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The Obama Nation
Obama vs. McCain in Tech Innovations
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There is an interesting, short piece by Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic on the use of technology by both the Barack Obama and John McCain Presidential campaigns.
Ambinder talks about Republicans being ahead of the curve with the use of Google AdWords to drive traffic to the McCain site, as well as using Twitter with projects like http://dontgo.us/.
And then the Democrats are more advanced with social networks and text messaging.
Check it out at http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/scoring_the_tech_innovations.php
By the way, if you’re on Twitter, follow us @obama2
Barack Obama #2 Recipient of Campaign Cash from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
The collapse this week of Lehman Brothers’ is traced back to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two big mortgage banks that got a federal bailout a few weeks ago.
It turns out that the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae used huge lobbying budgets and political contributions to keep regulators off their backs, and the #2 recipient of these funds was Barack Obama, according to Center for Responsive Politics.
It’s jaw-dropping that Obama has collected such a sum in his short four years in office, as this tally covers all of contributions to politicians over the past 20 years.
And if you forgot (it’s understandable - the mainstream media apparently forgot), one of the initial members of Obama’s team searching for a running mate for him was former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson.
Additionally, there is a post at the Wizbang Blog, “Obama One of Leading Recipients of Fannie/Freddie Political Contributions,” with a transcript from a segment on Fox News yesterday that provides further details into the role of Democrats in this financial mess.
Now remember, Obama’s ads and stump speeches attack McCain and Republican policies for the current financial turmoil.
It is demonstrably not Republican policy and worse, it appears the man attacking McCain, Senator Obama, was at the head of the line when the piggy’s lined up at the Fannie and Freddie trough for campaign bucks.
Senator Barack Obama, number two on the Fannie/Freddie list of favored politicians after just four short years in the senate. Next time you see that ad, you might notice he fails to mention that part of the Fannie and Freddie problem.
But still we see Obama on the stump as he tries to lay the blame of this mess on the Republicans. I’ve got to wonder - is Obama that duplicitous, or is he really that unaware of how it all happened?
It’s Morning Again in America
In the midst of a banking crisis and Wall Street meltdown, it is crucial to bring the United States back to our land of pride and promise.
This reminds me of the famous Ronald Reagan commercials from 1984 with the opening line “It’s morning again in America.”
We are now in a moment where we need optimism and reform, rather than the blame games and attack ads that are flowing from the Barack Obama campaign.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition if you look at John McCain’s comments compared with those of Barack Obama yesterday.
“There has been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall Street. People are frightened by these events. Our economy I think, still, the fundamentals of our economy are strong, but these are very, very difficult times. I promise you, we will never put America in this position again. We will clean up Wall Street.” - John McCain, 9/15/08
Obama was quick to issue an attack ad (what’s new?) about how he thinks John McCain is out of touch. But what are the fundamentals of our economy?
According to Stuart Varney of the Fox Business Network, the fundamentals of the economy are the basics: unemployment, job creation, and inflation.
Since we don’t exist in a bubble, it’s important to look at these items in the prism of the global economy.
Currently, unemployment is at 6.1%, which is a 5 year high, but much better than our European competitors.
We’ve lost about a half million or more new jobs this year, which is a negative, but again it is much better than our European and Japanese competitors.
And inflation is currently at 5.4%, which can be attributed largely to the cost of energy. As we diversify our energy plan and rely less on foreign energy, the rate will retreat.
Yes, the economy is struggling, and it’s not easy to be optimistic when we see gas prices as high as they are, and housing in a tailspin.
But we need to positive vision and plan to fix the mess. That’s what will fix the economy, not more attack ads that offer venom without solutions.
John McCain is talking about cleaning up Wall Street, and expanding our domestic energy programs.
Obama is reading from his TelePrompter that McCain is “out of touch.”
Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic offers an assessment of the state of the financial system in our country.
Barack Obama Votes With President Bush
The Barack Obama campaign is running their campaign on the scare tactic that John McCain is the same as President Bush. This assertion is based on Senator McCain’s voting record in 2007 where Team Obama touts that McCain votes with Bush 90% of the time.
But what is Obama failing to say?
First of all, George Bush is not in the Legislative Branch, and doesn’t actually vote on laws with McCain, Obama and Biden.
As you (hopefully) know, Congress votes on bills and they go to the desk of the President to either be signed or vetoed.
So, if we are going to be intellectually honest, nobody is ever voting with President Bush.
The numbers we keep hearing are based on votes where the Bush administration had taken a clear position on before the vote, as estimated by the Congressional Quarterly.
The same report from the Congressional Quarterly reveals that Obama voted “with Bush” 40 percent of the time.
Joe Biden voted “with Bush” 52 percent of the time.
It’s also important to note that these sorts of tallies can only count when a Senator votes yes or no on a law.
Obama didn’t vote over 40 percent of the time since he’s been in the Senate - that’s 228 of the 568 times he could have voted, according to Project Vote Smart.
Rather than taking a stance on issues, he voted “NV”, which means Not Voting, Excused, Absent, or Present.
Based on the Project Vote Smart records, some areas where Obama likes to avoid having an opinion:
- Abortion Issues - 75% NV
- Agriculture Issues - 86% NV
- Budget, Spending and Taxes - 54% NV
- Business and Consumers - 47% NV
- Civil Liberties and Civil Rights - 44% NV
- Defense - 29% NV
- Education - 55% NV
- Energy Issues - 35% NV
- Environmental Issues - 64% NV
- Family and Children Issues - 50% NV
- Foreign Aid and Policy Issues - 56% NV
- Gun Issues - 25% NV
- Health Issues - 67% NV
- Housing and Property Issues - 100% NV
- National Security Issues - 39% NV
- Reproductive Issues - 75% NV
- Technology and Communication - 33% NV
- Trade Issues - 38% NV
- Transportation Issues - 63% NV
- Veterans Issues - 34% NV
- Welfare and Poverty - 64% NV
- Women’s Issues - 67% NV
I’ve got to wonder how closely aligned Barack Obama would be with Bush if he was showing up and voting for a full work week.
John McCain is the Presidential Candidate of Change
There has been a lot of talk about which Presidential candidate, John McCain or Barack Obama, can usher in change in Washington.
If we look at how many times each candidate has engaged in bipartisan legislation, the answer is clear: McCain equals change and Obama is all about the status quo.
Sen. John McCain’s record of working with Democrats easily outstrips Sen. Barack Obama’s efforts with Republicans, according to an analysis by The Washington Times of their legislative records.
Whether looking at bills they have led on or bills they have signed onto, Mr. McCain has reached across the aisle far more frequently and with more members than Mr. Obama since the latter came to the Senate in 2005.
In fact, by several measures, Mr. McCain has been more likely to team up with Democrats than with members of his own party. Democrats made up 55 percent of his political partners over the last two Congresses, including on the tough issues of campaign finance and global warming. For Mr. Obama, Republicans were only 13 percent of his co-sponsors during his time in the Senate, and he had his biggest bipartisan successes on noncontroversial measures, such as issuing a postage stamp in honor of civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
Maybe the Obama that Obama knows now isn’t the Obama he’s been since he started in the Senate.
Whoopi to McCain: “Should I be worried about being a slave?”
There was an exchange on the View the other day, when John McCain was a guest, that was just ridiculous and inflammatory:
John McCain: My interpretation of the Constitution of the United States is that the United States Supreme Court enforces the Constitution of the United States and does not legislate nor invent areas that are responsibilities, according to the Constitution, of the legislative branch.
Elizabeth Hasselbeck: So it was in how the law came up, it was in how Roe v. Wade came apart was the issue. You, you want it to be through the Constitution from the people not from the bench.
John McCain: And I believe that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, then the states would make these decisions.
Whoopi Goldberg: Sir.
John McCain: Yes?
Whoopi Goldberg: Can you just, and I don’t want to misinterpret what you’re saying. Did you say you wanted strict Constitutionalists? Because that, that-
John McCain: No, I want people who interpret the Constitution of the United States the way our founding fathers envision-
Whoopi Goldberg: Does that-
John McCain: -for them to do.
Whoopi Goldberg: Should I be worried about being a slave, about being returned to slavery because certain things happened in the Constitution that you had to change.
I can’t figure out if this is the ignorance on the part of Whoopi, or if she’s just trying to plant seeds in the minds of voters who don’t know better.
But I think she is probably aware that our founding fathers built in a process for amending the constitution.
And this process has been used 27 times, including the 13th Amendment in 1865: Abolition of slavery.
John McCain is discussing how it is contrary to the way our government was set up for judges to legislate from the bench.
Why Doesn’t John McCain Use a Computer?
The Barack Obama campaign is really going for the jugular on the important issues with an ad released yesterday that mocks John McCain for no using a computer.
From the AP story about the computer illiterate ad:
“Our economy wouldn’t survive without the Internet, and cyber-security continues to represent one our most serious national security threats,” [Obama spokesman Dan] Pfeiffer said. “It’s extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn’t know how to send an e-mail.”
However, Jonah Goldberg of the National Review uncovered a pretty good reason why Senator McCain isn’t using a computer from the Boston Globe on March 4, 2000:
McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain’s severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain’s encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He’s an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can’t raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.
ROFLMAO, right Obama? The old man can’t work on a computer, because he was crippled by the Viet Cong in service to his country.
What’s next in the comedy repertoire of Obama… jokes about how Bob Dole can’t shake with his right hand?
The issue was summed up well at Ponderstorm.com:
I suggest the Obama campaign should think about the sizable experience gap in their candidate relative to McCain before mocking McCain about his lack of email usage. They would be wise to consider who they throw rocks at since they are the ones who live in the glass house.
McCain / Palin - the Original Mavericks
There is a new campaign ad, “Original Mavericks,” that highlights the history of fighting wasteful spending and corruption by John McCain and Sarah Palin.
The ad has sources for all of the accomplishments - I like that better than promises and claims.
McCain and Palin Win the Popular Vote Over Obama and Biden
The speeches by John McCain and Barack Obama were each viewed by approximately 42.4 million people, and the Republican convention was the most watched on TV ever, according to the Associate Press.
Nielsen Media Research reports that McCain actually beat Obama by 500,000.
And there was no contest between Sarah Palin, who had about 37 million viewers, compared with approximately 24 million for Joe Biden, according to the Guardian.
You’ve got to wonder if Obama is rethinking his running mate.
Sarah Palin Speech at the Republican National Convention
I wasn’t sure what to expect with Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention, but she really impressed me.
Governor Palin was impressive, funny, sharp, and well… Vice Presidential. Here is the text from the speech.
Full remarks as prepared for delivery and provided by the McCain campaign of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as she accepts the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomination on Sept. 3, 2008, at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.
Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored to be considered for the nomination for Vice President of the United States…
I accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend America.
I accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election… against confident opponents … at a crucial hour for our country.
And I accept the privilege of serving with a man who has come through much harder missions … and met far graver challenges … and knows how tough fights are won - the next president of the United States, John S. McCain.
It was just a year ago when all the experts in Washington counted out our nominee because he refused to hedge his commitment to the security of the country he loves.
With their usual certitude, they told us that all was lost - there was no hope for this candidate who said that he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war.
But the pollsters and pundits overlooked just one thing when they wrote him off.
They overlooked the caliber of the man himself - the determination, resolve, and sheer guts of Senator John McCain. The voters knew better.
And maybe that’s because they realize there is a time for politics and a time for leadership … a time to campaign and a time to put our country first.
Our nominee for president is a true profile in courage, and people like that are hard to come by.
He’s a man who wore the uniform of this country for 22 years, and refused to break faith with those troops in Iraq who have now brought victory within sight.
And as the mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief. I’m just one of many moms who’ll say an extra prayer each night for our sons and daughters going into harm’s way.
Our son Track is 19.
And one week from tomorrow - September 11th - he’ll deploy to Iraq with the Army infantry in the service of his country.
My nephew Kasey also enlisted, and serves on a carrier in the Persian Gulf.
My family is proud of both of them and of all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform. Track is the eldest of our five children.
In our family, it’s two boys and three girls in between - my strong and kind-hearted daughters Bristol, Willow, and Piper.
And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical.
That’s how it is with us.
Our family has the same ups and downs as any other … the same challenges and the same joys.
Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.
And children with special needs inspire a special love.
To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.
I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. Todd is a story all by himself.
He’s a lifelong commercial fisherman … a production operator in the oil fields of Alaska’s North Slope … a proud member of the United Steel Workers’ Union … and world champion snow machine racer.
Throw in his Yup’ik Eskimo ancestry, and it all makes for quite a package.
We met in high school, and two decades and five children later he’s still my guy. My Mom and Dad both worked at the elementary school in our small town.
And among the many things I owe them is one simple lesson: that this is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity.
My parents are here tonight, and I am so proud to be the daughter of Chuck and Sally Heath. Long ago, a young farmer and habber-dasher from Missouri followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency.
A writer observed: “We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity.” I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman.
I grew up with those people.
They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America … who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars.
They love their country, in good times and bad, and they’re always proud of America. I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town.
I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids’ public education better.
When I ran for city council, I didn’t need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too.
Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.
And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.
I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening.
We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.
As for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes, and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man. I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment.< br> And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.
But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people.
Politics isn’t just a game of clashing parties and competing interests.
The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.
No one expects us to agree on everything.
But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and … a servant’s heart.
I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States. This was the spirit that brought me to the governor’s office, when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau … when I stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies, and the good-ol’ boys network.
Sudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power brokers. That’s why true reform is so hard to achieve.
But with the support of the citizens of Alaska, we shook things up.
And in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people.
I came to office promising major ethics reform, to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is the law.
While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor’s office that I didn’t believe our citizens should have to pay for.
That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.
I also drive myself to work.
And I thought we could muddle through without the governor’s personal chef - although I’ve got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary.
Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest - and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works.
Our state budget is under control.
We have a surplus.
And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes.
I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.
I told the Congress “thanks, but no thanks,” for that Bridge to Nowhere.
If our state wanted a bridge, we’d build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged - directly to the people of Alaska.
And despite fierce opposition from oil company lobbyists, who kind of liked things the way they were, we broke their monopoly on power and resources.
As governor, I insisted on competition and basic fairness to end their control of our state and return it to the people.
I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history.
And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly forty billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.
That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.
The stakes for our nation could not be higher.
When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we are forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
And families cannot throw away more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil.
With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.
To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies … or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia … or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries … we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.
And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we’ve got lots of both.
Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems - as if we all didn’t know that already.
But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.
Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines … build more new-clear plants … create jobs with clean coal … and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources.
We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers. I’ve noticed a pattern with our opponent.
Maybe you have, too.
We’ve all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers.
And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.
But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.
This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word “victory” except when he’s talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed … when the roar of the crowd fades away … when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent’s plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger … take more of your money … give you more orders from Washington … and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy … our opponent is against producing it.
Victory in Iraq is finally in sight … he wants to forfeit.
Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay … he wants to meet them without preconditions.
Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America … he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights? Government is too big … he wants to grow it.
Congress spends too much … he promises more.
Taxes are too high … he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan, and let me be specific.
The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes … raise payroll taxes … raise investment income taxes … raise the death tax … raise business taxes … and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that’s now opened for business - like millions of others who run small businesses.
How are they going to be any better off if taxes go up? Or maybe you’re trying to keep your job at a plant in Michigan or Ohio … or create jobs with clean coal from Pennsylvania or West Virginia … or keep a small farm in the family right here in Minnesota.
How are you going to be better off if our opponent adds a massive tax burden to the American economy? Here’s how I look at the choice Americans face in this election.
In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.
And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.
They’re the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners, or on self-designed presidential seals.
Among politicians, there is the idealism of high-flown speechmaking, in which crowds are stirringly summoned to support great things.
And then there is the idealism of those leaders, like John McCain, who actually do great things. They’re the ones who are good for more than talk … the ones we have always been able to count on to serve and defend America. Senator McCain’s record of actual achievement and reform helps explain why so many special interests, lobbyists, and comfortable committee chairmen in Congress have fought the prospect of a McCain presidency - from the primary election of 2000 to this very day.
Our nominee doesn’t run with the Washington herd.
He’s a man who’s there to serve his country, and not just his party.
A leader who’s not looking for a fight, but is not afraid of one either. Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee.
He said, quote, “I can’t stand John McCain.” Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we’ve chosen the right man. Clearly what the Majority Leader was driving at is that he can’t stand up to John McCain. That is only one more reason to take the maverick of the Senate and put him in the White House. My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of “personal discovery.” This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn’t just need an organizer.
And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, “fighting for you,” let us face the matter squarely.
There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you … in places where winning means survival and defeat means death … and that man is John McCain. In our day, politicians have readily shared much lesser tales of adversity than the nightmare world in which this man, and others equally brave, served and suffered for their country.
It’s a long way from the fear and pain and squalor of a six-by-four cell in Hanoi to the Oval Office.
But if Senator McCain is elected president, that is the journey he will have made.
It’s the journey of an upright and honorable man - the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this country, only he was among those who came home.
To the most powerful office on earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless … the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God … the special confidence of those who have seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome. A fellow prisoner of war, a man named Tom Moe of Lancaster, Ohio, recalls looking through a pin-hole in his cell door as Lieutenant Commander John McCain was led down the hallway, by the guards, day after day.
As the story is told, “When McCain shuffled back from torturous interrogations, he would turn toward Moe’s door and flash a grin and thumbs up” - as if to say, “We’re going to pull through this.” My fellow Americans, that is the kind of man America needs to see us through these next four years.
For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words.
For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.
If character is the measure in this election … and hope the theme … and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States.
Thank you all, and may God bless America.
