Democratic Infighting Could Spell November Disaster

Do Democrats really want John McCain as their future President? Do they want, as Barack Obama has dramatically put it, "four more years of George W. Bush?" The latest polling seems to suggest that the intense Obama-Clinton race, with the media coverage feverishly playing up only the negative aspects, has become a bloodbath between both the candidates, and, more importantly their supporters. It has produced a kind of bitterness that surely only aids McCain's pursuit of the White House. The latest Gallup Poll shows some startling figures:

28% of Clinton supporters would vote for McCain over Obama, while 19% of Obama supporters would vote for McCain over Clinton.

What is going on here??

If you are a hard-nosed, yellow-dog Democrat it borders on lunacy to abandon your party and either vote for John McCain, or ignore the voting booth altogether. What good does that do? Again, as I have stated before, Obama and Clinton are glaringly similar on policy, and I would think that (call me naive) most fair-minded Democrats would rather see a Clinton or Obama White House than a McCain one. At any cost. Myself being more of a moderate, independent voter, a McCain presidency is not the end of the world for me, but to see these rank and file Democrats polling like this is surprising to say the least. These are significant percentages, and could hand McCain victory.

I do want to stress that these are just polls in March, in the heat of the battle, and that of course things will be different come September. But these numbers should not be cast aside entirely, for they serve to highlight the growing divisiveness of this contest as it drags on. Hatred is brewing between the two camps, and although I believe that much will be reconciled by November (quite possibly by a shared ticket to appease both camps), if even a small percentage of Democrats stay home or pull the lever for McCain, in the tight contest I believe the general election will be, those votes will matter and could decide the outcome.

Clinton has vowed to stay in the race through the end of primary season, which means another two and a half months at least. And while I believe it is well within her rights to see how some key midwestern primaries shape out and to see the end result of the Michigan-Florida debacle, her commitment to the cause means the bitterness will only grow stronger and could push right up to the convention in August. This will leave the Democratic Party with precious little time to launch a general election campaign to thwart the Republican machine. Let's hope both candidates run a civil and noble campaign focused on the issues from here on out, and that embittered Democratic voters do not trade in their values for pride in November.

McCain Does It Again: The Mortgage Crisis

Yesterday, McCain himself once again proved why he should not be president. The NY Times and other media reported that he sees no reason for the government to get involved in the mortgage crisis simply because

"Some Americans bought homes they couldn’t afford, betting that rising prices would make it easier to refinance later at more affordable rates ...”

He apparently doesn't understand the current crisis. He said,

“Government assistance to the banking system should be based solely on preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy,”

What is wrong with this man? How did he ever get nominated? Maybe, just like good ole GWB, he just doesn't read newspapers or watch news. The Dems must have been real lucky because the GOPhers nominated this clueless individual. Otherwise, we Dems would be in real trouble this fall. This man epitomizes the reasons why America is almost ready to finally rid itself of the republican party. That party lost track of America, forgot the needs of the people, mistook aggression for compassion, took us to where we are now, and now, refuses to accept responsibility.

If I remember correctly the Bear Stearns debacle occurred because of its subprime lending practices. And, please, someone tell McCain that Bear Stearns' fall could be the precursor to a world-wide economic crisis. It's time call out McCain for what he is, to question him, to investigate him, what he says, and what he says he believes. If he truly believes that the US should reserve "bail-outs" for systemic risks, and he doesn't believe that we should be offering assistance now, then what does he think just happened, and is continuing to happen.

Tens of thousands of Americans are losing their homes and their future to foreclosure. The FDIC is bracing for about 150 US bank failures in the coming 3 years. Home prices are in steep decline. already reaching record drops all across our nation.

So, why won't the national media call him out on his ridiculous economic views? If he doesn't think we are at systemic risk right now, then where are we? Is he having visions? Does he think he can dream us out of this economic mess? This man should not be president. We cannot afford it.

John McCain: Republican Enigma

John McCain is a principled man, and he relies on his principles to guide his policy decisions. It is an unfortunate reality of any presidential election season that the candidates move to the poles of each of their respective parties in order to build a solid base to carry the nomination. So, of course, McCain has begun to sell himself as a conservative Republican, when most of the electorate knows he is not a Bush Republican. He is an independent thinker on many issues, and hardly embodies the conservative movement. This is why he has consistently been vilified by the right wing of the party, from Falwell to Limbaugh. McCain is a moderate politician, which is why he scores so well with independent voters. I believe it will be difficult to position himself as "your conservative Republican candidate," and two instances, brought to attention in today's NY Times, offer insight into the psychology of the Arizona Senator, and underscore how one is hard-pressed to really put a political label on him.

Disenchanted with the Republican party after his failed attempt to be its nominee in 2000, McCain deliberated leaving the party and becoming an independent. He had talks with leading Democrats on the matter, and whichever camp you want to believe, that either McCain and his team approached the Dems, or vice-versa, it is a telling sign that McCain was even pondering leaving his party. A proud "conservative Republican" would not seriously discuss this with the rival party. Not three years later McCain had talks with John Kerry about a potential shared ticket for the 2004 Presidential Election. While such a ticket seems ludicrous, what with Kerry's antiwar posture and McCain's hawkish foreign policy, the fact that McCain flirted with the idea means he is not in the right wing of his party. He is a centrist Republican, and in all honesty, I think positioning himself in such a way now that he has wrapped up the nomination will better serve him. With Bush's abysmal polling and the 2006 Democratic Congressional victories, it is apparent America is jaded by the Republican party, especially it's right wing. Selling himself as a moderate Republican will give him a better chance in November I believe, because that's what he is.

He favors deficit reduction to Bush's constant tax cuts (although in this political season he has flip-flopped on the matter, a bad move in my estimation). He originally opposed Bush's tax cuts because of how disproportionately it favored the wealthy, and I think this gives insight to where he stands on tax issues. He has long been a champion of campaign finance reform, he has been at odds with Bush on environmental issues, taking a more regulation-based stance. He has been outspoken about alternative fuels and our need to reduce foreign oil dependence, and has taken a stronger stance on global warming. He voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, he supports stem cell research and has sided with prominent Democrats on immigration policy. A victim of torture himself, he has consistently butted heads with Republicans on America's interrogation tactics, and has been vehement about the US upholding international standards and immediately ceasing any torture being implemented.

While McCain is definitely a Republican, he is hardly the conservative Republican he is now claiming he is, and would be better served by positioning himself as the moderate Republican he is, and not falling victim to partisan hackery that plagues this nation. We need more independent thinkers in Washington, and McCain is a good example of a politician that is not afraid to alienate his party to stand up for his principles.

McCain Takes Fallible Stance For Facing The Blues

McCain finally got back in the headlines by suspending a staffer today for posting a video about Obama and his pastor Wright. Apparently aired on YouTube, the video implied that Obama was somehow unpatriotic and included the now recognizable clips of the Reverend's sermons.

What is interesting here though, is not the scandal of the video, but the stance that McCain is taking. He is touting, publicly, that he will not engage in personal attacks with Democrats. Does he expect us to forget his campaign against Mitt Romney. Granted, Obama and Clinton are distracting enough but you cannot imagine the people who are truly passionate about politics to forget the heated debates where Huckabee pleaded to be heard with comments such as: "I didn't come here to umpire a ballgame between these two [McCain and Romney]... I came to take a swing at a few myself."

I do not think this is an attempt to gain media attention; he did the right thing to refute his staffer's opinions. I do think that he his choosing his words a little too carefully. We have seen him succumb to personal attacks before so why would that be different when he is facing opponents that aren't even a part of his own party? It seems like he might be trapping himself.

No one should ever intentionally say things meant only to hurt feelings or point out baseless flaws, but occasionally there are aspects of a person's life that should be highlighted in order to get a better view of the whole picture. By promising not to use personal comments in debate, he may be gaining some short term publicity and respect for his ethical decisions, but he will be limiting himself in the future at best, and at worst, he will be condemned as a hypocrite. This is a lofty strategy and one that could come back to haunt him.

HomoSEXuality is all about SEX!

http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/stateofmine/2008/02/rick-perry-if-homosexuality-isnt-about.php

I know Rick Perry was brought up in an earlier post but I thought this was too funny just to bring up in the comments. No way McCain is picking this heterosexual.

New blog?!? Let's chat.....

I've now heard from more than one source at the Texas Capitol that Rick Perry is on McCain's short list for VP candidates. I think this would be a horrible mistake for the McCain camp. Rick Perry isn't going to bring any extra votes from anywhere, much less his own state. What will the American public think when they see another governor from the state of Texas on the ballot?? I'm all for change and Perry isn't it.

Any thoughts?

i like colors

How many Iraqi lives is my ps3 worth?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/opinion/04herbert.html?em&ex=1204866000&en=85633a4996272226&ei=5087%0A

I think this article brings up an interesting and overlooked result of the Iraq war. At what point do you sacrifice the health of the Iraqi people for the health of the US Economy? Ok, lets say that this war is not about overthrowing a ruthless dictator but creating a presence in the oil drenched, Israeli inhabited, terrorist safe haven Middle East. At what point does our economy stink so bad that it becomes illogical to sustain?

I don't have the answers to these questions nor am I well informed enough to speculate. However, pertaining to the election I suspect that those lower to middle class Americans who are really starting to get hit will look to the ill-informed/ill-advised decision to invade Iraq and wonder how much that decision has affected their checking account. Or do they really want a military hawk like McCain spending money in Iraq for the next 100 years or for the government to pay their child's college tuition and health care?

Iraq, McCain and the Dems

Check this article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/02/foreman.raw.politics/index.html

The Iraq War has been touted as McCain's achilles' heel, but as the numbers come out of Iraq there is some hope that something can be salvaged from this painstaking and draining war. Now, that is not to say that things aren't still grim, but I am interested in seeing these exchanges as we head into the general election season between McCain and Obama/Clinton. As the article notes, if McCain can even slightly alter the opinion of the 2/3 of the country that disapprove of the war, then it may be a tight race. If he can underscore the significant strides made since the surge last year, then perhaps the general public will not completely vilify him when it comes to Iraq. Remember, this is the man that has always supported the war, but the man that has also consistently stated that it was mismanaged and executed poorly by the Bush administration. This is not a slam dunk issue for the Democrats as was previously thought (at least by me). They will have to explain what their course of action is after we withdraw all troops, as they have both stated they want to do very quickly into their first term. We know what McCain's course of action is, he has clearly told the American people from the start.