Analysis and discussion of elections and opinion polls in Australia
US election minus 48 days
A new thread for discussion of matters American, as the polls return to level pegging following the Republicans’ convention bounce.
Author: William Bowe
William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.
View all posts by William Bowe
It might do, if gets the issue OFF THE FRONT PAGES, which is what McCain badly needs. He can’t win an election on the economy. He can only win by getting the key demographics to remember why they don’t like Obama and why they don’t think he’s up to being commander-in-chief. When McCain was getting that message through, he drew ahead. Now that attention is focussed on the economy, he is behind again, though not by much. He is now really hostage to Bush and the Fed. If they can stabilise the markets quickly, McCain can still recover. If not, not.
But a trillion dollar bailout doesn’t get the economy off the front pages just like that… it becomes the front pages, and is still about the economy
Its not Bush’s bailout nor did Bush cause it Under US Constitution th “purse strings” ar controlled by Congress which Democrats control so th bailout and its size & use required pre approval of Democrat Congress
Further current bailout plan in detail was provided by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for pre approved to both Obama & McCain camps , so neither can claim th ‘medicine’ prescribed is wrong either (but I would in part)
Origin of this financial mess is lack of market regulation and specifically Lending methods & accountability with Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac who hav $5.1 trillion debts against many houses & property not worth that and with many consumers who cann’t afford to repay
Congress hav been aware of this potential problem since 2003 when first of 5 Bills over th years attempted to fix above Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac…those companies successfully lobbyied Democrat & Republican politcans NOT to do anything
In fact Republicans since first Bill in 2003 controlled Congress for first 4 years and Democrats for last 2 years hav controlled Congress , were aware of problem as it was tabled and could hav enacted Legislation both Partys failed to do so Obama & McCain hav been sitting there in th Senate ALL through this Why aren’t Obama & McCain criticised
Ditto Fedeeral budgets , both Partys hav controlled congress & both hav approved monstrous Budget deficits as well There system is different from ‘oz’ where here Governemnt is responsible..there th POTUS is only one player in budget process & obviously has responsibility but does NOT fully control “purse strings”
Better to go with “spin” for voters and simplicity with one liners blame one Party or other , and he who can ‘spin’ this best will be POTUS
Ron
That’s absolutely true. Fortunately for Obama, the Dems have only controlled Congress for the last 2 years. The six years of Repug Congress and eight years of Bush will outweigh the Dems responsibility in the minds of the voters. The Greenwald article I linked said pretty much what you said but he points out that it’s just part of a pattern of poor behaviour by the Dems. It’s little wonder that the Democrat-controlled Congress has even lower approval ratings than Bush.
I’d be very surprised if Obama can’t spin this better than McCain.
Isn’t it remarkable how the champions of free and private enterprise turn to government intervention when the free enterprise sytem begins to falter. what happened to the “get the government off my back” catchcry? What happened to the small government is good government mantra? It just shows you how important and useful government involvement can be on our lives doesn’t it?
Rules and specifics set down by the non partisan commision that controls the Presidential Debates –
“The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning at the vice-presidential debate, advisers to both campaigns said Saturday.”
[“The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning at the vice-presidential debate, advisers to both campaigns said Saturday.”]
I’m surprised they didn’t try and get the VP debate called off altogether. Palin is going to get hosed.
Dario,
Sure she will but to have it scrapped altogether would admit that they know this. They can’t be seen to look scared so they have to make the best out of a bad lot LOL …. so why they got as structured a format as they could manage 😉
It may not matter much who is the Dem candidate if they do not get the voting machines under control.
There is some startling information coming out about Ohio 2004 and it
looks like the Ohio 2004 court case is gathering some good momentum .
Explosive events are happening and they are happening by the day and by the hour. They are making as much of it public as they can before November.
The link to a 6 page PDF Affidavit by Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips toward the end is a good read. He names names from all walks.
There has been a stay on the case for some time, and the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Cliff Arnebeck, has filed a motion requesting a lifting of the stay so that he can depose Mike Connell under oath and ask him about his 20 years of work for the Bush family and for many, many Republican politicians and causes, and specifically his computer/IT work for Ken Blackwell in Ohio 2004.
In his motion to lift the stay, Arnebeck writes [PDF, 6 pages], “The public has a need and right to know, before the next presidential election, that the top Republican IT expert shares a concern about the vulnerability of electronic voting systems to fraudulent manipulation, and that this is not just ‘conspiracy theory.'”
If these crimes are allowed to be repeated this November — and we have every reason to believe they *will* be repeated — we truly believe that “the Great Experiment” that is America will be at an end.
With the USA has just been through the BIGGEST bank robbery in history, say at the minimum of US$3 Trillion and it looks like the USA people are going to pay it. Woody Guthrie got it absolutely right when he wrote: “Some rob you by the gun and some rob you by the pen”. More importantly, it is the Republican pen.
So it looks like the only thing that can stop Obama from winning is the elephant in the room:
[Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them “lazy,” “violent” or responsible for their own troubles. The poll suggests that the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of his race could easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004 — about 2.5 percentage points. ]
Black, black, black, is the colour of my POTUS’ hair as the song wails. But it has always been like that anyway from the beginning. Nothing has changed. Mr. Obama, nothing has changed.
This bloke must have got his writing inspirations from reading Bushfire Bills’ advice to KR
Our problem is that since these two “candidates” (?) have chosen the monkey path of see no evil, say no evil, and hear no evil (mostly “say no evil”), they live in the trees and never come down to Earth.
It would be sad indeed for the USA if they voted Obama out because of race just at a point in history when the USA need a new paradigm. I just watched Murdoch endorsing Obama and saying how exciting he is and that America needed this change etc…
So all the stars are aligning for Obama, even a financial catastrophe yet….that nasty little thing could condemn him and the USA.
I also believe the same is true for Australia – Rudd is the paradigm we need at the moment but the Australian Republican media are still welded to the same types as we saw destroy the American economy.
McCain has already screwed up one part of government and he isn’t even halfway through the national campaign yet. Geez, TP, I hope against hope that my fellow Americans aren’t that stupid …..
****
Gov. Sarah Palin has surrendered important gubernatorial duties to the Republican presidential campaign. McCain staff are handling public and press questions about actions she has taken as governor. The governor who said, “Hold me accountable,” is hiding behind the hired guns of the McCain campaign to avoid accountability.
Is it too much to ask that Alaska’s governor speak for herself, directly to Alaskans, about her actions as Alaska’s governor?
A press conference Thursday showed how skewed Alaska’s relationship with its own governor has become.
McCain-Palin campaign spokesman Ed O’Callaghan announced that Todd Palin will not comply with a subpoena to testify about his role in Troopergate, the Legislature’s investigation into whether Palin abused her power in forcing out former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan.
O’Callaghan also announced that Alaska’s governor is “unlikely” to cooperate with the investigation by the Alaska Legislature about questionable conduct by Alaska’s chief executive.
Monday, he and campaign sidekick Meg Stapleton stood before Alaskans and defended the official personnel decision by Alaska’s governor to fire Alaska’s public safety commissioner. ABC News reported that Gov. Palin’s official press secretary, Bill McAllister, paid by the state of Alaska, didn’t even know the McCain staffers were meeting the press to defend his boss.
A huge crowd of more than 20,000 to see Obama today in North Carolina!
I’m written off the South for him, with the possible exceptions of Virginia and Florida, but if McCain’s poll numbers continue to decrease, a few of these other Southern states might start getting interesting!
The Obama surge appears to be starting. Last week we had the narrowing and then the reversal. If Sarah Palin starts having real media conferences and answering hard questions, things could change. Which way is anyone’s guess.
“I hope against hope that my fellow Americans aren’t that stupid …..”
Stupid ? A Country that has two “right” Partys , one “liberal” and one “consevative” whereas ‘oz’ and UK and France etc actualy hav a clearly defined “left’ and ‘right’ Party to chose from
Stupid ? A Democrat Party whose candidate does not support universal healthcare , does not support ratifying Kyoto , but believes in non Labor type & non Keynes type nuanced econamic rationalism of free markets & look at th financial ruins….and then selects a VP Biden with an identical Bush Iraq policy policy “to stay the course in Iraq to win”
None of those 4 areas ar “left’ positions , and thats called a choice….vs an unacceptable “renditions torture gittmo’ alternative A choice you get when you don’t hav a choice
A Democrat Party whose turned on its ‘left’ wing of Gore Hillary & Edwards who oppose ALL 4 of th above positions , universal healthcare , Kyoto , Labor type economic model & Iraq
Stupid ? voters who elected a 68 year old B grade actor in Reagan , who elected a dim wit in Bush Then what voters Stupid ? after electing Bush th dim wit invades Iraq & finds no WMD’s then th voters re-elect th dim wit a second time
Stupid ? US is like a mother in Law , who gotta hav them……but you don’t hav to accept all there standards (fortunately)…..I’ll take an unambiguous ‘oz’ Labor vs Liberal politcal choise anyday where choice is clear for all and without th NON policy based “yes we can” bullsh.it razmatazz th rusted on believe in in almost religous zealousness
Suggest Al Gore not having to run against an incumbant POTUS & whilst curently academic , at this point would be leading by a landslide & thats th ‘message’ of th above But then who cares
I know I’m not supposed to advocate online polls, but I thought this one from the Daily Telegraph gauging Australian attitudes to the presidential race was quite fun.
An interesting take on why the Democrats find it so hard to win even when conditions are ideal.
Rovean tactics alone do not win the Republican Party elections.
This is a center-right country, and Democrats ignore this at their own peril http://www.newsweek.com/id/160083
Tommy
Shame really – i wish the Americans would crack down hard on the religious right and any fellow travelers – the words they send out are getting people beaten up or killed after all
The Democrats lose presidential elections because they are such a cheap date for the latest liberal firebrand that comes along, who they swoon for without checking out his credentials. They’ve been doing this since the days of William Jennings Bryan and Al Smith, but they never learn. Given the circumstances it’s hard to see how Obama could lose, but he’s giving it his best shake.
Adam:
didn’t Al Smith lose because he was a Catholic?
Herbert Hoover might have saved more Jews from the Holocaust than the documented racist and anti-semite FDR
If the Republicans had stayed in power the US would never have entered the war at all. They were for appeasing both Germany and Japan. Hitler and Hirohito would have divided up the rest of the world between them and the Repubs couldn’t have cared less provided Wall St was safe. FDR was the greatest statesman of the 20th century and don’t you forget it.
Adam:
He was still a racist and anti-semite – any “good points” are not an excusal for the bad things he did – as you’re a gay man I’m surprised you defend him
as for the current election i think McCain has to bet on people in the “heartland” still taking him seriously – or at least more seriously than Obama
*Rolls eyes* He was no more a racist and anti-Semite than most other people were at that time. Let’s try and look at things in their proper historical perspective shall we? Did Pericles support female suffrage? What was George Washington’s line on global warning? FDR’s greatness must be seen in the context of the politics and society of his day. He led a very reluctant nation into a war that had to be fought, and won it, thereby saving the civilised world.
William @ 219,
No worries 🙂 ….. I read that site regularly and missed that one. SO can you be so kind as to post the URL in the way of a followup when they do their summary article based upon peoples opinions? That way, we can all see the results and won’t miss it, thanks 🙂
* I gave them some good lefty type answers too LOL …….
[Davis being McCain’s campaign manager]
*******
Davis’ record on this score is charming. USNews:
“McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis was hired—after running McCain’s failed 2000 presidential campaign—to head up a group called the Homeownership Alliance, a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac advocacy group, which the Wall Street Journal reported (in August 2000) had a website creed of being dedicated to: “exposing and defeating trends that would harm consumer access to the lowest-cost mortgage option.” The group viewed as threats those who are “seeking to spread unfounded fears about risks to the housing system.””
McCain is tied hook, line and sinker to the economy going down the drain ……
Adam:
spare us the laissez-faire historical relativism – you have a phD after all
As this is now off-topic I will take a break out of respect for William
Obama has officially moved away from a 50 state campaign to 46 states. They have written off North Dakota, Georgia, Idaho and Alaska to McCain. Funny that last one 😉 …….. Guess Carter doesn’t carry coattails any more now that he is well and truely years out of office ……
More on McCain’s attempts to distance himself from Bush … 😉
When Gov. Sarah Palin flew home to Alaska for the first time since being named the Republican vice presidential nominee, she brought along at least half a dozen new advisers to conduct briefings, stage-manage her first television interview and help her prepare for a critical debate next month. And virtually every member of the team shared a common credential: years of service to President Bush. ………… The clutch of Bush veterans helping to coach Palin reflects a larger reality about Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign: Far from being a group of outsiders to the Republican Party power structure, it is now run largely by skilled operatives who learned their crafts in successive Bush campaigns and various jobs across the Bush government over the past eight years.
It is somewhat offensive to suggest that Adam should have a different attitude to racism and anti-Semitism based on any of his personal preferences.
JulieM,
McCain is a Republican. Deal with it!
Republicans have a pretty good track record of winning elections. Might be a good idea to consult with those who know how to win?
Obviously, you prefer the feel good nothingness of Obama.
And because I have a PhD in history I don’t make ahistorical judgements about people and things in the past, or at least I try not to. I’m well aware that FDR subscribed to the unthinking racist and anti-Semitic ideology of his class and time. But let’s not overstate this – several of his closest advisors were Jewish, he appointed Henry Morgenthau as Treasury Secretary and Felix Frankfurter to the Supreme Court. His record on civil rights was patchy, since he needed the support of Southern Democrats to get his bills through Congress. But in 1941 he issued executive orders guaranteeing blacks a fair share of wartime jobs. During his tenure the black vote shifted from heavily Republican to overwhelmingly Democrat, so obviously black voters thought he was on their side. It’s a mark of his greatness that he was able to rise above his limitations and do the great things he did. Also he had the good fortune to be married to Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most progressive thinkers of her time. As I said above, I tremble to think what would have happened to the US and the world had he not been in power when he was.
Most of the great people in history ascribed to some views that would be frowned on today. Paedophilia (let’s see if that gets through William’s filter) was popular, as was owning slaves, cannibalism, witch-hunting etc etc.
Jefferson owned slaves, Newton was an alchemist, Einstein never ascribed to the Copenhagen view of quantum mechanics, Alexander the Great liked little boys. I think the post-modernists were right about everyone being a product of their time and background (ie a social construct).
Diogenes:
no offence was intended – I think I’ve being hanging around leftist/feminist blogs and groups too much – they take the “ahistorical” view of past figures a lot – no mention that virtually everyone supported the White Australia policy etc
[McCain is a Republican. Deal with it!
Republicans have a pretty good track record of winning elections. Might be a good idea to consult with those who know how to win?]
McCain is labelling himself as a maverick, and nothing like GWB, yet he has all his advisors. Julie’s point was well made. McCain the ‘maverick’ is a fraud.
Adam
Dare I ask what the History PhD was in?
[Paulson urges quick action on $700 billion bailout – WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration insisted Sunday that Congress must move quickly to approve what one lawmaker called the “mother of all bailouts” — a $700 billion proposal to buy a mountain of bad mortgage debt in an effort to unfreeze the nation’s credit markets……. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stressed that time was critical to get the proposal passed and that changes to the administration’s measure, which was sent to lawmakers on Saturday, could delay that approval, further unsettling global financial markets, which have already seen a number of stomach-churning days as the result of the biggest upheaval on Wall Street since the Great Depression.]
I do find it curious that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is such a hurried man, especially he was once Investment Banker No: 1 with Goldman Sachs in 2006. It’s kinda like Dracula is now in-charged of the Blood Bank and he is in a hurry to dole out blood to help his blood sucking vampire friends.
A PhD in history is a PhD in history. It’s not “in” anything. My thesis was on an Australian topic.
Adam
Sorry, my lazy terminology. The “in” I referred to was the topic. I wondered if it was an aspect of WWII.
Diog, I have a PhD in Nothing. Am a disciple of the Monkey King, the master awareness of emptiness.
Dario,
And, Obama is not?
Obama’s team is full of Washington specialists. Yet his message is Change from old politics?
Everyone takes quality advice from where they can. In your world, McCain must eschew advice from like thinkers.
233, you nailed that one on the head 😉 …… Not a Republican or Liberal bone in this body 😉 …….
Mary Hannah Wade
I find it remarkable you wish to query opinions of one of greatest POTUS in US history FDR , who cares retrospectively now if he did not like j.ws , or did not like Catholics , or did not like Methodists or smoked pot who retrospectively cares , reality is he brought US out a depression & saved th World from Nazi’s & Japan….thats why 99% of ‘left’ laud his achievements & th other 1% don’t count
MLK had lots of mistress’s , so did JFK , so what , who retrospectively cares also
Of course you did not also mention th genocide th j.ws hav perpetuated on Palestinians for 40 years …no just worry about FDR who did no such thing , politcal correctness gone mad
Greensborough Growler, the Brownlow vote is getting ready to kick off so I’m signing off to tune in. For the record, as Dario correctly points out, McCain isn’t a maverick. Not my point, facts, mate. They are Bush’s men. I’ll be more than willing to take this up with you the day AFTER the election (if need be) but I’ll hold out till then. Go get ’em Obama! Go get ’em Rudd! Go get ’em Swan! and GO GET ‘EM Brent Harvey! Night from the ACT 🙂
Hey, it’s been awhile since the 3 amigos are together.
[And, Obama is not?
Obama’s team is full of Washington specialists. Yet his message is Change from old politics?]
Nope
It might do, if gets the issue OFF THE FRONT PAGES, which is what McCain badly needs. He can’t win an election on the economy. He can only win by getting the key demographics to remember why they don’t like Obama and why they don’t think he’s up to being commander-in-chief. When McCain was getting that message through, he drew ahead. Now that attention is focussed on the economy, he is behind again, though not by much. He is now really hostage to Bush and the Fed. If they can stabilise the markets quickly, McCain can still recover. If not, not.
But a trillion dollar bailout doesn’t get the economy off the front pages just like that… it becomes the front pages, and is still about the economy
Its not Bush’s bailout nor did Bush cause it Under US Constitution th “purse strings” ar controlled by Congress which Democrats control so th bailout and its size & use required pre approval of Democrat Congress
Further current bailout plan in detail was provided by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for pre approved to both Obama & McCain camps , so neither can claim th ‘medicine’ prescribed is wrong either (but I would in part)
Origin of this financial mess is lack of market regulation and specifically Lending methods & accountability with Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac who hav $5.1 trillion debts against many houses & property not worth that and with many consumers who cann’t afford to repay
Congress hav been aware of this potential problem since 2003 when first of 5 Bills over th years attempted to fix above Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac…those companies successfully lobbyied Democrat & Republican politcans NOT to do anything
In fact Republicans since first Bill in 2003 controlled Congress for first 4 years and Democrats for last 2 years hav controlled Congress , were aware of problem as it was tabled and could hav enacted Legislation both Partys failed to do so Obama & McCain hav been sitting there in th Senate ALL through this Why aren’t Obama & McCain criticised
Ditto Fedeeral budgets , both Partys hav controlled congress & both hav approved monstrous Budget deficits as well There system is different from ‘oz’ where here Governemnt is responsible..there th POTUS is only one player in budget process & obviously has responsibility but does NOT fully control “purse strings”
Better to go with “spin” for voters and simplicity with one liners blame one Party or other , and he who can ‘spin’ this best will be POTUS
Ron
That’s absolutely true. Fortunately for Obama, the Dems have only controlled Congress for the last 2 years. The six years of Repug Congress and eight years of Bush will outweigh the Dems responsibility in the minds of the voters. The Greenwald article I linked said pretty much what you said but he points out that it’s just part of a pattern of poor behaviour by the Dems. It’s little wonder that the Democrat-controlled Congress has even lower approval ratings than Bush.
I’d be very surprised if Obama can’t spin this better than McCain.
Isn’t it remarkable how the champions of free and private enterprise turn to government intervention when the free enterprise sytem begins to falter. what happened to the “get the government off my back” catchcry? What happened to the small government is good government mantra? It just shows you how important and useful government involvement can be on our lives doesn’t it?
Rules and specifics set down by the non partisan commision that controls the Presidential Debates –
“The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning at the vice-presidential debate, advisers to both campaigns said Saturday.”
http://tinyurl.com/4ruykv
[“The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning at the vice-presidential debate, advisers to both campaigns said Saturday.”]
I’m surprised they didn’t try and get the VP debate called off altogether. Palin is going to get hosed.
Dario,
Sure she will but to have it scrapped altogether would admit that they know this. They can’t be seen to look scared so they have to make the best out of a bad lot LOL …. so why they got as structured a format as they could manage 😉
It may not matter much who is the Dem candidate if they do not get the voting machines under control.
There is some startling information coming out about Ohio 2004 and it
looks like the Ohio 2004 court case is gathering some good momentum .
Explosive events are happening and they are happening by the day and by the hour. They are making as much of it public as they can before November.
The link to a 6 page PDF Affidavit by Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips toward the end is a good read. He names names from all walks.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Explosive-Events-Happening-by-Velvet-Revolution-080920-704.html
With the USA has just been through the BIGGEST bank robbery in history, say at the minimum of US$3 Trillion and it looks like the USA people are going to pay it. Woody Guthrie got it absolutely right when he wrote: “Some rob you by the gun and some rob you by the pen”. More importantly, it is the Republican pen.
So it looks like the only thing that can stop Obama from winning is the elephant in the room:
[Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them “lazy,” “violent” or responsible for their own troubles. The poll suggests that the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of his race could easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004 — about 2.5 percentage points. ]
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13658.html
Black, black, black, is the colour of my POTUS’ hair as the song wails. But it has always been like that anyway from the beginning. Nothing has changed. Mr. Obama, nothing has changed.
This bloke must have got his writing inspirations from reading Bushfire Bills’ advice to KR
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-albatross-around-the-n-by-W-Christopher-Epl-080920-451.html
It would be sad indeed for the USA if they voted Obama out because of race just at a point in history when the USA need a new paradigm. I just watched Murdoch endorsing Obama and saying how exciting he is and that America needed this change etc…
So all the stars are aligning for Obama, even a financial catastrophe yet….that nasty little thing could condemn him and the USA.
I also believe the same is true for Australia – Rudd is the paradigm we need at the moment but the Australian Republican media are still welded to the same types as we saw destroy the American economy.
McCain has already screwed up one part of government and he isn’t even halfway through the national campaign yet. Geez, TP, I hope against hope that my fellow Americans aren’t that stupid …..
****
Gov. Sarah Palin has surrendered important gubernatorial duties to the Republican presidential campaign. McCain staff are handling public and press questions about actions she has taken as governor. The governor who said, “Hold me accountable,” is hiding behind the hired guns of the McCain campaign to avoid accountability.
Is it too much to ask that Alaska’s governor speak for herself, directly to Alaskans, about her actions as Alaska’s governor?
A press conference Thursday showed how skewed Alaska’s relationship with its own governor has become.
McCain-Palin campaign spokesman Ed O’Callaghan announced that Todd Palin will not comply with a subpoena to testify about his role in Troopergate, the Legislature’s investigation into whether Palin abused her power in forcing out former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan.
O’Callaghan also announced that Alaska’s governor is “unlikely” to cooperate with the investigation by the Alaska Legislature about questionable conduct by Alaska’s chief executive.
Monday, he and campaign sidekick Meg Stapleton stood before Alaskans and defended the official personnel decision by Alaska’s governor to fire Alaska’s public safety commissioner. ABC News reported that Gov. Palin’s official press secretary, Bill McAllister, paid by the state of Alaska, didn’t even know the McCain staffers were meeting the press to defend his boss.
*****
http://allspinzone.com/wp/2008/09/21/unelected-unappointed-mccain-officials-running-alaska/
A huge crowd of more than 20,000 to see Obama today in North Carolina!
I’m written off the South for him, with the possible exceptions of Virginia and Florida, but if McCain’s poll numbers continue to decrease, a few of these other Southern states might start getting interesting!
The Obama surge appears to be starting. Last week we had the narrowing and then the reversal. If Sarah Palin starts having real media conferences and answering hard questions, things could change. Which way is anyone’s guess.
“I hope against hope that my fellow Americans aren’t that stupid …..”
Stupid ? A Country that has two “right” Partys , one “liberal” and one “consevative” whereas ‘oz’ and UK and France etc actualy hav a clearly defined “left’ and ‘right’ Party to chose from
Stupid ? A Democrat Party whose candidate does not support universal healthcare , does not support ratifying Kyoto , but believes in non Labor type & non Keynes type nuanced econamic rationalism of free markets & look at th financial ruins….and then selects a VP Biden with an identical Bush Iraq policy policy “to stay the course in Iraq to win”
None of those 4 areas ar “left’ positions , and thats called a choice….vs an unacceptable “renditions torture gittmo’ alternative A choice you get when you don’t hav a choice
A Democrat Party whose turned on its ‘left’ wing of Gore Hillary & Edwards who oppose ALL 4 of th above positions , universal healthcare , Kyoto , Labor type economic model & Iraq
Stupid ? voters who elected a 68 year old B grade actor in Reagan , who elected a dim wit in Bush Then what voters Stupid ? after electing Bush th dim wit invades Iraq & finds no WMD’s then th voters re-elect th dim wit a second time
Stupid ? US is like a mother in Law , who gotta hav them……but you don’t hav to accept all there standards (fortunately)…..I’ll take an unambiguous ‘oz’ Labor vs Liberal politcal choise anyday where choice is clear for all and without th NON policy based “yes we can” bullsh.it razmatazz th rusted on believe in in almost religous zealousness
Suggest Al Gore not having to run against an incumbant POTUS & whilst curently academic , at this point would be leading by a landslide & thats th ‘message’ of th above But then who cares
I know I’m not supposed to advocate online polls, but I thought this one from the Daily Telegraph gauging Australian attitudes to the presidential race was quite fun.
An interesting take on why the Democrats find it so hard to win even when conditions are ideal.
Rovean tactics alone do not win the Republican Party elections.
This is a center-right country, and Democrats ignore this at their own peril
http://www.newsweek.com/id/160083
Tommy
Shame really – i wish the Americans would crack down hard on the religious right and any fellow travelers – the words they send out are getting people beaten up or killed after all
The Democrats lose presidential elections because they are such a cheap date for the latest liberal firebrand that comes along, who they swoon for without checking out his credentials. They’ve been doing this since the days of William Jennings Bryan and Al Smith, but they never learn. Given the circumstances it’s hard to see how Obama could lose, but he’s giving it his best shake.
Adam:
didn’t Al Smith lose because he was a Catholic?
Herbert Hoover might have saved more Jews from the Holocaust than the documented racist and anti-semite FDR
If the Republicans had stayed in power the US would never have entered the war at all. They were for appeasing both Germany and Japan. Hitler and Hirohito would have divided up the rest of the world between them and the Repubs couldn’t have cared less provided Wall St was safe. FDR was the greatest statesman of the 20th century and don’t you forget it.
Adam:
He was still a racist and anti-semite – any “good points” are not an excusal for the bad things he did – as you’re a gay man I’m surprised you defend him
as for the current election i think McCain has to bet on people in the “heartland” still taking him seriously – or at least more seriously than Obama
*Rolls eyes* He was no more a racist and anti-Semite than most other people were at that time. Let’s try and look at things in their proper historical perspective shall we? Did Pericles support female suffrage? What was George Washington’s line on global warning? FDR’s greatness must be seen in the context of the politics and society of his day. He led a very reluctant nation into a war that had to be fought, and won it, thereby saving the civilised world.
William @ 219,
No worries 🙂 ….. I read that site regularly and missed that one. SO can you be so kind as to post the URL in the way of a followup when they do their summary article based upon peoples opinions? That way, we can all see the results and won’t miss it, thanks 🙂
* I gave them some good lefty type answers too LOL …….
[Davis being McCain’s campaign manager]
*******
Davis’ record on this score is charming. USNews:
“McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis was hired—after running McCain’s failed 2000 presidential campaign—to head up a group called the Homeownership Alliance, a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac advocacy group, which the Wall Street Journal reported (in August 2000) had a website creed of being dedicated to: “exposing and defeating trends that would harm consumer access to the lowest-cost mortgage option.” The group viewed as threats those who are “seeking to spread unfounded fears about risks to the housing system.””
“Unfounded fears”. Gotta love it.
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/09/chutzpah.html
McCain is tied hook, line and sinker to the economy going down the drain ……
Adam:
spare us the laissez-faire historical relativism – you have a phD after all
As this is now off-topic I will take a break out of respect for William
Obama has officially moved away from a 50 state campaign to 46 states. They have written off North Dakota, Georgia, Idaho and Alaska to McCain. Funny that last one 😉 …….. Guess Carter doesn’t carry coattails any more now that he is well and truely years out of office ……
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/obama-campaign.html
More on McCain’s attempts to distance himself from Bush … 😉
When Gov. Sarah Palin flew home to Alaska for the first time since being named the Republican vice presidential nominee, she brought along at least half a dozen new advisers to conduct briefings, stage-manage her first television interview and help her prepare for a critical debate next month. And virtually every member of the team shared a common credential: years of service to President Bush. ………… The clutch of Bush veterans helping to coach Palin reflects a larger reality about Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign: Far from being a group of outsiders to the Republican Party power structure, it is now run largely by skilled operatives who learned their crafts in successive Bush campaigns and various jobs across the Bush government over the past eight years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/21/AR2008092101608.html?hpid=topnews
Adam
I hadn’t picked you for a post-modernist.
Mary
It is somewhat offensive to suggest that Adam should have a different attitude to racism and anti-Semitism based on any of his personal preferences.
JulieM,
McCain is a Republican. Deal with it!
Republicans have a pretty good track record of winning elections. Might be a good idea to consult with those who know how to win?
Obviously, you prefer the feel good nothingness of Obama.
And because I have a PhD in history I don’t make ahistorical judgements about people and things in the past, or at least I try not to. I’m well aware that FDR subscribed to the unthinking racist and anti-Semitic ideology of his class and time. But let’s not overstate this – several of his closest advisors were Jewish, he appointed Henry Morgenthau as Treasury Secretary and Felix Frankfurter to the Supreme Court. His record on civil rights was patchy, since he needed the support of Southern Democrats to get his bills through Congress. But in 1941 he issued executive orders guaranteeing blacks a fair share of wartime jobs. During his tenure the black vote shifted from heavily Republican to overwhelmingly Democrat, so obviously black voters thought he was on their side. It’s a mark of his greatness that he was able to rise above his limitations and do the great things he did. Also he had the good fortune to be married to Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most progressive thinkers of her time. As I said above, I tremble to think what would have happened to the US and the world had he not been in power when he was.
Most of the great people in history ascribed to some views that would be frowned on today. Paedophilia (let’s see if that gets through William’s filter) was popular, as was owning slaves, cannibalism, witch-hunting etc etc.
Jefferson owned slaves, Newton was an alchemist, Einstein never ascribed to the Copenhagen view of quantum mechanics, Alexander the Great liked little boys. I think the post-modernists were right about everyone being a product of their time and background (ie a social construct).
Diogenes:
no offence was intended – I think I’ve being hanging around leftist/feminist blogs and groups too much – they take the “ahistorical” view of past figures a lot – no mention that virtually everyone supported the White Australia policy etc
[McCain is a Republican. Deal with it!
Republicans have a pretty good track record of winning elections. Might be a good idea to consult with those who know how to win?]
McCain is labelling himself as a maverick, and nothing like GWB, yet he has all his advisors. Julie’s point was well made. McCain the ‘maverick’ is a fraud.
Adam
Dare I ask what the History PhD was in?
[Paulson urges quick action on $700 billion bailout – WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration insisted Sunday that Congress must move quickly to approve what one lawmaker called the “mother of all bailouts” — a $700 billion proposal to buy a mountain of bad mortgage debt in an effort to unfreeze the nation’s credit markets……. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stressed that time was critical to get the proposal passed and that changes to the administration’s measure, which was sent to lawmakers on Saturday, could delay that approval, further unsettling global financial markets, which have already seen a number of stomach-churning days as the result of the biggest upheaval on Wall Street since the Great Depression.]
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ioHc80xKMiATnqCpK0cDKJzk_nPQD93BG01G0
I do find it curious that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is such a hurried man, especially he was once Investment Banker No: 1 with Goldman Sachs in 2006. It’s kinda like Dracula is now in-charged of the Blood Bank and he is in a hurry to dole out blood to help his blood sucking vampire friends.
A PhD in history is a PhD in history. It’s not “in” anything. My thesis was on an Australian topic.
Adam
Sorry, my lazy terminology. The “in” I referred to was the topic. I wondered if it was an aspect of WWII.
Diog, I have a PhD in Nothing. Am a disciple of the Monkey King, the master awareness of emptiness.
Dario,
And, Obama is not?
Obama’s team is full of Washington specialists. Yet his message is Change from old politics?
Everyone takes quality advice from where they can. In your world, McCain must eschew advice from like thinkers.
What a crock full of nonsense.
Finns,
Most Dolphins are happy to be able to write.
GG, i was serious:
The Monkey and the Dolphin
http://fairy-tales-fables-business.blogspot.com/2006/11/communicate-truthfully-and-effectively.html
233, you nailed that one on the head 😉 …… Not a Republican or Liberal bone in this body 😉 …….
Mary Hannah Wade
I find it remarkable you wish to query opinions of one of greatest POTUS in US history FDR , who cares retrospectively now if he did not like j.ws , or did not like Catholics , or did not like Methodists or smoked pot who retrospectively cares , reality is he brought US out a depression & saved th World from Nazi’s & Japan….thats why 99% of ‘left’ laud his achievements & th other 1% don’t count
MLK had lots of mistress’s , so did JFK , so what , who retrospectively cares also
Of course you did not also mention th genocide th j.ws hav perpetuated on Palestinians for 40 years …no just worry about FDR who did no such thing , politcal correctness gone mad
Greensborough Growler, the Brownlow vote is getting ready to kick off so I’m signing off to tune in. For the record, as Dario correctly points out, McCain isn’t a maverick. Not my point, facts, mate. They are Bush’s men. I’ll be more than willing to take this up with you the day AFTER the election (if need be) but I’ll hold out till then. Go get ’em Obama! Go get ’em Rudd! Go get ’em Swan! and GO GET ‘EM Brent Harvey! Night from the ACT 🙂
Hey, it’s been awhile since the 3 amigos are together.
[And, Obama is not?
Obama’s team is full of Washington specialists. Yet his message is Change from old politics?]
At least Obama is proposing a change of party 😉