GOP, PRESS, NEED TO LOOK BEYOND BLAGOJEVICH ABERRATION

Editorial, by Blogonaut

All persons who care about this country, whether they supported Barack Obama for president or not (and I did not), should realize that the only “hope” of success for the treacherous trek out of the current morass—including two wars, security concerns, a financial crises, an auto industry crisis, a domestic, consumer driven recession, and a global slow-down—is for the entire country, including the president-elect, the congress, the press, and the voters, to focus exclusively on developing the required bi-partisan policy solutions.

The last thing this country needs right now is another “Whitewater” style investigation of our new president as a result of the situation in Chicago, distracting the attention of the congress and the president. The issues and problems we have right now do not allow for any such partisan foolishness.

Whatever minor bit role any future West Wing inhabitants may have had in this sordid affair, it is all a side show.

This is the last thing in the world right now that the country needs to be focusing on. We literally cannot afford another 3 to 4 years of “what did President Obama know and when did he know it.”

Any Americans (including members of congress) who truly care about this country and its citizens, of voting age or not, will eschew the Blagojevich debacle as a means of gaining GOP political power at the expense of the president-elect, and patriotically aid the president-elect and the incoming congress in fashioning solutions to the desperate economic and international crisis in which we find ourselves in.

Any Americans who are members of the 4th Estate should likewise balance the need to find solutions against the temptation to sell news.

Our dire circumstances as Americans outweigh partisan politics and press 'ratings' at this point, and any of our elected representatives who nevertheless chose to put party and self-interest over country need to be turned out at the earliest opportunity to do so.

President-Elect Barack Obama

Barack Obama 364, John McCain 174

OUR NEW PRESIDENT DESERVES OUR RESPECT AND SUPPORT

This blog started as a daily compendium of quirky, and sometimes bizarre, tales of errant attorneys, judges and litigants. But like any blog, we—as the blog author--get to write about anything we want.

Our imagination was captured by the presidential race. So we wrote about that, emphasizing stories that we felt a biased pro-Obama media were not telling.

We initially supported Hillary Rodham Clinton as our presidential choice, and after the rollercoaster ride that was the Democratic primary election, concluded that John McCain was our candidate of choice.

Both of our favorite candidates lost.

What will we do now?

Same as always when a new President is elected—whether we voted for him or not: Give the President elect the benefit of the doubt, support him, and wish him well.

Congratulations Mr. President elect!

A lot of people voted for you. Please do not let them, and us, down.

In the meantime, this is a democracy, the people have spoken, you are our new President, and you have our 100% support.

--Blogonaut

A Change Is Gonna Come

Sam Cooke

BREAKING: BLACK PANTHERS INTIMIDATE VOTERS IN PA

AYERS, FARRAKHAN SHOW UP TO VOTE AT OBAMA POLLING PLACE

From ABC News Politics Blog:

“November 04, 2008 8:38 AM CHICAGO, Ill. -- Among the other voters who have shown up to vote at Shoesmith Elementary School this morning, where Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., will vote: Louis Farrakhan and William Ayers.Seriously.Welcome to the South Side of Chicago.”

OUR TAKE: What, the Reverend Wright did not vote?

ROVE PREDICTS OBAMA BLOW-OUT, MORRIS SAYS MCCAIN MAY WIN

“Nobody has any idea how this election is going to go — not a pollster, not a candidate, not a political consultant,” veteran political guru Dick Morris proclaimed on the “Hannity and Colmes” Fox news show Monday night.

The former top Clinton adviser and pollster insists that it’s impossible to conduct accurate polls because of the vast changes in the electorate.

“There are 310 million Americans, and 220 million of them are of voting age,” Morris said. “120 million of the 220 voted in 2004, so 100 million didn't. Basically, about 30 million of that hundred million are probably going to vote — we have no idea — it might be 40 or 50, it might be 10 or 20, but some portion will and some portion won't.

“Because we've never had a turnout in modern times of more than 120 million, we have no idea how to model it. So you don't know who those new voters are. And in a race in which one candidate is very attractive to minority voters and younger voters, and the other candidate is much more attractive to white voters and middle-aged and older voters, you just have no way to model this.

“Why do you think that it is this close at this late hour and at this point in the race?” Hannity said.

Morris responded: “I don't think Obama's closed the sale. If you look at what's going on in the Senate and House races throughout the country, Obama should be 20 points ahead right now. This should be 1984 all over again or 1972 or 1964. This should be a massacre, but the polling, to whatever extent you can believe it, suggests that it's not. I think he basically hasn't closed the deal.”

Meanwhile, the other controversial figure of the Right—Carl Rove—is predicting an Obama blow-out today.

ELECTION DAY: NO HYPE, SPIN—JUST COUNT THE VOTES

Don’t forget to vote!

COMMUNIST HUGO CHAVEZ ENDORSES OBAMA

Again, no spin, just watch and listen to the video:

JOE BIDEN: “NEVER BE ANOTHER COAL PLANT BUILT IN AMERICA”, OPPOSES CLEAN COAL

Hear Joe Biden on the campaign trail in his own words: No clean coal plants period. No spin, just the video tape:

REVEREND WRIGHT: HE'S BAAAACK IN NEW SWING STATE ADS

PLEASE, WORKING PEOPLE, DO NOT SUPPORT SOCIALISM

WE PROUDLY SUPPORTED HILLARY CLINTON IN THE 2008 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTION
WE PUT OUR MONEY WHERE OUR MOUTH IS
GIVING $2,300 IN A DOWN ECONOMY
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AND NOW WE FIND OURSELVES SUPPORTING JOHN MCCAIN
WHY?
--
IT IS ALL ABUT THE ECONOMY AND TAXES.
WHAT DO WE MEAN?
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FIRST , WE ARE ALREADY PAYING ENOUGH IN TAXES, THANK YOU.
--
SECOND, INCREASING TAXES IN A DOWN ECONOMY IS SUICIDE.
--
THIRD, TAKING TAX MONEY FROM ONE GROUP TO FUND ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES IS ONE THING, BUT TAKING OUR CASH TO THEN GIVE A CASH $10,000 DISTRIBUTION TO AMERICANS WHO (POOR OR NOT) REPORT LESS THAN $40,000 A YEAR AND OWE NO TAXES IS—WE ARE SORRY—SOCIALISM
_
America has fought wars to oppose this philosophy. Anyway, that is how we see it. GOD BLESS AMERICA.

--

AND WE CANNOT BELIEVE THAT EVEN AMERICANS WHO STAND TO GET A SOCILIST HANDOUT UNDER OBAMA WOULD VOTE FOR HIM

__

THINK IN THE BOOTH BEFORE YOU PULL THAT LEVER--THEN VOTE YOUR BEST JUDGEMENT

DEAR SWING STATE VOTERS: WHY MCCAIN?

As a Democrat-- Hillary Clinton supporter and $2,300 donor in the primary election-- we respectfully direct your attention to this Charles Krauthammer article:

Last week I made the open-and-shut case for John McCain: In a dangerous world entering an era of uncontrolled nuclear proliferation, the choice between the most prepared foreign policy candidate in memory vs. a novice with zero experience and the wobbliest one-world instincts is not a close call.

But it's all about economics and kitchen-table issues, we are told. OK. Start with economics.

Neither candidate has particularly deep economic knowledge or finely honed economic instincts.

Neither has any clear idea exactly what to do in the current financial meltdown. Hell, neither does anyone else, including the best economic minds in the world, from Henry Paulson to the head of the European Central Bank. Yet they have muddled through with some success
Both McCain and Barack Obama have assembled fine economic teams that may differ on the details of their plans but have reasonable approaches to managing the crisis. So forget the hype. Neither candidate has an advantage on this issue.

On other domestic issues, McCain is just the kind of moderate conservative that the Washington/media establishment once loved -- the champion of myriad conservative heresies that made him a burr in the side of congressional Republicans and George W. Bush. But now that he is standing in the way of an audacity-of-hope Democratic restoration, erstwhile friends recoil from McCain on the pretense that he has suddenly become right wing.

Self-serving rubbish. McCain is who he always was. Generally speaking, he sees government as a Rooseveltian counterweight (Teddy with a touch of Franklin) to the various malefactors of wealth and power. He wants government to tackle large looming liabilities such as Social Security and Medicare. He wants to free up health insurance by beginning to sever its debilitating connection to employment -- a ruinous accident of history (arising from World War II wage and price controls) that increases the terror of job loss, inhibits labor mobility and saddles American industry with costs that are driving it (see: Detroit) into insolvency. And he supports lower corporate and marginal tax rates to encourage entrepreneurship and job creation.
An eclectic, moderate, generally centrist agenda in a guy almost congenitally given to bipartisanship.

Obama, on the other hand, talks less and less about bipartisanship, his calling card during his earlier messianic stage. He does not need to. If he wins, he will have large Democratic majorities in both houses. And unlike 1992, Obama is no Clinton centrist.

What will you get?

(1) Card check, meaning the abolition of the secret ballot in the certification of unions in the workplace. Large men will come to your house at night and ask you to sign a card supporting a union. You will sign.

MCCAIN HILLARY CLINTON RELATIONSHIP IMPORTANT IN SWING STATES

As a Hillary donor in the primary and a current McCain voter (by absentee 2 weeks ago) we have always loved this photo.

The photo and Bill Clinton's recent statement that McCain is a great man. (You will recall that when pressed to say whether Bill Clinton would say the same about Barack Obama Bill replied" You have to understand--I have only met this man once".

We think this McCain mailing (photo) will be very effective in reminding swing state Democratic voters why they rejected Obama in the primary by double digits. We predict a McCain upset in PA, as Ed Rendell intimated might happen, and as one poll yesterday suggested is possible in PA.

Hillary in 2012! McCain in 2008!

MCCAIN NEEDS TO SAY ON HIS TAX-SPEND MESSAGE

As Democrats supporting John McCain this year, we are troubled by McCain’s new message of the day regarding Bil Oil profits.

McCain needs to STAY ON THE TAX-SPEND MESSAGE that has resulted in the recent tightening of the polls.

Moreover, Obama's infomercial last night gave McCain the perfect opening to drive home his tax-spend message:

Looking beyond the slick infomercial production—which was superb—Barack Obama’s infomercial has unwittingly given John McCain an opening to hammer home his tax/spend message:

Obama has gone from pledging that he will cut taxes on joint married filers with a household income of $250,000 or less, to saying last night that his tax cut threshold is $200,000 per household. Combined with Joe Biden’s stump statement yesterday that Obama's no-tax-raise, tax reduction threshold will be $150,000, McCain has new evidence to support his contention that by the time Obama takes the oath of office, Obama will be raising taxes on most who pay taxes.

Our take: Obama shot himself in the foot on McCain’s last and best issue.

So, John, PLEASE, get on, and stay on, message.

MCCAIN MAY WIN PENNSYLVANIA, NEW NBC POLL SAYS

Many political pundits have been scratching their heads over John McCain’s decision to stand and fight for Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes—given Barack Obama’s double digit lead in the Keystone State.

Well, the Obama lead is double digit no more.

A new NBC-Mason Dixon poll published today, October 30, 2008, shows a seismic shift of Pennsylvania opinion toward John McCain, who is now just 4 percentage points behind Obama there—a far cry from the 14 point PA lead Obama enjoyed just one week ago.

We are starting to believe that John McCain just might pull this thing off.

Sarah Palin '12

ABC News:

In an interview with ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas, the Republican vice-presidential nominee was asked about 2012, whether she was discouraged by the daily attacks on the campaign trail, and would instead pack it in and return to her home state of Alaska.

"I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken, that would bring this whole … I'm not doing this for naught," Palin said.

Can we possibly be this lucky?

Only in America ...

Politico:

Move over, Sanjaya, and tell William Hung the news: Joe the Plumber is being pursued for a major record deal and could come out with a country album as early as Inauguration Day.

“Joe” — aka Samuel Wurzelbacher, a Holland, Ohio, pipe-and-toilet man — just signed with a Nashville public relations and management firm to handle interview requests and media appearances, as well as create new career opportunities, including a shift out of the plumbing trade into stage and studio performances.

By Christmas his CD will be in the Walmart sale bin for 99 cents.

By the time I get to Arizona

If Barack Obama does one more campaign swing out West before election day, he should really consider doing a rally in Phoenix, Arizona.

JOHN MCCAIN BREAKS THROUGH WITH TAX/SPEND MESSAGE, POLLS TIGHTEN

Rasmussen Reports has published some shocking poll numbers and findings, including that Obama's national poll lead has shrunk to 3 percentage points!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

“The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows Barack Obama attracting 50% of the vote nationwide while John McCain earns 47%. This is the first time McCain has been within three points of Obama in more than a month and the first time his support has topped 46% since September 24 (see trends). One percent (1%) of voters prefer a third-party option and 2% are undecided.”

“Among those who “always” vote in general elections, Obama leads by just a single point. Obama does better among more casual voters.”

“As for those who have not yet voted but are “certain” they will do so, the race is tied at 48%.”

“Obama has a five-point advantage among those who plan to vote but say that something might come up. Hispanic voters are more likely than others to say that something might come up to prevent them from voting.”

As Blogonaut reported yesterday, McCain has moved within 2 percentage points of Barack Obama in the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll.

Quote of the Day

Barack Obama:

"I’m sorry to see my opponent sink so low. Lately, he’s called me a socialist for wanting to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can finally give tax relief to the middle class. By the end of the week, he’ll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in Kindergarten,"

Obama: His Choice

FTW.

We are 6 days out from election day.

Charles Meets Barack

NEW MCCAIN STRATEGY WORKING, OBAMA NOW +2% IN GALLUP

In a tightening of the Presidential race that can only be explained by John McCain’s anti-tax/spend message resonating with American voters, Barack Obama’s national lead has been shaved from at 5% lead to a 2% lead—within the margin for error in the Gallup national tracking poll.

The Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll also released today, October 28, 2008, also shows a tightening of the race—with Obama going from a 5 percentage point lead to a +4% lead in that poll, down from a 7% Obama lead in recent weeks.

Apparently, John McCain’s message of reduced spending and lower taxes has broken through.

The latest Zogby polling also shows competitive races in Nevada, Missouri, and Ohio—where Obama enjoys 4 percentage point leads, and in Florida—which is now a tie—despite Obama outspending McCain nationally by a margin of 4-to-1, and despite the state of the economy.

Stay tuned, folks, this race is going to be closer than the media pundits want you to believe.

We are 7 days out from election day.

Don't Get Cocky.

Mitt Romney: Obama Presidency 'Very Real Possibility'

Add Mitt Romney to the long list of Republicans who think GOP presidential candidate Jon McCain is going to lose. In a fundraising email for Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney predicts a victory for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is imminent.

His opponent was handpicked by Chuck Schumer and will be a reliable vote for the Democrats. And as we face the very real possibility of an Obama presidency, that's the last thing we need.

It's more critical than ever that we have a strong Republican leader to act as a "firewall" against bad legislation, tax increases, and increased spending.

The NRSC is once again echoing Mitt Romney's statement with an ad for Republican Senator Gordon Smith. While the NRSC and Mitt Romney are trying to scare people into voting for GOP senate candidates, John McCain is trying to scare people to vote for him because GOP senate candidates are going to lose.

"Republicans launch new campaign theme: All the rest of us are gonna lose, so elect me."

REVEREND WRIGHT THEMED ANTI-OBAMA ADS ON THE AIR

A Political Action Committee (PAC) known as The National Republican Trust has budgeted $3M to run an anti-Obama ad featuring Obama’s former pastor and family friend of 20 years, the Reverend Wright.

The PAC is also soliciting small donations to allow the ad to run through election day in the critical swing states.

WHAT RELEVANCE A 2001 OBAMA NPR INTERVIEW ON THE REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH?

What Obama’s 2001 NPR interview does is provide historical context to his recent stump remarks to Joe the Plumber—establishing not a slip of the tongue but an abiding political philosophy to redistribute wealth. Moreover, to increase taxes to fund government programs is one thing, but to raise taxes on the upper middle class in order to send $10,000 checks to Americans who owe no taxes is quite another. It is called socialism, and America has fought wars to prevent the proliferation of this political philosophy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck

OBAMA BOMBSHELL “SOCIALIST” AUDIO UNCOVERED

Listen to Barack Obama explain his own socialist leanings here.

American voters are so obsessed with “change” that they are turning a blind eye to Barack Obama’s unprecedented liberalism.

Listen to this NPR interview tape—including Obama’s response to callers—and make up your own minds.

But this country has fought wars to prevent the proliferation of the philosophy that Obama stands for.

Vote for Obama, and you are going to wake up one-day soon, and ask “what did I do?”

PLEASE, think before you vote. If not, do not cry to us when America goes socialist like most of Europe.

Democratic controlled House + Democratic controlled (and veto proof) Senate (think Reid, pro-gay marriage Pelosi) + Obama in the WH = Social change and Socialism.

We are 10 days out from election day.

Al Gore speech on the 1992 election campaign trail.

TRANSPARENT MEDIA ANTI-MCCAIN BIAS AND NEW DISRESPECT

It was entirely predictable (and we predicted) that the mainstream media and the liberal pundits associated with it would not only turn against John McCain once he became the Republican nominee, but also attempt to demonize him. The decent thing for those liberals who had praised McCain so much in the past would have been to maintain their respectful posture but express their preference for Obama based on policy grounds. But there was never any hope that the liberal pundit class would act decently. The past respect was founded largely on McCain's willingness to stick it to Republicans. Once McCain became the Republican standard bearer, it was inevitable that these liberals would withdraw that respect.

Hoping to cover up their raw partisanship, liberal MSMers attempt to show that McCain has changed fundamentally. Lacking anything terribly concrete on which to base this claim -- like, say, breaking a promise to fund his campaign through public financing -- liberal pundits have resorted to crass intellectual dishonesty.

The latest example comes (again predictably) from Joe Klein. He tries to show that McCain has changed by pointing to the Senator's views of two anti-Vietnam activists, Dave Ifshin and Williams Ayers. Ifshin (with whom I attended high school) protested the war by traveling to Hanoi and making anti-war tapes which were played to McCain while he was a prisoner at the Hanoi Hilton. Ifshin later felt great remorse over this conduct. When McCain came to Congress, Ifshin reached out to him and, thanks to McCain's graciousness, the two men were reconciled.
Klein contends that, by now criticizing Obama for his association with Bill Ayers, McCain has betrayed his ideal of ending the divisions associated with the Vietnam war. But Ifshin deeply regretted his conduct during that war and said so. As Jason Moaz reminds us, Ayers has insisted he has no regrets about his terrorist activities except that he did not "do more."

Is Joe Klein so blinded by partisanship and Obama worship that he can't grasp the distinction between the repentant Ifshin (who never engaged in terrorism) and an unrepentant terrorist? Or is he deliberately trying to sneak one past his readers? In the end, it more or less boils down to the same thing.

MOST ACCURATE POLLSTER IN 2004 RACE SAYS IT’S A DEAD HEAT

The most accurate pollster in 2004 presidential election: “McCain has cut into Obama's lead for a second day and is now just 1.1 points behind. The spread was 3.7 Wednesday and 6.0 Tuesday.”

Read the October 23, 2008 poll results here.

McCain: “The reports of my death are much exaggerated.”

OBAMA SPENDS MORE TIME WITH MYSTERY COP THAN OTHER AIDES

According to an October 19, 2008 story in Politico.com, presidential candidate Barack Obama spends more face time with an Illinois policeman who has been on Obama’s payroll since 2004—but no one, even inside the Obama campaign knows what the policeman and Obama confidante really does.

The mystery man is Michael Signator, shown above, third from left.

He's the star of bulletins chronicling Barack Obama's movements, one of only a few nonrelatives to consistently get time with the Democratic candidate for president and a trusted confidant who has shared some of the most pivotal moments of Obama's career with him.

Yet journalists who have followed Obama's campaign for the better part of two years don't know what he looks like, staffers who have logged countless hours traveling with Team Obama didn't even know he works for the campaign and there's never been a story in a major media outlet about him.

For “security reasons,” Obama's presidential campaign refuses to reveal the details of Signator's role.

Reached by telephone, he declined to comment on his relationship with Obama and his family, and asked how Politico obtained his telephone number. He directed inquiries to the Obama campaign press office and explained, "I can't do any type of interview at all. I apologize. I'm sorry, and please just disregard this phone number, because I can't take any calls."

The campaign press staff — which at first denied that Signator worked for the campaign, then discouraged Politico from writing about him — declined to set up an interview.

Read more here.

LATEST FLORIDA POLLS FAVOR MCCAIN

Two recent polls from Florida show encouraging news for John McCain. The
The Fox News/Rasmussen poll, conducted October 19, and SurveyUSA’s October 16 poll show leads of 1 percentage point and 2 percentage points, respectively, for the Republican nominee in the battleground state. These two polls come on the heels of polls by Research 2000 (October 15) and CNN/Time (October 14) which showed leads of 4 and 5 percentage points, respectively, for Barack Obama.

Forbes affiliate Real Clear Politics, which aggregates data from the five most recent state polls, shows a net gain of 1.2 percentage points for McCain (within the margin of error), who now trails Obama by 2 percentage points, 46.6% to 48.6%, in Florida.

After a analyzing the recent Florida polls and looking for statistical significance, we conclude that Obama and McCain are at a statistical tie in Florida. The next few polls, if the trends continue, could provide a better indication of the outcome in Florida, currently gray on the Forbes electoral map, to red for McCain.

The latest national poll averages show Obama leading McCain by 5.7 percentage points, but the national polls have been narrowing since McCain’s low point on October 13.

HILARIOUS MCCAIN-OBAMA-BUSH-GORE DANCE-OFF (VIDEO)

CLICK HERE TO WATCH MCCAIN, OBAMA, BUSH AND GORE COMPETE IN THIS COMPUTER ENHANCED DANCE OFF.

HOW OBAMA WILL SPREAD THE WEALTH AROUND

DID BARACK "SPREAD THE WEALTH" OBAMA JUST BLOW THE ELECTION?

(REPRINTEDsee below link)

October 16, 2008 11:37 AM ET James Pethokoukis Permanent Link Print

No. Really. You're kidding me. Barack Obama actually told that Joe the Plumber guy that he wants to "spread the wealth around." What, did Obama just get done reading the Wikipedia entry on Huey "Share the Wealth" Long or something? Was he somehow channeling that left-wing populist from the Depression? Talk about playing into the most extreme stereotype of your party, that it is infested with socialists.

A while back I chatted with a University of Chicago professor who was a frequent lunch companion of Obama's. This professor said that Obama was as close to a full-out Marxist as anyone who has ever run for president of the United States. Now, I tend to quickly dismiss that kind of talk as way over the top. My working assumption is that Obama is firmly within the mainstream of Democratic politics. But if he is as free with that sort of redistributive philosophy in private as he was on the campaign trail this week, I have no doubt that U of C professor really does figure him as a radical. And after last night's debate, a few more Americans might think that way, too. McCain's best line: "Now, of all times in America, we need to cut people's taxes.

We need to encourage business, create jobs, not spread the wealth around."

And by the way, I just noticed that the IBD/TIPP poll, the most accurate in 2004, has McCain down by just 3 points. If the contest is perceived by the voters as a contest between a wealth redistributor and a wealth creator, then it could be a long night come Nov. 4. This is still a center-right country, gang. Note this Gallup poll from June:

When given a choice about how government should address the numerous economic difficulties facing today's consumer, Americans overwhelmingly—by 84% to 13%—prefer that the government focus on improving overall economic conditions and the jobs situation in the United States as opposed to taking steps to distribute wealth more evenly among Americans.

There you go.

WHY OBAMA’S PAST ASSOCIATIONS MATTER

If the economy has taken a clear No. 1 position - beyond terror and national security - as the issue of most concern to the voters, why is the McCain-Palin ticket spending so much time attacking Barack Obama for his past associations?

Because the fundamental issue in this campaign is Obama - his values, his beliefs, his character. Having done practically zero as an Illinois state senator, and absolutely zero during three years in the U.S. Senate, Obama has no substantive legislative record. So we're left with judging him (a) by what he says (and he has an oily ability to say anything on just about every side of every issue), and (b) by the company he keeps (and has kept).

Moreover, Obama’s past associations-at at time when he was far from the national spotlight and therefore less guarded—shed light on the full extent of his radicalism, at a time when he is advocating a redistribution of wealth through his tax policies. (Excuse us, but since when is this not socialism?)

But what does it matter - really - that he hung around with William Ayers for a decade, sat for two decades in the pews of Jeremiah Wright, was enabled early in his political career by imprisoned real-estate developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, or retains as a campaign advisor a past head of Fannie Mae?

Let us count the ways. (1) Ayers is an unrepentant domestic Osama who bombed buildings in which people died. He's currently an advisor to Venezuela's America-hating Hugo Chavez. (2) Wright is a racial separatist who has sermonized saying egregious things.
Obama has repudiated the actions and statements of both. He has added that he hardly knew Ayers and, while a church-member, never heard Wright's hateful preachings.

Of course he has. What's more (3) Rezko was central to launching Obama into politics, and represents a major tie to the Chicago machine that raised Obama up. (4) Raines headed Fannie Mae from 1998 to 2004, the years when it did its worst, for which he walked away with nearly $100 million in salary and bonuses. The collapse of Fannie is a huge factor in the mayhem currently hammering the financial markets.

It's so mean, so extreme, even racist - and certainly desperate - for John McCain and Sarah Palin to bring these things up.

Let's speculate. If McCain - for instance - boasted Enron's Ken Lay as a campaign advisor (compare Raines), or had held an early-career campaign fund-raiser in the house of an unrepentant bomber of abortion clinics (compare Ayers), or had dozed through 20 years of sermons by a white-supremacist minister, would it be mean and extreme to mention them?

Obama terms it "erratic," "cheap," and a McCain gamble "that he can distract you with smears." It's hardly fair, as Sarah Palin does regarding Obama's associations with Ayers, for example, to say that Obama has "palled around with terrorists who would target their own country."

How is it unfair if it's true? Sure Obama wants to parry and deflect attention from these associations. He prefers not to discuss them, wishes they would go away. He understands as well as anyone that they testify to his own judgment in the past and to his honesty about them now. Judgment and honesty lie at the heart of character.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS THINK MCCAIN WON DEBATE 51% TO 42%

UPI.com

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Democratic nominee Barack Obama narrowly beat Republican John McCain in the final U.S. presidential debate, results from a snap Politico poll indicated.

However, the same poll determined that among voters most likely to tip the outcome of the race one way or the other—independents—McCain won the debate by a 9 point margin, 51% to 42%.

This is good news for a beleaguered John McCain, who Obama surrogates recently labeled as “dishonorable” and a racist on par with segregationist governor George Wallace.

OBAMA CAMPAIGN TRIES TO REGISTER PRISON INMATES TO VOTE

From the WSJ, Washington Wire today, October 16, 2008:

An internal email from the Michigan Department of Corrections in August describes a request from the campaign to enter jails to register those inmates set to be released before Election Day.
The email chain shows that Richard Stapleton, administrator of the department’s Office of Legal Affairs, told a colleague to deny the campaign’s request.

The email, which Washington Wire received from Obama opponent, was verified by a Corrections Department spokesman.

“We’ve got to make sure they’re out first,” said John Cordell, the spokesman. “We could say you’re out on Oct. 31, but if they do something between now and Oct. 31 that would make us think they’re a danger to society, then we’ll rescind their parole.”

Read the Department of Corrections email here:

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/WSJ081016-obama2mdoc.pdf

DEAR JOE BIDEN: WHY ISN’T ‘JOE THE PLUMBER’ REAL?

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden questioned whether Joe “the plumber” Wurzelbacher is a “real” plumber Thursday after the Ohio citizen vaulted to the front of campaign dialogue during the final presidential debate.

Biden said he isn’t worried that Wurzelbacher would not get a tax cut under Obama’s plan.

"We think we should give that to the real Joe the plumbers, who make $65,000, $70,000, $80,000 bucks a year,” Biden said on CBS’s “Early Show.”

OUR RESPONSE:

Dear Joe Biden:

Granted my state is expensive, but the last time I talked to a plumber, he quoted me $200 an hour. (I am a lawyer, and I charge $295 an hour).

Plumbers make good money.

So why is not Joe a “real” plumber? Because he does well?

The very reason we should vote against Obama-Biden is you want plumbers to make only “$65,000, $70,000, $80,000 bucks a year.”

And if they make $250,000 a year, you will take part of that away—NOT to fund essential services, BUT to “spread the wealth around” and give it to those plumbers who are less successful.

It’s called socialism, Joe. It is what we have fought wars to protect this country against.

--Blogonaut

JOHN MCCAIN’S JOB 1 IS TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT OBAMA

By Blogonaut
October 15, 2008

John McCain’s primary task for the duration of this campaign, including at tonight’s debate, is to tell the truth to the American people about a THE PATTERN of Barack Obama’s radical past associations (Ayers, Wright, Ayers-Obama-Acorn) and connect the dots to Obama’s recent socialist like rhetoric (“spread the wealth around”) and policies ($1 Trillion in tax credits to filers who pay no taxes).

McCain may not win, but if he does not inform the American public about Obama in a methodical step-by-step way, who will?

People are so consumed by the economy, they are not paying attention to the fact that they are about to plunge this country into socialist policies that only exist in the most left leaning of European countries.

Obama surrogates have already called the war hero “dishonorable,” a racist, and likened him to infamous segregationist George Wallace (who barred black children from attending white schools)—so what does he have to lose by telling the truth at this point? Nothing.

The threats, intimidation, and litigation that have been the hallmark of every campaign waged by Obama past and present should not silence John McCain from telling the truth.

After Obama called Bill Clinton a racist, we know this is a smear and who is really playing the race card. We therefore urge John McCain to tell the truth and let the cards fall where they may. If the American people still elect to cast their vote for Obama on November 4, at least John McCain would have done his duty and campaigned with honor--the truth.

OBAMA CANNOT DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM ACORN—HE IS ONE OF THEM

As Obama lengthens his lead, the Republicans are praying that the election becomes close enough for the Democrats to steal. But meanwhile, ACORN, the radical community group, is becoming an embarrassment for Obama.

It is not as if its shenanigans are likely to tip the result, with the Democrats so far ahead. But as it is raided by the FBI in state after state (11 so far), it is becoming identified as the electoral equivalent of Greenpeace, extremists who will stop at nothing to get their way.

What makes ACORN particularly embarrassing for Obama is that he used to be one of them. He served as general counsel for ACORN in Illinois, channeled millions to the organization from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (whose funds he distributed) and has lately spent $800,000 of his campaign money to subsidize the group's activities.

For this emolument, ACORN has registered voters 15 times over, canvassed the graveyards for votes, and prepared to commit electoral fraud on a massive scale.

With friends like this, Obama doesn't need enemies. As their radical activities make headlines every day, Obama's intimate involvement with these radicals becomes more and more of a political liability.

The other Obama scandals have no topical relevance. The Rev. Wright no longer spews hatred from the pulpit and has apparently been persuaded to stay away from media interviews. William Ayers is likewise making himself scarce, and the Obama/Ayers relationship, whatever it may have been, is clearly in the past.

Rezko is facing sentencing in his own corruption case, but isn't likely to turn on the one man who may acquire the power to pardon him.

But, as Election Day approaches and early balloting proceeds in many states, ACORN's tactics will get more and more media attention. As election officials discover ACORN frauds, the association will become more injurious to Obama, particularly when it is his own campaign that is funding many of the fraudulent activities.

At the very least, the negative publicity ACORN will attract will paint Obama as a radical with questionable judgment. At the most, it might cause voters to wonder if he is not himself involved in electoral fraud.

The recent book by Wall Street Journal editor John Fund, "Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy," discusses the prevalence of voter fraud, made newly possible by lax enforcement of laws requiring identification to vote. As Fund indicates, the motor/voter laws have encouraged waves of new voters, many of them ineligible to participate. Let us remember that eight of the Sept. 11 hijackers were registered to vote!

So ACORN is the gift that will keep on giving as its activities attract attention while Election Day nears. But are these McCain attacks on Obama going to work?

Clearly they have not so far. Obama has lower negatives than McCain, and his unfavorable rating has not risen despite the avalanche of attack advertising to which he has been subjected.
Possibly, voters are just inured to the attacks and disregard them. But more likely they are just distracted by the financial meltdown all around them. We have never had a presidential race, since 1944, where the contest was not the most important news in the four weeks before the election. (In 1944, the war overshadowed the election, much to the frustration of the Republican candidate, Thomas E. Dewey.)

The candidates seem unable to get a word in edgewise as the financial news dominates. People follow the Dow Jones more than the Gallup, Rasmussen, or Zogby polls.

If the presidential race remains an afterthought, crowded out by the financial news, Obama will waltz into the White House by a comfortable margin. But if the stock market stops its gyrations for a while and no new household name/corporation or bank goes broke, the negatives against Obama will compel attention at last.

And then the race may close swiftly and dramatically.

BARACK OBAMA’S SOCIALIST ADDENDA

When Barack Obama responded to the Ohio plumber who didn't want his taxes raised that Obama wanted to "spread the wealth around," I wanted to tell him to spread his own wealth around. It was in any event a rare moment of candor on the part of Senator Obama.

Obama all but told the plumber that his wealth should be seized in the name of equity. The encounter played out one of the old themes of democratic politics: the appeal to the many to take from the few. It's traditionally an easy sell in democratic regimes.

Despite Obama's implication to the contrary, however, It doesn't represent much in the way of change. According to the most recent (2006) data released by the IRS, the top 1 percent of filers paid nearly 40 percent of all income taxes; the top 5 percent paid 60 percent of all income taxes. The bottom 50 percent paid virtually no income taxes (3 percent of all income taxes paid).

The personal income tax, the federal government's main source of revenue, is collected overwhelmingly from a relative handful of Americans. The large majority of all Americans pay little or no income tax.

Given that poorer citizens always outnumber the rich, political philosophers have long worried that government based on majority rule could lead to organized theft from the wealthy by the democratic masses. "If the majority distributes among itself the things of a minority, it is evident that it will destroy the city," warns Aristotle.

The founders of the United States were deep students of politics and history, and they shared Aristotle's worry. Up through their time, history had shown all known democracies to be "incompatible with personal security or the rights of property." James Madison and others therefore made it a "first object of government" to protect personal property from unjust confiscation. Numerous provisions were included in the Constitution and Bill of Rights to protect the property rights of citizens.

Given that one of the causes of the American Revolution was a tax, the founders understood very well that taxation could become a way for one group to prey on another. So while the Constitution empowered the federal government to levy taxes, it limited this power mostly to indirect taxes like tariffs, duties, and excise taxes. For much of American history the federal government subsisted solely on those fees.

The Constitution did grant the federal government the power to levy "direct" taxes on a "per head" basis, but required that all money raised this way must be given to the states according to their population. The aim here was to preserve a decentralized federal system of rule, and to make it "difficult to place a direct tax on capital, the most destructive tax in terms of economic growth and economic initiative," according to Professor Edward Erler.

Until the Civil War, the idea of a tax on individual incomes would have seemed preposterous to most Americans. Only as an emergency wartime measure did Congress adopt an income tax in the 1860s, and the measure was allowed to lapse with little fanfare in 1872. Estimates vary regarding the percentage of citizens affected by the income tax of this era, but none places it at more than 10 percent.

The modern income tax begins with the Progressive era in American politics. In an influential 1889 article entitled "The Owners of the United States," crusading attorney Thomas Shearman argued that the lion's share of the country's wealth was in a limited number of hands. If an income tax was not adopted, he warned, within 30 years "the United States of America will be substantially owned" by 50,000 people.

This marked the beginning of a never-ending campaign. Many activists since have characterized America as a permanent plutocracy. And their prescription has generally been more and higher taxes.

Shearman's advocacy of an income tax found a receptive audience in populist politician William Jennings Bryan. Exploiting the dire economic circumstances created by the depression of 1893, Bryan avidly promoted the adoption of an income tax. His proposal succeeded when Congress passed a 2 percent flat tax on incomes over $4,000 in 1894. The following year, however, the Supreme Court held the tax to be unconstitutional.

In response, Progressives condemned the Constitution as an instrument crafted by the rich to protect their selfish interests (Allen Smith), and a document rendered obsolete by intellectual progress in the century since its drafting (Woodrow Wilson).

The Progessive condemnation of the Constitution climaxed in 1913 with the publication of An Economic Interpretation of the United States Constitution by Columbia history professor Charles Beard. Beard purported to expose the Constitution as the handiwork of a propertied elite serving its own interests to the exclusion of the majority.

Few works of American history have been more erroneous than Beard's, as later shown by debunking historians like Robert Brown and Forrest McDonald. But by the time scholarship caught up with Beard's book, a lot of damage had been done. Frenzied attacks on "the rich" and "the wealthy" culminated in the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913, authorizing federal taxation of income from all sources without limit.

So why hasn't the majority in America helped itself to more of the minority's wealth, as Aristotle and our founders feared? Partly because the protections for individual property erected by the founders have worked. Partly, too, because many Americans' political convictions are (thankfully) based on principle rather than immediate economic self-interest. And partly because the fraction of Americans who think of themselves as rich, or likely to become rich in the future, is quite large, undercutting the incentive for bashing the rich.

Obama's appeal for higher taxes to "spread the wealth around" nevertheless harks back to an old theme in political philosophy and American politics. You can believe in it, but it's not exactly change, and it is more to be worried about than hoped for.

Quote of the Day

Steve Benen:

The McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election.

2008: McCain vs. Obama

This is my dream map of an Obama victory over Republican John McCain.



We might not even have to wait in till the West election results to come in to declare Senator Obama as the next President. If Obama wins Florida, or Virginia or North Carolina, or Ohio it is going to be next impossible for McCain to win. The Republican candidate would have to hold on to the rest of the Bush states and win at least two states in the Midwest, which is an Obama stronghold.

Currently polling is moving Indiana, Missouri and Clinton loving West Virginia in to the toss-up category. Basically, what I’m trying to say that McCain/Palin are fucked.

Quote of the Day

Joe Biden:

All of the things they said about Barack Obama in the TV, on the TV, at their rallies, and now on Youtube and everything else,” Biden said — referring to McCain and Palin tying Obama to Weatherman bomber Bill Ayers and accusing him of “palling around with terrorists.”

“John McCain could not bring himself to look Barack Obama in the eye and say the same things to him,” he said to cheers. “In my neighborhood, you got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him.“

Obama plays Chess while McCain plays Checkers

FORMER OBAMA BACKER REZKO COOPERATING WITH FEDS

Chicago Sun Times

October 7, 2008
BY NATASHA KORECKI

Federal prosecutors asked a judge Monday to indefinitely postpone Tony Rezko's scheduled Oct. 28 sentencing on corruption charges, acknowledging they are engaged in talks with the former top political fund-raiser for Sen. Barack Obama, Gov. Blagojevich and others "that could affect . . . sentencing."

The Chicago Sun-Times first reported in August that Rezko might be cooperating with prosecutors. Since then, the talks, and the prosecution's efforts to confirm information Rezko has provided, have been an open secret. In September, sources close to the investigation confirmed the talks to the Sun-Times but said there was no deal with Rezko.

The 53-year-old Wilmette businessman, who at one time was a top adviser to Blagojevich, was convicted in June of wide-ranging corruption tied to state deals. He could face a lengthy prison term and still faces two more criminal trials.

Several criminal-defense lawyers, who spoke to the Sun-Times only on the condition they not be named, said prosecutors have asked to interview or reinterview their clients about allegations that Blagojevich's campaign took contributions in exchange for state contracts or appointments. One lawyer said prosecutors told him they sought the interview in response to new information provided by Rezko.

On Sunday, the Sun-Times reported the FBI has interviewed witnesses about a rehab project at the governor's home that was done by a Rezko-owned contractor.

Federal authorities also have been reviewing real estate dealings involving Blagojevich's wife Patti, who works in real estate, and campaign contributors including Rezko.

A U.S. attorney's office spokesman would not comment Monday. Rezko's lawyers could not be reached.

If a judge agrees to delay Rezko's sentencing, it could be good news for Democratic presidential nominee Obama because the former Obama friend and fund-raiser was set to be sentenced just days before the Nov. 4 election.

OBAMA GIRL SWITCHES TO RALPH NADER IN NEW WEB-SERIAL

The Ralph Nader and Obama Girl show, debuted yesterday on YouTube. Set in a tiny office, the first web installment, Ralph and Obama Girl talk about how Ralph has been “excluded” from the debates.

MCCAIN SHOWS REAL LEADERSHIP IN TIME OF CRISIS

26, 2008

COMMENTARY

STEVE HUNTLEY:: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

Well, it was nice of Barack Obama to take a break from his debate prep to fly to Washington to help address what he calls the biggest economic crisis facing the nation since the Depression. Of course, it did take a presidential invitation to jolt him into action. In contrast, John McCain, on his own initiative, suspended his campaign to offer aid in achieving bipartisan consensus on economic rescue legislation.

What we are talking about here is leadership in a time of crisis. Maybe there was a political calculation in the McCain campaign as the Republican presidential nominee, whose poll numbers have sagged, made his decision. But wasn't his surprise announcement completely in character for the maverick senator? Be it campaign finance regulation, immigration reform or climate change, he has never hesitated to take a leadership position on an issue he sees as critical to the country.

With George W. Bush being a lame duck president whose influence is declining among Republican lawmakers, McCain is the head of the GOP. By the same token, Obama has replaced former President Bill Clinton as the leader of the Democrats. In what everyone believes is a critical governing moment for the country, both men -- who are, after all, members of the Senate -- should be at the center of decision-making. It's a simple matter of all officers on deck in the heat of battle.

As it turns out, McCain was encouraged by forces outside his campaign. The Wall Street Journal reported that in a Wednesday meeting with some of the "financial titans" of Wall Street, he was told of the pressing need to pass the rescue package soon. "We urged John to get all over it, that this is a national security issue," one executive told the Journal.

Also, it was apparent that GOP lawmakers were looking to him for guidance, especially since many of their constituents harbor doubts about the rescue bill. No less a figure than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said McCain's support was necessary to pass the bill. But once McCain's announcement came, Reid switched signals and claimed he wasn't needed in Washington. Talk about cynical politics. Reid recognized McCain was exercising leadership that the Democratic nominee wasn't, and he tried to demean it.

Obama was no less dismissive. Calling for the campaign to continue, he said, "It's going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once." That's certainly glib. But it ignores the obvious fact that we are in a time of extraordinary challenge that requires concentrated focus by our nation's leaders to meet it.

Obama finally relented and left his preparations for the debate (scheduled for tonight but in doubt because McCain has suspended his campaign) after Bush invited him to join McCain and congressional leaders for a meeting Thursday. The idea of a presidential session to work toward a bipartisan solution was suggested to the White House by McCain. That's a pretty clear picture of the veteran senator trying to play a helpful role.

There was some heated rhetoric about presidential politics being injected into the economic rescue deliberations. As if politics is ever far from anything in Washington. Political risks exist for both sides. McCain could end up with little to show for his intervention and Obama could be branded as reluctant to act in a time of national crisis. Whatever the political fallout, the voters will learn something about both candidates as they ponder the decision they must make Nov. 4.

BIDEN HIRES LOBBYIST—AS OBAMA ATTACKS MCCAIN LOBBYIST TIES

[USATODAY.com]

As Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama targets his Republican rival Sen. John McCain for hiring former lobbyists to work on his campaign, a key member of Obama's campaign is paying a Washington lobbyist for legal advice: his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, USA Today reports.

Lobbyist William Oldaker continues to represent the Delaware Democrat in his simultaneous bid for Senate re-election, serving as legal counsel just as he has for Biden's campaigns for the past 25 years, the newspaper says.

Oldaker is an election law attorney and partners with Biden's son Hunter at the Washington firm, Oldaker, Biden & Belair. He is also an appropriations lobbyist who represents lawyers, American Indians, and educational and health care institutions and who drew fire in 2005 for serving on numerous fundraising committees that donate to the lawmakers he lobbies, USA Today notes.

Obama's campaign launched a multimedia assault on McCain last weekend, with two television advertisements, a new website, www.mclobbyist.com, and a Web video highlighting the seven former lobbyists who serve as McCain's top advisers.

However, the McCain campaign has required all paid staff to cease all lobbying activities or resign. Not so with Obama’s running mate Biden.

SARAH PALIN’S EMAIL ACCOUNT HACKED IN MODERN WATERGATE

Politico’s Jonathan Martin reports:

“Without knowing the content, it seems like the news that Sarah Palin's personal email has been hacked will only give Republicans more fodder to paint her as a smear victim.”

Oh, how A-MU-S-ING. Someone committed [a] felony offense[s], and stole Sarah Palin's emails, and then (how F-U-NYY). Gawker PUBLISHED the stolen data.

My God. The Press, in its unbridled, unabashed lust to see Obama elected, has abandoned all decency.

Under what fanciful scenario does anyone envision that Sarah Palin is not the "victim" of hacking, theft, and invasion of privacy?

Not one ounce of even qualified, pretend outrage here?

Could you be more transparent about your patent anti-Palin bias?

We are literally sick to our stomach.

This is a modern-day Watergate-style break-in, and rest assured this will be investigated.

RIP Richard Wright

Richard Wright, Pink Floyd Founder, Keyboardist, Dies at Age 65

Pink Floyd - Have a Cigar

CLINTON BACKER AND DNC MEMBER TO ENDORSE MCCAIN

From CNN Political Editor Mark Preston, Extra

Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter and member of the Democratic National Committee’s Platform Committee, will endorse John McCain for president on Wednesday, CNN reports.

According to CNN, Forester’s announcement will take place at a news conference on Capitol Hill, just blocks away from the DNC headquarters. Forester will “campaign and help him through the election,” the spokesman said of her plans to help the Republican presidential nominee.

CNN points out that Forester was a major donor for Clinton earning her the title as a Hillraiser for helping to raise at least $100,000 for the New York Democratic senator’s failed presidential bid.

In an interview with CNN this summer, Forester did not hide her distaste for eventual Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

“This is a hard decision for me personally because frankly I don't like him,” she said of Obama in an interview with CNN’s Joe Johns. “I feel like he is an elitist. I feel like he has not given me reason to trust him.”

Forester is the CEO of EL Rothschild, a holding company with businesses around the world. She is married to international banker Sir Evelyn de Rothschild. Forester is a member of the DNC’s Democrats Abroad chapter and splits her time living in London and New York.

OBAMA FETED BY STARS AT $9 MILLION HOLLYWOOD FUNDRAISER

[AFP]

Oscar-winning singer and actress Barbra Streisand will perform at a glittering and lucrative Hollywood fundraiser for Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday, the AFP reports.

Obama will attend a dinner in Beverly Hills costing attendees 28,500 dollars each and Streisand will then sing at a reception at the swanky Beverly Wilshire hotel, costing attendees $2,500 per person, campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday. Under US law, the first 2,300 dollars of donations can go to Obama's campaign and anything over that will go to the DNC.

Politico.com has reported that upwards of 250 donors would attend the star studded, celebrity events expected to raise nine million dollars, which would be the most amassed by any candidate in a single day.

Apparently, the economy is not crimpling Obama’s fundraising style.

TIRED HEARING PALIN ISN'T QUALIFIED

We occasionally read a letter to the editor by an ordinary citizen that encapsulates the views of many, so we reprint Don E. Walston’s letter to the editor of the TC Palm.

“Sometimes letter writers lie as well. Gov. Sarah Palin did not say she sold the state jet on e-Bay. She said, “That luxury jet was over the top; I put it on e-Bay.” It was sold at a loss by a jet broker, after no offers on e-Bay. Don’t lie about it.

“She is also taking hits about the “bridge to nowhere.” Gov. Palin originally supported the earmark spending on the Ketchikan bridge (to nowhere). She eventually killed the project, choosing to spend the federal money on other infrastructure programs.

“Sens. Joe Biden and Barack Obama voted for funding the “bridge to nowhere,” even when given a second chance by Sen. Tom Coburn, who proposed shifting earmark funds to Katrina relief.

“Sen. John McCain did not vote on the Coburn amendment, though he is on record as opposing the bridge.

“I’m tired of hearing how Gov. Palin is not qualified and only a heartbeat away from being president. Consider this, Nancy Pelosi is only two heartbeats away; now that’s scary. I can’t think of a better reason to prevent a president and vice president from riding on the same airplane.

“If your man Obama is so qualified and “in touch,” why isn’t Hillary Clinton on his ticket?"

--Don E. Walston, Fort Pierce, FL