Tag: election 2008

I am literally floored by this stunning news flash

In Obama’s New Message, Some Foes See Old Liberalism – washingtonpost.com

But as Obama heads into the final presidential primaries, Sen. John McCain and other Republicans have already started to brand him a standard-order left-winger, “a down-the-line liberal,” as McCain strategist Charles R. Black Jr. put it, in a long line of Democratic White House hopefuls.

OMG, I am totally in shock. The Washington Post is breaking the staggering, unforeseen, and totally unbelievable news that Barack Obama is a liberal! Tomorrow, they plan to announce that water is wet, the sky is blue, and George W. Bush is a miserable excuse for a President. Does this come as news to anyone? Really? And then the Clinton camp is jumping on the bandwagon and saying he’s too liberal. That’s like the Yankees complaining that the Red Sox spend too much money on player salaries. I can’t speak for all of the Obama supporters, but I can speak for me. I am not supporting Obama because of where he falls on the liberal/conservative spectrum. I often don’t agree with him on policy, especially fiscal policy, because I think he’s too liberal. I support Obama because I like where he is on the reasonable/unreasonable spectrum. I like where he is on the trustworthy/untrustworthy spectrum. I like where he is on the “I can see this person as the leader of my country”/George W. Bush spectrum. I think Obama understands that his policy isn’t always what’s right for America, and that sometimes, you have to listen to the other side and make some major concessions. I think if you can’t concede that there are times when liberal view is the right one, and times when the conservative view is the right one, then you aren’t being honest with yourself. More than either of the other candidates, I think Obama understands this, too. When Obama is President, I believe he will push for policy that I think is a bad idea. He will probably implement some policy that I think is a bad idea. But that’s okay. I think he will be a good President, and I certainly think he will be a better President than Clinton or McCain.

John McCain hates bears

McCain Sees Pork Where Scientists See Success – washingtonpost.com

“Approach a bear: ‘That bear cub over there claims you are his father, and we need to take your DNA.’ Approach another bear: ‘Two hikers had their food stolen by a bear, and we think it is you. We have to get the DNA.’ The DNA doesn’t fit, you got to acquit, if I might.”

The title of the article on the Post RSS feed is better – “McCain Criticizes Bear Study”. Of course he does! None of the bears even had degrees! Anyway, I think he’s upset that we spent the equivalent of the budget for 48 seconds of the Iraq war on something that didn’t involve shooting at or otherwise endangering Muslims. Was that a cheap shot? Oops. Honestly, I do not understand the planet that John McCain lives on. I don’t know how rational human beings can listen to him and think, “Yeah, okay, President McCain, that would be cool”.

Florida and Michigan made their beds

It is absolutely absurd that Michigan and Florida are even considering spending $25 million and $10 million, respectively, of taxpayer money to hold new elections. It is unfortunate that Democrats in these two states will not get to contribute to the selection of the nominee this year. But we can’t punish the Democratic party leaders of each state by throwing them in the briar patch at taxpayer expense. The whole reason they knowingly violated the rules was to give their states a louder voice in the election process. They were told they couldn’t move up the primaries, and that they would be punished if they did. They ignored the warnings, and they were punished. If we now let them revote, we’re giving them exactly what they wanted. I’m not sure why the media doesn’t seem to find this absurd. I think Florida and Michigan should send delegates bound by the proportion of delegates already pledged. That is, if Obama has 53% of the delegates from the other states, then he gets 53% of Florida’s and 53% of Michigan’s. That should get someone to the magic number (I think – I haven’t actually looked at the numbers) without giving Florida and Michigan any real influence on the election.

Et Tu, Ohio

I expect this sort of thing from Texas. I mean, what does “Texas Democrat” even mean? I think it’s like dark matter – something we think might exist, and we’ve seen evidence that it might exist, but no on has really ever seen it. But I expected better out of Ohio. I always figured Ohio was a sensible state. I mean, Cleveland just screams “sensible”. Let me tell you this, Ohio – Hillary doesn’t love you. She used you, like she used New York to get her into this race. She used you to take away some of Obama’s momentum. And now that she’s done it, she’s going to be insufferable for the next few weeks. But no matter. Obama will be our next President, and things will get better.

The co-founder of Netscape on Barack Obama

blog.pmarca.com | An hour and a half with Barack Obama

If you were asking me to write a capsule description of what I would look for in the next President of the United States, that would be it. Having met him and then having watched him for the last 12 months run one of the best-executed and cleanest major presidential campaigns in recent memory, I have no doubt that Senator Obama has the judgment, bearing, intellect, and high ethnical standards to be an outstanding president — completely aside from the movement that has formed around him, and in complete contradition to the silly assertions by both the Clinton and McCain campaigns that he’s somehow not ready.

If you’re an Obama supporter and you’ve ever talked politics with someone who isn’t, you’ve probably heard that he doesn’t have the experience to be President. Marc Andreessen makes the point that running the excellent campaign that Obama has run is a great demonstration of his leadership ability. Obama has a bunch of smart people working for him, getting his message out without stooping to the personal attacks that Clinton and McCain seem to enjoy so much. People talk about how he doesn’t know anything about foreign policy. The guy lived in Indonesia for a couple years as a kid. George Bush probably can’t even spell Indonesia. Oh, wait, was that an immature personal attack? Forget I said that. I think there’s a strange misperception that people from other countries are completely and totally different from people living in the United States, and dealing with Americans will in no way prepare you to talk to anyone from any other country. This is utterly absurd. Sure, cultures are different, and one should be aware of these differences. But it’s not like they’re from a different planet. Find out a bit about a culture, and treat them with respect, and they’re going to respond positively to you. Anyway, I didn’t need convincing that Obama is the best candidate for the job. But others do, and maybe this article will help.