, reenergized. As you said, “…there’s a war to be won.” Let’s do it!

Oct 11, 2008 - 2:07 pm 102. Boldizar:

Anyone who wants small government, who believes that overwhelming government power is dangerous, should vote to throw out the Republicans. After eight years of any one party, with six of those controlling all three branches of government, the party in power is The Government. Throw the bums out and bring in fresh air, regardless of party.

I’m a libertarian, and the GOP’s cronyism, intrusion into private lives, Taliban-like religiosity, general incompetence, and striving for Rove’s “permanent Republican majority” have lost my vote at least for this election.

Oct 11, 2008 - 3:19 pm 103. Thunderbolt:

For God’s sake John, NO MORE mister nice guy. Get out there and take Osama to the cleaners.There must be 200 different points you can nail him on. WE are willing you to win, but you are not listening. Go for the throat this week. Just keep hammering him, he is made of tissue paper.

Oct 11, 2008 - 3:49 pm 104. sxs537:

James:
Totally agree with you. I work in the tech sector and hence I know that Clinton just got lucky and rode the wave. But voter perception is different. My point was that McCain needs to take the fight to Obama and the Dems as far as economy and taxes are concerned. I am afraid that if McCain clearly articulate that the Republican position on economy and taxes is superior we are going to be stuck with eight years of higher taxes and lower growth.

Oct 11, 2008 - 4:16 pm 105. sxs537:

That was supposed to “I am afraid that if McCain cannot clearly articulate that the Republican position on economy and taxes is superior we are going to be stuck with four years of higher taxes and lower growth.” (My lord not eight).

Oct 11, 2008 - 4:28 pm 106. Daedalus:

For “Dear Leader to win its simple…..don’t take a hard stand on any issues, talk in soft platitudes, and make sure you keep tap dancing until the election. McCain and Palin are doing everything they can to loose along with a gigantic shove from both the video and print media…….soon it will be all over and we will be in a Socialist Workers Paradise.

No one cares that the issues with “Dear Leader” are levels of magnitude greater than the partisan report released on Palin. No one cares that “Dear Leader” wants to turn the USA into a Socialist Workers Paradise. No one can see just how much harm a Socialist leaning President, along with a veto proof House and Senate will lead to the decline of the USA.

Its going to be different when I talk to my grandkids and great grandkids and tell them how we once were a free country where you could succeed or fail, based upon your ideals and efforts….yes it will be interesting !!!

Oct 11, 2008 - 4:40 pm 107. Angry White Dude:

McCain doesn’t have the heart or convictions to win. Just yesterday he was telling supporters that “you have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency.” Can you believe that? He also said that he admired Obama’s accomplishments!

McCain is a Democrat and always has been. The current wussypants Republican party needs to die and be reborn again in the mold of Reagan. When will they ever learn that moderates (Democrats) never win the presidency…remember Bob Dole?

Angry White Dude
http://www.angrywhitedude.com

Oct 11, 2008 - 5:36 pm 108. Freedom is just another word...:

The problem with compromising, is that you lose 1/2 of your convictions.

My only hope for McCain is that he becomes a better explainer and teacher when he speaks. In the last debate he said, “Social security is easy to fix.” But, he never gave his solution. He jumped to medicare/aid.

I think he needs to speak more clearly. Financial stuff is hard to understand. His commercials, speeches, and debates he needs a few graphics to explain his view (or to show where he disagrees with Obama’s view).

Oct 11, 2008 - 8:09 pm 109. Freedom is just another word...:

Barrack does not seem to be able to lose a bad association.

I just read that Obama invited Odinga to the DNC, even after Obama knew Odinga was tied to radical Islam and Marxism, and responsible for killing 1,500 innocent people and displacing 500,000 more.

Either Obama has “attachment issues” after his father left him (wants to be everyone’s friend); or Obama is a Marxist/Socialist too.

Oct 11, 2008 - 8:11 pm 110. James:

Boldizar:

You bozo. I’m a libertarian too but I don’t see what’s so rational about voting for Obama “just for the sake of having someone fresh.”

What’s so “fresh” about someone who wraps himself in the failed leftist socialistic policies of the 60’s and 70’s? I understand your frustration with Republicans and big government but come on - you know fine well this is a two party race now and that by rejecting McCain you welcome someone who is for BIGGER government into the White House.

Oct 11, 2008 - 8:41 pm 111. James:

sxs537:

You’re totally right. McCain seems to be stuck on the Ayers thing and he’s going to lose because of it.

The irony is, there is a way that McCain can attack Obama over Ayers AND the economy at the same time.

He needs to use Ayers and others to highlight Obama’s SOCIALIST/MARXIST past. From this vantage he can explain to the voters just how important capitalism is, what it’s done for America and our living conditions and how Obama’s “socialism disguised as centrism” is going to be the WORST possible thing for our economy.

Obama was trained in the strategies of Saul Alinsky who taught that the overthrow of capitalism can best be achieved by putting on a shirt and tie, joining legitimate government and doing it by stealth. Obama appears to be doing this now. His tax plan to give deadbeats thousands in “tax credits” for example, is nothing more than a socialistic plan to redistribute wealth from the productive in society to those who don’t work.

McCain needs to start articulating this stuff in his speeches. I know that he’s not an expert on the economy but that doesn’t mean he can’t explain simple economic reasoning that everyone can understand.

There is an aspect of the McCain campaign that I just find infuriatingly stupid and that is their insistence on admitting things that look bad for them.

For instance, they announced with great fanfare that they were giving up on Michigan. How stupid was that? Obama gave up states and said nothing about it. McCain just came across as defeatist and pessimistic and shaky and I’m not surprised Palin was upset by this.

Before that, McCain incredibly admitted that he knows little about economics. What the hell was he doing by saying that? It was perhaps the single most stupid thing he has done, especially since it’s been known for a long time that the economy was shaky. Did he not think this admission would damage him throughout the campaign? Now nobody trusts him on the economy - and people, in droves, are saying they trust a socialist economy-destroying moron like Barak Obama to fix it instead. McCain is entirely responsible for this.

Now I hear that the McCain campaign announced - ANNOUNCED - that they were “trying to turn the page on the economy and concentrate on Ayers instead.” From this, I have deduced that they are actively looking to lose this election. There can be no other explanation other than the possibility that they are just really, really stupid. At a time when anyone with half a brain realizes that the economy is THE most important issue, the McCain campaign made an announcement saying “well we can’t win on the economy.” IDIOTS!

I don’t like McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis. As soon as I saw him, I didn’t like the look of him. He looks like a real sniveling, weasel faced toad and I don’t even mind getting personal at this point. Then I saw him being interviewed on Fox and he was terrible. His answers were inadequate and evasive and he spoke in that awful slimy politician style which people HATE these days. I thought, what the hell is McCain doing entrusting his campaign with this idiot? I think Davis is behind much of what frustrates us about McCain these days.

Oct 11, 2008 - 8:56 pm 112. James:

Angry White Dude:

I know, it’s incredible! What the hell has Obama ever achieved? Nothing! McCain just exposed himself as a bullsh*tter by saying this. More people lost respect for him…

Has anyone seen the clips on Fox of Hannity asking an audience of Obama fans to name one of his achievements? It’s incredible…they mutter, stutter and say things like “er…he’s a good orator?”

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:03 pm 113. Chris in Toronto:

My two cents:

The most interesting aspect of this election cycle, if you can really call it a cycle this time around, and around and around and …, is how completely apparent it is that Obama (the leader of “the enemy”, hereunder) does not have the basic understanding of what a strategy is, even as a Platonic ideal, oh!, and don’t bother to confuse him with tactics. He knows not the distinction. He only knows modern political campaign: put your cards on the table and stick to them. Deny to the point of explosive cognitive dissonance facts that contradict your “constructed reality” (a term, incidentally and highly coincidentally, used by both Obama and William “Weather Underground” Ayers in roughly contemporaneous, similarly highly-stylized, time-distorted autobiographies …

for the rest, please visit my blog (it’s about 2200 words and I didn’t want to clog up the board, so if you’re interest,) http://web.me.com/chris_nicholson/Site/desmondiswatching/Entries/2008/10/10_McCain’s_Strategy_Unfolds_Before_Our_Eyes_%26_thegreatschlepp_is_gonna_backfire.html

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:36 pm 114. Chris in Toronto:

Further to my previous: you must paste the url into your web browser. sorry for the length of the url, but it’s autogenerated.

Oct 11, 2008 - 9:43 pm 115. Once a Republican:

It was a bunch of white people that outsourced American jobs. It was a bunch of white people that run these big companies into the ground and are corrupt and are lobbyists.

I voted for George Bush, and I believed the things he said about Gore and McCain without looking at things objectively. I got caught up in the rhetoric and emotions. I vowed not to have that happen again. But under Republican rule, I watched people train their Indian and Chinese counterparts, and jobs they were skilled to do for American companies move to non-American hands. All so they can meet Wall Street numbers on double digit growth year to year, which is unrealistic. US companies continued to make more and more profit by laying off more and more people. And you wonder how we got here. Look at it logically, if you get laid off, you can’t afford your mortgage. Your house gets foreclosed, etc, etc.

Looking at it objectively, I do not like the fear and decisiveness of the Republican party, that is not American.

Both sides have bad points, but the President doesn’t run the country, he has a lot of people around him that take care of things and make recommendations. It’s the people he surrounds himself with that will be important. And if McCain is going to support himself with the same Republicans that got us into this mess, then that isn’t good for this country. And seeing how he has George Bush’s people running his staff, I don’t see things changing with McCain.

Oct 12, 2008 - 12:16 am 116. sxs537:

James:
I understand your frustration. Ditto here. What is with all the statements of not understanding economics and hating economists etc? Why is it that the whole of America thinks that economy is the most important issue we are facing now and will face in the future and McCain campaign does not understand it.
I know McCain is not that good at explaining economics to common man. My message to McCain would be “You have got Palin man. Use her. Coach her up and let her use her charm, intelligence and natural connection with regular folks, her background on reforming alaskan economy etc for the good of the campaign”. Everyday I listen to Sarah Palin and I see a disjointed message. The campaign is totally misusing her. Using a football analogy it is like the Patriots having Randy Moss but running some no-name running back 60 times a game. Why would anybody do that? If you got Moss then you throw to him.

I mean come on McCain, I just got my 401k statement and it aint looking good. Tell me how you can improve the whole economy and thus help me. I cannot listen to Obama anymore.

Sorry for the long rant.

Oct 12, 2008 - 1:20 am 117. Greg:

Jennifer:

Get real! We are less than a month from the election and you outline a six-point argument for McCain? Good luck with that. There is only time for one message and image and that has to do with the economy and whether McCain looks Presidential and who has answers. As we’ve seen, economics isn’t his strong suit. After years of proudly asserting his leadership for deregulation, he can’t re-invent himself now.

Oct 12, 2008 - 5:21 am 118. CV:

What I find interesting is where Democrats do well vs. where Republicans do well. In general Democrats dominate the West coast and the North East, while Republicans dominate the South East and much of the central states. Then if we look at where most of the wealth of this country is generated it is where Democrats dominate. If Republicans were the party of wealth why do they not dominate where the bulk of the wealth is created? The modern Republican party seems to attract mostly uneducated rural religious conservatives as opposed to the old Republican party that attracted mostly well educated urban financial conservatives. What happened? Can the Republican party keep this trend and keep any power?

When you get right down to it it isn’t Democrats or Republicans that have any power in this country, it is wealth that runs the show. When the wealthy aligned themselves with Republicans like during the Reagan era Republicans squashed the Democrats. But now it seems that the wealthy are aligning with the Democrats more and we see the shift in political power. When billionaires like Warren Buffet are endorsing Obama that tells you something. If all the Republicans have to draw upon are the angry uneducated social conservatives while alienating the rational educated fiscal conservatives they are doomed politically.

Oct 12, 2008 - 6:59 am 119. Andrew Ian Dodge:

McCain needs to make it clear that he warned about the Fannie/Freddie problem and his bill was blocked by Dems including Obama. Its the Dems and their loans for the incapable of paying that is the cause.

Oct 12, 2008 - 9:34 am 120. James:

re: Once a Republican

How do these stupid people manage to log themselves onto the internet? I just don’t get it.

He starts his rant off with a puzzling and pointless rant about “white people” that has no relevance or purpose whatsoever. What the hell was all that about? Have you been reading “Stupid White Men” by Michael Moore?

Secondly, like most who know little about economics he has no idea that the outsourcing of jobs is good for the economy in the long run. If we can use foreign labor to do jobs at a lower cost then that results in lower prices back home, which means that people have more to spend on other industries in which more jobs are created. Outsourcing jobs abroad will add $124-billion to the US economy, according to studies. It will also add hundreds of thousands of jobs. It helps companies become more productive and competitive. It represents a greater efficiency in the use of capital.

Those who think that jobs should be artificially “protected” by prohibiting companies from outsourcing are not thinking of the wider picture. We will not grow economically and compete internationally by being small minded and protectionist.

You say you don’t like the “fear and decisiveness” of the Republican party - what, you don’t like the way they warn you against a socialist like Obama getting his socialist trotters on the US economy? And I guess you’re quite happy with the Democrats when they tell you that Bush is the devil, that McCain is more of the same, that the “rich” are destroying America, that unless we reduce our carbon footprint the world is going to end? You don’t see any of that as “fear mongering”?

Oct 12, 2008 - 1:53 pm 121. James:

Greg:

Explain the sentence: “After years of proudly asserting his leadership for deregulation”

What the hell do you even mean?

And you think economics is Obama’s strong point? The man is a socialist who wishes to punish businesses for being too successful. Only the dimmest could possibly think that good for our economy.

Oct 12, 2008 - 1:56 pm 122. James:

CV:

This is a common claim made on the left and one entirely without merit. I’m sick of hearing it to be honest. The idea is to suggest that “wealthy and educated people” vote Democrat while “dumb uneducated religious hicks” vote Republican. This is what you meant.

True, a lot of academics and the educated vote Democrat. But that’s not because they’re wiser or any better able to make objective value judgments - in fact the opposite could be said. Our higher education establishments are plagued by the kind of naive leftism which holds anticapitalist idiots like Chomsky in high regard. The same could be said about the arts. They don’t really understand economics or what it takes to create and sustain economic growth.

Just because you have a degree it doesn’t mean to say that you have good judgment. I often meet “educated” people who have the most bizarre world views and the thinnest grasp of economics, history, philosophy, politics etc. It’s the “done thing” to wrap yourself in leftist liberalism among these people. These are the ones who, daily, post the most incredibly ignorant comments on sites like Huffington Post and Daily Kos.

You will find tons of support for Marxism and socialism among “intellectuals” who really have no idea how wealth is created. Those who work in education, in art and design, in advertising, in other non-industrial jobs…they have no idea. None. Which is why they don’t see how bad Obama’s tax plan is for America, for instance. These are also the same kinds of people who think it a good idea to “redistribute wealth” from the most productive to the least productive.

Urban centers also have a high proportion of ghetto dwellers, who will always vote Democrat. Their communities are infested with radical left wing activists like ACORN who use them as foot soldiers in their plans for revolution. There are a lot of minorities in urban centers who will vote for Obama because he’s black and because he’s promising them a nice big tasty free tax credit (welfare).

Also, don’t make the mistake of believing that people like Warren Buffet understand economics. The super-wealthy do not live in the real world. People like Buffet and Gates are entrepreneurs, not economists. They have so much money that they ceased to live in the real world long ago. They do not care about small and growing businesses, and they’re rich enough to be able to throw huge sums of their money at left wing causes, something which Gates and Buffet both do. They don’t care if they’re taxed at a higher rate, because they are so rich it doesn’t make any difference.

Oct 12, 2008 - 2:08 pm 123. Believer:

If one studies the route BO has taken to get him where he is now, one would find it almost exclusively populated with radical liberals - even a communist as a childhood mentor and substitute father figure, Frank Marshall Davis, during his Hawaii years.

It is therefore no surprise he is the MOST LIBERAL Senator. By far. Even George McGovern has spoken out against one of his positions.

But his is a history he knows he must hide. And lie about if pressed — even intimidating those who would reveal the truth. He knows this country would never elect someone with his liberal views. Most Americans don’t share them.

He is now trying to paint himself as a centrist. With less radical positions on issues. The frustration on the right is that none of his far left associations or positions has received the scrutiny they deserve. And too many Americans will vote for someone who has misrepresented himself to them.

They’ve been “hoodwinked.” “Bamboozled.”

His work as a “community organizer” and with ACORN - both as trainer and as its lawyer - was instrumental in getting the subprime loans to those who in all likelihood could not repay them. That decision to force banks to go against their better judgment, coupled with the corrupt practices by CEOs who now serve as BO’s advisors, snowballed into the financial failures that have put our economy in such jeopardy today.

Our credit markets are in “chaos” to quote a money man I just heard on the radio now. BO has succeeded. Chaos is what he produces. Oh, he’d have you believe otherwise, for sure. Or that someone else was the author of the upset.

It’s what Saul Alinsky - the man who gave him his “best education” (but who also dedicated his work to Lucifer) - taught him. Stir up trouble. “Get in their face.” Intimidate those who resist you and what you want.

Look at the primary process. Did he behave honorably, with integrity? Or was it in keeping with the style of politics he knows so well: Chicago’s. Consider the near-chaos and the trail of unhappy PUMAs he left behind. They have stories to tell. Listen to them.

Have you ever heard of one person who will sing the praises of this man’s PAST deeds? Who said, “Yes, Barack Obama took that situation and turned it around. We’re thrilled with what he’s done.” He’s been at this business for two decades. I only see a trail of ruin behind him while he pads his pockets and those of his family and friends.

EDUCATION could have been improved in Chicago. But BO partnered with the wrong man. Bill Ayers. And the money they had - some $150million went to ACORN and other radical ventures instead of to the schools to help teach a needy community. It was a failure because he was more interested in his career than the children.

HOUSING for the poor could have been improved in Chicago. But BO surely knows his pal, Tony Rezko, was the wrong man for that. Hillary called him a “slum lord.” But Tony did wonders for BO and Michelle. They got their mansion and a nice chunk of land beside it thanks to that “bone-headed” decision to do a deal with the now-convicted felon.

HEALTHCARE could have been improved in Chicago. Michelle sat on the board of a huge hospital as “Community Outreach.” But she said nothing as they overcharged poor, uninsured patients up to 500% over costs. But that post garnered her a $200K/yr. raise when BO earmarked $1million to the hospital. It appears they cared more about their own pocketbook than those of the poor.

BO has a history of work. We just haven’t heard much about it. And he’s hoping to keep it that way until November 5.

Oct 12, 2008 - 2:27 pm 124. Freedom is just another word...:

COMMUNICATE BETTER MCCAIN: Use a graph board or a poster to describe the economy & taxes and your solution - perhaps in an ad. Last debate you said, “SSI is east to fix”, but you never told us how. Instead, you jumped to medicare. Don’t jump around. And, stop using those same tired lines. They sound canned by now.

ODINGA: Short commercial. Odinga and Obama Sr. were best friends, and both believed in socialism. Odinga runs for President of Kenya. Odinga signs pact with terrorist muslims to impose Sharia law if elected. Obama campaigns for Odinga in 2006. Odinga runs on “change” theme. Odinga loses, and riots happen. 1,500 killed and 500,000 displaced. Christian men, women, and children burned in their churches. To bring peace, Kenya gives Odinga a part in Kenyan politics. Obama remains friends with his cousin Odinga, and even invited him to the DNC. Socialist best friends.

Oct 12, 2008 - 3:03 pm 125. Otis:

Farakhan has called Obama the Messiah. It is a penalty of death for a muslim to blasphemy the muslim faith to call a so called christian the messiah. This means that Obama is really a Muslim in christian clothing. wake up and see the pigs come home

Oct 12, 2008 - 3:03 pm 126. Arn Gunnutes:

Sorry, the TRUTH is that Bush and Cheney committed TREASON against the USA–ILLEGAL WARS, Osama STILL FREE, exposing CIA spies for REVENGE, and politicizing the DOJ and ALL of the federal government.

McSeniLunatic and the pit bull with lickspittle SUPPORT that TREASON and so are TRAITORS to the USA.

And speaking of Fannie/Freddie, Obama told McBush in the last debate that Rick Davis, his campaign manager, received 2 MILLION in fees to keep the federal government from REGULATING them, with the help of McDepends…

And Phil Gramm, the chief economic advisor, was responsible for the Enron legislation, as well as the deregulation of the financial industries in 1999.

McTREASON.

Sincerely,

NRA Gun Nut(e)s

Oct 12, 2008 - 3:05 pm 127. Believer:

Go to “drudgereport.com” to far right column for:

“McCain’s letter to demand action re Fannie/Freddie”

No Democrat signed that letter in 2006.

Whatever you may think, Republicans continually sounded the alarm and Democrats fought it every time.

With Pelosi and Reid the past two years giving you a CLEAR vision of what’s ahead with their continued leadership, you’d have to be INSANE to vote for any Democrat.

Unless, of course, if you’re as crazy as they are.

Surely you saw Maxine Waters let the “S” word out of her mouth during a hearing with the oil execs. “We’re going to have to ’socialize’ it, she said. Her expression was priceless. People behind her were laughing.

It’s on Youtube, if they haven’t taken it down. She was one of the most outspoken Dems regarding the Fannie/Freddie fiasco — “no, no, no problem there.”

Well, she got what she wanted there alright. The “S” word applies quite nicely, wouldn’t you say?

How about it America? You gonna let them finish the job? Barry’s the one to do it. He doesn’t like the way we’ve been doing things the past few hundred years. His way is far better. Just look at Chicago. See all the good he’s done there?

Hey, how about Kenya? Did you see what his cousin Odinga’s done there — the two were in constant contact throughout the election and follow-up. Nevermind the violence. And the lies. The end justifies the means. Odinga didn’t go away empty-handed.

I don’t think BO’s going to be a good loser either. But it’ll be a whole lot worse for us if he wins.

Oct 12, 2008 - 3:53 pm 128. sammy:

Isn’t McCain saying all of this to poor effect already? *Yawn* A stale, hypocritical message. C’mon, is this the best he can hope to offer? No wonder he’s not going to win.

Oct 12, 2008 - 6:33 pm 129. James:

Arn Gunnutes:

No bubble party on campus tonight? Shame.

Oct 12, 2008 - 7:04 pm 130. Believer:

Tammy Bruce is telling us the truth. She’s been a liberal and she knows the tactics of the left. She knows what they’re up to. And it’s important, I think, to listen to those who’ve been/where and seen/what we have not. And who now renounce the old ways.

Theirs are voices that should be heard.

She says BO is not acting like he’s got this in the bag. She says she’s seen and even implemented the dirty tricks the left pulls. Those people who cried out “Terrorist” and “Kill him” at the townhalls/rallies were most likely not Republicans. Democrats teach their supporters to do just those things to make the Repubs look bad. It’s a “Democrat plant framework.”

She says Obama is not a terrorist (we all know that) but she says he is a bad man. A miserable, bitter man - a malignant narcissist - married to a similar type of woman. They populate the left. There’s enough not to like about the man to not go over the edge in our assessment of him.

She says not to blame McCain for being “nice” to BO — it’s his way — and he’s a better man than she. She says she’s a little more emotional/rougher in her speech than he is and that’s why she’s on the radio and he’s a Senator.

And now she wants to use his middle name more. “Because he and his campaign are so bothered by it.” “It’s his middle name!”

Barack Hussein Obama. What a trouble-maker Tammy is…

Oct 12, 2008 - 8:48 pm 131. Believer:

Look for Corsi’s reports on what went on in Kenya at

worldnetdaily.com

As well as Cashill’s studies/conclusions on Ayers being the author of “Dreams From My Father.” Writing is too similar to Ayers’ “Fugitive Days.”

And Obama’s writing/poetry about that time was really poor. If true, the relationship is longer and far closer than BO would have us believe.

More lies. Will they never end?

Oct 12, 2008 - 10:30 pm 132. Jay:

Gavin and Sandy,

Please read the thread before taking out after
Boris. Please. It’s not that difficult. He was quoting (unfavorably) David Thomson’s comment up at the top of this thread. Am I the only person reading this who understood Boris’s comment about the tinfoil and the black helicopters?

Here are the steps: 1. Read. 2. Think. 3 Critically examine your own assumptions. 4. Check your spelling and grammar. 4. Press the “submit” button.

Not easy for McCain supporters, but that’s the best advice I can offer.

Now, get ready, Boris, for more comments by people who can’t or won’t follow these simple steps.

Jay

Oct 12, 2008 - 10:56 pm 133. Arn Gunnutes:

***James:

Arn Gunnutes:

No bubble party on campus tonight? Shame****

No, but TREASON in the Republic Party, in the White House, and in the “war hero” (with ties to Ayers, as well as Jack Abramoff)

and the power-abusing “HACKEY, ma’am”!!

WHY do YOU support these TRAITORS to the USA?

Oct 13, 2008 - 5:17 pm 134. tom:

McCain 5 point plan

no more maverick, bipartisan or pork barrel talk, none

1) pin FM/FM on Democrats
name names and show Obama’s actions (acorn lawsuit,etc)
My administration will prosecute these people. Feed on public outrage, now!

2) have specifics on the economy
show how everyone getting lower taxes helps the economy
Even Kennedy got it “all boats rise with the tide” example
blindside Obama with them

3) get specific on Obama’s tax plan
95% of the tax payers get a tax cut?
30% don’t even pay taxes - this is a WELFARE HANDOUT

4) tie Obama in a series of ads and at the debate to Chicago failed policies
schools, Rezko, acron, bought elections and fraud
Is the country ready for what happened in Chicago????

5) energy - drill nuclear, etc
Obama doens’t really stand for these
or for you!

Wake up John, do it

3)

Oct 14, 2008 - 5:43 am 135. Denver Dave:

We hear a lot of things on both sides, and it doesn’t move the electorate. Why? Because we’ve heard *exactly the same things* in the past 2 elections. Remember the “Kerry is the most liberal senator” thing? And now we hear it about Obama. Can they both be the most liberal? Remember “Kerry’s going to raise your taxes?” Now we hear it about Obama.

People are sick of being lied to by the politicians. So, we look at record. And, we compare the record of the last Republican, GWBush, vs the last Democract, Bill CLinton, to be in the oval office. Know what? People were better off under Clinton.

Rezko, Ayers, Wright…people were better off under Clinton
9/11, Osama, Iraq….people were better off under Clinton
Tax cuts, deregulation, ownership society…people were better off under Clinton
Prayer in schools, Terri Schaivo, abortion…people were better off under Clinton

Until we see a Republican do a better job than Bill Clinton, we’re not going to believe this nonsense again. Nothing John McCain can say will change things as long as people were better off under Clinton.

Oct 14, 2008 - 1:16 pm 136. JET:

All McCain has to do is remind voters of his longstanding positions:

1) “THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ECONOMY ARE SOUND.”
2) “I VOTED WITH PRESIDENT BUSH MORE THAN 90 PERCENT OF THE TIME OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS.”

Oct 14, 2008 - 1:20 pm 137. Apoor Worker:

What hatred of Obama! If all the right wing nuts & “christian” conservatives hate the man that much, that’s enought reason for me to vote for him; the rape-u-licans have already taken everything I’ve earned; I’ve got nothing left to lose.

Oct 14, 2008 - 1:39 pm 138. lmunck:

You republican guys are crazy. Have you ever wondered why 10 out of the 11 industrialized nations with a higher per capita income than the US are all “socialist” with government funded health-care and schools??

It is because it is good economics!! It may be bad for those select few who want 13 cars or more, but for a country it ensures that every human resource is developed so it can support the shared economy.

Oligarchies are SO two centuries ago..

Oct 14, 2008 - 1:55 pm 139. Alex M:

Jennifer Rubin’s advice to McCain has been schizophrenic to put it mildly. In the neo-fascist rag Commentary, Rubin has urged McCain to press on with the Ayers™ nonsense that nobody except the rabid base cares about, even at the expense of obscuring McCain’s message on the economy beyond “I’m old and rich and I’m confounded.” McCain and the RNC seemed seduced by the ridiculous Rubin advice and have squandered 10 days out of 30 before the election.

Now Jennifer Rubin contradicts every other of her squealings and wants McCain to argue that more Bush economics is good for ya, u betcha. How late, how lame, how silly after suburban voters have already accustomed themselves to the idea of Barack Obama as president.

Throughout the 2008 campaign, Jennifer Rubin has been the Democrats best friend. A fifth column?

Oct 14, 2008 - 2:30 pm 140. Marc Malone:

Imunck - I don’t buy your assertion of other countries having a higher per capita income than ours. I’ve heard them touted as having a higher standard of living than ours, but that’s just subjective.

Furthermore, our country is 30% of the worlds economy. We drive the world’s economy. When we sneeze, the world gets a cold. How well off would those countries be if they weren’t exporting so much to us?

We have been out-producing the Euros for years, and the gap is widening, despite the great population difference. We’ve been the most competitive economy in the world year after year. We do this while funding a much larger military, and contributing more to charity and international relief.

The thing that drives down the average wage in this country is the massive amoount of immigration. Their wages get figured into our average wage and brings down the average. Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.

You tell the average citizen that “his” wages have been stagnant, and he believes you, even though his own actual wages have gone up. They’re always concerned about the direction of the country or the economy, but at the same time, they’ll tell you that, they, themselves, are doing okay.

They keep getting fed this nonsense by the Dems talking down the economy, when we have the most powerful economy in the world. It has suffered all these terrible crises, but has endured it rather well, all things considered. The big problem now is the lack of confidence… generated by the Dems and the Media.

Oct 14, 2008 - 8:39 pm 141. deguello:

Not to mention,higher,permanent unemployment,low rate of innovation,and demographic collapse. Europe is collapsing. Leave it to socialistic addle brains, like Alex M,(M=moron?)to recommend failure as a solution. By the way Alex,et al,just who was it that pushed the socialistic homeloans to the undeserving that caused the financial collapse? It sure as hell wasn’t Mcain.

Oct 15, 2008 - 5:24 am 142. Frank Logan:

I guess I’ll just keep repeating this until some of you understand that the democratic party is split. About 3 weeks ago, there was a Fox News poll that indicated that only 58% of Hillary democrats supported Obama. Further, it said “that 28% of her supporters(up from 21% in June) claimed they were voting for McCain.” Since then, I have seen an article that 25% of Hillary followers were voting for McCain in Tennessee. The democratic primaries split the democratic party. About 5-7 million democrats are voting for McCain. In 2004, Bush beat Kerry by 4 million votes. If 5 million Kerry democrats had voted instead for Bush, Bush would have won by 14 million votes. There is no possible way that Obama wins this election.
Capiche?

Oct 15, 2008 - 12:39 pm 143. McCain todavía puede ganar … gracias a Palin « Sarah Palin en Español:

[...] 10 de Octubre, Jennifer Rubin escribía también en Pajamas Media “Much-Needed Advice for John McCain” (Consejos que necesita mucho John McCain): John McCain no está políticamente muerto - [...]

Oct 16, 2008 - 4:39 pm 144. Alan:

Watta bunch idiots……no wonder independent minded voters are turning off to you all…..

Oct 17, 2008 - 4:20 pm

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