32 posts tagged “vote”

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-august-4-2009/chuck-grassley-s-debt-and-deficit-dragon

 

What is going on in American politics?  It seems to be a childish fight to see who can scare more people into agreeing with their party’s lunatic fringe.  President Theodore Roosevelt told us that every movement has its lunatic fringe and the parties are definitely no exception. 

The problem is not that these extremes exist, the problem is that these extreme segments of both of the major parties are dominating our politics at every turn.  A never-ending assault of scary statements and end of the world “if we support this” or “don’t support that” prophecies and on and on. 

I  have been wondering, in this era of so much media and information, how this could be so effective and not repulsive to most.  Then I realized, that there is a large portion of the country that is elderly and concerned (for example) about health care who tend not to use as much internet etc. and would only have the words of someone they trust to believe as the facts.  This gloom and doom, it’s the end of the world greatly impacts that group and any others that may not be as apt or able to do more research beyond what someone they perceive as an expert says.  So there are really people who believe our Hanitys and Moores are the gospel (depending on which lunatic extreme is more comfortable to you)

There is so much childishness going on that is becoming stupid.  This weird thing where people are being told to just disrupt town hall meetings with random yelling etc. talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.  All any smart politician would do in the future is simply record a message, control who is in the crowd, or just not have them at all.  Does one party not think if you do it now, they will do the same thing later.

The real trouble is that terribly ill informed people are believing things that are not factual and starting fist fights at political events and ultimately completely dividing the country.

To some this division is desirable, but for those of us who live in California we know there are only two possibilities.

A one party system where the lunatic fringe of that party can easily overtake our politics or a system where both parties get so angry at the other that everyone drifts toward their lunatic fringe and refuses to compromise on anything which in the end means absolutely nothing can ever get done.  Everything ends in a stalemate.

The whole idea of our government is that there are different sides that negotiate and agree at some point on any issue that comes up even if that means that sometimes they agree to just put off an issue here and an issue there.

Now, whenever a politician says he or she will make a compromise with the other party that person is a traitor, and is punished in the media, by his or her party, and by voters and constituents who are told this person sold them out.  If compromise is punished on either side, how is anything supposed to get done?  This is the mindset and techniques used by the extremes of our party system that are gaining more and more control of our country and media. 

As far as I am concerned I have a new term for this.  Accidental terrorism.  This is an inadvertent attempt to destroy or entire political system just to prove a few idealistic points. 

The politicians are not the ones who will be punished when this all plays out.  The so called experts on television and in our media will not be the ones who suffer.  The people who make over $200k or over $250k who are so concerned about paying more taxes are not the ones who are going to suffer.  It is the average person who although gullible when it comes to this sort of information, we all just want to live peaceful lives with the opportunity to support our families and better ourselves with hard work. 

I attached a link to a clip that I hope you can access.  It is not to say that one party is better than the other, it is to show how stupid the whole thing is.

This childish war to have one or the other extreme’s way is really a war against democracy and more specifically the average middle class person. 

Everyone knows (for example) that there is a terrible health care problem.  One side is fighting any sort of solution saying things should stay the way they are (Einstein – Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting the same results) and the other side is coming up with a plan to insure everyone while secretly using it as a Trojan Horse to sneak in a bunch of stuff such as money for abortions.  In the meantime the American people suffer and pick a side to protest with while still losing healthcare by the thousands daily. 

Ask yourself, if you were a terrorist who wanted to destroy America would your money be better spent on blowing up some airplane here or there or on some politicians on the lunatic extremes who will invest that money and the money of other Americans to make sure our entire government is in a stalemate. 

I know all of us have our deep personal commitments, but there has to be some kind of compromises for our system to work.  We have to get the lunatic fringes out of power and elect people with our individual values who know how to compromise and when to so that our government will not get stalemated.  Especially since in the last election one party almost gook over completely.  NO!   Everything will not be perfect and everything will not go your way (no matter which party you prefer).  But, the truth is this country will never get everyone to agree on anything and if you are waiting for your party to take over so you can have your way, you are really a part of the problem.  An involuntary tool of those who wish to destroy our political system and our government!

Imagine you have little money and you are renting a room in a house.  You pay most of your income to rent, but the people who own the house are not good with money.  The people that own the house get 3 months behind on the mortgage and the house is in foreclosure.  They suddenly get an offer for a credit card that will cover a part of the mortgage and save the house you are living in at least for a while longer.  They decide to ask you if they should get the card to save the house and inform you that if they use this to save the house, they will have to raise the rent and if they do not they will lose the house and you will be evicted.  WHAT CHOICE CAN YOU MAKE?  You cannot afford more rent, you cannot be homeless, and you cannot imagine them suddenly getting any better with money even if they save the house and you will probably be in the same boat soon anyway.

This is how I see today’s vote in California.  It is a lose, lose proposition with doom and gloom being preached by both sides of the argument.  We are doomed if we vote yes, we are doomed if we vote no, and we are doomed if we don’t vote.

The only thing that is clear is that the government in California as it is has absolutely no ability to fix the problems here and the people are so divided that at either extreme that it will be this way for a long time.

I am about to vote, but what a crock all of this is.  Vote yes and they get the credit card that will cover some of the debt, but also makes more and inevitably robs from something else to pay for it.  This also means raised taxes in several areas. 

Vote no and it’s the end of the world for our economy in California and we will be without fire fighters, and police etc. (according to the commercials). 

We all must vote and have our voice, but what a choice.

The Presidential race is rolling on, the economy is in the tank, we are still at war in two places and there are several places that we could be at war with at any minute and what happens next seems to rest on the shoulders of some folks known as independent voters.  Who are these people?

Here is how I have been shown the basic makeup of our political system…

Social &..................... Economic..........................Economic..................Social &

Economic...................Conservatives......................Liberals.....................Economic

Liberals.......................Social...............................Social........................Conservatives

...................................Liberals.............................Conservatives...............................

LEFT <------------------------------------{*}--------------------------------------> RIGHT

Democrats ..............(Libertarians)........................................................... Republicans

The key to understanding the middle is the two groups located near the middle of this chart.  The assumption in many people’s estimation is that we all neatly fit into either extreme or we are somehow not as educated or understanding of politics for some reason.  In reality what you have is a difference of opinion on what is truly important from either extreme. 

Because we tend to view American politics as a two party system the groups near the middle tend to not associate themselves to a party fully bet most often vote to the side that they appear on above.  The social aspects of our society and thee social viewpoints of the voter, tend to drive the side they choose when voting on an issue or for a candidate.  Thus, Social Liberals tend to the left and Social Conservatives tend to the right.

The truth is however that the groups near the middle always feel that they have sacrificed some ideal for another one in the interest of the greater good no matter how they decide to vote.

The problem comes when a subject such as the economy plays a big role in the picture.  Now these people near the middle have to look to the other side of the chart to satisfy their feelings on the economy while attempting to close their eyes to what is normally their main concern, the social agenda. 

Why is all of this important to this election?  I think this might demonstrate a very simple reason behind why the pools are so slanted in Senator Obama’s favor.  The Republican Presidential and Vice-presidential candidates have been speaking the language of Social and Economic Conservatives (also known as Republicans) with a fervor seldom seen in campaigns. 

They have basically ignored the group (really groups) that all along have been described as the ones that will make or break this election year and may have alienated the “Economic Liberals Social Conservatives” group in manner that may have them leaning to left for a while to come.

The Obama Campaign has done a good job of finding ways to appeal to these middle groups and to unify the more left leaning voters.  The key being that a candidate does not have to satisfy everything a person in one of the groups in the middle wants just whatever those groups find to be the most important at the time.

The only surprise in all of this is that the “Economic Conservatives Social Liberals” group is not gravitating to the right with Senator McCain.  I would have to say that the tying of Senator McCain to the largely unpopular Bush administration coupled with the dislike a person who is a social liberal would have for many of the campaign tactics and attacks of the McCain camp have driven these people to stay with the group that they tend to run with anyhow.

I am an Economic Liberal Social Conservative type of guy and would normally be a McCain supporter, but have been driven away by the terrible nature of the campaign and the insanity that is Republican politics in 2008.  I am not sure there is time left for the Republican ticket, but I am absolutely convinced that the damage to the republican party (particularly with voters in these middle groups) is massive and will be lasting.  I hope Republicans can look at this and regroup or we will be stuck with a one-sided, left-leaning government for years until things get so out of hand that the pendulum swings the other direction.

1. Challenged The idea that any person who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour is saved (even if that person doesn't properly understand God's desires (as of yet)
2. You have implied that somehow Islamic Law has more authority than what is outlined in the Bible ("according to Islamic Law he is a Muslim." your exact words in opposition to his statement to the contrary)
3. You have demonstrated that somehow a person who has a disagreement with another professing Christian's interpretation of scripture (correct or incorrect) has the right and authority to publicly question that person's salvation.
4. You have called upon the fear of those in Islam to convince us that somehow Senator John McCain is the Godly choice for our nation effectively putting all of God's eggs in the McCain basket - what happens if he becomes president and is nowhere as Godly as we make him out to be (history shows that this could most likely be the case) the church again looks collectively crazy and sets the stage for loosing more political influence than ever before (winning the battle at the expense of losing the war)
5. You have used a page and a half of scary statements to take the worst most evil doctrines of Islam, tie them to a person who proclaims himself to be Christian, and manipulate those easily influenced by such tactics to believe that God wants them to vote for John McCain as God's messenger for the next four years.

I have just viewed the last debate and watched the polls.  I was very impressed by Senator McCain’s performance and was overtaken with interest by the fact that some issues actually were addressed. 

Senator John McCain came on strong but started to seem a little cheap and gimmicky to me with this “Joe Plumber” nonsense.  The first half of the debate almost unanimously all agree was a win for McCain and probably the high point of his campaign.  I was kind of surprised at how good his performance was but on the other hand thought it was about time considering all of his experience.  Senator Obama seemed to be sticking to the plan of any candidate with that big of a lead at this point:  Just don’t mess up.

Then we hit the Acorn and Ayers conversation which seemed to energize Senator Obama and to scramble Senator McCain’s footing.  From there he seemed angry and actually kind of grumpy from that point until his (very strong) close.

I do not agree with the polls I have seen in that I think it was either a tie or a very close win for Senator Obama.  The pools all gave a landslide victory to Senator Obama.

I was pondering why and was confronting the reality.  Senator McCain needed a huge game changer and did not even come close to getting it and I am not sure that he (or those in his campaign) has any idea how to do that at this point.  The polls probably already reflect the reality of how the voters are leaning.  The most important statistic I saw was the over fifty percent of the independent voters that gave the debate to Senator Obama.  That may be the backbreaker.

I do have one insight to offer.  I noticed in the previous debates that Senator McCain seemed to be focused on the message of I am good and Obama is bad while Senator Obama was able to make similar statements seemed to have a message that said I am thinking about you out there watching on television.  That alone will adjust the statistics and give people the feeling that there is a better connection with Senator Obama.  That might explain the polls where people seem to be trusting Senator Obama on things that nobody thought anyone would trust him on.  I think there was less of that this time, but far more of Senator McCain’s temper which seemed to be barely held at bay for much of the second half of the debate.  One channel was keeping the camera on both men when one was speaking and his reactions were almost disturbing at times.

What do you do now if you are John McCain and there is nineteen days left, you have just lost three debates in a row, the polls are beginning to pummel you, and the CNN map thing says Senator Obama already has enough electoral votes to win the election?

First, you stop the attack campaign; there have rarely been worse results for any campaign tactic as we have seen for this over that past few weeks.

Next, I would have my economic advisors working night and day for some earth shattering plans and solutions for the economy that I could introduce by this weekend that would make economists say “Wow, what a plan!”

I would educate Governor Sarah Palin on the new plan and have her talk about it and how it is better than Senator Obama’s plan.

The biggest thing to do is to study the tapes of this debate and do more of whatever he did in the first half of the debate and less of (if not stop altogether) whatever he did in the second half of the debate.

There is still time, but if the campaign stays on the same course I fear watching the McCain campaign might be a bit like watching the Titanic sink in slow motion.  Then of course there is still the outside chance that Senator Obama could make some terrible mistake and blow the whole deal.

All said, this was a bit better of a debate, but I fear that again Senator McCain did not come close to doing enough and may have missed any chance of winning (plus I have to admit he looked like a case study in beginning anger management).

Maybe he should make friends with Chris Buckley and possibly get him his job back at his father’s paper.

Here are some ideas that have helped shape my ideas on the nation, politics, presidents, vice-presidents, and candidates.  These are all quotes from a rather informed authority on such matters matters.   I hope we can all ponder these ideas and slow down all of the nonsense we are seeing currently.

 

“A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues.”

 

“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.”

 

“Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.”

 

“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.”

 

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

 

“It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best law, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws.”

 

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”

 

“The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.”

 

“The most successful politician is he who says what the people are thinking most often in the loudest voice.”

 

‘When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer "Present" or "Not guilty."’

 

“THE THINGS THAT WILL DESTROY AMERICA ARE PROSPERITY-AT-ANY-PRICE, PEACE-AT-ANY-PRICE, SAFETY-FIRST INSTEAD OF DUTY-FIRST, THE LOVE OF SOFT LIVING, AND THE GET-RICH-QUICK THEORY OF LIFE.”

 

The person quoted here is my favorite president of all time…Theodore Roosevelt.  Strength, intelligence and straight forward, while also a man of honor and integrity and decency.  (the decency is the biggest thing missing from all of the presidential campaigns of recent years.

 

I received this in an email and felt the need to respond...

Revelations Chapter 13 tells us it is 42 months and you know what that is.
Almost a four-year term to a Presidency. All I can say is Lord Have Mercy on
us! According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is: The anti-Christ
will be a man, in his 40's, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations
with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the
prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will
promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destroy
everything..

Is it OBAMA??

There are absolutely no statements in revelation that say the “anti-Christ” will be from any country, any age these ideas come from Daniel and have been interpreted to say all kinds of things. I remember when Ronald Reagan was president there was this trip going around that he was the anti-Christ because of the amount of letters in his name. I actually remember his middle name because of the amount of times it came up. Ronald Wilson Reagan the number of man three times 666 (six letters each name). And we wonder why people who are not Christian think we are all crazy. It is not even if this man is or isn’t the antichrist that is in question at this point, it is that we will twist the Bible to support our arguments.

The Pharisees and Scribes knew the Bible and what it said, but would stretch everything to adjust what it said to fit how they felt about issues. In my lifetime (I noticed this more before I was saved) I have heard so many ideas about someone (usually someone unpopular with American churches) that tried to tell me this person was the anti-Christ that if the real anti-Christ came and sat down to dinner with me I probably would no longer have any way of even considering that he was the anti-Christ. The church has cried wolf (anti-Christ far too many times to suit their own needs of the time.

I am saying this to help us consider this fact. The truth is that Barack Obama is simple a terrible candidate for president on many levels. John McCain is not only a terrible candidate, but he is terrible at picking people for his political regime (he has several people that other presidential candidates including Ronald Reagan fired because of the level of attacking and dirty campaigning they were doing). Here we are looking at such things.

I make it a point to try to look at both sides of any political argument, but this campaign has had people at McCain rallies screaming racial epithets out loud, screaming things like “kill him” etc. without a word from the McCain campaign to stop it. There is a pastor who stands In front of the entire nation this weekend and says that if Barack Obama wins it would somehow show other that God is not powerful and their gods are more powerful. A man last week, from the McCain campaign in Virginia wrote an article (click here to see the actual article) which I was personally offended by. I am perplexed by the idea that several people have tried to put before me that the McCain campaign is somehow a move of God (seriously, does God really move like that) against the evil of Barack Hussein Obama.

It is also amazing to me that suddenly the guy who lost his mind berating Christians in the media in 2000 is suddenly the great hope for God and Christianity all of a sudden.

I have a unique view of this election for several reasons – I am very into politics, I am an independent, I am of mixed race and comfortable with both African American folks and Caucasian folks, I feel I have a pretty good working knowledge of the Bible, I am in the middle class (not the rich that McCain seems to tend towards and not the poor that Obama seems to tend toward), I have a home bought during the questionable period, and I am very worried about healthcare and my retirement.

I think both parties have become outright silly. For me race will not choose a president, neither person even remotely has God’s best interests in mind (unless you are of the opinion that the only thing that will matter to you and your family over the next four years is the possibility of having an abortion), neither candidate is going to help me out financially according to the plans they have outlined so far, and neither has a plan that will help my family out at all.

They are both absolutely terrible candidates but only one has the audacity to assault and insult my ability to reason with repeated attacks on the other that are designed to raise fear in me and make me think that my only hope is to vote for him (the technical term is manipulation). If we are relying on anything that has anything to do with either of these candidates to determine our relationship to God and how close we are to the end of the world there is good news. We can stop worrying about health care and retirement plans because we won’t be needing them.

My favorite president of all time, Theodore Roosevelt once said; “Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.” (another way to say this is that every tree has it’s fruits and nuts) I deeply wish to be a part of the reform of our nation but not on the lunatic fringe. The one thing I will do however is let somebody use things I hold dear to me to manipulate me, particularly letting a candidate manipulate my belief in God to force me to vote for them. That goes double for rumors based on statements made in a book written by someone who is literally insane whose statements have no basis (Read about it by clicking here).

The worst part is that the statistics are showing that I am not the only person that is offended by all of this attack campaigning, but we are still seeing it. Obama is not winning the campaign; these ungodly tactics are losing it for Senator McCain. And these tactics are the type of underhanded tactics I want to see from our president.

Over the past couple of weeks my blogs have often been pretty much anger at the McCain campaign for running such a poor campaign and doing such a disservice to Senator McCain and Governor Palin while also not allowing us to have real choices for president (keeping in mind that the person ultimately responsible for the campaign is the candidate).

Things like this will rally the base and lose the election!!!!!!!

Why are people and the media portraying the Republicans as the crazies or giving more positive press time to the Democrats?  Is it possible that the Republican party has had such a string of ridiculous, over the top antics that those of us who are not diehard Republicans actually are beginning to view the party that way and the media is actually simply reflecting what people are starting to believe.

Here is an example.  On the Sacramento (capitol of California) GOP website there has been this page tiring to tie Senator Obama to Osama Bin Laden and going so far as to talk about waterboarding Senator Obama.  There are people like this guy in Virginia I wrote about the other day making repeated comments about race and that person who prayed the other day and tried to convince us the a victory for Barack Obama would somehow show the world that God is weak.

Of course, there is this Sarah Palin person who keeps crying about Liberal media not wanting her to speak and only taking interviews with the most right wing media possible.  Then we have the people at the political rallies yelling out racial epithets and “kill him” etc. 

I am an independent voter although I cannot remember the last time I voted for a Democrat for President and I was and remain a big fan of Ronald Reagan.  Yet, the more I see of this campaign, the more I am beginning to sound like a far left wing liberal. 

Think back to high school and homecoming.  I was lucky enough to play football for a school that was relatively dominant in football so our homecoming rallies and games were pretty crazy.  But, I always remember paying attention to the other mood of the people in the schools we were playing against.

When we had games at other schools and it was their homecoming (often schools we knew we could easily beat) they had the same kind of pep rallies, and just as much energy.  People always had these (so called) “facts” that demonstrated that clearly they had the better team.  They would argue and scream how their team was better.  They would boo when we arrived and throw things at us.  We even had people attack our team coming on to the field.

Then when we would score a symphony of boos and excuses would fly.  Their cheerleaders would break into a cheer of “it’s alright, it’s okay, we’re gonna beat you anyway!”  A few  scores later the crowd would still be riled up and a little more angry.  When we would leave (in victory) we left to boos and people talking about how we cheated and did this and that.

This is not my personality.  If I know my team is terrible I will say “My team is terrible!”   My response to having a terrible team is not to ratchet up the attacks on the other team and throw things at them call them names and so on. (I know that sounds absolutely crazy coming from a Raiders fan – and by the way MY TEAM IS TERRIBLE)

This is how the Republican party seems to me.  Their team is doing terrible and it is looking like they may lose (Emphasis on the word may.  There is still lots of time).  Rather than focus on how to win, the McCain campaign is having pep rallies and bad mouthing the opposition and getting the supporters in an uproar.  Now the supporters scream angry things even when the opposition is mentioned.  They may throw things and threaten the other team and so on. 

I if anyone understand the mentality.  The problem for those of us who are not diehard Republicans is that we have a pretty good idea that people like this are not the kind we want running our government.  We are in a time that demands leadership that is deeply grounded in reality and we are getting this partisan nonsense.  In part the McCain campaign is doing this, but it would seem relatively normal if the rest of the party wasn’t going so far over the top. 

That is the difference as to why the general population is developing a far better view of the Democrats as opposed to the Republicans.  When people who support Senator Obama go crazy, the campaign goes out of it’s way to denounce the action and then steer completely clear of what was stated.

The McCain camp has been silent on many of these egregious acts including the ones the occur publically at their rallies.  Even having manipulative prayers opening a rally right when it seemed that Senator McCain might be trying to calm things down.  Then the bloodthirsty fans of this whole thing (in spite of the evidence that this will cause them to loose) is steadily calling for more attacks and such.

The truth is the attempts to scare the American population about Senator Obama do have that effect.  The problem is that the way the Republican party acts in trying to get us scared of Senator Obama is actually more scary. 

It’s like having a guy with a chainsaw wearing a “Leatherface” mask (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) screaming at me telling me to be scared of the “boogie man” that might be in my closet. 

I desperately want to have two choices for president but this sort of behavior only can leave us with one choice unless you are a diehard Republican.  I sincerely wish the McCain camp would do something to stop all of this madness.

I have just watched footage on several channels of the McCain campaign trail with both angry Republican voters and angry speeches about forcing the media to discuss the items that the McCain camp is talking about.  There was also angry discussion of how they are mystified at why Barack Obama is doing so well.  One very angry gentleman, rambling loudly about having our heads examined because of the mere existence of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. 

I am one of those undecided independent voters everyone keeps talking about.  I am a moderate social conservative and a moderate economic liberal (probably in the economic center) so I am a true independent that tends to lean ever so slightly Republican.  I quite honestly cannot remember the last Democratic presidential candidate I have voted for (but I have voted for several Democrats as well as Republicans in other areas).

The last month and a half have not drawn me to either major candidate, but the last month and a half has definitely been driving me away from one campaign (which translates to away from one candidate).

The McCain campaign includes officials that were let go from previous Republican campaigns because of the negative campaign tactics, so the tone of what is going on is not surprising.  Let me help this man and others with this question understand how at least a segment of those of us who call ourselves independents are thinking.

I have just watched and listened to the topic that has overpowered the drastic drop in the markets all over the world including ours.  That topic is……too much detail in a close-up picture of Sarah Palin.  I was struck by the audacity of the far right to interrupt reality with such stupidity.  One woman, in trying to defend this, spent several minutes arguing that any woman would be angered by this Newsweek cover because one can see her blackheads, pimples, and mustache.  How dare these people waste all of our time with such stupidity and at the same time say the media is favoring Barack Obama.  If this garbage is what the Far Right is going to do with media coverage, please find some way to ensure that they get no more.

For the past few days, there have been reports of angry McCain supporters at Sarah Palin rallies doing things like:

• Yelling out “Kill him!”
• Yelling out “Off with his head!”
• Yelling racial epithets at an African American camera man

The big problem is not simply the fact that these are the people that are supporting Senator McCain.  The biggest problem is that these, over the top, comments and activities were occurring and Governor Sarah Palin just took it all in stride as if these sorts of activities were okay as long as it is something negative about Senator Obama.

What would we do if we were all watching the television, President Bush is speaking, and a spectator screams out, you should kill the n*$$@*.  Would we not be astonished if he did not say something about the comments? 

The astonishing thing is that the extreme right wing does not realize that the response that diehard Republicans have at negative rhetoric from Senator McCain, Governor Palin, and Senator McCain’s wife will not have the same effect on those of us who everyone thinks are really going to make the difference (the independent voters). 

I just heard a clip of one guy begging Senator McCain to step up the attacks and revisit the Reverend Wright issue and step up attacks on the Bill Ayers issue.

Then there are the clips of Sarah Palin asking the far right to try to force the media to participate by discussing these same negative topics more and more.   

The McCain campaign is getting pummeled in the polls, and this nonsense has not even caught traction much less been successful yet and seems to be hurting more than helping.  All of us know he is loosing and we know it is the usual time for the trailing candidate to ratchet up the attacks.  But, these attacks if perceived to be over the top run the risk of making the attacker look like the desperate flailing of a drowning person.  It is an odd phenomenon how many of those who are drowning accidently try to drown the very ones who would save them while they are flailing to save themselves.  The flailing of the McCain camp may be an accidental attack on the very people who could save his chances.

Let spell it out for at least a segment of us undecided, independent voters.

We do not like it and will not vote for you under any circumstances if it continues much longer!

As McCain is finally finding a way to connect with the extreme of his party, he is distancing himself more and more from the voters most experts are going to make the difference.  That means these tactics are distancing him more and more from the presidency.

People like myself remember the public outbursts of Senator McCain in the past and if he is trying to distance himself from all of that, crowds of angry people yelling things like “kill him” about the other candidate is probably not the best way to do that.

Because I am often traveling on the days we vote I get absentee ballots.  I have mine sitting in front of me right now.  I have everything filled out except my choice for president.  I have been put off so much by the McCain camp over the past few weeks (particularly the past two) that I am giving him until next Wednesday to change all of this.  I think even though I have been so put off, personally angered, personally offended, disgusted, and embarrassed (the whole planet is watching us) I feel this is a fair cooling off period for me.  He has one week to stop shooting himself in the foot or at least one vote will have officially gone the other way. 

I feel if he is this distant from reality as a candidate, he will be distant from reality as president.

 

P.S.  I understand the Reverend Wright thing and the Bill Ayers thing and although I am not happy about these things, I am really not all that interested in hearing about the same nonsense over and over again and again.  It just looks angry and “same old Washington” and actually angers me with all that is going on.

It is not my fault, the media’s fault, or Barack Obama’s fault that Senator McCain told the planet the economy is not his strength right before every economy worldwide collapsed.

Yup, I’m back.  The voice of the independent, Christian, voter of mixed race. 

 

What a year.  Never have there been two candidates for anything where the both less represent what I believe in as this presidential race.  They are however, both pretty adept at talking a pretty good game.

 

There is good news on the horizon (other than the fact that all of this is almost over).  This election may not be the total waste I had once thought it was inevitably going to be.

 

Over the past few weeks, the usual attack ads and ongoing verbal attacks from the person falling behind have be at or near an all time high.  Palin, McCain, the McCain campaign and so on are dangerously close to going nuclear in their assault on everything Obama.

 

At this point in the campaign season the American public begins its normal ranting and carrying on about how much they hate this kind of politics and wish the candidates would stick to the issues and other such complaints.  The funny thing is that this usually works in spite of all of the complaining.

 

This year much of how campaigns are run (particularly presidential campaigns) is evolving right before our eyes.  The most impacting change I am seeing (and I hope I continue to see) is the immediate expression of dislike of the attack technique in polls, discussions, and those funny little button things on CNN during the debates.

 

Whenever the attacking starts, the little CNN graph drops faster than a Mike Tyson opponent in the early part of his boxing career.  The stronger the attacks in “Tall Hall Meetings” and on the campaign trail, the larger the gap grows between the candidates.

 

The surprise for me is that in spite of this, the McCain campaign has decided to continue to run the campaign as if Senator McCain was running for president in the late sixties (sort of Nixonesque with a touch of George W.).  The hurrahs of the unwavering party faithful seem to be blinding the McCain camp to the fact that the “undecided” voters, are getting far more of that in the news than anything else from his camp.  The truth is, it is far ore interesting news, but at this point in history terrible campaigning. 

 

Have they forgotten that he is fighting the image of the elderly, grumpy guy who has outburst of anger and randomly votes for stuff that makes no sense?  Are they sure that twenty-four hours of news with clips of him, barely holding back the fact he cannot stand Senator Barack Obama, with barely harnessed intensity (bordering on anger) saying negative things about the man.  For many I have spoken to even many that are leaning his direction, he is starting to look a little scary.

 

I am not a campaign manager nor a rocket scientist, but I think Guy McIntyre (formerly with the San Francisco 49^ers) one said:  “If something is not working, you should do less of it.”   I would have to say I agree totally.

 

As one of those independent voters, I am nowhere near being convinced that Senator Obama is ready to be president.  But the way things are going, I would have to say that the poor judgment of the McCain campaign as directed by Senator John McCain is drifting towards being what I see as grossly negligent.  If the people he has selected to run his campaign are doing such a poor job of responding to the changing times and he has not changed the course in the face of impending disaster, what does that say about his potential presidency and those he will appoint to important positions? 

 

I personally, as an undecided, independent voter, am not likely to vote for Senator Obama, but I am getting more and more likely to vote against the entire McCain campaign.

 

I honestly hope he hears this message and changes the course of his campaign to something that is less akin to watching the Titanic right after it hit the iceberg.  I desperately would like to feel like one of these guys could do the job and the longer this goes on the less convinced I seem to become.  This current ploy of attacking Senator Obama, while it gets hoops and hollers from the “diehard” Republicans (like cheering for their favorite football team when they are loosing), the result of energizing the a Republican base will not have the same effect that it did for George W.  It is the quickest way to loose.