All Posts Tagged With: "mccain"

“The role  of the religious leaders is to stand apart from government, to prophetically speak

truth to power.”

An evangelical Christian minister in Indiana told his congregation Sunday that voting for Sen. Barack Obama would be evidence of “severe moral schizophrenia.” The Democratic presidential nominee’s positions on abortion and gay partnerships exist “in direct opposition to God’s truth as He has revealed it in the Scriptures.” Johnson showed slides contrasting the candidates’ views but stopped short of endorsing Obama’s Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.

Rev. Ron Johnson Jr. and 32 other pastors set out Sunday to break the rules, hoping to generate a legal battle that will prompt federal courts to throw out a 54-year-old ban on political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship.

This is part of a national campaign, organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a socially conservative legal consortium based in Arizona, the Internal Revenue Service has pledged to “monitor the situation and take action as appropriate.”

In an open letter Saturday, a United Church of Christ minister, the Rev. Eric Williams said, “The role of the church — of congregation, synagogue, temple and mosque — and of its religious leaders is to stand apart from government, to prophetically speak truth to power,” Williams wrote, “and to encourage a national dialogue that transcends the divisiveness of electoral politics and preserves for every citizen our ‘first liberty.’ “

For Williams the dichotomy between the secular and the sacred a myth: “The issue is not ‘Are we legislating morality?’ This issue is ‘Whose morality are we legislating?’ “

Other clergy pledge to avoid endorsing political candidates. But, that blurs over issues like abortion and homosexual marriage.

Legal scholars generally agree this has little to do with the debate about separation of church and state versus separation from church and state although some less informed will contend it does connect. But, the issue is first the 1954 IRS code and to get the matter into court the IRS must act and “harm” a church or congregation. In that case there will be a legal scrap that could last for years.

Obama lost because he comes across as a smug, arrogant, self-important, smart ass. condescendingly pointing fingers, lecturing us.

John McCain “won” the audience in the first debate Friday night or rather Obama lost it. The common folk matter not debate scorers. I mostly agree with Chris Ruddy’s analysis but for different reasons.

Obama lost because he comes across as a smug, arrogant, self-important, smart ass. His style is condescending constantly pointing fingers, frequently raising his fingers to eye level, jabbing constantly, make’s one feel he’s lecturing us - because he thinks he is smarter than us all.

At 17-years old and barely out of boot camp I was told never to point a finger at another man lest he break if off and put it in my breast pocket. I’ve seen more than one swabby or Marine break a finger-pointers nose.

On the radio Obama sounded like a professor, anad we all know at least a few who could benefit from a good ass-kicking. Americans don’t elect professors president. A friend said he watched the TV debate on mute and McCain won. He put the age issue to rest - he was sharp

McCain muffed making bigger points on the economy. He should have said I’m immediately returning to Washington DC to be sure this bail out doesn’t wipe out America’s taxpayers.

Obama whined twice repeated the allegations of others, first saying he was “liberal” and later saying he was “naive.” Repeating labels is a no-no. It reminds people of things they may have forgotten.

McCain is authentic. Real. Obama isn’t. To paraphrase Cecil B. Demille “once you can fake sincerity you’ve got it made” Barack tried but fails.

McCain walks the walk - Obama talks the talk. Like the bumper sticker says: McCain-Hero; Obama-ZERO

McCain’s strength was foreign policy. It showed. Obama is “naïve.” Obama flim flam answers .

On Iran, McCain won because his comments grasped the gravity of the crisis. Obama rolled out his Rodney King-like policy.

McCain has been right on the surge and Obama has been wrong. But McCain came across as heavily invested in the idea of the war (creating a democracy.

In sum, McCain did more than hold his own. He is ready on day one to be Commander in Chief. He can be trusted. His word is good. He is one of us.

McCain move viewed positively and poll trends moves toward him.

Zogby polling says Republican John McCain’s poll numbers improved as he suspended his campaign Wednesday to head back to Washington and that he now leads 46% to 44% for Obama.

Gallup’s overnight tracking poll shows Obama losing 2% and McCain gaining 1% to tie the presidential contest and now put it at 46% each. The polling was conducted over three nights including Wednesday night after McCain announced he was suspending his campaign.

Rasmussen’s 3-day rolling averages among likely voters puts the race at 49% for Obama and 46% for McCain.

A FOX NEWS poll finds miserable job approval ratings for the President at 26% with 66% disapproving. Congress’ job approval is an even worse at 17% approval and 73% disapproving.

Only the ABC/Washington Post poll taken earlier this week has had a very different result in the presidential race.

Arch Partisan David Letterman As unfunny As Rubber Crutch.

Late Show” host David Letterman blasted John McCain’s decision to cancel an appearance on his talk show Wednesday night saying, among other things, “This is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody’s putting something in his Metamucil.” McCain’s camp said it was not a time for comedy having announced he was suspending his campaign until the current financial crisis in resolved. Letterman later asked: “Are we suspending it because there’s an economic crisis or because the poll numbers are sliding?”

Letterman is the most partisan of the late night TV show hosts has been losing the rating wars and is under increasing pressure. Letterman trails Craig Ferguson who follows his show while Jay Leno continues to be in first place above all others.

Three-quarters say Nation on wrong track

Wall Street’s maelstrom appears to have shifted the electorate toward Obama and away from Congressional Democrats according to a Rasmussen Poll released Saturday morning. Obama-Biden now leads McCain-Palin 48%-47% for first time since the GOP convention. Obama now leads in states with 193 Electoral College votes while McCain is ahead in states with 189 Electoral College votes. When “leaners” are included, it’s Obama 259, McCain 247. Four states continue to be toss-ups including: New Mexico (5); Colorado (9); Nevada (5) and Virginia (13) - all went Republican in 2004. 270 Electoral votes are needed to win the White House.

Confidence in Congress sags with 44% of voters choosing their district’s Democratic candidate, while 38% would choose the Republican candidate.

One month ago the Congressional margin was 47% to 34% in favor of the Democrat candidate. The once almost certain Democrat surge in both the Senate and House has been cut to the point where achieving a veto proof maJority is statistically erased.

The parties are neck-and-neck among unaffiliated voters, with the Democrats earning support from 33% and the GOP from 31%. Among men, the GOP has a 43% to 40% advantage. Among women, the Democrats lead 48% to 34%.

Democrats have a 63% to 19% lead among voters who characterize themselves as pro-choice on the issue of abortion, while Republicans lead 64% to 21% among voters who are pro-life.

The GOP leads 47% to 38% among voters who shop at Wal-Mart several times a month, while the Democrats lead 56% to 27% among those who rarely or never shop there. The parties are nearly tied among voters who occasionally shop at the super store. In part that’s because Wal-Mart stores tend to be located in more exurban areas where Republicans cluster.

Rasmussen Reports tracking data also shows just 23% of voters believe the nation is heading in the right direction, while 73% think the country has gotten off on the wrong track.

(W)hom they’d consult for advice if they faced the “toughest decision of your life,” voters chose McCain over Obama by 50-34

Dick Morris’ analysis is recent developments in the Presidential contest goes like this. Fox News had Obama ahead by 42-39 in its August 19-20 survey, its poll for September 8-9 shows McCain ahead by 45-42. Obama hasn’t changed, but McCain has moved up six points. There has been a basic trend away from the Democratic Party in recent months. In an April 28-29 sample, 44 percent of voters said they were Democrats while only 30 percent said they were Republicans.

That 14-point gap in favor of the Democrats closed to a 9-point gap at the end of July and collapsed to only 7 points by September 8-9. Now, 41 percent say they’re Democrats while 34 percent identify themselves as Republicans. At the end of July, voters trusted the Democrats better to handle the economy by 11 points - 47-36. Now, the Democratic lead on the economy has dwindled to only four points - 46-42.

On Obama’s signature issue, the Iraq war, voters trusted the Republicans to handle it better by 52-39 in early September, compared with only a 46-40 advantage in mid-June.

Republicans have gained on the energy issue too. Asked which party they trusted more to achieve energy independence, the voters gave the Democrats an eight-point lead before the conventions and an only two-point lead now.

The Queen has become Sarah Palin. On the question of which of the four candidates for president and vice president best “understands the problems of day to day life in America,” Palin finished first with 33 percent, Obama second with 32 percent, McCain third with 17 percent and Biden last with 10 percent - a combined 50-42 margin for the Republican candidates.

Asked if Palin had been the object of sexist attacks in the media, 45 percent said yes, compared to only 33 percent who felt that Obama had been victimized by racist attacks. The more the Democrats and the media pour incoming fire on Palin, the more they polarize themselves as sexist and elitist, two things you don’t want to be in today’s America.

But, in perhaps the worst news in this survey for Obama, when asked whom they’d consult for advice if they faced the “toughest decision of your life,” voters chose McCain over him by 50-34. If the toughest decision is who to vote for president, McCain can take comfort in this finding.

Obama & Co. are completely flummoxed as to what to do about or to Palin

Sen. McCain is riding Gov. Palin’s skirt tails, he should too since he was the one who made the brilliant decision to put her on the ticket. The louder the left screams, the better Sarah seems to do. Charlie Gibson tried but failed to trip her up and next morning pundits whined and picked at trivialities to little avail.

Palin has entirely changed the dynamic. An example is that for the first time the Intrade pay-to-play prediction market — which long has had Barack Obama winning by 20 to 25 points in November — now shows a McCain-Palin lead.

One in four Hillary Clinton voters now say the Palin pick makes them more likely to vote for McCain - not that they will. Plus, traditional Republican states like Georgia, Montana, North Carolina and Alaska — which Obama thought he’d fight for — are now safely back in the McCain camp.

Obama & Co. are completely flummoxed as to what to do about or to Palin, for instance: In “The Hunt for Sarah October,” the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund writes about a 30-lawyer S.W.A.T. team of Obama Democrats descending on Alaska in to find dirt and exhume anything “Palin’s troopergate.” They found nothing that hasn’t already aired about Palin’s alcoholic ex-brother-in-law who Tasered his 10 year-old stepson.

Rasmussen, that polls likely voters every day, finds John McCain up by three points, his largest lead since Obama wrapped up the Democratic Presidential Nomination. McCain leads by fourteen points among men while Obama holds an eight point advantage among women - half of what it had been. Obama has the edge among voters under 40 while McCain leads among those over 40

www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidentia” href=”http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll” target=”_blank”>Obama is clinging to a slim 193-189 lead in the Electoral College a scant four vote lead it was 10 votes last week, and much more before. Only one state - Iowa  with 4 electoral votes, that voted Republican in 2004 is not now in the GOP column.

Obama 14% Lead Among Women Halved

McCain is chipping away as Obama’s convention “bounce”, most of his gains have come among women voters. Obama still leads 51% to 44% among women, but that seven-point edge has been cut in half from the fourteen point lead Obama enjoyed last Tuesday. Most all of that is due to Sarah Palin’s pick as VP and the splendid job she did last week with her acceptance speech. In fact we are right back where we were before either convention, i.e., 46% for Obama and 45% for McCain. The trend is toward McCain-Palin and away from Obama-Biden.

McCain leads by 3% among men, little changed in recent days. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Obama voters now say they are voting with enthusiasm for their candidate while 17% are primarily voting against the other candidate. For McCain, those numbers are 65% for and 28% against respectively. Before the Republican convention, just 54% of McCain voters were voting enthusiastically for him rather than simply voting against Obama.

McCain is now viewed favorably by 58% of the nation’s voters while Obama earns positive reviews from 57%.

Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of voters including 40% with a Very Favorable opinion of her which is remarkable given the pummeling she has suffered by main stream media. Biden  has disappeared from the national conversation leading some pundits to observe it is a two-to-one contest against Obama. Others are saying Palin should debate Obama.

The Electoral College count currently shows Obama leading in states with 193 Electoral College votes while McCain leads in states with 183 votes. Data from rasmussenreports.com/markets.rasmussenreports.com blocked::http://rasmussenreports.com/markets.rasmussenreports.com rasmussenreports.com/markets.rasmussenreports.com blocked::” href=”http://rasmussenreports.com/markets.rasmussenreports.com” target=”_self”>Rasmussen Markets currently gives Obama a 57.1 % chance of winning in November. That has been trending toward McCain.

The Rasmussen polls are conducted by telephone nightly among 1,000 likely voters nationwide and compiled on a three-day rolling average.

McCain VP Pick Bounces Polls But Daughter’s Pregnancy Appears to Deflate it.

The Saturday ZOGBY nationwide survey, begun Friday afternoon after the McCain announcement of Palin as running mate and completed mid-afternoon Saturday before the Palin daughter’s pregnancy became known shows McCain/Palin at 47%, compared to 45% support for Obama/Biden.

A Gallup poll conducted Aug. 29-31, also before the pregnancy disclosure among registered voters prefer Obama 49% to 43%. A Rasmussen Poll released Tuesday, September 2 taken overnight among likely voters has Obama at 51% versus McCain at 45% marking the first time either candidate has achieved a majority.

Over the weekend, something by Charles Krauthammer caught my eye. Unfortunately I now can’t find the exact article but I clearly recall his question; Where are Barack Obama’s friends?

I have read a lot about Obama, seen two different biographies on him and watched him during the DNC Convention. Yet I don’t recall ever seeing any mention of or interview with his friends. Whenever a man runs for president there have always been interviews with old high school friends, basketball teammates, college roommates, and past girlfriends. But I don’t think I have seen any of these in regards to Obama. Have you?

Doesn’t that seem a little bit strange? Even now, other than his wife, who would he call his best friend? In direct contrast, John McCain seems to have made friends in every stage of his life. In the Senate, he has friends on both sides and though his Democrat friends may strongly disagree with his politics, they still like him as a man. But where are these friends for Barack Obama?

Yes, this man does give wonderful, warm and stirring speeches but that is not out of character. When you give a speech there is this invisible wall separating the speaker from the audience. Plus the speaker is in complete control and is speaking prepared lines. On the other hand, Barack does not do at all well in Town Hall forums. This forum requires that the wall separating him from the audience is gone and instead he has to interact with people and do so extemporaneously.

Not surprisingly, John McCain is the exact opposite. He does very poorly when giving speeches because there is that invisible wall separating the speaker from the audience. Instead he is wonderful in a Town Hall or one on one forum. John is definitely a people person who truly enjoys being with people and talking to them. (This must have made all those years as a POW and in solitary confinement so much worse for him.) Senator McCain comes across as someone you would enjoy having a drink with but I am not so sure the same could be said about Obama.

So to repeat my question, where are Barack Obama’s friends, roommates, teammates or even old girlfriends? I have often thought that he appears aloof and even cold at times. That he is not a people person, and is more comfortable dealing with law or procedures or strategies than dealing one on one with people. Yet it is one thing to be a loner and self sufficient but not to find anybody who was his friend is ridiculous. What does that say about how he would govern or interact with other leaders?

Ironically, the one man who has been found to be his friend was Reverend Jeremiah Wright. We know how voters thought of that friend! And was Obama really a closer friend to that 1960’s radical and former Weathermen, Ayers? Are there more “friends” like this out there but keeping quiet for fear of doing further damage to Obama’s image?

It does make you wonder. Here is this candidate for President who seems to have very few friends and the only close associates found so far are extreme radicals. Someone needs to do some more digging into Obama’s life. Either through out his entire life he never made any close friends, or his friends are like the two discovered, Wright and Ayers, who are so radical that Obama had to disown their friendship. In either case, it doesn’t bode well for someone who wants to be the next President.

“In a democracy, the people (always) get the government they deserve.” – Alexis de Tocqueville, author of Democracy in America,

Being an Englishman and therefore European, I have always fully understood the importance of the United States as the hegemonic leader of the free democratic world. But what I fail to understand is the sheer tinsel “Hollywood” run-up to the actual Presidential elections.

Americans don’t seem to be bothered that millions and millions are spent on spin, media infighting and travel — money hugely wasted on these presidential candidates, money that could be so useful helping the American needy, particularly in these worsening economic times. The people place all their faith in one candidate and then rant and rave about their policies, leadership qualities and seem to trust them implicitly. Hope does have this effect on people, but the eventual reality can be so cruel. The real acid test is what the elected candidate will actually do when he or she becomes president. Isn’t this the whole point ? Put it this way, is there anybody out there who regrets the fact the Dubya was elected instead of Gore or Kerry in the last two presidential melees ? I, for one, cannot understand the reasons why the American public ever even considered Bush Jnr. His reign has been continually characterized by mumbling gaffs, bad grammar in full media view, apparently non-existent geopolitical knowledge, an unhealthy infatuation with World Terrorism, who supports outright torture, zero-level diplomacy, complete disrespect for the UN and therefore the International Community, shadow agendas and he is someone who has a distinct penchant for taking the Second Amendment to illegal international extremes. I surely don’t have to describe anymore do I ? It is notable that Colin Powell served briefly as Secretary of State in the Bush administration. His moderate and calm diplomatic voice was always at loggerheads with The Shrub. Powell was a man who fully understood both the necessity for National Security (having served very favourably as US National Security Adviser under Reagan), as well as for the clear need for the support of the international community. He had wide experience as well as  international respect. If ever a particular person should have become President of the United States — he was it. Simply because he had that international respect.

So, how could the American electorate get it so wrong ? How come the American Electorate actually trusted G. W. Bush and elected him to be President — and not just once but twice ?

In my thoughts and wonderings about all this, my conclusions seem to point to differences in personality and character regarding the Presidential front runners and not their policies. Or perhaps it’s just a case of “I have always been and always will be a Republican” and has nothing whatsoever to do with leadership qualities or policies ? Is this true ? I think it is. After the feckless leadership by Bush Jnr under the Republican flag, why else is McCain neck and neck with Obama ? It is certainly not based on Dubya’s winning Republican Presidential achievements is it ? And, as a comparison, how does Dubya compare with the present unpopular English leader and Labour PM — Gordon Brown? Both Bush Jnr and Brown compare very favourably in regard to current national hatred and dissent although, in terms of international respect, I would suggest that Gordon Brown is just a tad ahead. And I can safely tell you now that the Labour party in England has not got a cat in hellfire’s chance of winning the next election (even with a diffferent Labour leader) in 2010. It’s already a foregone conclusion. That is the punishment which is politically due to the Labour party(Brown’s party). But not so with the current Republican candidate and the American electorate. No, no — McCain will definitely be different…

So how do you find out what any presidential candidate stands for or what their policies are and, most importantly — Why ? Trouble is, the US system is not particularly transparent — not as transparent as the UK system anyway. Particularly in the support and funding by that candidates’ backers. It’s far less transparent in America. It even allows a running candidate such as Hillary Clinton and husband to refuse to declare their funding or earnings openly. In UK it is Law, any politician or political party must declare all earnings, funding and support.

Has Electorate America ever thought of looking “behind the door” to see who is supporting Obama or who is supporting McCain ? Who are the Oil Barons supporting or funding ? Who is Big Business funding or supporting ? Who is the Mafia supporting ? Who are the Green Ecos funding (indeed, have they got any money to do this?). Doesn’t this tell you anything significant about the real policies of the candidate? Remember that words are just that — words. But actions are the only thing that should ever convince us. Not high pla