18 posts tagged “vote”

Senator Barack Obama has ventured into a battleground that a year ago would have been a suicide mission for most Democrats particularly one with a voting record like his. 

Tuesday, Senator Obama had an open discussion with Evangelical and Catholic leaders many of which did not support him or hold what is generally perceived to be his views.

How the world has changed when the Christian Right is looking left.  A few years ago Senator John McCain has struggled to gain the confidence of the Christian Right after his tirade in 2000 where he screamed at this same group who he now needs to support him.

This year has been a year where there has been no major push from the Christian Right for any candidate in either party. 

Senator Obama’s “first strike” in the Christian community is a smart move politically.  He allowed the group to ask him the tough questions and he answered the questions.  The reports so far from both supporters and those who oppose his views that attended were favorable. 

The question again has to be; “Is the guy that the Evangelical and Catholic leadership the same guy who would show up in the Whitehouse?” 

If the Christian Right is asking who is more of a churchgoer, it is hard to tell although far more has been said about Senator Obama’s going to church and Senator is still a Christian-hater in the minds of many believers.  On the other hand, the press about Senator Obama’s Church attendance has not been favorable.

If asking who more represents the views of the Christian Right it is a toss up when you look at the voting records.  I would probably give the advantage to Senator McCain.

Clearly from the how little outspoken support for Senator McCain has come from the Christian Right (traditionally considered to be Republican voters) up to this point there seems to be a sentiment of voting for the lesser evil. 

The rumor mill has been turning all year about how the Christian right has lost it’s power and is dying and so on.  I do not believe that is the case.  It seems clear that out of all of the candidates in both parties who ran in the primaries there was not one candidate that represented the collective beliefs of this group.   This is a huge failure on the part of both parties to exclude the desires of such a large segment of the population when putting up candidates (particularly along the Bible Belt). 

This seems like it may be a big step forward for Senator Obama, but there is always that voting record that would scare anyone but the most left.  I cannot say what this did for the Christian Right, but it must have been a huge step forward in winning over the Evangelical and Catholic Left and Moderates.

California Assembly Bill 1819, is a plan to get sixteen and seventeen year old voters to preregister to vote.  This means that these teens would automatically be registered and sent the sample ballots when they are eighteen.  This bill has passed the assembly and is currently in the senate.

Here is the interesting part:  The vote in Assembly split right down party lines with Democrats voting for it and Republicans voting against.

I listened to and read some of the debate for and against this bill and I see merit in both sides of the argument.  I am still undecided on what I think of this idea. 

The thing that struck me in all of this is that the Republican Party in California is in such fear of the late teen voters.  I know that whoever it is that controls the youth controls the future.  Judging by the results of this vote, I am left to wonder if the future holds a one party system for California.

It would seem that the Republican Party needs to do some kind if image make over if the general feel of the party (at least in California) is that an entire generation will be their undoing as soon as they decide to vote.  I am also stunned at the fact that the only plan to combat this is to keep this whole group from voting as long as possible.  That’s it, the whole plan?

The Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, seems to be doing okay and managed to get elected in the first place.  I understand that he started as a public figure, but the state seems to be within the realm of a balance of power between the parties.  It seems like with a little work the Republican Party could restore the balance.  This work may be with those same youth that would be registering under what is outlined in this bill.

As a person who does not like the current party system and all of the partisanship, I have to admit that a one party system made up of one or the other of the major parties really scares me.

I am worried that one whole party is scared of the youth thinking about voting. I am still deciding what I think of this bill.

This changes the equation a bit.  If Senator Obama would like to get the vote of the women voters of his party, ignoring the fact that a majority of them (a small majority, but a majority none the less) feel that she should be on the ticket might give him a great deal of trouble later on.

The key to this is the next month or so.  These numbers may move, the question is in which direction?  If people get less interested in her that would seem to be a clear indication that she is not the person that should share the ticket and has lost some of her political appeal through all of the antics of the past few months.

On the other hand if those numbers go up in her favor, Senator Obama’s camp would be foolish to ignore a large voting segment of the party without being able to convince them there is a really good reason for doing so.  The key word in that sentence is “convince.”  His task would not be to find and have a good reason, it would be convincing that voting block that it is a good reason that they agree with.

 I suppose that this would be a good trend to keep an eye on. Which direction will the voters go?  Tune in next time, Same election time, same election channel.

The Democratic Party’s activities from this weekend should be convincing evidence (when combined with the past few years of what has been done by the Republican Party) that the current party system and those in power cannot possibly produce a good presidency out of this year’s voting.  We need someone else and that person is nowhere to be found.

Let’s slow down and backtrack a bit to the Democratic National Committee mess.

The Hillary Clinton camp has completely lost its mind with desperation and Senator Barack Obama’s camp and the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee are afraid to say so.  The D.N.C. has agreed to seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan but to only give them half votes.  The problem is that the Democratic Party has continued to allow Senator Clinton and her camp to go on with the outlandish demands she makes publicly hoping to create a big enough push by her supporters to force the party to give in to her unreasonable ideas.

The wildest of stupid suggestions I have heard was the idea the Clinton camp proposed to the D.N.C. that Senator Obama shouldn’t get any delegates from Michigan because his name was not on the ballot in that state.  Are these people serious.

Let me get this straight.  These states decided they were not important enough in the primary process so they were going to move their primary forward (the ironic thing is that with all of the ruckus to move primaries forward last year the states that came last turned out to be the ones who became more important).  Other states also had done the same which would make their move less impacting.   These two states decided they would move their primaries in front of the other states even though they knew it violated Democratic Party rules.  The Democratic National Committee informed these states that this was against party rules and would lead to the punishment of not having their votes count for the primaries.  These states moved their primaries anyway.  The D.N.C. stuck to its guns and its rules and did not allow the votes of these states to count with the approval of the candidates.  The candidates agreed also, not to campaign in these states and in Michigan some of the candidates (including Senator Barack Obama) pulled their names off of the ballot all together in support of the D.N.C.’s decision. 

Senator Clinton wins both states, but all of the candidates, including Senator Clinton had already agreed that the votes would not count. Then Senator Clinton turned out not to be the untouchable candidate that she had thought she was by loosing a string of primaries to Senator Obama.  All of a sudden the Clinton camp begins redirecting her campaign efforts to promoting how unfair it is that these votes are not being counted and a focus on getting them counted in her favor.  Her supporters begin to threaten the party saying if things don’t go her way they will vote for the most likely Republican candidate, Senator John McCain.

Why is this even still being discussed?  If the party as a whole cannot make rules that they can follow amongst themselves what business do these people have running our country.

Ave you ever bee in a grocery store or some such place and observed parenting that looks like this.  Little Jimmy, starts touching something little jimmy should not be touching. Mom or Dad or both tell little Jimmy to stop.  Little Jimmy doesn’t listen and keeps touching.  The parent or parents keep telling little Jimmy and then move to threatening little Jimmy.  Let’s say its “Jimmy if you don’t stop I am going to drag you out of this store and spank you!”  Little Jimmy keeps on and eventually breaks whatever it is. The parent says something like “Now look what you did Jimmy” and rushes little Jimmy to another isle and tries to act like it never happened.  Guess what little Jimmy starts doing in the next isle?  Of course, Little Jimmy starts touching more things.

Can our entire country be run like this?

Do not get me wrong, I think that the Republican party has shown clearly over the past few years that they are not capable of running this country, but now we are seeing the Democrats are no more capable than the Republicans.  But, are we content with simply picking the lesser of the evils.

The current Democrats in power are clearly swayed far too easily by pressure from powerful people (like the Clintons) to ignore what is right.  The vote to fully seat the delegates from Florida as voted in January received twelve votes for it and fifteen against.  These twelve people are the problem.  If there is a clear rule and several warnings that say if you do something so and so will be the consequences and within your own party you cannot stand your ground what kind of wishy-washy government would one led by such people turn out to be. 

If Senator Obama is not a strong enough leader to stand up to this sort of nonsense and not only say it is wrong, but get the general public to see it and turn on Senator Clinton for being so ridiculous, he is clearly not ready to be president either.

Of course, it seems obvious, that the fact that Senator Clinton and her supporters act so much like spoiled children who will do anything to win demonstrates that the country needs few things less than it needs this crazy Senator and her folks in office.

I have maintained and will continue to maintain that when you look at the voting records of these candidates and the actions of the three candidates we are flooded with information about, none of the three are a good option.  It is becoming clearer and clearer that a large percentage of the population is voting not for what is best for the country, but for some ideal represented by one candidate or the other regardless of if the person is crazy or will make a terrible president.  Someone somewhere has to come up with a better option for the American People and the good of the country.

Our country and its people are in far to fragile of a time in history right now to be putting a crazy person who has no business in the White House into the position that will most determine what happens to us for at least the next four years because they simply are Republican, Democrat, Black, White, a woman, a man, a veteran, upper-class, middleclass, he or she drinks beer and shots, he or she bowls or doesn’t bowl, that person’s pastor is crazy or not crazy.  We need to find the person who can take the reigns and do what is right from day one and is clearly not what either party has been doing for at least the past few years. 

None of these three are that person!

There is bill (AB 2716) in California, that is due to go before the governor to mandate paid sick leave for all employees within the state.  The argument over this bill seems to step from the costs that will be forced on small businesses.  A similar requirement has been in place in San Francisco for a while (since February 5, 2007) and the small business have felt the squeeze and have had to make adjustments.

Some businesses, such as some restaurants have stated that they will have to cut holidays to have the resources to cover the added expense of all of this sick time.  This struck me, not from the perspective of an economist or a Human Resources perspective, but from a simple logic and disgust perspective.

Did groups of restaurants just state that they would rather have their sick employees at work cooking for and serving food to my family and I?  I have a problem with that idea.  Actually, I would prefer that if I go to any business, the person I encounter there is not passing on some illness to me.  Any incentive to keep your sick, half working, half alert, self home is a good thing.

There has been talk about the employees of these small businesses preferring to have raises rather than to have this benefit.  That would be okay if sickness was something you could keep to your self.  A sick person contaminates the entire workplace, the other employees, the clients of the business, the families of the other employees, the families of the clients of the benefits.  These people, who will work instead of resting their bodies to allow themselves to heal, will end up with a need for more intensive medical treatment.  The fact that some employee cares more about making a few dollars more rather than be concerned with the health and welfare of the people around them is exactly the reason a law like this is needed.  It would seem that this would be common sense, but once it becomes clear that people who work in industries such as food services are resistant to allowing their employees to have sick time, it then becomes an absolute necessity for the government to step in.

The argument that it makes it harder to start or maintain a small business does not mean that it is not the right thing to do for everyone is involved.  The businesses have had ample chance to use common sense and have clearly shown that they are not able to manage this themselves. 

The idea that businesses small or large will, as a whole, govern themselves and do what is best for the welfare of their employees, the public, and the good of the country, is a foolish idea.  I do believe in many of these cases the business need to have a chance to do what is best for their business and the welfare of others without government interference.  But, at the point that the business world shows an inability to do what is right in some area, then it is the obligation of the government to serve the greater good of the people and the nation as a whole.

I am a strong advocate for small business tax breaks etc. and feel that if the economy is going to be stabilized, these businesses are a necessity. The problem is that I do not believe that we sacrifice the health of others to do this (even if shortsighted, self-centered individuals would rather get one to five more dollars a paycheck more than care properly for themselves, or respect the right to a healthy environment for their coworkers, families, friends, customers, and all of those these individuals encounter.

The big oil company rhetoric has ramped up over the weekend.  As usual the party lines are drawn and nothing is going to get accomplished.  The Democrats want more tax money and blood from the big oil companies and the Republicans say it is just how business works and good for our 401k retirement plans. 

Watching what is going on capitol hill is like watching people on P.C.P. trying to fly or people taking acid trying to fight with the air.  Lots of strange activity, but no real accomplishment except when they hurt themselves.

I have to admit however, in hearing both sides of the argument, that both sides were partially right, but the truth is that again partisan politics overrides simple reason. 

First off, making record profits by the destruction of our economy and whole industries (such as the airline industry that will be completely destroyed if the price of gas does not go down) is never okay and I am not sure that a tax break or giving such organizations more money for research is not rewarding those that are damaging our great nation.

I am not convinced however that public flogging is the answer, but some sort of limitation on what profit margins can look like might be in order.  Look, you are free to do pretty much whatever you want to do in this country until you start to abuse the privilege or severely damage others.  At that point you become the enemy of every American. 

As a person who is severely opposed to our current party system, I have to say that I was put off by the rhetoric of both sides on this one.  But, the argument that I have heard several times of the past few days that it is okay because many of our 401k plans benefit from the profits of the big oil companies is flat out stupid. 

How does five or ten dollars a month in interest into my retirement balance out doubling what is costs to put gas in my car every fill up?  How does that compensate the truck drivers who have doubled what they pay in gas (or more)?  How does that compensate the rising cost of things that are shipped by truck?  What does that do for those who don’t have a 401k plan (maybe he or she is one of those statistics we keep hearing denoting the jobless)?   

It is sort of like dividing the country into classes and saying it is okay to steal from those at the bottom and some of those in the middle to help those at the top with all of the big investments. 

I live in an area where most people have long commutes and most people can barely afford to live here even though when compared with other parts of the country incomes are higher (everything simply costs more).  In my area, gas is already over the four dollar a gallon mark which means that there has been a huge cut in our individual economies.

I am not saying that there may not be some good explanation for why the price of gasoline is so high (it rose a lot faster than the price of barrels of oil did), what I am saying is that this explanation is stupid and an insult to the intelligence of everyone on the planet.

On the other hand, where I do agree with the Republicans, is that we need to drill in our own oil fertile areas and stop protesting, filibustering, or anything else to oppose such measures.  When the price of gas was a dollar and some change we had such a luxury.  Right now, the price of gas and the other factors that are influencing this bad economy are going to strangle those in poverty, those at the bottom levels of our income brackets, and a bunch of those considered currently to be “middleclass.” 

The idea that we are sitting on huge solutions to our problem and a large segment of our society wants to fight those perceived to be causing the problem while fighting against the obvious solution is ridiculous. 

The plan in the works is to invent cars that will not be available to the public for 4 years or more, that will run on these new fuels that you will not be able to get anywhere.

I agree that something needs to change, but first the partisan hogwash has to be done away with.  There is an old saying in my family:  “If you are not a part of the solution you are probably part of the problem.”  I don’t know if all of the folks on capitol hill have noticed their approval rating lately, but the American people are convinced that they are a part of the problem along with all of their rhetoric. 

I am middle class.  I have a retirement plan.  I pay taxes.  I served my country honorably in the Marine Corps along with three prior generations of serviceman.  I work and contribute to my society and to charity.  I commute to work and fill the tank in my tiny commuter car at least once or twice week (my 12 gallon tank now takes almost fifty dollars to fill).  I am also one of the victims of the record profits that I am supposed to think is okay because I will get something like fifty cents more income monthly toward my retirement. 

I am old enough to remember the last time something like this happened.  The siphoning of gas (which has started again), the fights at the gas stations as people went to gas stations on alternating days depending on if the first number on their license plate was odd or even, etc.  This is worse as there are several other contributing factors that are taking us down fast.  I do not think that allowing large segments f the population to suffer to bolster some political stand is acceptable from either party and I am angered by this whole thing.

Senator Obama’s Medical records were released today saying he is in excellent health.  I suppose that that is in response to Senator McCain’s twelve hundred page medical report that concluded he was in good health also.

I have been wondering how you can have a twelve hundred page medical record that only represents a few years and have it say that you are in excellent health.  I personally believe that Senator McCain seems fit as can be, but I didn’t have a question about his health until I heard the size of his medical records and some of the ailments that had come out in the brief review of them that had been done.

I now have questions about any of these medical records and the public stamp of approval where some doctor or group of doctors say the person is in excellent health.  What is there about Senator Obama’s records that the “spin” doctors are not telling us?  Are there cancerous growth that were removed?  Were there major surgeries and reoccurring conditions?  What does this public declaration of perfect health really mean?

I suppose that the question is not if a doctor who happens to be a supporter thinks you are healthy enough to be president.  As a voter, I suppose the real question is; are there things in your medical records that I would not think leaves you healthy enough to be president.

This whole medical records thing, from both camps is simply showmanship as the whole thing is misleading and subjective.  The facts are not really being presented in the few hour the media had to look at John McCain’s medical records.  I also think that comparing the medical records of two people with such a gap in age is a little unfair and possibly unethical.  It is at the least a little rude.  I sure wish the election could stick to at least a majority of actual issues and useful facts instead of this nonsense. 

Senator John McCain has just rejected the endorsement of televangelists John Hagee and Rod Parsley.  These are very influential right wing leaders and this is an interesting turn of events.

John Hagee was about to be Senator McCain’s version of that Wright person that has caused Senator Obama such trouble after and old tape emerged of him stating that Adolph Hitler was sent by God to help the Jews get to the Promised Land.

The Problem with Rod Parsley has to do with his comments about Islam being a violent religion.

The thing ii, with all of the statements about how he would have never gone to a church like the one Senator Obama went to for all of those years etc., he has absolutely no choice with these major players in the Republican Party but to turn his back on them. 

The question is how will this play out for him as he is trying to convince the skeptical party that he is Right Wing enough to be the Republican candidate. 

I wonder if the Democrats are thinking that all they have to do is look at every minister or televangelist that begins to support Senator McCain with a microscope and find something negative to put in the media.  If they can get Senator McCain to turn his back on every minister that attempts to support him, keeping in mind that the Christian Right Wing is skeptical of him to begin with, it is only a matter of time before they return the favor.

In these cases, he not only turned down their support, but he spoke out against them and their messages publicly.  Will they do the same and speak out to their large segments of the community against him. 

Isn’t it amazing how this sort of distraction has become the focus of the primaries of both the Democrats and the Republicans?  Realistically, a few years ago Senator McCain was screaming to the public about how the Religious Right was such a huge problem in this country, now he is counting on the support of these same people to carry him to the presidency.  These people, who were not in his corner to begin with, decided they would stand behind him because he is a Republican even though they were not huge fans. 

Well now what happens?  He needs the support and the people of whom we speak will not vote for a Democrat and this crazy guy just turned his back on them and then went one step deeper and spoke out against them publicly.

The Republicageddon is near.  The Republicans Party is already on the ropes according to the polls and the cracks in the party are starting to grow.  The question this election season is really which will come first; the Republicageddon or the implosion of the Democrats (the Democrolypse) with all of this crazy race stuff going on over there.

This has been such a good year for those of us who do not belong to a political party.  It is great to have already chosen to be outside of a system that you know to be crazy when everyone else is finally realizing how crazy it is.  Our party and election system is clearly broken.  This whole primary season is about racism, pastors and televangelists, crazy supporters (some of which are the candidate’s husbands), and stupidity.  Our government is playing party games using all of their energy to make the other party look bad while we are all forced out of our homes and go broke on gasoline.  Particularly confusing is how the Democrat ruled segments of government and the Republican White House are voting, vetoing, and fighting over everything. 

It looks like Senator McCain has finally gotten all the way into the pool of chaos.  It seemed like he was just putting his toes into the water before.  Let’s watch and enjoy as he begins to fight with his own support base and the Democrats destroy each other.

Did I just see Senator Hillary Clinton on television saying she was ahead in the popular vote?  When I heard this I though I must have had my numbers confused or I had missed something.  Then I found out that her statement included to Florida and Michigan votes. 

This woman has successfully proven herself to be the craziest and scariest of all three of the candidates. 

I am astonished at this woman’s selfishness in being so desperate to win that she would continuously push to overturn the judgment of her own party and possibly destroy the party all together.  I am not convinced that the destruction of one, the other, or both of the parties is not a good thing, but I am astonished at who the political suicide bombers are.  The three candidates that are left seem to be unified in only one thing, the diligent effort to make their respective party look bad.

It is clear at this point that short of Senator Obama dying in a tragic accident, Senator Clinton has no chance of being the candidate to run against Senator John McCain unless it is for Vice-President.  But, she is rallying all of her support base by getting them to think she is actually ahead.  This means that when it is official that she has lost, her support base will feel that some injustice was done to her and that their votes were ignored.  That cannot be good for a party. 

If the “Democrolypse” is coming then Senator Clinton is Anti-Crat that will mislead people into following her into the destruction of her party’s world.  If she is successful it will be devastating, yet in a strange, twisted, independent voter sot of way, very entertaining.

Ladies and gentleman, another horse in the running for the presidential sweepstakes.  Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr has burst onto the presidential scene this week as a possible Libertarian Party candidate for president. 

“A what” You might ask..  A Libertarian.  You know, the people who finished forth four years ago behind George Bush, John Kerry, and even Ralph Nader.  I know it is hard to believe that there was anyone behind Ralph Nader, but there was this poor soul named Michael Badnarik, who ran as a Libertarian (who, did what).

But, don’t write this guy off so fast.  He has a little bit of end the war now for the Democrats and a little get tough on the borders for the Republicans.  He also has a lot of, breaking party lines for the true Independents.  If you add that to the fact that the longer these primaries go on the less the public likes the three candidates that are in place now, you get a possibility of actually winning.  It may be a remote chance, but the odds look better for him than they do for Senator Hillary Clinton right now and she is still being taken pretty seriously.

If nothing else, the confusion and division that Senator Clinton has caused for the Democrats can be mirrored by this former Republican’s resurfacing in a race where the Republican candidate has such shaky support from the party itself.

What a phenomenal development.  This is the great reality television that this election year continues to promise. 

We have had crazy staff, crazy supporters, crazy husbands, crazy clergy, several crazy candidates, but now we are about to get another wave of insanity.  Scary as it truly is, I cannot help but appreciate the entertainment of it all.