I thought overall it wasn't done very well. Obama messed up clearly calling Biden the next president. Personally, I believe Obama picked the worst choice out of his short list. He has just undermined his change campaign message by picking a Washington Insider that was there for 36 years. Biden has done many controversial things, and he needs to watch his mouth. As an Obama supporter, I am not happy at all. McCain has so much ammunition now. I think it is very likely that John McCain could win. Democrats have underestimated him. His ads are wonderful, as much as I dislike him I have to admit it. Barack Obama has done a horrible job counter acting. It's time we actually here what change there will be. Biden's own past words could help bring Obama down. I'll get over it, but I'm not pleased. There were better picks out there. Obama shouldn't have contemplated Change vs. Experienced. He should have picked someone who could fit in both categories.
Last edited by Powerbook on Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
Barack Obama does not have enough experience to lead this country. I don't like McCain either, but at least he has some experience under his belt. Supporting Obama is the "cool" thing to do, and the media is constantly sucking his dick.
I'm starting to see that a lot of people my age are voting for him for the reason Tyler said. If Obama keeps this slump going, and continues to make these poor decision I may have to vote McCain despite being a democrat.
Age: 18 Gender: Posts: 2043 Joined: 22 Oct 2005 Location: Vancouver BC
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 2:06 am Post subject:
dmorris68 wrote:
bruman wrote:
If John McCain wins 2012 probably will be the end of the world.
why that face? i know it is obviously an exaggeration but you don't think that war will be most likely prolonged for the worse if mccain were in charge?
If John McCain wins 2012 probably will be the end of the world.
why that face? i know it is obviously an exaggeration but you don't think that war will be most likely prolonged for the worse if mccain were in charge?
No, I don't. Longer than with Obama? Possibly. But Obama knows nothing of military strategy and the consequences of a premature withdrawal -- it would be a total disaster if he (or anyone) were to just pull the plug as soon as he took office (not saying he would, I think Obama is too smart for that). If you've seen the news recently, Iraq and the US have just agreed to a timetable that would have all US troops out by 2011-2012. That's just ~3 more years, which under the circumstances is extremely reasonable. I don't think McCain would do anything to prolong that, no, and besides, this is Iraq's decision too -- it wouldn't just be up to him. People sometimes forget that we are there as Iraq's guests, we're not an occupying force no matter what the anti-war opponents and Muslim extremists would like you to believe.
Ignorant people tend to misinterpret and take out of context things such as McCain's "hundred years" comments, just like ignorant people on the other side overblow and take out of context Michelle Obama's comments that got her labeled as "un-American."
I'm really tired of the ignorance on both sides, and IMO the right to vote should come with a minimum IQ requirement.
I've expressed my political views at length in prior threads, so don't really care to type them all again, so I'm going to refrain from getting involved too much in this discussion. I just couldn't resist posting after such a comment.
wait a second, that's almost another ~40% as long as we've already been in the war...
I'm not one to cut and run, but, there are so many things our money and resources could be spent on than this war. IMO, the timetable was entirely a political ploy by Bush for McCain to blunt McCain's 100 years comment, and to allow McCain some leeway on worrying and campaigning about the war.
The fact of the matter is we are there, and things have to be done right or everything was in vain. Do you really believe McCain wants US troops in Iraq for 100 years? That was hyperbole. His point was, we'll be there as long as we need to be to leave the region in a somewhat self-sufficient state, without placing artificial time constraints, which is as it should be. He knows full well his most extreme opponents would have the troops back on the evening of January 20th if they could, and I believe he was responding in an equally exaggerated manner. Assuming Iraq is not prepared for that timeline, it would be a disaster.
And don't think I'm not well aware of the toll being placed on our troops and their families. I was a cavalry troop myself, and served in the first Gulf War. Yes, it was hell on me and my family. But we didn't flinch from it and we would do it again if we were in the same position. Our oldest daughter is a Marine Corps Reservist, and we feel the same about her. She missed one Afghanistan deployment and one Iraq deployment, due to pregnancy both times, so it looks like she might luck out and not have to go. But if she does go then we'll be proud of her service and hope for the best. I find the majority -- and I do mean the VAST majority -- of military people and their immediate family support our mission over there, and the same holds true for most veterans like myself. You may hear a lot from a very vocal minority, but trust me when I say those are very much a minority from my experience.
Personally, I believe Obama picked the worst choice out of his short list.
I'm curious... Who did you want Obama to pick from the list? Kain? Bayh? Sebelius? .....Clinton?
Personally, I believe Obama picked the best choice out of the lot. I didn't care for Kaine, and I just couldn't see how Bayh or Sebelius would help Obama (aside from helping him carry their respective states to his side on election day).
I feel any of those choices would have been better. Biden seems to seriously discredit the whole change message. One can argue that Hillary would discredit it, however, I feel that there are things about her that would reinforce it better. My favorite pick would have probably been the Bayh from Indiana, or to be bold he could have picked someone not even on his public short list. This is crazy, but Caroline Kennedy wouldn't have been a bad pick. Well, she has no experience, but a Kennedy and Obama ticket would seem pretty cool . This is me just wishing things lol.
not going to make a whole new thread, but did everyone get a chance to watch barry's speech last night?
i know he could have gone up there and said the abc's or i'm a little teapot and they still would have gone nuts, but it was cool to see a packed invesco. we will probably never see anything like that again.
-dan
edit: mccain just picked a women to be his vp...this race is over.
With the momentum McCain's been gathering leading up to the Democratic convention, and the GOP convention coming up next week, I think his choosing Palin could quite possibly put McCain over the top to win this election.
Either way, things are about to get interesting...
I'm surprised about the pick. It will help McCain bring over a chunk of the Clinton supporters to his side, and yet at the same time he can no longer attack Obama on his experience because this gal has been governor for only a couple of years and the only experience she had before that was being on the city council and the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
It's going to be a very tough choice for me now... As of now, I am still leaning towards Obama.
Good point h3x, but one could argue that her experience is secondary to his, with him being President. Her ability to lead the country only comes into play if McCain dies or can't continue in the job. The exact opposite is true of Obama's ticket.
Even given similar lengths of time in higher-level politics, I still see her having the experience advantage. Obama is freshman senator, a single voice among several. He's held no chaimanships or other positions of government authority where the buck stopped with him and decisions were solely his to make. She, OTOH, has served in that executive role as governor of a very large state. And from what I'm just now learning about her, she has made some pretty bold decisions and reforms. She's big on ethics reform. She brings a ton of experience to the energy issue, having presided over Alaska's gas & oil conservation & regulation commission, an area that neither Obama or Biden have direct experience with. I'm sure she'll play a significant role in the effort to open up Alaska's oilfields and get our dependence on foreign oil reduced. These are subjects that speak to a large segment of the American people now, even more so than the Iraq issue. So the GOP has a ticket with someone considered more experienced in dealing with the sort of international conflicts we're facing (McCain), combined with someone else experienced in the area of one of the major domestic issues of our time (fuel prices). I see McCain using Palin to fill in his weak spots just as Obama is attempting to do with Biden. I think this can only help McCain with the momentum he was already building.
John McCain has made a wise choice. Obama should have saw this coming. I'm a moderate and an independent. I will have to do some thinking about this one. In my eyes Obama could have picked someone better to fill his gaps. McCain has a very good chance of winning. It would be nice if the democrats could schedule their conventions once in a while later than the republicans. In my eyes this gives the republicans a big advantage to have their convention always after the democrats, not necessarily right after but it does tend to be after the democrats.
American troops are being deployed to Iraq because it's a task from God and we should all pray for the "Alaska gas pipeline", and former Bush aides are giving Palin some pointers... Zoinks, Scoob!
Quote:
The video, first reported by the liberal blog HuffingtonPost.com, is from a June Palin speech to the graduating class of commission students at Palin's former church in Wasilla, Alaska. While describing her family, Palin told students about her oldest son, 19-year-old Track, who is set to be deployed to Iraq this month with the U.S. Army. She urged students to pray “that our leaders -- that our national leaders -- are sending [soldiers] out on a task that is from God.”
Quote:
In addition to talking about Iraq, Palin also referred to God's role in her work as governor.
“I can do my part in working really, really hard to get a natural gas pipeline, about a $30 billion project that's going to create a lot of jobs for Alaska. … [but] I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that,” she said. “I can do my job there in developing our natural resources, in doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded. But really that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's hearts aren't right with God.”
There is nothing wrong with being religious. I am a God-fearing man, but the things she said at that church come off as a little too "kooky".
Quote:
The McCain team has hastily assembled a team of former Bush White House aides to tutor the vice-presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, on foreign-policy issues, to write her speeches and to begin preparing her for her all-important Oct. 2 debate against Sen. Joe Biden.
Steve Biegun, who once served as the No. 3 National Security Council official under Condoleezza Rice at the White House, has been hired as chief foreign-policy adviser to the Alaska governor, campaign officials told NEWSWEEK. After taking leave from his job as vice president for international affairs at Ford Motor Co. last Friday, Biegun flew to St. Paul and, together with McCain’s foreign-policy guru Randy Schuenemann, began briefings for Palin on national-security issues—an area where her resume is conspicuously thin.
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Biegun is hardly the only Bushie to be tapped for Palin duty. Among others:
Matt Scully, a former Bush White House speechwriter who helped draft some of the major foreign-policy addresses during the president’s first term, is working on Palin’s acceptance speech to the convention Wednesday night.
Mark Wallace, a former lawyer for the Bush 2000 campaign who served in a variety of administration jobs including chief counsel at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and deputy ambassador to the United Nations, has been put in charge of “prep” for the debate against Biden.
Wallace’s wife, Nicolle Wallace, the former White House communications director, has taken over the same job for Palin.
Tucker Eskew, another senior Bush White House communications aide, is serving as senior counselor to Palin’s operation.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former chief economist at the Council of Economic Advisers who has been serving as top economics guru for the McCain campaign, has moved over to serve as Palin’s chief domestic-policy adviser.
Now, I will say that I think she has been a good governor for Alaska for the 18+ months she has served so far. But I really don't think she is ready for VP and it seems more and more obvious that McCain didn't do his homework with Palin when picking out a candidate. Plus, her views against abortion are a little extreme.