http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-endorse19-2008oct19,0,5198206.story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101603436.html
In the final two seasons of the television drama, The West Wing, the storyline revolves around two men running to replace Martin Sheen’s character Jed Bartlett as President of the United States. One is seen as an older man who is considered to be an expert of foreign policy and one who has argued with his party before. He is the Republican nominee for President. The other is a young congressman who worked in his state government before and has only been in Washington a short time. He is the Democratic nominee for President. Oh, he is also a minority.
Does this at all sound familiar? Well if it does, wait till I tell you more of the story. The Democratic Nominee was considered a long shot when he announced he was going to run for President. Many thought the name that everyone knew; in this case the Vice-President was going to get the Democratic nomination. Also in the show, there was a floor-fight between these two candidates with both sides not willing to give an inch.
Eventually, it was seen that this young congressmen, with his message of hope and working together would get the nomination and eventually after a hard fought campaign with the older, experienced Republican; the Democratic candidate won the election.
Now there are some differences. One the Democratic nominee, named Matthew Santos and played by Jimmy Smits, is a Hispanic and not an African-American like Barack Obama, who is half African-American and half white. Santos is married to a white woman, is from Texas, a city councilmen and mayor of Houston before becoming a Congressman. He also is a veteran of the First Gulf War.
But there are a lot more similarities then the ones I had previously described. Santos, like Obama, has two children. Santos chooses an older, white man with a lot of foreign policy experience to be his Vice-President. As President, he inherits a dire military situation from the proceeding President.
Santos is also seen as someone who brought in the youth vote like no had since John Kennedy did and relied on those votes to help him get into office. Just like Barack Obama, who is heavily relying on the youth vote to help win the Presidency.
There are also lots of similarities on the Republican side as well. Arnold Vinick, played by Alan Alda, is seen as a Republican that does not always agree with his base. While he is in favor of the tax cuts, he differs a lot with the social conservatives. Vinick is pro-choice, is not religious, no longer married to his first wife and has strong foreign policy credentials. Vinick was also forced by the GOP to pick a young and upcoming social conservative to be his Vice-Presidential choice, only the one in the show was a man. Vinick is also from a western state.
John McCain, who is also from a western state, is in favor of more tax cuts, is no longer married to his first wife, has never been seen as really religious and even though he is pro-life, he has differed with social conservatives on a number of things like torture and climate change. McCain also was forced to pick a young and upcoming social conservative as his VP choice in Sarah Palin.
During the seventh and final season of the show, the race between Santos and Vinick is virtually deadlocked until a huge event happens, in the show it was the threat of a nuclear power meltdown, which hurts Vinick because he is a huge supporter of nuclear power. After that episode, Vinick never really gets his candidacy back on track and ends up losing to Santos.
This is familiar to the economic situation that both Obama and McCain face today. The race was virtually tied until the market began to fall and Americans realized what a dire state the economy is in. As a result of the market, more Americans seen to trust Obama on the economy and that has propelled to him to leads in national polls as well as the Electoral College.
The Wikipedia page for The West Wing says that according to writer and producer Eli Attie, Santos is based on Barack Obama. While that may be true, the final episode was originally broadcasted on May 14, 2006, nine months before Obama announced his candidacy for President. It is either a really remarkable coincidence or the writers knew something everyone else did not.
At the end of The West Wing, Santos wins election after a very close vote. As it stands now with 18 days left, Obama looks like he will win a very close election. We will just have to wait and see if Obama gets his Hollywood ending.
I am very lucky to have been born with such wonderful women in my life. I still have both of my grandmothers who are in incredible health even as they reach their late 70’s. I have a very strong willed mother who has always been there for me in times of happiness and sadness. I have a great girlfriend who is not only smart but truly beautiful and caring. And while watching the debate last night, all I could think about was them.
I was very glad when Bob Schieffer brought up the Roe V. Wade question because none of the other debates had mentioned really any social issues and I wanted to make sure that these older women who were supporters of Hillary Clinton and were still uneasy about supporting Barack Obama knew the truth about John McCain and how he feels on the issues that are important to all Americans, but especially to women.
When John McCain used his hands as little quotes about “women’s health exception,” it made me as mad as I have been in a very long time. First of all, who is any man to say what is right and wrong for a woman and her body. But when a man, a white man in his 70’s nonetheless, ridicules the most important exception that there could be, life or possibly death, than he has crossed the line.
When he said the health exception is the excuse that the pro-abortion lobby has used and exploited for making abortion more accessible, I literally wanted to hit him. How can anyone, especially someone who is running for President give women such a slap in the face like he did? I mean think about it, he said that even if the life of the mother could be in danger and that the only way to save her is through an abortion, he basically said who cares.
How can any woman actually say that they are proud to support John McCain after that? He basically said women’s health and safety is not an issue for him. How can that be possible?
I am pro-choice, not pro-abortion. Like Barack Obama said, no one is pro-abortion. And do you know how we lower abortion rates? We teach people safe sex practices, from abstinence to condom use, to the morning after pill to the birth control pill. That is how abortion rates will go down.
But how can anyone, namely a major party candidate for President ridicule women’s health like that and expect to win or even come close? I just do not know.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27188603/
This is why we need everyone in Ohio and everyone else in every other state to vote for Barack Obama.
Not only does he have over 300 Votes, he also has more states that are considered solid than John McCain has total. However, to all Obama supporters, 270 electoral votes should not be the goal anymore, 300-320 should be.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/
For the first time in this election, Barack Obama is attracting 50% of the electorate. This is a very important milestone. Let's get this up to 55%, which will be a landslide for Barack Obama and the GOP will not know what hit them.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html
There is less than one month until the election, an election that will decide the next President of the United States...
The person elected will be the president of 'all' Americans, not just the Democrats or the Republicans. It's that time that we all need to come together, Democrats and Republicans alike. In a Bi-Partisan effort for America: If you support Barack Obama, please drive with your headlights on during the day.If you support John McCain, please drive with your headlights off at night. Together, we can make it happen!
This has to be said as load and clear and possible and not just from someone like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow but from the likes of Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson. John McCain has become a disgrace. That’s how simple it really is. He has become someone of intolerance, negativity and just a flat out liar. To believe that he really puts country first while he has “supporters” screaming “treason, off with his head,” and “kill him”, is just insulting.
John McCain, the 2008 version is pathetic and it has to be said. It is really sad to see someone who at least stood up on principle once a while reduced to this level. For someone who has been tortured before to present himself in this light is truly sad.
There is no doubt that this is out of desperation because he most likely has internal polls that shows that he farther down that the main stream media is reporting, but that is not an excuse. We have had 43 presidents, that means we have had 43 men that have lost the presidency and to my memory and my obsessive study of history, none of them have acted like this.
I applaud those Republicans and Independents who have spoken against this type of behavior and truly encourage more to do so. But also think many more individuals need to speak up on this issue too because what is happening at these McCain-Palin rallies is almost mob behavior and I worry that if some of them see anyone that resembles Barack Obama, they are going to attack him or her.
But as a note to you Senator McCain, stop it. You are not only embarrassing yourself, your family and your party, but you are embarrassing your country. There are many of us in the civilized part of the country that condemn this behavior and think you are pathetic for encouraging it. You of all people, a man who was tortured for years, should have the intellectual capacity to realize this is wrong. Your running mate may not have that same capacity, but you do.
You know how I know you do? Because in 2000, you stood against this type of speech when it was sad your fathered a black child. But what are you doing now; attack Obama because he is not white. What John is the difference? There is none. You are the definition of the pot calling the kettle black and it’s pathetic.
I truly, truly hope McCain gets creamed in this election because it would show two things. One it would be pathetic justice for using this type of campaigning but the other would be to show that this type of rhetoric does not work and hopefully Republicans, because in all honesty, it is the party that depends on it, would stop using it.
I never thought I would say this, but the one thing that worries me a little is people thinking that Barack Obama has a big enough lead that there will not be a need to show up to vote one election day. But it is a concern that I have heard from more than a few people. I do not agree with it given the historic nature of his candidacy, but it is something that I felt I must address.
As of October 9, Real Clear Politics now has Barack Obama over 270 electoral votes with 277 with still 98 toss up states. Of course, Obama only needs 270 to win the presidency but what some people do not realize, 270 electoral votes should no longer be the Obama campaigns or his supporters goal. Our new goal should be 300 electoral votes, or even more.
This is for a variety of reasons, one being the importances of gaining a big enough lead more possible to show how much of a better candidate Obama is than John McCain. If Obama wins 300 or more electoral votes, it is a blowout and it will make the Republicans look weaker then they truly are. Second, the higher the voter turnout, the better chances of down ticketing Democrats have. If there is a high enough voter turnout, Democrats would have a great chance of gaining 60 seats in the senate, thus establishing a veto-proof majority.
But another important reason why Democrats must vote in force, especially those in California is because of certain propositions. In California, there are very important ones to vote on, namely Prop 8, which is voted for would criminalize gay marriage, as well as a couple other ones that want to make a minor get a parental notification before getting an abortion and one that deals with alternative fuels.
So yes, our main goal as a party and a country should be electing Barack Obama president but in doing so, we also need to make sure we establish other very important goals, which is why no matter how big or small Obama’s lead in on November 4th, we need everyone we can to vote.
This is now the time to make sure that this race will not even be close. No one should become complacient.
Our goal should no longer be 270, but 300 electoral votes, or 330.
This is an Iraqi Vet and his personal story
I am tring to raise $1,000 for every month that I was in Iraq in 2005 and 2006. I was deployed for 15 months, so my goal is to raise $15,000 for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. We can not afford another Republican in office. Please Help Me To Reach My Goal!
PLease donate what you can to help him reach his goal.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/stevelemke
After watching Sarah Palin’s interview with Charlie Gibson, it is clear that the only reason that John McCain picked her to be his running-mate is because she is a woman and that he is a conservative nut.
Sarah Palin does not know what the Bush Doctrine is and that is shocking for many reasons. But the main reason is because she is the Republican VP choice to replace his administration. The Bush Doctrine says that we have the right to a preemptive strike any country if we deem it necessary. She thought it was his Iraq War policy. She did not know the difference. The proof is here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/11/sarah-palins-charlie-gibs_n_125772.html
Sarah Palin also thinks that buy being a leader on energy, something that can be very much disputed because of her ties to big oil, she is well versed in national security. That also is idiotic. National security involves energy, but frankly it involves a lot more than that. The proof is here:
In light of this, it is clear that she is not ready to be second in command to a potential president who has had cancer multiple times and would be the oldest sitting president from his inauguration.
John McCain picked her for the simple fact that Barack Obama did not pick Hillary Clinton as his VP. He is using her to try and garner up support for the woman vote and also use her to ignite a fire under conservatives who are not happy with him. In fact, it seems to me that most conservatives would prefer to have her at the top of the ticket.
But all of this results in the simple truth, in the face of making the most important political decision of his life, John McCain decided to not put America first, Barack Obama did. Obama choose as his VP someone with unquestioning knowledge of foreign affairs, someone who has taken the lead against violence on women, a respected candidate who in case of tragedy could step in to be president. John McCain picked a right-wing nut with little knowledge of foreign affairs, or even domestic affairs.
As an American, it frightens me to think that this woman could have the launch codes or be the one who decides on life or death. As someone who respects women, it disgusts me to know that Sarah Palin is being paraded out there because she is a woman, which basically is one of the two qualifying tasks for the job, the other being so far out of the norm, it’s frightening.
John McCain’s whole campaign is a lie and this interview proves it. Country first looks good on a bumper sticker and a nightly newscast, but it certainly is not first in John McCain’s Presidential plan.
I am sorry but in light of this, if McCain wins this election, it proves that Americans are really not smart. Let’s hope they actually vote their better interest and not their fears.
Obama/Biden 08
http://www.wsj.com/article/SB122100226859616967.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_today
I have had it, if the news media does not cover this, I say it should all be destroyed because it does not good anyway.
