2008 USP(G)ET pt. II: counting the days to 2012 primary thread 1

Obama's celebrity is backed by actual credibility

oh, FISA, oh don't you cry for meee....

lol "Barack the bombthrower"

copying from the other thread 'cause the other thread should move over here. matt I feel you, the momentum shift is kinda "wtf," but this "ever again" bit is silliness. look at history. absolutely nothing is permanent, even though "we have arrived at the solution!" is a popular political sentiment and it always sounds scary coming from the other side.

You know, I'm no longer concerned about history. When Bush was re-elected, I told myself, "Well, the nation endured Grant and Garfield and Arthur and those guys. It can't crumble too much in four years."

But now, I'm realizing that I've "only" got four or five decades left here, that I'm likely going to be an elderly man when I finally see another Chief Justice, so yes, the opportunity to lose yet another election, especially when we've got a guy like Obama, is a bit frightening.

by "credibility" I don't really mean actual credibility -- I mean I think Obama has the political wisdom to be able to sustain ppl's faith in him, whereas the Palin thing seems like it could collapse much more easily

I wonder if McCain will get a boost in the polls from the 9/11 anniversary stuff.

Obama has the ability to control the terms of the debate (something Kerry was horrible at) - I think he'll be aiight

oh, FISA, oh don't you cry for meee....

morbs is not just a Doctor, but a community organizer, law review editor, lawyer, State Senator, United States Senator and Presidential nominee

i'm nervous

P.Plains, this is kind of a weird question on this thread, but not really: does Beeps have joint US/Australian citizenship?

and I WON'T TAKE AWAY YER HANDGUN!

You know, I'm no longer concerned about history. When Bush was re-elected, I told myself, "Well, the nation endured Grant and Garfield and Arthur and those guys. It can't crumble too much in four years."

But now, I'm realizing that I've "only" got four or five decades left here, that I'm likely going to be an elderly man when I finally see another Chief Justice, so yes, the opportunity to lose yet another election, especially when we've got a guy like Obama, is a bit frightening.

― Pleasant Plains, Thursday, September 11, 2008 12:27 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^ award for most depressing post I've ever read on ilx, cheers

nowadays I'm really fucking wishing that the government would take away people's handguns, grrrr

http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2008/09/barack-obama-on-bell-curve.php

from 1994

wau

Real opportunity would mean quality prenatal care for all women and well-funded and innovative public schools for all children. Real opportunity would mean a job at a living wage for everyone who was willing to work, jobs that can return some structure and dignity to people's lives and give inner-city children something more than a basketball rim to shoot for. In the short run, such ladders of opportunity are going to cost more, not less, than either welfare or affirmative action. But, in the long run, our investment should payoff handsomely. That we fail to make this investment is just plain stupid. It's not the result of an intellectual deficit. It's theresult of a moral deficit.

I don't know what Beeps' citizenship situation is like. She's obviously Merricun for being born here. Yet her mother is an Australian citizen. It might be one of those things she doesn't have to worry about until she's 18.

You're too kind, E3. :-D

that guy

i got oirish citizenship cuz my mom was born there. automatically. maybe australia is the same?

HI DERE FOR PREZ

If, as political scientists like to tell us, this is the time when voters start to pay attention, consider what they’re hearing from Obama and the Democratic Party:

On the Iraq War, Obama was pushed into saying that the “surge worked beyond anyone’s wildest expectations” to the Fox News blowhard, Bill O’Reilly. Despite being an inaccurate – if not completely spineless – position, it effectively handed what was the number one issue directly over to Mr. Surge himself, John McCain.

On energy issues, the Dems are in the middle of doing an about-face on offshore drilling. Instead of showing some spine and sanity in the face of the Republican’s new – and scary – hit chant of “drill baby, drill,” the Dems are flip-flopping like McCain on the issue and, according to The Hill, preparing to help pass new offshore drilling allowances.

On health care, the Obama campaign continues to muddy and muddle through a confusing and all-but-impossible to understand “solution” that will allow the insurance companies and “the market” to remain in control. If it sounds a lot like the Hilary plan of 1993, well, it is. And we all know how that ended up – 15 long years ago. Thanks Dems. Sorry, but any health care plan from the Dems that doesn’t include the words “universal” or “single-payer” is just a pale imitation of the Republicans’ plan. In other words, not much change there.

http://www.counterpunch.org/colby09092008.html

“the market”

but any health care plan from the Dems that doesn’t include the words “universal” or “single-payer” is just a pale imitation of the Republicans’ plan

hey, if you can intone political mantras, you never need to worry about policy substance

nowadays I'm really fucking wishing that the government would take away people's handguns, grrrr

...and give them to you?

raise your hand if you actually understand anything about either candidate's health care policy

(i am not raising my hand :-/ )

those of us who watch the coverage and appreciate nuance understand what else obama said about guns and what audience he was speaking to

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/09/05/obama-im-not-going-to-take-your-guns-away/

Duryea, PA is near Scranton. The number of murders in Scranton in 2006 was zero.

You know, I'm no longer concerned about history.

you're goin' the wrong way PP! you're supposed to get more concerned w/history!

gabbnerd, the supernumerary nipple of Dem propaganda, citing the WSJ...

that blahg stops short of the "handgun" quote.

nowadays I'm really fucking wishing that the government would take away people's handguns, grrrr

...and give them to you?

This time, no. Long story short, my wife has a cousin who was shot and killed earlier this week. He was 19.

But see if HE'D hand a handgun he could have "defended himself".

(Sorry - that sucks, DJP)

That's awful DP, I'm sorry.

ugh, fucking "thanks but no thanks" go jump in a lake you shithead lowbrow rube'

xposts, I'm sorry DP

the handgun quote, dorkius, is from Lebanon, VA, pop. 3200, which recorded 0 murders between 2001 and 2006

very sorry dan : (

Thanks. Been a shitty week.

Woof! Sorry about it, Dan.

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/080911DailyUpdateGraph1_p1m9n3.gif

We don't live in an age of looking up to authority anymore. We don't cotton to the idea that there are people who are our betters. In this time of "American Idol," bedroom bloggers and the belief that experience, knowledge and education don't necessarily mean a whole lot, Palin is a symbol, a statement that anyone can make it if he or she really tries.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/09/11/ST2008091101260.html

HAHA!! THE FUCK? says you! i don't want anyone just like me running this shit.

yeah that article is full of sad quotes

But the governor of Alaska is winning people over with empathy, which the dictionary says means "understanding and entering into another's feelings,"

how do I shot journalist

"journalist"

US of Dumb Militarists

(and Bam knows it, that's what he wants to head)

But, as Allison McGarvey, a teacher who lives in Stafford County, said, Palin is "a courageous woman, and what she doesn't know, she can learn quickly. Let's face it, no president knows all the issues. Anyway, I don't see how a candidate can pick one stand and just stick to it. The world situation changes every day. It's their moral and ethical background that's important."

Now ask her why she didn't vote for Kerry...

hai gais how are you hey it looks like ilx is back up, ps fuck sarah palin & sen. john mccain basically

so is there some kind of McCain-Obama debate tonight...? What is this "Forum" on "service" that CNN keeps advertising

David "Banalities" Broder:

But instead of reserving judgment, many of the Republicans I talked to in Washington have started a premature celebration, while their Democratic counterparts have panicked and called for Obama to "start fighting."

The two reactions were based on suspiciously large shifts the Post poll and others reported among some voter groups -- especially white women -- and on some issues. McCain vaulted past Obama among those women and scored big gains on the economy and on the capacity to change Washington. I call those shifts "suspiciously large," not because I doubt the accuracy or the methodology on the surveys but because the years have taught me that such swerves in voter opinion are likely to be temporary.

What we know is that the American people take the choice of a new president very seriously -- especially when their nation is at war and the economy is behaving in a way that causes real concern.

Relatively few Americans have ever cast a ballot for either McCain or Obama. McCain, after two presidential campaigns and a long career in Congress, is comparatively familiar. But Obama came onto the public's radar screen only this year, and Biden and Palin are still strangers to most of their fellow citizens.

The curiosity about all four is intense, which means that the learning process may go relatively quickly. But because voters know that they have until Nov. 4 to figure out their choice, those who are less partisan and more independent will take their time.

They will search carefully for clues that can give them confidence that they are making the right choice. Those clues may come in displays of character, in policy promises or in endorsements by trusted sources. Informal conversations among friends and family will be as important as TV ads or the candidates' speeches.

Multiply these factors by the political geography of this 51-part election, with nearly a dozen plausible tossup states, and the uncertainty of the outcome is overwhelming. We may go well into October and not know who will be succeeding George W. Bush.

Some find this unsettling and unacceptable, and they give full license to their emotions of joy or despair. I find it wonderful, even inspiring. This has been -- and remains -- the election of a lifetime.

Shakey: To commemorate 9-11, Obama and McCain are both flying a plane into the Empire State Building.

awesome

to the tune of "Barracuda" I hope

They will search carefully for clues that can give them confidence that they are making the right choice. Those clues may come in displays of character, in policy promises or in endorsements by trusted sources. Informal conversations among friends and family will be as important as TV ads or the candidates' speeches.

what, exactly, is the press for? how, exactly, can you write the above, and remain employed?

i've never hated the "MSM" more than i have in the last week.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-chafee-palin,0,7590944.story

Former GOP Sen. Lincoln Chafee calls McCain running mate Sarah Palin a 'cocky wacko'

xp, bookmark is no use for looking back through the thread if you've got a slow computer/connection

is the third debate tonight?

Tomorrow.

There you go again, caek, always looking backwards when we've got the future ahead of us.

We should have this bookmark / no bookmark discussion more often.

Probably already linked but this story on Obama's ground game is well worth a read.

Bring it, bitches: Very long threads

SHUT UP ALREADY: Ultimate 2008 US Presidential Election Thread For Whiners

Tomorrow's debate will be a sit-down, I take it.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20081014/capt.89988dc0f5964c00af387eaed2203ef4.presidential_debate_nyts101.jpg