Duke it out here. Those participating in the US election threads are advised that they do so at their own risk.
Reflections on the Miracle of Democracy at Work in the Greatest Nation on Earth
Presidential election minus 21 weeks
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GG
You rightly say that the economy will be the No.1 issue in November.
Can you not see how the cost, both past and ongoing, of the Iraq Adventure is a massive minus to the Repugs.
A lot of yanks hate the Iraq War because of the disgrace that is was/is. But a whole other group hate it for what it has done to the economy.
Iraq is, and will remain, a major loser for McCain.
TO THOSE COMMITTED McCAIN THAT HAVEN’T ADMITTED THAT HE IS GOING TO LOSE IN A LANDSLIDE. wAKE UP.
1297 Enemy Combatant Laugh! I laughed so much I nearly shat!
Now the siamese triplets are out.
They’ll all agree in unison.
Chris, it might be a bit early to call landslide. But the early signs are very positive.
If you were a republican stratigist you’d be looking at the ever growing list of “must win” and “must defend” state and starting to worrying htf you were going to turn it around.
I wonder if the democrats are toying with a “go for the kill early strategy” – ie build a lead in the polls to see if they can get the republicans to implode.
Remember what happened to the Libs when they got a 59-41 newspoll in the middile of APEC. I think the republicans are similarily fractured and vunerable.
The florida poll which has pushed that state into the democrat coloum on http://www.electoral-vote.com/ looks like an outlier. But, as any good footy coach will tell you, just making a contest, even if you don’t win the ball, helps your team mates.
Florida is in the “absolutely must win” list for the republicans and the “oh it would be nice” list for the democrats. The democrats even getting close at this early stage is spreading relativley scarce republican resources thin.
GG
I’m sure “the surge” has improved the Repugs chances by reducing the disaster of the Iraq War’s immediate impact. It will only delay it until after the election though. It’s still a loser for the Repugs thugh.
They still have no exit strategy. The US desperately doesn’t want democratic elections as they know their puppets will lose and the winners would kick the Yanks out of the country and void all the contracts with the US oil companies. As Finns said, it’s all about the OIL.
Ron
Obama is certainly showing a few signs of Rudd-like pragmatism. It’s the old “It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees” argument.
Personally, I am of the Kurt Vonnegut persuasion in thinking that the principle is wrong. Both suck and if you’re in that position, you have seriously fcuked up. It should be “It’s better to live on your feet than to die on your knees.”
A real president would announce an immediate withdrawal, no ifs or buts.
That’s not a real president Thaddeus, that’s someone who has no idea about the logistical planning that it would take to accomplish such an endeavour.
With that rotting smell coming from the Repugs, the “expected to win” Texta/Crayons theory must be causing some serious heartache. They cannot win without Florida, so I think Crist will start shortening for VP to buy them a state.
I should add that when you look at the poll history in FL and MI there has been a huge turnaround in Obama’s favour since their primaries were so fairly, wisely, magnanimously and democratically adjudicated on by Obama’s campaign despite Hillary’s interference. It certainly justifies his outstanding diplomacy regarding this contentious matter.
Amerikana S*xualis: the role of choice in election 08.
This evening, Bludgers, we feature in ‘toons a land where the world’s greatest root-artists live, work and play alongside the world’s worst wowsers.
Once it was don’t ask; don’t tell. Citizens were adept at pretending not to notice what floated others’ boats. But the surge in exhibitionism and conspicuous consumption has trumped all; mega-bucks are hollerin’ to be made. Altas no longer shrugs with embarrassment, he struts his stuff on American Idol and every hot-blooded citizen thinks that he or she can dance.http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/jlv/lowres/jlvn897l.jpg
Excessive displays are rampant and can no longer be contained by You-Tubal ligation.
Took a few secs for the penny to drop on the first ‘toon, but it speaks volumes about disenchanted women supporters of HRC. Toles suggests why the old warmonger, Johnny McBombster, who would readily overturn Roe v Wade if elected, is unlikely to gain their support.
Thurs June 19:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/tomtoles;_ylt=Agaq7O6uA_AVgFgLwG0nRDJT_b4F
Wed June 18:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/mikeluckovich;_ylt=AhSqlLuBbaAoB92CHgfdsTVR_b4F
Thurs June 19: http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/robrogers;_ylt=Aii8vdu3NwRdiSkjavUpFUcXvTYC
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/55047
Chris B at 1303, ever so delighted to have challenged your continence. A few good belly laughs each day is a wonderful fillup for good health going forward:)
ecky
I’ve noticed that almost all of the US political cartoonists are male. It’s more than 90%. What gives?
Did all those people really vote for Hillary? Paranoid ravings or the awful truth. I report, you decide.
We present evidence supporting the hypothesis that systematic attempts are being made to manipulate the results of the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination contest, through overt means such as crossover voting by non-Democrats, and through covert means targeted at the electronic vote tabulation process itself. The net effect has been to prolong the nomination battle and sharpen its negativity, thereby boosting the prospects of the Republican nominee and making more plausible his “victory” in November-either by an honest count or through continued exploitation of the proven security vulnerabilities in American voting systems.
CLINTON BEATS EXIT POLLS BY WIDE MARGIN IN EVERY STATE
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.html?path=HL0806/S00182.htm
Yes, Dio, you’re right, but don’t really know why that’s so. The Yahoo Editorial(political) cartoon page has only one woman listed, Etta Hulme.
In Oz, Cathy Wilcox is my favourite cartoonist with Bill Leake a close second. Bill is wonderfully ballsy and brash on occasions; will always love the way he saw El Rodente off, but Ms Wilcox has a wit that is both subtle and vicious. Don’t get to see her much these days as I only buy a dead tree SMH or two a year and havn’t noticed her work on fairfax online:(
—————————–
Here’s that one that didn’t link from my post at lucky 1313; perhaps it didn’t like the crowded copy.
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/jlv/lowres/jlvn897l.jpg
Dio
If Bomb Bomb picked Crist as his VP, the wingnuts would desert en masse screaming The Rapture is coming because a (allegedly) gay guy is a heartbeat from the Presidency.
But then again, when has McCain ever cared what the wingnuts thought lol.
The MSM is blowing up the division in the Dem Party just too keep this thing interesting and their ratings up. The ructions in the Repugs forces are seismic.
This race is as over as ours was in June last year.
HarryH
The similarities are increasing between the US and Oz. The fresh-faced boy gets in without much experience after dumping the incumbent party hack. He’s up against the old damaged bugger with more baggage than a 747 but a mean and ruthless streak a mile wide with a truly desperate and despicable party machine in tow.
Change is the rhetoric and the youngster streaks ahead. But the wily old bugger and his evil minions claws his way back…
I’d better add (before GG, Finns and Ron point it out anyway) that the fresh-faced boy compromises principles for pragmatism along the way to improve his electability.
Maybe if McCain wins we will get a real progressive alternative in four years time….
#1319 – [I’d better add (before GG, Finns and Ron point it out anyway) that the fresh-faced boy compromises principles for pragmatism along the way to improve his electability.] – yes Diog, the 3 Amigos know from way back that Pres. Obama is the best president that money can buy.
RIP, the New Politics, We are the change that Amerika has been waiting for. Just stick to my Chicago refined Oiliness.
1307 Work To Rule
Not to sure why you said it was an outlier here are the results from Votemaster.
State Obama McCain Start End Pollster
Florida 47% 43% Jun 09 Jun 16 Quinnipiac U.
Florida 49% 44% Jun 13 Jun 17 ARG
http://www.electoral-vote.com
1313 Enemy Combatant
Chris B at 1303 That was thanks to Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
Dio at 1315 and Bludgers,
The following video was produced by Princeton University. It explains precisely how the votes are stolen and will be stolen again. Dems used Diebold to “count” the votes in the N.H. Primary.
http://itpolicy.princeton.edu/voting/
Dio, Smelt a rat in New Hampshire when the MSM said that it was HRC’s teary episode that turned the vote around for her. Hope our Sep Pseph Wiz, Possum, offers an opinion on the excellently written and researched article that you linked.
Couple of quotes it:
“When the 700,000 plus absentee count was announced when in-person voting began, Obama had “436,034 to 303,276 for Clinton, or 59% to 41%, an 18% margin. But by the time the counting was done the next morning(by Diebold computers), Clinton had a 51% to 48% victory…… ”
“…..our best hope may be to follow the recent example of Ireland and the Netherlands-dispense with voting computers, and simply count our own paper ballots by hand.”
And like we do FFS!!
Suggest click on demo video of the Princeton Uni link where the rort is shelved in all it’s ugly rube-finessing electronic simplicicy.
Why did Obama decide to opt out of the public financing system?
Obama said he made the decision because “the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who’ve become masters at gaming this broken system.” But the bottom line is the campaign does not want to stop raising and spending its own money. The soon-to-be Democratic nominee has already shown the capacity to raise much more than $84 million over the same roughly two-month period that would be covered in the general election campaign. He raised $56.8 million in February, alone. Given his fundraising abilities, and considering Sen. John McCain ’s own funding struggles, Obama is likely to have a huge advantage over his Republican rival by the time the conventions roll around. Taking public funding would neutralize that.
More….
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=2&docID=news-000002901186
Obama Homecoming Sweet for Black Caucus
When 13 lawmakers formed the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971, a black president may have seemed like a distant hope.
But as the 43-member caucus gathered in a townhouse on Capitol Hill Thursday, its most famous member arrived with a security detail, cloaked in the mantle of the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
“We’ve never had anyone go as far as he has,” House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., a founding member of the CBC, said of Obama’s place among black presidential candidates. “When I supported Jesse Jackson and [Shirley] Chisholm, I never thought about them in any terms of becoming president.”
More….
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002901403
McCain Raises Money the Hard Way
John McCain’s campaign treated the news of Barack Obama abandoning the public financing system with the expected disdain, calling it evidence that Obama is “just another typical politician who will do and say whatever is most expedient for Barack Obama.”
But the comment may be tinged with more than a bit of envy.
McCain’s fundraising has improved dramatically since he secured the nomination in early March. But unlike Obama, he’s had to do it the very hard way, slogging through fundraiser after fundraiser, shaking hand after hand.
By the count of some reporters who trail him daily, McCain has attended more than 90 fundraisers since March 5, flying around the country to court high-rollers in hotels and private homes.
more….
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/19/mccain_raises_money_the_hard_w.html
Obama Launches Nationwide Ad Campaign
Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) will launch an 18-state ad buy beginning tomorrow in which he speaks directly to voters in an attempt to get out in front of the misinformation likely to be spread about him as the general election campaign revs up.
The ad, which runs 60 seconds, features Obama speaking to camera — telling voters about his background and his hopes for the country if he is elected. Interestingly, while the ad will run in all of the traditional battleground states (Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania etc.) it will also run in North Carolina, Alaska, Georgia, North Dakota and Montana — a sign that Obama is putting his money where his mouth is about expanding the general election playing field. (That the ad campaign was announced just hours after Obama decided to forego public financing in the general election is not a coincidence.)
The ad and more…
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/06/obama_launches_nationwide_ad_c.html
Obama and Clinton To Campaign Together.
Senator Barack Obama will be joined by his one-time rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, on the campaign trail on Friday June 27, his campaign announced.
A spokesman for Mr. Obama said more details would be announced soon.
The two Democrats had already agreed to appear together at a fund-raiser on June 26 at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel.
After a bruising primary fight, Mrs. Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed Mr. Obama earlier this month, asking her supporters to join her “in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.”
She has also been leaning on her donors to back Mr. Obama as the Democrats attempt to present a unified front against Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
more…….
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/obama-and-clinton-to-campaign-together/
The Votemaster.
Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the DSCC, is so flush with cash (over $40 million) and his Republican counterpart at the NRCC is so impoverished (about $6 million), that Van Hollen has picked another 14 Republican-held seats he wants to attack (English translation: is prepared to spend serious money on).
http://www.electoral-vote.com
1322 Chris B. Don’t know why but my Votemaster hadn’t updated. A third poll for Florida has come in.
State Obama McCain Start End Pollster
Florida 39% 47% Jun 18 Jun 18 Rasmussen
“Miller marshals a brigade of contributors, including investigative reporters, editors, bloggers, university professors, activists, statisticians and tech nerds. They team up to present an array of warning signs that America should brace for the Great Election Robbery of 2008.”
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3750/the_great_election_robbery_of_2008/
The guy driving the Kellog Brown Root road tank is Milo Minderbinder. The two grunts are supernumeraries from Catch-22.
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/55011
When your people control the voting computers, it’s easy-peasy to drill for oil anywhere you find it. Electoral backlash is neutralised by untraceable, rigged ballot counting. The Florida Governor is GOP and whaddya know, they used Diebold to do their “counting” for them. Ain’t democracy grand?
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/55115
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/55128
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/55074
From a couple of days ago – CBS’s Lara Logan Slams American Coverage Of Iraq War during an interview with Jon Stewart. While Jon Stewart content is generally aimed at keeping people entertained, this piece leaves you with rather empty feeling.
Its a reality check about American media reporting.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/18/cbss-lara-logan-slams-ame_n_107914.html
I like the Obama ad. Shows his white mother and grandparents quite deliberately at the start. When talking of values, he probably shouldnt have mentioned his Christianity, as there is probably still a fair slice of the electorate that thinks he is muslim.
Note the “working families” bit! But he doesnt say, New Leadership!
The second lead on Drudge under the headline “NEWSWEEK SHOCK POLL” in red. Matty is really on the side of the good guys this time. Obama is up 51% to 36% in a national poll. That’s about the same as Ruddski’s lead over the Rodent at the same time last year.
Barack’s Bounce
The latest NEWSWEEK Poll shows the Democrat with a 15-point lead over McCain.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/142465/page/1
Diogenes at 1335
Good news indeed! But we should also keep in mind the USA Today/Gallup poll (closing the same day) which puts Obama/McCain at 50/44 (a 3 point improvement for Obama since the last poll from the group back at the end of May).
But even so, I still like the way the graph is trending over on RCP.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html
Chuck Hagel is waiting beside the phone for Obama to call.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080620/ap_on_el_pr/obama_hagel
Black Eagle (a.k.a. Barack Obama) makes his seal.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/the-great-seal-of-obamaland/
1335 Diogenes After the Newsweek poll, maybe it was the 3rd Florida poll that was the outlier. Not the other 2.
1335 Diogenes The shock is that it is only 15%.
Cat at 1338 re:Obama’s seal.
Vero Possumus-Yes we can.
heh!
Possum,
My point about drilling off Florida is getting an airing.
‘By putting the full weight of the White House behind the idea of opening up America’s coastal waters to oil exploration, and calling on Congressional Democrats to repeal a 27-year-old drilling ban, Mr. Bush has effectively tapped into rising anger over $4-a-gallon gas, and elevated the Washington debate over energy policy into an ever bigger issue in this year’s presidential election campaign.
It’s just the kind of pocketbook matter that resonates strongly with the working-class voters whose support the presumptive Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, must win if he is going to beat Mr. McCain this fall’.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/us/politics/20web-stolberg.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Doesn’t necessarily mean it will work.
“Vee vas zimplee follovink ordas, Herr Prosecutah”…..(Nuremburg mantra)
————-
“Roy Blunt and Steny Hoyer are practically tongue kissing on the (Congressional) floor right now and congratulating each other on their mutual fabulousness in negotiating the rape of the constitution this morning. It’s quite a love fest.
The lesson from this is that your Representatives really believe that if “the government” tells you to do something, you do it, even if it’s illegal. The good news is that if you are a multibillion dollar corporation with massive access to the private lives of ordinary American, you will never be held liable…….
Capitulating to the most unpopular lame duck president in history because they are afraid of him. Makes you proud to be a Democrat doesn’t it?”
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/they-were-only-following-orders-by.html
Recent indications suggest that Gore Vidal was right all along:
“Democracy is supposed to give you the feeling of choice, like Painkiller X and Painkiller Y. But they’re both just aspirin.”
“Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.”
“…It was Benjamin Franklin, I think, who said that those who prefer security to liberty deserve neither, which is my view.”
——————————
American is in grave peril of being swamped by San Francisco values!!
http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/20080620_operating_at_code_fabulous/
Laurie Oakes makes some points about the impact on Australia of an Obama Presidency. Obama opposes FT agreements and is shaping up as a protectionist.
Not necessarily good news cobbers.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23896554-5000117,00.html
GG @ 1344,
I’ve been thinking the same for quite a while. It’s one of the main reasons I am quite ambivalent about who wins. (Though I’m pretty sure Obama will win).
GG
I have just been reading a book about cannibalism. It claims that of the 8 main human emotions, shame was the last to develop in evolution as well as being the last to manifest as a person grows older.
Perhaps Hillary is an evolutionary throwback.
Diogenes,
Reading! scmeading! Just watch Port Adelaide after today’s loss to Richmond.
I know he is the ” Presumptive Democratic nominee”, but this is ridiculous and a little too presumptious. Has success gone to his head? The audacity of dumbness.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/20/when-the-obama-logo-and-presidential-seal-morph/
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/06/20/newseals.ap.wh.jpg
In disappointing news for Obama, The Republicans have released a number of talking points showing him as a “flip flopper”.
No mention of his “blackness” or his “feisty wife”. Those dang republicans are playing so unfair.
http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/06/20/can-mccain-make-obamakerry/
GG
I think Obama will be happy to have a flip-flopping debate with McBush.
Tax cuts, torture, fundamentalists, gay unions, Confederate flag, off-shore oil drilling, immigration, wire-tapping, defense spending, balancing the budget… And that was just in one day. Does he stand for anything? The answer is the same as for Hillary and Howard. The only thing he stands for is getting elected. And the polls are showing he is FCUKED!
McCain Sets a New Record: 10 Flip-Flops in Two Weeks
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/16/mccain-sets-a-new-record-10-flip-flops-in-two-weeks/
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