Reasons 3 and 4: Why the Sky isn't Falling and We Can Stop Beating Outselves Up, Really!!!

chris.cillizza@washingtonpost.com

3. Now that they control the White House and Congress, Democrats will usher in a new progressive era.

Not likely. At first glance, the numbers do look encouraging for proponents of a new New Deal era in government: Obama claimed at least 364 electoral votes and more than 52.5 percent of the overall popular vote, while Democrats now control at least 57 seats in the Senate and 255 in the House.

But look more closely, and you see a heavy influx of moderate to conservative members in the incoming freshman Democratic class, particularly in the House. Of the 24 Republican-held districts that Democrats won in 2008, Kerry carried just three in 2004. Democratic victories on Nov. 4 included Alabama's 2nd district (where Kerry took 33 percent of the vote) and Idaho's at-large seat (where Kerry won just 30 percent). In fact, according to tabulations by National Journal's Richard E. Cohen, 81 House Democrats in the 111th Congress will represent districts that Bush carried in 2004.

The fact that roughly a third of the Democratic House majority sits in seats with Republican underpinnings (at least at the presidential level) is almost certain to keep a liberal dream agenda from moving through Congress. The first rule of politics is survival, and if these new arrivals to Washington want to stick around, they are likely to build centrist voting records between now and 2010.

4. A Republican candidate could have won the presidency this year.

I doubt it. In the hastily penned postmortems of campaign '08, much of the blame for McCain's loss seems to have fallen at the feet of the candidate and his advisers, who (so the narrative goes) made a series of lousy strategic decisions that wound up costing the Arizona senator the White House. There's little question that some of the choices McCain and his team made -- the most obvious being the impulsive decision to suspend his campaign and try to broker a deal on the financial rescue bill, only to see his efforts blow up in his face -- did not help. But a look at this year's political atmospherics suggests that the environment was so badly poisoned that no Republican -- not Mitt Romney, not Mike Huckabee, not even the potential future GOP savior, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal -- could have beaten Obama on Nov. 4.

Why not? Three words (and a middle initial): President George W. Bush.

In the national exit poll, more than seven in 10 voters said that they disapproved of the job Bush was doing; not surprisingly, Obama resoundingly won that group, 67 percent to 31 percent. But here's an even more stunning fact: While 7 percent of the exit-poll sample strongly approved of the job Bush was doing, a whopping 51 percent strongly disapproved. Obama won those strong disapprovers 82 percent to 16 percent. And Bush's approval numbers looked grim for the GOP even before the September financial meltdown.

Just one in five voters in the national exit polls said that the country was "generally going in the right direction." McCain won that group 71 percent to Obama's 27 percent. But among the 75 percent of voters who said that the country was "seriously off on the wrong track," Obama had a thumping 26-point edge.

Those numbers speak to the damage that eight years of the Bush administration have done to the Republican brand. It's a burden that any candidate running for president with an "R" after his -- or her -- name would have had to drag around the country.

To be continued......

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Click on Share button to send to your favorite sites

Down but not out............

WaPo Weighs in:

By Chris Cillizza

Sunday, November 16, 2008; Page B03

The 2008 presidential election ended less than two weeks ago, but the mythmaking machine has already begun to churn. President-elect Barack Obama transformed the face of the electorate! The Republican Party will be a miserable minority in Congress for the next century! Cats and dogs are now living together! Below we explode the five biggest myths that have already sprung up around the election that was. 1. The Republican Party suffered a death blow.

There's no question that losing six Senate seats and 24 House seats (not to mention the White House) wasn't a step forward for the Grand Old Party. But there are two good reasons to believe that Republicans will be back on their feet sooner than many people expect.

First, much of the Republicans' permanent political class has concluded that electing Sen. John McCain as president would have amounted to applying a Band-Aid to a gaping wound. Given the state of the party -- bereft of a signature new idea and without many fresh faces -- plenty of Republican operatives have come to subscribe to what I'd call the Ra's al Ghul theory of rebuilding: Ghul, a villain in the movie "Batman Begins," advocates destroying the city of Gotham to rebuild it from the ground up. "It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die," he says -- a sentiment echoed by many Republicans these days, who argue that hitting rock bottom was the only way to allow new faces and ideas to emerge.

Second, historical electoral patterns suggest that Republicans could pick up a passel of Senate and House seats in 2010 -- the first midterm election under President Obama. Every president (save one) since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934 has lost seats in the House in his first midterm election. The exception? George W. Bush in 2002, when Republicans picked up six House seats and two Senate seats -- a historic anomaly widely credited to the world-changing events of Sept. 11, 2001.

To be continued:


View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Click on Share button to send to your favorite sites

Way to Go, Michelle Malkin!!!

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Click on Share button to send to your favorite sites

Too Little,Too Late,Too Lame

by Janet Crain

Senator John McCain had the perfect opportunity last night on Jay Leno's show to thoroughly clear the air about the despicable accusations leveled by some of his staff members toward his running mate, Sarah Palin. But he blew it.

Instead of saying he would ferret out these cowardly anonymous harpies, fire them and see to it their reputations were ruined, he said the following:

Senator John McCain: She understands all the energy issues. There’s a $40 billion pipeline coming to bring natural gas to places like California. And so look, she’s a marvelous person.
Jay Leno: Now, these aides that were criticizing her — and I think everyone agrees there were Republican aides who were criticizing her. I know you wouldn’t go for that. I know you’re an old soul. You don’t let people talk — but why?
Senator John McCain: One — these things happen in campaigns too. I think I have at least a thousand, quote, top advisors. “A top advisor said” — people I’ve never even heard of, much less a, quote, top advisor or a high-ranking Republican official. It’s — these things go on in campaigns, and you just –
Jay Leno: Why don’t we just move on.

Senator John McCain: I’m just very proud to have had Sarah Palin and her family, a wonderful family.

Later on he and Jay Leno joked about taking Lieberman to Neiman-Marcus to buy him a nice suit. OK, I know he has been advised to just move on, let this go and it will die a natural death. But I don't know who is advising him. Hasn't he listened to enough bad advice lately?

A gentleman would have come swiftly to Sarah Palin's defense. The accusations were ridiculous and most have been disproved by now. But they were unfair and cruel. And she didn't deserve this.

Sarah Palin made a reported 140 appearances for the Republican Party in her bid for the Vice Presidency of the United States. Every crowd at every rally was enthusiastic and energized by her appearance. The Republican Party owes her, big time! Not the other way around.

What bitter losers the Republican Party is turning out to be.

You know the old saying; "Sucess has many fathers, but failure is a bastard."

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Click on Share button to send to your favorite sites

Dear John Letter

Dear John McCain; I am calling on you as a man of integrity and a man of your word, do whatever necessary to squelch the vicious rumors emanating from your staff.

Governor Palin has suffered enough from her disgraceful treatment in the "lower 48".

Anyone on your staff who tells or has told tales out of school of an unflattering nature to Sarah Palin should be fired immediately.

Of course it is too late to put the horse back in the barn, but I suggest demand that you go on national television (buying the time if necessary) and deny any wrong doing on Sarah Palin's part. And then fire off an apology to her for not allowing her to speak along with your concession speech.

I greatly admired your speech that night. Don't let these loose lipped harpies tarnish your image by being anything less than a gentleman in this sordid state of affairs.

Thank you so much,

Janet Crain


Those wishing to fax Senator John McCain go here to send a free fax. Limit two a day.

http://faxzero.com/

McCain's fax numbers

Phoenix, AZ 602-952-8702

Washington, DC 202-228-2862

Phone and fax numbers click here:

http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.OfficeLocations

Not only has the vice-presidential candidate given a concession speech before, it was done as recently as 4 years ago:

Two of the most unforgettable concession speeches were delivered in the last decade, Connaughton says. In 2004, presidential candidate John Kerry's vice presidential nominee, John Edwards, spoke first. Instead of openly conceding, he proclaimed that he and Kerry would continue to fight for a better America, encouraging supporters to do the same. Then, Kerry gave his concession speech.

"You usually don't hear from the vice presidential candidate on the losing side first. That was unusual," she says.

This time we did not hear from her at all.

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Click on Share button to send to your favorite sites

Show a Little Respect!!!

Hey,wait up guys,we made some history too!!!

The United States just ended a historic presidential campaign, the like of which has never before been seen.

The Republican party made history as the oldest man ever, John McCain, ran for president and outpaced his staff and the army of reporters following him in energy and enthusiasm. Not only that, he has survived cancer a number of times which increased every time his detractors tried to say he would not survive his term, if elected. Even Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, chimed in and said we should elect Democratic candidate Barack Obama instead.

Sarah Palin was the second woman in history to appear on the ballot as a United States vice-presidential candidate for a major party. Who, had it not been for the financial meltdown caused by the Democrats like Barney Frank, may well have been our new vice-president today. Who was gracious and kind to everyone, who complimented Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro in her acceptance speech.

Hillary Clinton came close to obtaining the Democratic presidential nomination in a long hard fought primary effort against Barack Obama in 2008 and Geraldine Ferraro was picked by Democrat Walter Mondale as a running mate in 1984. He lost the election to Ronald Reagan.

Barack Obama, son of a white mother and black man, made history as the first black man to be elected president of the USA in 2008.

So we made a lot of history and broke a few barriers. And now in the aftermath, the blame game has started. Not content with their shameful treatment of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, during the campaign, the mainstream media and the liberal harpies are piling on.

I just want to say:

Let it go. Your candidate won. Be as gracious in victory as John McCain was in defeat.

I started my blog in early September to refute the vicious rumors about Sarah Palin that started as soon as she was announced as the vice-presidential nominee.

She never banned books, never charged victims for rape kits. Was right about Russia being visible from some areas of Alaska. And on and on and on.

The vicious Hollywood celebrities and turncoat Republicans who attacked her would do well to remember her enormous popularity.

She will be back. God willing. America needs her.

Janet Crain

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Click on Share button to send to your favorite sites

McCain bows out, gracious to the end

John McCain's Concession Speech:

"I would urge all Americans who supported me, to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort … to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences, to help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world … Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans."

Senator McCain bowed out before a subdued crowd of Republican loyalists who gathered at the sprawling Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa. It is an artificial oasis of swimming pools, ballrooms and Spanish-style villas that has hosted numerous presidents and celebrities. With a gigantic Stars and Stripes at his back, and framed by the dark profile of Camelback Mountain that looms over the resort, Senator McCain truly could adopt his characteristic phrase "my friends" as he faced reality before an invitation-only audience of staunch allies.

Last night's count confirmed what many observers had been anticipating since the already ailing US economy was further rocked by bank and financial sector collapses, and Wall Street went into a tailspin.

"I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe in the promise and greatness of America. We never hide from history. We make history."

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Click on Share button to send to your favorite sites

Who Will Stand Up to Bullies?

Sunday, November 02, 2008
A Reason to Elect McCain [Jay Nordlinger]
There are a lot of people who didn’t like Edmund Morris’s biography of Reagan, which was authorized — they said it was a failure, or at least a missed opportunity. I don’t know. I didn’t read it. But I do know this: Morris had one insight into Reagan, and it was perfectly observed.

Reagan spent his entire life standing up to the bully. From boyhood on, he interposed himself between the bully and the innocent. He stood up to the bullies in his schools. He stood up to the Communists in Hollywood, and to the coercive unions. He stood up to the student radicals and their abettors. He stood up to the Soviets.

He simply stood up.

In the world today are a lot of bullies to stand up to: al-Qaeda, the mullahs, the North Koreans, the Chinese Communists, the Castro brothers, Chávez. John McCain will almost certainly do it. Barack Obama will almost certainly not.

That’s one reason — probably the biggest reason — I’m voting for McCain on Tuesday.
11/02 07:17 PM

Click here to send an email link

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Click on Share button to send to your favorite sites

Why McCain is the better choice

11/02/2008 06:59:50 AM PST

Barack Obama selected a man to be his running mate instead of Hillary Clinton, but John McCain selected a woman as his running mate. Their position differs in that John McCain kept his promise to change Washington by selecting a woman as his running mate. If he wins, that promise will be satisfied, because never in the history of American politics has a woman been on the winning ticket.

With all the focus on change, John McCain appears to be the underdog because his wealth of experience is being taken for granted. His heroic sacrifices and magnificent performances in putting his life on the line for fighting for the security of the American people should not be taken for granted.

With McCain's unflinching struggle to serve his country, it hurts to hear the unkind claims that he is the alter ego of George W. Bush. They are two separate personalities. They are independent in their way of thinking.

McCain faces financial problems compared to the Obama campaign. But we should consider performance over the empty promise spoken by the silver-tongued candidate.

Please understand the strength of John McCain emanates not from the glitter of silver like Obama, but is derived from the power and strength from the spiritual survival of the blood and lives of all our departed heroes from the rank and file of the uniformed young men and women who have given their lives in making this country a super power.

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_10880647
Marne R. Yasay

Vallejo, CA

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Every Day it's a Getting Closer!!!!!

A Great Buddy Holly Song and Great News for McCain-Palin!!!!!

http://www.drudgereport.com/

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Democratic Leaders will Consult with Barack Obama after Election to get Their Marching Orders....Say What?

Either David Espo has a crystal ball or he knows something no one else knows because he wrote this article as if it is a done deal electing Barack Obama. JC

=========================================

Tax rebate, food stamp money possible in aid plan

Oct 11, 5:24 PM (ET)
By DAVID ESPO

WASHINGTON (AP) - After consulting with Barack Obama, Democratic leaders are likely to call Congress back to work after the election in hopes of passing legislation that would include extended jobless benefits, money for food stamps and possibly a tax rebate, officials said Saturday.

The bill's total cost could reach $150 billion, these officials said.

The officials stressed that no final decisions have been made. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to pre-empt a formal announcement. House Democrats have announced plans for an economic forum on Monday "to help Congress develop an economic recovery plan that focuses on creating jobs and strengthening our economy."

Democrats said Obama's campaign has been involved in discussions on a possible stimulus package. The party's presidential candidate, running ahead in the polls, has outlined his own proposals for stimulating the economy.
Democrats are increasingly confident of capturing the White House and increasing their majorities in the House and Senate on Nov. 4.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081011/D93OHKO80.html

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

Loud crowd buoys John McCain in must-win state of Ohio

REPUBLICAN underdog John McCain seemed surprised by the chanting crowd that turned out to see him in chilly Cincinnati.

Midway through his boisterous rally, Senator McCain stopped to say: "What a crowd. What enthusiasm.

"Is there any doubt we're going to win this election, my friends? This is wonderful."

With 12 days to go, almost all opinion polls show Senator McCain's opponent, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, ahead by an average of seven points.

But one new poll broke ranks yesterday to hint at a narrowing of the race in the final stretch.

The Associated Press-GfK poll found Senator Obama leading by just one percentage point, on 44 per cent support.

Three weeks ago, the AP-GfK survey put him eight points in the lead.
With the drawcard of two popular Republican women - his running-mate, Sarah Palin, and country music star Gretchen Wilson, who sang Redneck Woman -- more than 12,000 people filled an airport hangar in Ohio's most conservative city.

(snipped)

Mrs Palin warmed the crowd up, thanking southwest Ohio for its welcome.
She said flying into Cincinnati, she had been amazed to look down and "see my face ploughed into a cornfield".

Republican-leaning Ohio is a bellwether for the election, and this year it has become vulnerable to the Democrats. Senator Obama is marginally ahead in the state, and Senator McCain cannot win the White House if he loses Ohio.
As the crowd chanted "Sarah, Sarah" and "Mac is Back", they also booed whenever Senator Obama's name was mentioned.

Some at the rally brought along photocopied home-made pamphlets with a picture of Uncle Sam that read "I want you - to keep Islam out of the White House".

(snipped)

Julie and George Thomas came along to the rally with five-year-old daughter Emily, who has cerebral palsy.

They said it was a bonus to see Mrs Palin, whose son, Trig, has Down syndrome and is also a special needs child.

Mr Thomas said he had considered bringing along a home-made sign reading "No More Mr Nice Guy" to urge Senator McCain to start taking the fight up to Senator Obama.

"I like the fact he's a true American hero," he said of Senator McCain, adding he had very "serious, serious concerns" about Senator Obama.

"Trust. Lack of being forthcoming on his past, lack of releasing information about the past," he said, citing Senator Obama's past associations with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and his former firebrand pastor, the Rev Jeremiah Wright.
George Hillis, 72, said he would never vote for Senator Obama because he was a "liar" and "has an extensive radical background associating with people who are not the type of people we want running the country".

Mr Hillis said he believed Senator McCain would win the election, despite what the polls said, because the silent majority of voters had started grumbling.
"We're starting to talk. We don't waste our breath until the election comes, but there's a movement going on now," he said.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24543160-663,00.html

View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

AP-GFK poll shows McCain, Obama in virtual tie

By STEVEN R. HURSTAssociated Press 2008-10-23 08:11 AM

Republican John McCain is accusing Democrat Barack Obama of seeking a socialist redistribution of wealth as a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds the candidates running nearly dead-even less than two weeks before the presidential election.

The poll results were released Wednesday and found Obama at 44 percent to 43 percent for McCain, a possible indication that conservative voters were drifting back to the Republican candidate. The same poll three weeks ago found that Obama had surged to a seven-point lead, lifted by Americans' anxiety over the slumping U.S. economy _ the top issue gripping voters in the 2008 race for the White House.

With the contest still volatile, the new AP-GfK head-to-head result is a departure from some, but not all, recent national polls.

Obama and McCain were essentially tied among likely voters in the latest George Washington University Battleground Poll. In other surveys focusing on likely voters, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Obama up by 9 percentage points, while a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll had the margin at 11 points and a survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center had Obama leading by 14.

State-by-state polling shows Obama within a few electors of the 270 need to win. The nationwide popular vote does not count for victory in the U.S. system, that depends instead on the electoral college, with members apportioned according to state population.
McCain has been pounding the Obama tax plan, which proposes a reversal of President George W. Bush's tax cuts that mainly benefited the wealthy. The additional revenue, Obama contends, would offset tax breaks he wants to give to the 95 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000 annually.

"Apparently, as my opponent sees it, there's a strict limit to your earnings as well, and it's for the politicians to decide. The proper amount of wealth is not what you can earn, but what government will let you keep," McCain told supporters in New Hampshire, a traditionally anti-tax state he hopes to woo to his side.
McCain was joined by his running mate Sarah Palin at a rally later in the battleground state of Ohio, where the Alaska governor derided Obama as "Barack the Wealth Spreader" and said: "You have to really listen to our opponent's words, because he's hiding his real agenda of redistributing your hard-earned money."

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=770169


View All Recent Meet the Real Sarah Palin Blog Posts:

McCain ‘amazed’ by Palin treatment

By ANDY BARR 10/22/08 10:52 AM EDT

John McCain called out fellow Republicans who have questioned running mate Sarah Palin’s credentials Tuesday. “What’s their problem?” McCain asked during an interview with radio host Don Imus. “She is a governor, the most popular governor in America,” McCain said. “I think she is the most qualified of any that has run recently for vice president.” “I’m amazed. I’m amazed. Which is better? Serve 35 years in the United States Senate and say you’ve got to divide Iraq into three different countries, or be governor of a state and a reformer and give people their tax dollars back and bring about reform in the way that your state does business? Which is better?” Several leading conservatives, including columnists Kathleen Parker of National Review and David Brooks of the New York Times, have questioned McCain’s judgment in selecting Palin.Parker called Palin “out of her league” in a September column urging the Alaska governor to drop out of the race. Brooks, meanwhile, called Palin “a fatal cancer to the Republican Party” during a forum hosted by The Atlantic magazine earlier this month.

McCain dismissed their criticisms and credited Palin for energizing the conservative base in a year in which the GOP faces “a stiff headwind.” “She has ignited our crowds,” McCain said. “She has a wonderful family, a great husband, great values and she shares my worldview.” “I’m entertained at the elitist attitude towards a person who is proven leader.” Looking back on Palin’s early interviews with ABC’s Charles Gibson and CBS’s Katie Couric, McCain said Palin did well and derided the press for asking “gotcha” questions. “She did a great job in those interviews. If you want to go with the gotcha questions that’s fine, that’s fine, I understand that. I get them all the time,” the Arizona senator said. “It’s easy to make fun of people and ask them gotcha questions. That’s fine. I understand how the game is played. But don’t think the American people buy that baloney.”

McCain also mocked suggestions that Palin has to face tough interviews on the Sunday shows in order to prove herself to voters. “That’s hilarious. With thousands of people showing up at town hall meetings, I’ve never had a person show up and ask when she is going on ‘Meet the Press.’ Not one.” With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, the Republican conceded that he is trailing Barack Obama but seemed optimistic about his chances. “We’re doing fine. We have a lot of enthusiasm out there. We’re working hard and enjoying the rallies and having fun. I’m very confident,” he said. “I think we’re behind, but it’s within the margin of error and we’re coming up. All the indicators are that we’re coming up.”

View All Recent Blog Posts:

With Biden as Veep, Would we Have any State Secrets?

The McCain communications team jumped - emailing Biden’s remarks around, along with McCain’s prepared response and an announcement of a conference call led by Rudy Giuiliani to help frame the issue.

Speaking to a crowd in Belton, Mo., McCain riffed on Biden’s remarks, saying that now is not the time for on-the job-training.

“The next President won’t have time to get used to the office,” McCain said. “We face many challenges here at home, and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world. If Senator Obama is elected, Senator Biden said, we will have an international crisis to test America’s new president. We don’t want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars.”

“What is more troubling is that Senator Biden told their campaign donors that when that crisis hits, they would have to stand with them because it wouldn’t be apparent that Senator Obama would have the right response,” McCain added.
“Forget apparent,” he continued. “Senator Obama won’t have the right response, and we know that because we’ve seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign. He opposed the surge strategy that is bringing us victory in Iraq and will bring us victory in Afghanistan.”

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/10/21/biden-predicts-international-crisis-if-elected-mccain-reacts/

View All Recent Blog Posts:

A Shout Out for Virginia, Birthplace of Our Nation!!!!!

John McCain and an Army of Joes


The real anger at McCain’s rallies.


By Byron York
Woodbridge, Va. — Tito Munoz was ready to rock when John McCain showed here up at the Connaughton Community Plaza in Woodbridge, Virginia Saturday afternoon. Dressed in a yellow hard hat covered with McCain-Palin stickers, wearing an orange high-visibility vest, Munoz carried a hand-lettered sign that said CONSTRUCTION WORKER FOR McCAIN. He got a coveted spot in the bleachers directly behind McCain, where he could be seen in the camera shot along with the guy holding the sign that said PHIL THE BRICK LAYER and the woman with the ROSE THE TEACHER banner. He cheered a lot.

Munoz and the others cheering.AP

Everybody was playing on the Joe-the-Plumber theme. McCain spent a lot of time on it in his stump speech, using the now-famous Joe Wurzelbacher of Toledo, Ohio, as a stand-in for “small businessmen and women all over America [who] want to keep their earnings and not give it to the government.” McCain added that Obama’s response to Wurzelbacher — the assertion that it would be best to “spread the wealth around” — made Joe the Plumber “the only person to get a real answer out of Sen. Obama.”

The crowd laughed and cheered. But for them, Joe the Plumber is much more than a zinger in McCain’s stump speech. In recent days, the Joe the Plumber phenomenon has taken on a deeper meaning for McCain’s audiences, for two reasons. First, he is a symbol of their belief that Barack Obama is going to raise their taxes, regardless of what Obama says about hitting up only those taxpayers who make more than $250,000 a year. They know Wurzelbacher doesn’t make that much, and they know they don’t make that much. And they’re not suspicious because they believe that someday they will make $250,000, and thus face higher taxes. No, they just don’t believe Obama right now.

If he’s elected, they say, he’ll eventually come looking for taxpayers who make well below a quarter-million dollars, and that will include them.The second reason Joe the Plumber resonates with the crowds is what his experience says about the media. Everybody here seems acutely aware of the once-over Wurzelbacher received from the press after his chance encounter with Obama was reported, first on Fox News, and then mentioned by McCain at last week’s presidential debate.

Wurzelbacher found himself splashed across newspapers and cable shows, many of which reported that he didn’t have a plumber’s license, that he wasn’t a member of the plumbers’ union, that he had a lien against him for $1,182 in state taxes, and that he failed to comprehend what many commentators apparently felt was the indisputable fact that Barack Obama would lower his taxes, not raise them.

As the people here in Woodbridge saw it, Joe was a guy who asked Barack Obama an inconvenient question — and for his troubles suddenly found himself under investigation by the media. In the audience Saturday, there were plenty of people who were mad about it. There was real anger at this rally, but it wasn’t, as some erroneous press reports from other McCain rallies have suggested, aimed at Obama. It was aimed at the press. And that’s where Tito Munoz came in.

And you don't want to miss the REST OF THE STORY!!!

Go here:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWRhZDE1ODdiYzRiMzcyMWM5NzNjMWMxMDQ1ZDRkYzI=&w=MQ==

View All Recent Blog Posts:

Negativity a Matter of Perception?

"Everybody Knows Politics is a Contact Sport." Barack Obama Readers Digest Nov 08

by Janet Crain

We have heard many statements about this campaign and one resounding theme has been the number of negative ads ran by John McCain. Actually the two are just about even and given the sheer numbers of Obama ads, he will undoubtedly end up with the most.

However, I have yet to see a McCain ad taking jabs at Obama's physical limitations or mental abilities. Yet such was not off limits for Obama. This has been a campaign with issues about race and gender. Never once did anyone suggest a person's age was immaterial. And lately a new"ism",classism, has reared its ugly head. Expressed as "inexperienced and not ready", this language was code for "didn't attend the right Ivy League Eastern College, didn't get a law degree, never worked as a community activist (Thank God!!!), has no Hollywood celebrity friends, comes from a backwoods unsophisticated background, etc." Make no mistake, much of the resistance to John McCain's vice-presidential pick has been to Sarah Palin's perceived "ordinary" background. As if any ordinary person could pull a crowd of 60,000 people.

So this has turned into a really ugly negative campaign from the Obama camp. Honest inquiries into Obama's past associations with William Ayers, Tony Rezko and Rev. Jeremiah Wright have been called negative and "over the top".

When a few honest answers could have settled this months ago if there is truly nothing to hide.

So here are some facts and figures about the number of negative ads presented. And an interesting article from Newsweek about the positive aspects of "going negative".

Obama and McCain Run Same Number of Negative Ads

Senator Obama made some charges about negative ads last night:

"Well, look, you know, I think that we expect presidential campaigns to be tough. I think that, if you look at the record and the impressions of the American people -- Bob, your network just did a poll, showing that two-thirds of the American people think that Sen. McCain is running a negative campaign versus one-third of mine. And 100 percent, John, of your ads -- 100 percent of them have been negative.

The fact is the percentage is much LESS than 100% and the numbers show that both candidates are running the SAME NUMBER of Negative ads."

McCain’s advertising has not been completely negative over the course of the entire campaign. Looking at the tone of all of McCain’s advertising from June 4 to October 4, we found that 47 percent of the McCain spots were negative (completely focused on Obama), 26 percent were positive (completely focusing on his own personal story or on his issues or proposals) and 27 percent were contrast ads (a mix of positive and negative messages).But what about Obama? Our analysis reveals that 39 percent of all general election Obama ads have been positive (solely about his record, positions or personal story), 35 percent have been negative (solely focused on McCain) and 25 percent have been contrast ads – mixing a bit of both. So, on a proportional basis, the McCain campaign is and has been more negative than Obama.But, Obama has aired over 50,000 more ads than McCain. So, hasn’t he simply aired more of everything – including negative ads – than McCain has this year, or than anyone in history, as McCain may have alleged?

http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2008/10/obama-and-mccain-run-same-number-of.html

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Attack ads are ubiquitous this campaign season, but they are not the threat to the electoral process that do-gooders claim.

By Sharon Begley NEWSWEEK
Published Oct 11, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Oct 20, 2008

Barack Obama has been "palling around with terrorists" and wants to teach 5-year-olds about sex? John McCain is "out of touch," in bed with lobbyists behind the housing-market meltdown and doesn't know Ctrl-Alt-Delete from @?
Please. For true connoisseurs, such attacks are to negative campaigning what boxed wine is to a 1961 Château Lafite: a weak imitation of the real thing, a tease that makes one yearn for the vintages of yore. We're thinking here of vintages such as 1800 when, during the Thomas Jefferson-John Adams presidential race, the Connecticut Courant wrote that if Jefferson won, "murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest will be openly taught and practiced, the air will be rent with the cries of the distressed, the soil will be soaked with blood, and the nation black with crimes." New Englanders, Advertising Age noted in an editorial last April praising negative campaign ads, "reportedly hid their Bibles for fear that the infidel president would declare them illegal." Or vintages such as 1828, when supporters of presidential candidate and incumbent John Quincy Adams called opponent Andrew Jackson a cannibal and a murderer. The previously married Mrs. Jackson got off easy; Adams's supporters merely accused her of being a whore.

The fine tradition of negativity and attacks goes back to the nation's founding document. By the count of political scientist John G. Geer of Vanderbilt University, 70 percent of the statements in the Declaration of Independence are not uplifting promises of more-just and democratic governance, but attacks on England and George III ("He has obstructed the Administration of Justice," "He has dissolved Representative Houses" and, of course, "He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people"). These criticisms "provided the basis for thinking about abuses of power and the centrality of certain basic human rights," Geer writes in his 2006 book "In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns." "Without such negativity, the argument for establishing a new nation that 'derived its just powers from the consent of the govern[ed]' would not have been possible."

(snipped)

Beyond turnout, there is a realization that, as Geer argues, "negativity plays an important and underappreciated role in democracies," in large part by presenting more, and more detailed, information than positive ads do. And make no mistake about what may be the most valuable information voters glean from attack ads and mudslinging: a sense of the candidate ("and I approved this message") who paid for them.

All of which is fortunate, since negative ads have become as omnipresent this campaign season as down days for the Dow. According to Nielsen Media Research, from June 3 to Sept. 7, the McCain campaign ran negative ads 76,238 times, while Obama made 75,246 such placements, with both concentrating the attacks in the battleground states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Despite promising during the primaries to run a different, positive campaign, Obama has often gone way negative: in the week after the GOP convention, found the Wisconsin Advertising Project, 77 percent of Obama's ads were negative, compared with 56 percent of McCain's.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/163476?tid=relatedcl

View All Recent Blog Posts:

McCain Closing Gap

Saturday, October 18, 2008 5:31 PM
By: Dick Morris & Eileen McGann

While we don’t know the impact of the last debate, the polling indicates that McCain has been able to close the gap with Obama markedly in the past week.
Realclearpolitics.com lists six polls with a field date ending on 10-13. Their average gave Obama a margin of 8.3 percent. There are seven subsequent surveys with a field date ending on 10-16 and their average is an Obama lead of 5.1.

The seven polls whose field date ended on the 16th only include one night of post debate polling (usually of a three night sample). As the next few days of polling comes in, the situation should clarify itself.

But we can say that Obama has lost more than a third of his lead in the last week.

If the financial markets stop hogging the headlines and McCain exploits the tax and spending issue he developed (with the considerable aid of Joe the Plumber) it is very possible that he could close the race further, perhaps bringing it to a tie in the next ten days.

This race is far, far from over!

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

View All Recent Blog Posts:

McCain-Palin Plan Is Better for Coal

Wheeling, West Virginia
By the News-Register
POSTED: October 17, 2008

Candidates for vice president often offer excellent windows into what their running mates, those seeking the presidency, really think. Comments by Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joseph Biden have been especially illuminating in regard to the coal industry.

Palin, who is Sen. John McCain's running mate, visited Belmont County on Sunday. Members of the large crowd who attended her rally made it clear where they stand on coal.

"Mine, baby, mine," they chanted.

Palin agreed with them. "We have more coal in this country than there is oil in Saudi Arabia," she noted. "The question is, why aren't we using it?"
In speeches and, sometimes, in conversations with individuals, Palin has made it clear that she understands the need to use more coal in the United States. McCain himself favors development of "clean coal" technology. Clearly, he, too, recognizes the need to make as much use of coal as possible. The alternative, continuing reliance on foreign oil, simply is not realistic.

Sen. Barack Obama, running against McCain, also claims to be a proponent of clean coal technology. But during a September campaign stop elsewhere in Ohio, his running mate, Biden, made it crystal clear that he does not like coal.

"We're not supporting clean coal," Biden told a woman. "No coal plants here in America," he added.

Since then, Biden has attempted to backtrack. During his appearance this week in Belmont County, he attempted to portray himself and Obama as friends of coal.

And during the televised debate between Palin and himself, Biden claimed his earlier statement, "We're not supporting clean coal," was taken out of context.

No, it was not. Too many East Ohio and Northern Panhandle residents have watched and listened to the video tape of Biden's September statement in Ohio. What he said was very, very clear - in any context. To suggest otherwise is to insult the intelligence of voters.
We believe the Obama claim to support clean coal technology is more window-dressing than reality. He recognizes that, should he be elected president, ultra-liberals in Congress would reject anything more than token funding for coal.

Thanks in part to Biden, voters who understand how badly the United States needs to increase its reliance on coal have a clear-cut choice: Either McCain/Palin, where progress is quite possible - or Obama/Biden, where it is no more than a throwaway campaign promise.

http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/515583.html



View All Recent Blog Posts:

John McCain rally in Downingtown Pennsylvannia

John Mccain rally in Downingtown Pennsylvannia
Originally uploaded by bbcworldservice