Dear Readers,
Do you really think it was worth it for the people to bring a 3rd party into this whole debate and had them spotlighted into the whole debate factor? Now since the Joe the Plumber thing was mostly a ear catch you got the actual joe the plumbers being flooded with phone calls, press and emails and putting them into the spotlight?
If i was a business owner of that aspect i would have probably lost my mind after the 30th phone call or 100th email in reguards to media and other outlets trying to probe your life and see what you are about. I feel in some ways the media invaded privacy to probe into the "joe the plumber" american people, i dont feel to win a debate you need to drag someone else into the spotlight to make a point.
The Other Factor.
So yes the Joe the Plumbers got ALOT of press and media coverage they probably would have never gotten, however what if they wanted to stay small (company wise) and even community wise without being drilled with over 300 phone calls, and endless amounts of email, and even with that IF they own a website you got a HUGE traffic spike that could end up with them going over the limit on the website bandwith and or user load might cause the website they own to stop responding.
My Own Opinion
IF that was me i would be PISSED, especially when its un-expected and or just out of the blue and all of a sudden BAM you get drilled with phone calls, emails and other wanted and un-wanted things plus now you got a endless supply of junk and spam emails from people who now have your email address since now you are technically famous. So then you gotta spend more money to build a new website to handle the traffic, get a new email account (since your other one is now pretty much over conjested with spam), and also you have to switch up your whole game since your now in the spotlight to thousands of consumers or even millions.
So i think before anyone puts anyone in the spotlight to at least give them a Pre-Warning ahead of time so they know that whatever you might say might come back on you as a person of interest since you were all of a sudden a test subject or effective change of thought.
Feel Free to leave your thoughts personally as for me being a SMALL business owner and website owner this is just my own opinion.
RespectfullyMatthew NalettNew Music Promotenewmusicpromote.comChicago Music Promotionschicagomusicpromotions.com
Debate September 26, 2008:
What I wish Barack Obama would have said at the debate or next time:
Obama: Some people say I was too tough on Senator John McCain at our first debate when I criticized him on what he said about talking to the leaders of Spain. I said he was totally out of touch with who our allies are and who is not. When pressed on this, McCain surrogates say he made a misstatement, he is a maverick, he is old and you have to give him a take back. I say: ‘do you get a take back when your finger is on the red button?’
You can’t win in Iraq because it is no longer a War, it is an Occupation costing us over $10 billion dollars a month. That is something that will bankrupt a country like it did the Russians in Afghanistan in 1989. John McCain says he wants to stay in Iraq another 100 years at this cost, and when pressed about it said make it a thousand years or ten thousand years.
President Bush declared victory in his “Mission Accomplished” flight onto an aircraft carrier, and we did win the war but failed in the peace because the President was out of touch with the conditions on the ground in Iraq. Just as Senator McCain is out of completely out of touch with his bellicose statements about staying in Iraq when the Iraqi government is asking us to leave.
It was disturbing to see John McCain say “Bomb, bomb, bomb---bomb Iran” to the beach Boys tune, and laughing about it. The question to the American people will be does he sing this song as President when his hand is on the red button. In case he doesn’t know it, what he says now as a candidate affects world affairs.
It was genuinely scary to see McCain talk about Russia and its Georgian incursion and nearly threaten them with war. He called this leadership and contrasted it with what the Obama campaign was saying; he even sent aides there ahead of what President Bush was doing and jeopardized our united diplomatic position. We have an occupation of Iraq, the war with Afghanistan, issues with Al Qaeda in Pakistan, John McCain’s commitment to bomb Iran---and he still wants to take on Russia. This is nothing short of insanity. It is the Republican idea that being in a state of perpetual war is good for the American economy and sending our young people to their deaths will get us out of the economy slump we are in now; just as “Drill Baby Drill” will get us out of the energy crisis. It is probably the best reasons not to elect a Republican this time.
Leadership is more than just running out in front of the troops and telling them: “to go over the top boys, for God and Country.” Sometimes it is talking through problems and understanding your opponent and their customs. Things that McCain has attacked me on. Leadership is not degrading your opponents because they are different. Teasing someone for being a Muslim or calling an oriental person a “gook” may be leadership to John McCain but it is not what I will do as President. McCain is a product of a different time in the world, when America had never lost a war and found itself in Vietnam winning all the battles and losing the occupation. Sometimes I think the way he approaches every challenge to American power across the world is to try again to win the Vietnam War. Victory in 1970’s Vietnam is through the Iran or Russia of today. It is insanity. Staying in Iraq forever is McCain’s maverick brand of leadership. It is insanity.
Some may call us Neville Chamberlin and Hitler appeasers---but these are false comparisons. We will be tough when necessary. But in no way will we be naïve or uninformed like the Bush Administration. We know what leadership is and what it is not. John McCain somehow doesn’t. He has a legendary temper that makes a tough leader but it also makes a stubborn leader like George W. Bush has been. Temper, arrogance and pride can keep you from thinking about what is right or saying you were wrong and correcting course like setting a reasoned timetable to get out of Iraq and to shift forces to Afghanistan. Having a surge into Afghanistan would be to George Bush and John McCain admitting that they were wrong, even if it is the necessary and best thing to do.
Veteran’s groups have taken John McCain to task for not supporting veteran’s benefits and for his bellicose talk in a time when the military is stretched to a breaking point. In fact, John McCain just led the fight against Senator Jim Webb’s G.I. Bill. Costs are being pushed to future generations and the American people were told that supporting the troops meant putting a yellow ribbon on your van and going to the mall to shop. If this is the leadership you want, then John McCain is your guy.
This election is just too important to hand it to John McCain as a reward for his military service to our country. We need to honor his service and his time as a POW but realize that service is not the end-all to leadership or the magic bullet of a maverick. The John McCain Story is a uniquely American one, but not the answer to the leadership woes of this country created by George W. Bush, a guy that McCain supported over 90% of the time, even when he was grossly wrong or just being stubborn and arrogant. If you want change and success then vote Obama-Biden. McCain is more of the same.
I've been so disheartened by the "true colors" we're watching unravel in this election - I've taken that sadness and channeled it into creating an informative video - please view & feel free to pass along. I'm not a slanderous person, and truly feel I'm only stating facts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHXZ5bxm-CE
Peace and Blessings
Fellow "Seeker of Justice", Misty
I joined msnbc's Newsvine in the first week of July of 2007 and immediately got embroiled in heated debates about whether Barack Obama stood any kind of chance to be President of the USA. My belief in his eventual success was unshakeable, and stood confidently firm, even in the face of all the arguments. In fact it was a rather lonely time then, trying to defend my corner as a seemingly 'naive' newcomer in the face of so much scepticism and so many learned Americans telling me otherwise, especially when a few repeatedly pointed out that it was their country and they knew far more about the form than I did. But that cemented my belief even further. Often outsiders can see what we cannot because, being outside of the situation and untainted by its partisan nature, they can see the bigger picture.
A young friend of mine in Jolly Old England is so interested in our little colonial election that he's set up a my.bo site of his own, and he and I have been trading missives back and forth across the pond as we haven't in years.
In a recent email, my friend included a link to a marvelous piece of analysis by Andrew Sullivan he'd found in the UK Times online site. I'm not much of a Times reader - it's the UK equivalent of the Wall Street Journal... very conservative, a foil for the more liberal Guardian. But it's often the case that conservatives in other countries see clearly how UNconservative the so-called conservatives in the USA actually are.
Sullivan compares Obama to the Road Runner of cartoon fame - staying calm and cheerful while the Coyote tries to kill him every which way, only to find his violence turned back upon his murderous head. Sullivan notes that this strategy has served Obama since early in the primaries, when the Coyote was played (with mounting frustration) by Hillary Clinton.
I highly recommend the piece for anyone wondering why Barack Obama won't lambaste McCain tonight the way McCain deserves lambasting. Why he'll stay on-message, calm, and respectful, no matter how McCain implodes, explodes, and dares to punch below the belt.
He has played a little class warfare. But nothing too dramatic, nothing too angry, nothing too risky. The polling around the country is now more emphatically Democratic than ever before. Obama is now ahead in every battleground state and, by most estimates, could lose all the currently close states and still win the election.And still he’s calm. Not too cocky. A little aloof, but very professional. He learnt all of this as a black man in a white country: no sudden moves; no anger. That’s how he managed his white mother in adolescence. That’s how he manages a white electorate increasingly at ease with him. And, by a massive stroke of luck, that’s what voters want now. In an economy that is melting down, with two wars still raging, they want calm above everything else. They want to know that the man in charge will not panic, will not be flustered, will not blow up.
He has played a little class warfare. But nothing too dramatic, nothing too angry, nothing too risky. The polling around the country is now more emphatically Democratic than ever before. Obama is now ahead in every battleground state and, by most estimates, could lose all the currently close states and still win the election.
And still he’s calm. Not too cocky. A little aloof, but very professional. He learnt all of this as a black man in a white country: no sudden moves; no anger. That’s how he managed his white mother in adolescence. That’s how he manages a white electorate increasingly at ease with him. And, by a massive stroke of luck, that’s what voters want now. In an economy that is melting down, with two wars still raging, they want calm above everything else. They want to know that the man in charge will not panic, will not be flustered, will not blow up.
Hey Gramps! Beep Beep!
Here are some ideas I think might resonate with Americans if introduced at the debate:
1. Introduce legislation for credit report amnesty for anyone who has had to declare bankruptcy due to medical bills. This is for decent bill paying Americans who for no other reason than a devestating catastrophic or chronic illness or traumatic accident has had their savings and credit ratings wiped out. To add to their misery, their credit records are destroyed. Limit of medical bankruptcy on a credit report to one year and prevent medical bill balances to affect FICO scores.
2. Tax credits to the Big 3 automakers to create hybrids and natural gas fueled cars.Remember when we cranked out B-24s AND B-52s? Why can't we do that again with E-cars?
3. Tax credits to any American to buy hybrids, etc. Not SUV tax credits for companies like the Bush Administration advocated.
4. Or start a "Lease a Saver" program. Create a "patriotic car" brand similar Smart Car and or the American version of the Prius. Crank them out like the Model T. Provide a cheap lease, no credit or money down. Dealers hold the title, drivers pay the dealers. Go on television and ask the American people to do their duty and turn in their gas guzzlers.
5. Allow a one time tax allowance if people turn in a gas guzzler. Many people are locked into a 5-year car loan or lease on a gas hog. Many people want to drive an economic vehicle but can't. Provide a way offset for the hit they will take prematurely ending a lease. This is serious stuff, we must find a revolutionary way to change the game and get Americans on board.
6. Encourage everyone to have AT LEAST - solar powered domestic hot water. Crank out these solar panels in Ohio or Michigan. Find the most depressed city in the nation and make it solar capital central. Make them plentiful and affordable. Jobs created to make them, Jobs created installing them on roofs, Jobs for plumbers making the conversion. National goal to have one on every roof. Power of the Bully Pulpit - make people ashamed if they don't have a solar panel on their roof. Promote solar panels as a natural badge of honor - a patriotic status symbol. Heck with lapel pins and magnetic car ribbons, get your hot water from the sun- do it because you love your country.
7. From the debate floor, provide a list of 5 things that you can ask the American people to do, starting the minute the debate is over. We are dying to be useful. Give us a list. It could be as simple as " I ask everyone watching tonight to replace the incandescent lightbulbs with energy saver bulbs." "Please stop speeding. And if you are behind someone going the speed limit and you are annoyed, please put your agressive driving aside for America's sake." This will save lives and save oil. On and on. Give us something to do! People made fun of Obama for the tire pressure thing - so the list could be more substantial, but while it seems obvious, we need to be told what we really want to be doing!
8. Go for the Pickens Plan big time. T.Boone Pickens is ON IT. He is dead serious and he is dead right. Obama needs to own this plan.
9. Announce your short list of candidates for some cabinet positions. This will make news.
The New York Times (my hometown newspaper) has websites where you can not only watch and download every 2008 Presidential aaaaand Vice Presidential Debate, you can read a runnning transcript along the righthand column of the screen, aaaaand print out or save as a PDF the transcript.
This is especially valuable in the case of the VP debate because reading Gov. Palin's remarks (one could hardly call them, "answers") is even more incoherent and laughable than hearing them.
Here are the links:
1st Presidential Debate = http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/transcripts/vice-presidential-debate.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1
VP Debate = http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/vice-presidential-debate.html
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/second-presidential-debate.html
2nd Presidential Debate 2008_VIDEO and Transcript
PLEASE PASS THIS ON!
Having watched the first two debates over the last few weeks and watching the candidates as they navigate the financial crisis with the rest of us, I can firmly and emphatically state that Barack Obama is one of those individuals who is Presidential. Others include Eisenhower, JFK, Reagan and Clinton. All of these persons have an air about them that just suits the presidency. Sure, all of them made mistakes and have their place in history, but they simply had something about them that made it easy to see them as President. Now I suppose that if you find Obama's ideology completely at odds with your own, it is probably harder to see that. But I think that even folks who are not fans of Reagan, often have to admit that he was Presidential. It's an intangible, but it is real enough to me that I now fret over the idea that McCain could become President. I certainly was not hoping nor working for that, but I think I could have "gotten over it". Now, I am feeling even more strongly that if we miss this opportunity to put one of those individuals who just ooze President in the White House...we will suffer for our mediocrity. John McCain clearly has a great deal of good qualities, but he is not Presidential (to be honest Palin feels moreso than McCain).
One last thought in the "Presidential Presence" discussion. There has been a lot made of Obama's use of inspirational speeches as he seeks the office. Republicans are super cynical and say it's all a lot of bright lights and greek columns and movie style theatrics. Here's the problem with their desire to diminish his ability to inspire - almost every book on leadership written by CEOs in the past 20 years says that "a leader must inspire and motivate his employees". Most seem to contend that a good plan is just not enough. A leader has to inspire folks to work harder and sacrifice for something that they can care about. A leader has to lift them up and rekindle their belief that they can achieve the goals they seek. Funny how it wasn't movie style theatrics when Reagan did it...
Shot after shot thrown his way, and still Obama looked forward. McCain seems to be getting more and more desperate with his aggressive assault on Obama. In this critcal time, we are not looking for a history lesson that we must research via FactCheck the next day. We are looking for solutions to current and future problems and we are looking for the candidate we feel can best deliver those changes. Tonight one trend that has been prevelant throughout the campaign was made perfectly clear: One candidate represents the future and one represents the past.
The obvious strategy on the McCain campaign was to keep Obama on the run by forcing him to defend his record prior to answering each question. In part, the strategy worked, in particular when the question was posed on how each candidate would take care of social security and medicare entitlements. Obama was unable to directly answer the question, so one would think this was an scoring point for McCain. However, a closer analysis reveals a quit different perspective.
Obama, in response to a previouos assualt by McCain, proceeded to analyze the federal budget. In reality, this is the first step to every policy decision that the future President will have to make, and was a fitting response in a two minute framework. Not only will spending cuts have to be made, revenue sources will need to be evaluated, including closing tax loopholes. McCain will take a hatchet approach to spending cuts by imposing an across the board freeze, and Obama has outlined a surgical approach, cutting only where necessary, while working to promote efficiency in other areas. Obama's approach pays for all new policy through either spending cuts or closing tax loopholes.
All I have to say is WOW! I am amazed on how presidential Barak Obama looked and carried himself tonight and in the previous debate.
I am so glad that he stood his ground and did it with finesse. I hope that his performances in these debates will show how American and ready Barak Obama is to be the NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
I am very stressed about Election Day and hope that this country can look past petty attacks and pick the person that will lead this country in the right direction and put us back on the path to being the America that we can and should be.
I had thought about creating a blog on the Obama website for at least a couple weeks now; I just never got around to it. So, in the final 4 weeks until Election Day, and probably in the days after, I will be sharing my thoughts. What better time to start, than on the day of the 2nd Presidential debate? I find this to be the most interesting presidential election in my lifetime. I've been watching these "debates" in anticipation the same way I'd watch a major basketball game or HBO boxing event. I've been somewhat surprised and ecstatic that Obama seems to not only be maintaining a sizeable lead in the national polls, but particularily in the electoral map. And even more pleasantly surprising is his wide-margin leads in traditional red states like Virginia.
I will catch up on a few things that is probably considered "old news" by now:
I'm always going to insert my a photo and/or video in each of my entries...
Video: Where Change Happens
Why do I support Barack Obama and Joe Biden? Here are a few reasons:
• Barack Obama is a proven leader. Anyone who can go into Chicago’s South Side and organize white, black and Latino blue-collar workers suffering from steel-mill closings – particularly as a young 20-something – has proved his leadership skills. But that work was only the beginning. Obama went on to work on numerous legislative initiatives, including ethics reforms, and he sponsored bipartisan legislation that expanded health care coverage to 154,000 Illinois residents, including 70,000 children. For more, see http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/01/14/obamas_strong_record_of_accomp.php. Personally, I am eager to see someone in charge who can not only inspire people to get involved, but who also understands the importance of being organized and disciplined.
• The candidates instill confidence. Obama’s cool, calm and collected demeanor is reassuring. I want someone in the Oval Office who will make decisions based on reasoned analysis, not on emotion or irrational feelings. Biden’s gentlemanly demeanor during the Vice Presidential debates provided a welcomed respite from the gutter politics of past elections. He made me want to be a better person. Both men possess intellectual skills that would well serve our nation.
• Obama and Biden understand the Constitution and the damage that the current administration’s policies have caused to previously long-standing holdings regarding basic rights, such as the protection against unwarranted searches. Both men care about – and are well informed on – human rights abuses here and abroad, and while they will no doubt work toward solutions, they will not be likely to send our troops into foreign countries on missions intent on nation building.
• Finally, finally, I am actually excited about supporting a candidate who is not in the pockets of special interests or big business. After 30 years of voting, it’s about time.
Up until the day after Palin lost the debate to Biden we saw few McCain signs around Orlando, Winter Park & Maitland. But the morning after the debate they were suddenly popping up all over, only now they were McCain/Palin signs and Palin was just as big as McCain on the sign.
It was like the Republicans suddenly decided that because Palin was on the ticket it was alright to put signs out. These people want to believe the McBush propaganda machine that has hyped this woman like she was some kind of gift from Alaska.
They seem to be ignoring the fact that Palin is not for real. All she does is tell lies in her speeches, use what she thinks is "folksy" talk and wink at people. She is an empty suit or skirt. Becoming Mayor of a small town and Governor of the 4th smallest state population wise is not the kind of experience that qualifies someone to be President. Yes President, because the Constitution of The United States say that the Vice President must meet the same qualifications as the President.
But the die hard Republican base is ignoring reality and voting for "culture" issues again, despite the fact tht their homes are worth less, they are loosing jobs and the economy is gong down the drain. Most of the media either doesn't care and is just out for ratings or keeps hyping Palin for political reasons. It was amazing that after the first Presidential debate and the VP debate all the TV Pundits were calling them a draw or saying how well McBush or Palin did. But when the polls of viewers came in there was a clear winner, Obama or Biden.
If McBush thinks he's the most qualified person how can he have someone as VP who has no national credentials. Obviously he does not think she is qualified for anything but getting the Fundamentalist Republican base stirred up. No one comes to his rallies if she's not there to keep the freak show going.
She carries that poor child around like a prop! The other night she tossed it off like a rag doll to her 5 year old daughter to play with. Palin is the worse Mother in public life. A look at her career in Alaska shows she has no ethics. And now she's talking about trying to be McCain's Cheyney!
We need to be prepared for the McBush push n Florida and other States. Not only by his campaign but by all the hate groups he has working for him. Just like he faked "suspending his campaign" he's faking getting out of Michigan.
I've seen emails going around trying to tie Obama into the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Mess. I'll bet we here a lot of attacks from McCain at the second debate that will need to be dealt with. Maybe we need a big celebration after the debate to keep things moving.
Obama and Biden had great debates. Good job homies.
Now, bring it home Obama. I know you are into climaxes. You had McCain's campaign running scared after your speech in Calorado. This is why we now have the abomination called Palin. She's a lovely lady, fine too but c'mon. That would have worked 4 years ago. Information technology has evolved 10 fold since then. Politicians need to go the extra mile to lie these days.
Please use the last 2 debates to clarify your stance on the economy and the world. Everyone is waiting for you to tug at their inner soul (dig deep meng). We all know that you can. Don't miss the opportunity. A Martin Luther King moment will work right about now. The country is hungering for it, even the groups that hate you (corny but true). Don't take it for granted. If there is truly something in you that transcends all of our petty differences, do not hesitate to share it with us. I hope your final climax will be one that I can share with my grandkids.
Go get em killah!
Oh Sarah IS as much a dim-witted buffoon as her interviews showed. What people failed to realize going in, is that she has one important skill: Sarah can repeat lines from a script very well. She just can't follow-up.
Now with things being "even" (more or less) the battle will remain only as crazy as it has been (Hey, I'm trying to be positive here). And the momentum IS in our favor, that will be hard to correct and I don't think that re-energizing the base will do much toward that.
As usual, post-debate bloviating wandered aimlessly through the night with assessments ranging from “she did better than we thought she would,” which is what parents say when their kid doesn’t strike out at a Little League game, to the thoroughly puzzling “America must be surprised.”
As usual, debate viewers are much more decisive, the first round of snap polls giving the debate to Joe Biden by sizable margins.
CNN's sampling said Biden took the clash by 51% to 36%, basically a trouncing.
And here’s the revealing number from CNN. While 84% said Palin did better than expected – well, the bar was set awfully low – she still doesn’t clear a basic hurdle: Watching the would-be vice president for 90 minutes left only 46% saying she’s qualified to be president, up a mere four points from before the debate. And a clear majority, 53%, continue to say she is not qualified for the job.
Meanwhile, CBS’ polling of 473 uncommitted debate-watchers found that 46% gave the evening to Biden, 21% say Palin won, and 33% say it was a tie. Splitting the tie votes between the two, 62.5% said Biden came out on top while fewer than half thought Palin took the night.
While both candidates saw their images improve, 98% ended up declaring Biden as “knowledgeable” after the debate, while only 66% saw Palin as knowledgeable. Admittedly, that’s a higher number than what folks thought of her before the debate but the McCain camp can take small comfort from the figure because Biden essentially ran the table of undecideds.
At Campaign Headquarters …
In the Virginia headquarters of the McCain campaign, the post-debate relief is palpable.
“We could have been blown out of the water,” one of my two sources inside the camp tells me this morning. “She didn’t make any horrid mistakes and she did what she had to do: Keep the base support firm."
What about reaching the undecideds, the independents, the Reagan Democrats? I ask, citing the snap poll tallies from right after the broadcast.
“That’s John’s job,” comes the reply. “All we wanted Sarah to do was keep us close enough to fight another day.”
So, essentially, Palin’s only task last night was to not screw up, not give the base a reason to flee in horror.
I ask about the moment when Palin actually suffers her much-anticipated Couric-like moment that escaped most commentators. Looking square in the camera, Palin actually proclaims the financial crisis “a toxic mess, really, on Main Street that’s affecting Wall Street.”
“I saw that, too,” he says, adding with relief, “I’m glad not too many people caught it. I’m glad Biden didn’t pounce all over that.”
Some eight hundred miles away in Chicago, one of my sources on Obama’s staff says everyone is happy with Biden’s job, especially after the first half-hour.
“Once Joe decided he had to swat at the gnat, he really came into his own,” is the assessment. “He kept his answers short, he stayed on point, he spoke to the audience in words they understood, and that moment when he choked up mentioning how he felt as his son lay dying in a hospital (after the car accident killed Biden’s wife and daughter and gravely injured his sons) we saw Joe being Joe. America saw it, as well.
“I wonder why she didn’t react act all,” I’m asked. “Didn’t it seem odd that the world’s greatest hockey mom had no reaction to someone fighting back tears when he talks about losing a child? Where were her ‘family values’”?
Explaining The Obvious
People tuning in to the debate were already expressing deep concerns about Palin's understanding of issues and solutions. As a result, Palin's folksiness was far less effective than when she strode the stage in St. Paul six weeks ago to unveil her “ya’ know” and “ya’ betcha” lines. People aren't worried that she "isn't one of us," so her aw-shucks shuffling didn't help last night. On the other hand, people are concerned that she doesn't understand the issues of the day, and she did nothing to reassure them.
Biden jumped on her disjointed mish-mash of foreign policy non-sequiturs and talking points to spell out a clear difference between what the audience was hearing from Palin and the real world in which Biden and Obama live:
On one front, Palin did not disappoint: She remains a habitual liar, a flip-flopper and someone who has no idea what she’s saying.
In the debate, she espoused strong support for equal benefits for same sex couples. But Palin told the Anchorage Daily News, “I believe spousal benefits are reserved for married citizens on (sic) our Constitution,”
Palin sidestepped Biden’s claim that McCain argued against greater regulation on Wall Street, contributing to the debt crisis. Palin’s claim is that McCain supported the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, which would have created a new government agency to oversee Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other federal housing programs. In fact, the bill would have done nothing to stop the rash of predatory subprime lending that preceded the housing bubble. It only provided oversight for Fannie and Freddie – but it said nothing at all about the companies that issued subprime mortgages. So while Palin brought it up as an example of how McCain is the “re-regulator,” she avoided Biden’s straight rebuttal.
Oh. And Palin called the commander of the NATO force in Afghanistan "McClellan" instead of using his name, General David McKiernan. Maybe she confused McKiernan with George McClellan, an awful Civil War general who was so reluctant to fight the Confederate Army Pres. Lincoln finally fired him. The only thing reassuring about this possibility is it shows Palin remembers something from her time at, what?, five universities in six years.
