Sen. Obama Has record high favorable ratings while Senator McCain languishes because of his hyperbolic negative attacks
In the 28 year history of the CBS poll on candidate favorable/unfavorable ratings, Senator Obama (D-IL) has the highest favorable rating of any candidate running for their first term. The 53 percent favorable (to 33 percent unfavorable) puts him ahead of even Ronald Reagan before his first presidential win, an amazingly lopsided victory in 1980. This bodes well for the Senator’s campaign, as they lead in national polls, and electoral college projections.
The McCain campaign is reeling from criticism of their anything goes campaign style, including anything from leveling false charges against the organization ACORN, to equating their opponent to a terrorist, even in official campaign meetings with reporters present. Furthermore, the McCain campaign received more bad news with the same CBS poll showing Sarah Palin as having the highest unfavorable rating in the known history of Vice Presidential candidates at 41 percent negative, even lower than the one time king of negative ratings, Dan Quayle.
Senator McCain is also faring poorly in the view of the public, with only 36 percent viewing him favorably, and a very high 45 percent viewing him unfavorably. Much of this can probably be credited to the backlash that negative campaigning often brings, and the vigor and tone of his negative attacks has been widely considered some of the harshest and most outlandish negative campaigning seen in the last fifty years. Such tactics generally bring both candidates favorable ratings down, and their unfavorable up, but the attacks have been wholly ineffective on his opponent, while greatly dampening his ability to connect with the voters.
Gov. Palin now holds the record for the the highest unfavorable ratings for a Vice Presidential candidate, surpassing Dan Quayle
This should be a very loud and stern message for future campaigns, as what the American people seem to be hearing is attacks that are not only hilariously out of touch with reality, but so ill mannered and hateful as to render them ineffective. Subtlety has not been the order of the day from the McCain campaign, as their choice of attack is generally shouted, in no uncertain terms, over public address speakers and advertisements comprised of allegations so heinous as to make prostitutes blush.
Senator Biden, the golden child of Wilmington, has also benefited greatly over the past couple of months, with his favorable rating at 50 percent. Such a favorable rating for a Vice Presidential candidate considered gaffe prone is remarkable, and he has most likely benefited greatly from being compared to the highly disliked Governor from Alaska, who is considered the least capable candidate to be in line for the Presidency in the history of the nation.
Over the next couple of weeks, as the final undecided voters make their choices, these ratings may have more of an impact than any other metric. Dont forget to vote.
John McCain is accused of soliciting money from a foreign agent.
The McCain campaign is using some very odd tactics to raise money. Odd tactics that are explicitly illegal and disturbing. The McCain campaign sent a letter to a Russian envoy to the United Nations asking for not just the $2,300 that would be legally allowed to be contributed to his general election campaign by a citizen of the US, but a letter asking for $5,000 from an officer of a foreign government!
Vitaly Churkin received the letter, with McCain’s signature allegedly on it (it has not been confirmed as an authentic signature, it may be printed on), asking for more money than is legally allowable to give to a campaign. They also included a very clever clause in the letter, stating that if Vitaly Churkin gave them the $5,000, they would return any unused amount in a check after the October 24. Very clever in that it gives them opportunity to use the full $5,000 dollars to earn interest, or provide a larger amount of financing collateral, while not needing to report the full amount as a donation.
Vitaly Churkin
There are so many legal problems with their request for money from a foreign national, especially from an official in the Russian Government. Another problem is the use of private money in a publicly financed campaign, such as McCain’s. McCain cannot accept private donations, except for use in accounting and legal spending which must be put in separate accounts to ensure separation of public and private monies. McCain therefore is attempting to fund his legal and accounting expenses not only at this late date (which he has plenty of general election funds raised before he declared for public financing for that use), but also from Russian government officials. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the Russians involved in the presidential campaign.
The Russians are quite upset about this solicitation from the McCain campaign, not only for its impropriety, but also for McCain to make blustering charges against them, then with the other hand attempt to get money from them. The seriousness with which the Russians are taking this matter can be seen in their formal dissemination of a press release from Ruslan Bakhtin, the press secretary of the Russian mission to the UN:
We have received a letter from Senator John McCain with a request for a financial donation to his presidential election campaign. In this respect we have to reiterate that neither Russia’s permanent mission to the UN nor the Russian government or its officials finance political activities in foreign countries
If this letter had been perceived as merely a mistake, it is hardly likely that the Russians would go so far as to formally denounce the solicitation.
I have yet to hear the McCain campaign explain why they were soliciting money from a foreign agent.
I’m a fiscally conservative liberal. It sounds like a contradiction in terms, but I promise you, it isn’t. I’m certainly not a libertarian, and I do not propose that I fall anywhere in your neat little political spectrum graph you have embedded in your head. I believe in providing some basic necessities of life, such as healthcare, retirement security, and social safety nets through grouping our resources as a community. I believe that we can do so in a cost saving manner, while ensuring a quality of life that is greater than current conditions.
That is how I view the function of government. I see it as our collective ability to help each other, and ourselves, through working in concert on the most basic of needs. We needn’t create massive bureaucracies to do so, nor do we need to give up our individual rights. No one wishes to have a government that is oppressive, or one that takes too much, and provides too little. These are the ingredients to doing the opposite of the what was intended.
The free market is fine and dandy for many, many things. It has proven effective at controlling costs up to a point, and provided us with ingenuity and inventiveness unseen for the vast majority of human history. It seeks to fill needs not yet provided, and punish those who would attempt to become robber barons. But it doesn’t always work. We know this. It isn’t that it needs to be done away with, or massively overhauled, it doesn’t. It just needs common sense measures to ensure it’s proper functioning.
The best example of the free market’s imperfection can be found in the mills and factories of the early twentieth century. Men, women, and children forced to labor in squalid conditions, and made to live as slaves within a framework of freedom. As a people, we rejected this, and rightly so. We put in place regulations and guidelines to correct the abuse of a few on the many, and the system was saved from catastrophe.
We have these dilemmas on a smaller scale each generation. Today, we have a few that need to be addressed. The free market has attempted to provide inexpensive healthcare while regulations have been put in place to help those that the corporate structure cannot, or will not help. These regulations are seen to have have worked against the goal of providing healthcare at a less expensive rate, making insurance and related costs skyrocket. Whether this is necessarily true is debatable, but I think there maybe some truth to the argument.
How are we to both provide inexpensive healthcare and also ensure the health of the population at large? We cannot sit idly by as millions of us suffer cruel fates because of the free market, just as we cannot let our desire to help collapse our ability to provide these services. We must choose a direction, either one that is less regulated, but may abuse those it provides services to, or one that is given to all of us, and is thus protected from such inequities. Either way, there is no doubt that lawsuits must be limited, and bad providers of services found and kept from hurting people. I don’t think anybody will disagree with that last point.
The best example on the world stage may very well come from a stereotyped people. The French. Sure, the French are the symbol of everything bad to the conservatives, yet there healthcare system may be the very best example of a market driven universal healthcare. A decent jumping off point for future discussions on the ability to help all without hurting everyone in the process.
The Frech system is not perfect, of course, but it does provide a wonderful array of services for almost half of what individual expenditures are here in the United States. The per capita cost in France is about $3500, while in the US it’s closing in on $7000. The french get to see their own doctor, and are reimbursed buy the government for a vast number of services. The individual can chose to get further private insurance for procedures that don’t fall into a basic medical needs category, and thus the extra costs of abuse of the system is avoided.
The system doesn’t have the long waits and poor service that conservatives put forward as arguments against universal coverage, and it’s bureaucracy is limited by the use of electronic filing and streamlined electronic transfers of funds. They limit the costs, and maintain a system that was rated number one in the world by the World Health Association in 2001. Half the cost, and everyone is provided for.
Businesses still provide their employees with extra insurance, as benefits, and a way to attract the best workers. Some self employed even completely forgo the system and provide themsleves with their own full coverage insurances. It’s a flexible system that does a number of exceptional things, while maintaining exceptional savings.
Just some quick thoughts on why I think this election cycle has become so contemptuous.
If this election ever gets made into a truthful movie, it could never receive a PG-13 rating. There’s too much vitriol, too much hate, and all together too many allegations of the worst sort. I remember as a child being able to watch every second of news, and read every article about the presidential elections. If I were that same child today, I would hope my parents would shield me from this.
Remember Carter-Reagan, or Mondale-Bush? Campaigns that made some silly points, and attacked each other for sure, but nothing like calling your opponent a terrorist or mischaracterizing their ancestry and religion. That just wasn’t done. Sure, some fanatics deep in their own ideology no doubt cast aspersions upon anyone they disagreed with, but the technology of the day kept it confined from public mass consumption. Today, The political feeding trough of the country is filled with this offal, unfit for safe consumption, yet cheaper than actual commentary.
I’m guilty of it. I realize that. I push the hard edges, and make no bones about it. Maybe I’m stuck in a physics equation dealing with the conservation of energy, the muck gets thrown at my side, and I have an equal and opposite reaction (losing a little of the muck lost as heat energy in the process). I’m not a political science professor concerned with riding the fine line between informing and balancing–I’m a blogger taking advantage of the technology and the voice given to me.
Am I making a plea for this all to stop, for us to refocus our attentions toward a common good? I don’t know. I’m not going to let up on my posts reporting the disgustingness appearing from the other side, just as I’m not going stop being inspired and hopeful that after this election is put in the books, we have a chance to redefine ourselves to the world community and ourselves. I think many of us are this way. We have these two sides to our political reality. On one, we have a vision of perfection being created from our deeply held political beliefs, and on the other, we see the horridness, the antithesis of our vision being fought for from our political opponents.
What the main concern of both sides seems to be is our personal freedom. The ability to go through our lives unharassed by the intervention of forces beyond our control. The noble vision of each man and woman living as they see fit, and having a piece of the happiness we all dream of. I think it may be this simple.
When the ‘other side’ is viewed, we see the extreme negative consequence of their vision, the ultimate ends of a misguided means. The conservatives see government programs as the enemy, and corporate involvement in these very same activities as the ultimate good. The liberal element sees corporate involvement in some areas as profiteering on the fundamental necessities of life, when a communal good could be provided at a cheaper cost by pooling our resources. Neither side wants to be burdened with understanding the honest benefits that the other view could provide, just as we do not want to consider our own views as misguided.
It’s not that both sides are right. But it’s not that one side may be right, while the other is wrong. The world isn’t so simple. There is no black and white world where this is so. The world is a shade of grays. Now, I do not, and can not say that a combination of the two sides ideas would be better than the alternatives, that is also a foolish path that leads to the solution of problems that do not exist, and problems arising from solutions that are not needed. It is quite possible that either side is right for a given set of circumstances.
The election has turned into an exposé of this problem of black and white rationalizing of a gray world. Our hackles are raised at every turn, both by our vision of a terrible outcome, and the reactions to reactions to reactions of reactions. The endless froth of contempt is spilling over from hearts, and into our souls. Hatred is being born where misunderstanding once resided, and misunderstanding is beginning to creep into our own political visions.
Of course Senator Obama isn’t a Muslim, just as he’s not a socialist, a terrorist sympathizer, or a secret agent sent by a foreign government or group. These fearful indictments aren’t born from actual events or truths, they are created in the fearful reaction to a perceived worst case scenario. Maybe it can’t be helped, this attempt to justify our visions of doom, but at least we can understand it. It isn’t evil that resides in the souls of those that spread this fear mongering, it is the vision of evil that does it.
Defenses are up now. Soothing the fearful soul can only come with time, just as the mental trauma from a car crash gently fades from consciousness and finds it’s place somewhere calmer, and more reflective. I can no more rationally explain to a person spewing forth hysterical denouncements of Senator Obama’s character than I could magically heal a survivor of a horrible accident. It will take time for these people to heal themselves, and we can only hope that the scars also fade.
Al Austin, portrayed in a more fitting black & white with sepia tones. His humor is straight out of a 1940's or 50's dictatorship.
Mr. Austin, a top Republican fundraiser from Tampa, Florida, has mass emailed a ‘joke’ about blowing up Obama and his wife, Michelle. The punchline was “it certainly wouldn’t be a great loss, and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either.” That was the punchline to a ‘joke’ about killing a sitting US Senator, and a man who in three weeks could be the President-Elect.
This man, this horrible person, Al Austin, is not a fringe individual in the Republican Party. He is the former Finance Chairman for the National Republican Party. He has also been a co-chair of commitees to bring the Republican National Convention to Tampa, as well as personally donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican Party and Republican candidates. Mr. Austin has raised millions upon millions of dollars for Republicans as a fundraiser.
He probably feels comfortable in his 18 room mansion, and driving his fancy cars. Beyond wealthy, he is a massively successful real estate developer that uses his political sway to make money. He goes so far as to have personal meetings with President Bush, the outcome of said meetings can’t be quite certain, but we do know that splendor and wealth rains down on this heinous man faster than he can spend it.
This is the Republican party of today. Comfortable with questioning others patriotism and motives, all the while pushing forward the idea that blowing up those you don’t agree with would be no big deal. The very core of the Republican party has become a respite for those with less morals than dollars, and more hatred for opponents than love for country.
I do not simply call on John McCain and President Bush to publicly disavow this pathetic excuse for a man, but I call on this detestable hate filled man to leave the country. Leave this country so that those of us who do not profess killing those that are on the other side of the aisle can shake hands and move forward with the urgent business at hand. Leave the country, Mr. Austin, so that real patriots, those that care about all Americans can stabilize this quickly fracturing political landscape. Leave the country, you wizened, filthy endorser of terrorism. Leave for the good of the nation you claim to care about.
Red indicates that the paper endorsed Bush in 2004; Blue endorsed Kerry; Black did not endorse in 2004; (B) or (K) for the color blind.
BARACK OBAMA
66 total
ARKANSAS Arkansas Times (K)
CALIFORNIA The Argus (Fremont) (K)
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek) (K)
Daily Review (Hayward) (K)
The Fresno Bee (K)
La Opinion (Los Angeles) (K)
Los Angeles Times (N/A) The Modesto Bee (K)
The Monterey County Herald (K)
Oakland Tribune (K) The (Stockton) Record (B) The Sacramento Bee (K) San Bernardino Sun (B) San Francisco Chronicle (K)
San Jose Mercury News (K)
San Mateo County Times (K)
Santa Cruz Sentinel (K) Tri-Valley Herald (B)
COLORADO Cortez Journal (K) The Denver Post (B) The Durango Herald (K)
Gunnison Country Times (N/A) Ouray County Plaindealer (K)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The Washington Post (K)
FLORIDA Miami Herald (K)
GEORGIA Atlanta Journal-Constitution (K)
HAWAII Honolulu Star-Bulletin (K)
ILLINOIS Chicago Tribune (B) Chicago Sun-Times (K)
Southwest News-Herald (K)
IOWA The Storm Lake Times (K)
MAINE Bangor Daily News (K)
Brunswick Times-Record (K)
MASSACHUSETTS The Boston Globe (K)
The Standard-Times (New Bedford) (K)
MICHIGAN The Muskegon Chronicle (K)
MISSOURI
Kansas City Star St. Louis Post-Dispatch (K)
NEW MEXICO Las Cruces Sun-News (B) Santa Fe New Mexican (K)
NEW YORK The Daily News (B)
el Diario
NORTH CAROLINA Asheville Citizen-Times (K)
OHIO The (Toledo) Blade (K)
Dayton Daily News (K) The (Canton) Repository (B) Springfield News-Sun (K)
OREGON Mail Tribune (Medford) (K)
The Oregonian of Portland (K)
Yamhill Valley News-Register
PENNSYLVANIA The Express-Times (Easton) (B) Philadelphia Inquirer (K)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (K)
TENNESSEE Chattanooga Times (K)
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis) (K)
The (Nashville) Tennessean (K)
TEXAS The Lufkin Daily News (K)
UTAH The Salt Lake Tribune (B)
VIRGINIA Falls Church News-Press (K)
WASHINGTON The Columbian (B) Seattle Post-Intelligencer (K)
The Seattle Times (K)
WEST VIRGINIA The Charleston Gazette (K)
WISCONSIN The Capital Times (Madison) (K) Wisconsin State Journal (Madison) (B)
—————————–
John McCain
18 total
CALIFORNIA
Napa Valley Register (B) The San Francisco Examiner (B)
COLORADO
Mountain Valley News (Cedaredge) The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction) (B)
The Pueblo Chieftain (B)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The Washington DC Examiner (N/A)
FLORIDA
Tampa Tribune
MARYLAND
The Baltimore Examiner (N/A)
MASSACHUSETTS Boston Herald (B)
The (Lowell) Sun (B)
NEW HAMPSHIRE Foster’s Daily Democrat (B)
Union Leader (Manchester) (B)
No newspaper that endorsed John Kerry in 2004 has endorsed John McCain in 2008.
Twelve newspapers that endorsed Bush in 2004 have endorsed Barack Obama in 2008.
The circulation of the Obama endorsers in about 7 times greater than the circulation of the McCain endorsers.
The gap of 66 newspaper endorsements to 18 is a historic gap.
McCain received 4 endorsements from papers that didn’t endorse in 2004. The Baltimore and The Washington D.C. Examiners are free rags that weren’t even around in 2004. The Tampa Tribune’s editor is Janet Coats, best known for endangering all of our lives by drunken driving. The Mountain Valley News is some little podunk crap rag that is mostly used to soak up vomit on bar room floors.
At least two of the newspapers endorsing McCain are first written in crayon before being typeset.
The Union Leader is notorious for its historically racist editorials, and personal vendettas. They would endorse anyone…and I mean ANYONE (insert historically demonized person here) if they were registered as a Republican.
The Boston Herald is about as credible as information written in the snow with urine. You don’t know who the heck wrote it, but you know it’s dirty, and really shouldn’t touch it.
CALIFORNIA (30)
The Argus (Fremont) (K): 26,749
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek) (K): 183,086
Daily Breeze (Torrance) (B): 66,599
The Daily Democrat (Woodland): 8,883
Daily News (Los Angeles) (K): 137,344
The Daily Review (Hayward) (K): 30,704
The Fresno Bee (K): 150,334
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario) (B): 53,903
La Opinion (Los Angeles) (K): 114,892
Los Angeles Times (N): 773,884
Marin Independent-Journal (K): 31,909
Merced Sun-Star (K): 15,015
The Modesto Bee (K): 78,001
The Monterey County Herald (K): 28,933
The Oakland Tribune (K): 96,535
Pasadena Star-News (B): 27,894
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa): 78,022
Press-Telegram (Long Beach) (B): 85,595
The Reporter (Vacaville) (B): 17,751
San Gabriel Valley Tribune (B): 40,051
San Mateo Daily Journal: 14,800
Tahoe Daily Tribune: 7,723
The Record (Stockton) (B): 57,486
The Sacramento Bee (K): 288,755
San Bernardino County Sun (B): 54,315
San Francisco Chronicle (K): 370,345
San Jose Mercury News (K): 234,772
San Mateo County Times (K): 25,982
Santa Cruz Sentinel (K): 23,290
Tri-Valley Herald (Pleasanton) (B): 29,759
COLORADO (8)
Aspen Daily News (K): 12,500
Aurora Sentinel (K): 46,000
Cortez Journal (K): 6,700
Daily Camera (Boulder) (K): 28,994
The Denver Post (B): 225,193
Durango Herald (K): 8,870
Fort Collins Coloradoan (K): 26,312
Vail Daily: 10,525
CONNECTICUT (4)
The Day (New London) (K): 34,730
The Hartford Courant (B): 168,158
New Haven Register (B): 72,613
Norwich Bulletin (K): 22,121
DELAWARE (1)
The News Journal (Wilmington) (K): 110,171
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (1)
The Washington Post (K): 673,180
FLORIDA (12)
Daytona Beach News-Journal (K): 99,627
Florida Today (Melbourne) (K): 79,499
The Gainesville Sun (K): 44,658
The Ledger (Lakeland) (B): 65,948
The Miami Herald (K): 240,223
Naples Daily-News (B): 66,272
Orlando Sentinel (K): 227,593
The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach) (K): 164,474
Pensacola News Journal: 57,069
St. Petersburg Times (K): 316,007
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (K): 114,904
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale) (K): 218,286
GEORGIA (3)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (K): 326,907
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (B): 42,830
The Macon Telegraph (K): 56,510
HAWAII (2)
The Honolulu Advertiser (K): 140,331
Honolulu Star-Bulletin (K): 64,305
IDAHO (1)
The Idaho Statesman (Boise) (K): 61,927
ILLINOIS (8)
Chicago Tribune (B): 541,663
Chicago Sun-Times (K): 312,274
Daily Herald (Arlington Heights) (K): 143,152
Herald & Review (Decatur) (B): 34,480
Lake County News-Sun (Waukegan) (B): 16,899
The Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal) (B): 47,764
The Register-Mail (Galesburg): 13,344
Rockford Register Star (K): 55,913
INDIANA (4)
Journal and Courier (Lafayette-West Lafayette) (K): 34,545
The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne) (K): 64,304
Palladium-Item (Richmond) (B): 15,453
The Star Press (Muncie): 31,512
IOWA (6)
The Des Moines Register (K): 138,472
Globe-Gazette (Mason City)(B): 17,666
The Hawk Eye (Burlington) (K): 18,921
Iowa City Press-Citizen (K): 13,352
The Ottumwa Courier: 16,904
Quad-City Times (Davenport) (K): 51,890
KANSAS (2)
The Hays Daily News: 12,414
The Hutchinson News (K): 31,019
KENTUCKY (3)
The Ledger Independent (Maysville): 9,074
Lexington Herald-Leader (K):109,624
The Courier-Journal (Louisville) (K): 215,328
LOUISIANA (2)
The Times (Shreveport): 52,267
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans) (N): 179,834
MAINE (3)
Bangor Daily News (K): 55,627
Portland Press Herald (K): 64,938
The Times-Record (Brunswick ) (K): 9,317
MARYLAND (1)
The Sun (Baltimore) (K): 232,360
MASSACHUSETTS (9)
The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield) (K): 26,427
The Boston Globe (K): 350,605
Cape Cod Times (Hyannis) (B): 49,832
Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton): 18,001
The Recorder (Greenfield): 13,578
North Adams Transcript: 5,949
The Salem News: 29,125
The Standard-Times (New Bedford) (K): 30,306
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester) (K): 81,437
MICHIGAN (10)
The Bay City Times (K): 30,183
Battle Creek Enquirer (K): 20,854
>>> The Daily Tribune (Royal Oak)
Detroit Free Press (K): 308,944
The Flint Journal (K): 76,288
The Lansing State Journal (K): 58,948
Livingston County Daily Press & Argus (Howell) (K): 13,131
The Muskegon Chronicle (K): 41,114
The Saginaw News (K): 39,143
>>> Traverse City Record-Eagle (K)
MINNESOTA (5)
>>> Albert Lea Tribune
Post-Bulletin (Rochester): 44,631
St. Cloud Times (K): 25,868
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (K): 321,964
>>> Winona Daily News
MISSOURI (4)
Columbia Daily Tribune (K): 18,131
The Joplin Globe (B): 26,700
The Kansas City Star (K): 252,785
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (K): 255,057
MONTANA (1)
Billings Gazette (K): 45,530
NEVADA (2)
Las Vegas Sun (K): 174,341
Reno Gazette-Journal (K): 57,423
NEW HAMPSHIRE (5)
Concord Monitor (K): 19,885
The Conway Daily Sun (Conway-North Conway)(N): 16,100
The Keene Sentinel (K): 12,119
Nashua Telegraph (K): 24,272
Portsmouth Herald (K): 11,658
NEW JERSEY (8)
Asbury Park Press (Neptune-Asbury Park) (B): 140,882
Courier-Post (Camden-Cherry Hill): 66,617
The Gloucester County Times (Woodbury) (K): 23,189
Home News Tribune (East Brunswick): 49,076
The Record (Hackensack) (K): 163,329
The Star-Ledger (Newark) (K): 345,130
The Times (Trenton) (K): 54,745
NEW MEXICO (3)
Las Cruces Sun-News (B): 21,341
The Daily Times (Farmington) (B): 17,485
The Santa Fe New Mexican (K): 25,249
NEW YORK (14)
The Buffalo News (K): 178,365
>>> Daily Freeman (N)
Daily News (New York City) (B): 703,137
The Daily Star (Oneonta) (K): 14,391
el Diario (K): 53,856
Hoy (New York City): 35,410
The Journal-News (White Plains) (K): 108,092
The New York Times (K): 1,077,256
The Post-Standard (Syracuse): 110,061
The Post-Star (Glens Falls) (K): 30,265
Poughkeepsie Journal (B): 37,265
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (K): 145,913
The Times Herald-Record (Middletown): 75,745
Times Union (Albany) (K): 89,256
NORTH CAROLINA (6)
The Asheville Citizen-Times (K): 50,160
The Charlotte Observer (K): 210,616
The Daily Reflector (Greenville) (K): 21,703
The Herald-Sun (Durham) (N): 32,845
The News & Observer (Raleigh) (K): 176,083
Star-News (Wilmington) (K): 47,620
OKLAHOMA (2)
Muskogee Daily Phoenix & Times-Democrat (K): 14,816
The Norman Transcript: 12,921
OREGON (8)
The Ashland Daily Tidings: 5,010
Corvallis Gazette-Times: 12,092
East Oregonian (Pendleton) (K): 9,071
The Daily Astorian (Astoria) (K): 8,263
Mail Tribune (Medford) (K): 30,349
The Oregonian (Portland) (K): 304,399
The Register-Guard (Eugene) (K): 67,400
Statesman Journal (Salem) (K): 47,152
PENNSYLVANIA (18)
Beaver County Times (K): 38,654
The Daily Item (Sunbury) (N): 24,879
The Daily Review (Towanda): 7,900
The Delaware County Daily Times (Primos-Upper Darby): 42,879
Erie Times-News (B): 55,397
The Express-Times (Easton) (B): 44,561
Herald-Standard (Uniontown) (K): 24,341
Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster): 46,357
The Mercury (Pottstown): 21,186
Observer-Reporter (Washington) (K): 31,755
The Patriot-News (Harrisburg): 95,588
The Philadelphia Daily News: 107,269
The Philadelphia Inquirer (K): 334,150
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (K): 214,374
Pocono Record (Stroudsburg): 18,276
Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre) (K): 38,229
The Times-Tribune (Scranton): 52,711
York Daily Record (B): 47,969
RHODE ISLAND (1)
The Providence Journal (B): 139,055
TENNESSEE (3)
Chattanooga Times (K): 71,716
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis) (K): 146,961
The Tennessean (Nashville) (K): 161,131
TEXAS (7)
Austin American-Statesman (B): 170,309
The Eagle (Bryan-College Station): 21,654
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (B): 207,045
Houston Chronicle (B): 494,131
Longview News-Journal (K): 27,590
The Lufkin Daily News (K): 12,225
San Angelo Standard-Times: 24,919
UTAH (1)
The Salt Lake Tribune (B): 121,699
VERMONT (4)
Bennington Banner (K): 6,502
Brattleboro Reformer (K): 8,814
The Burlington Free Press (K): 41,901
Valley News (White River Junction) (K): 16,430
VIRGINIA (1)
The News Leader (Staunton) (B): 17,238
WASHINGTON (10)
The Columbian (Vancouver) (B): 44,623
The News Tribune (Tacoma) (K): 111,778
The Olympian (Olympia) (K): 30,755
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (K): 129,563
The Seattle Times (K): 220,883
The Sun (Bremerton): 28,792
Tri-City Herald (Pasco-Kennewick-Richland) (K): 40,830
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (K): 13,624
The Wenatchee World: 22,579
Yakima Herald-Republic (B): 38,077
WEST VIRGINIA (3)
Charleston Gazette (K): 48,061
The Herald-Dispatch (Huntington) (K): 27,463
Times West Virginian (Fairmont): 10,415
WISCONSIN (8)
The Capital Times (Madison) (K): 16,335
The Chippewa Herald (Chippewa Falls) (B): 6,720
Kenosha News (K): 24,535
La Crosse Tribune (K): 31,759
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (K): 217,755
Stevens Point Journal: 11,234
>>> The Wausau Daily Herald (K)
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison) (B): 87,930
In one of the largest crowds ever at a political rally in world history, St. Louis cheered for the man they want to lead them out of the turmoil created by 8 years of Bush rule. Senator Obama spoke to the crowd, residents of a normally ‘red’ state, giving them reason to be both enthused, and concerned about the upcoming election. This election is the most anticipated since the 1932, in which America also needed to change economic and foreign policy directions.
It is possible that somewhere between 65-70 percent of voters will turn out this general election, which would mark the highest turnout at least since 1960, if not the highest ever recorded. With such anticipation, it can be expected that the electorate is emotionally driven by some issues, and the number one issue is the economy. Senator Obama is seen as the clear leader on economic issues, and coupled with the desire voters have proffered about changing the nature of the presidency, it can be expected that he fits that brand as well.
Senator Obama has voiced his concerns over complacency, and the American voters need to be cognizant of it. No change can occur in a system without energy added, and we, as voters, have that unique ability to add energy into the system. We can change the momentum of a nation careening towards catastrophe, and correct its trajectory. We can inject energy into a stagnant nation and cause movement once again. We can change the future with a simple vote. But we must add that energy to make anything happen. Nothing happens without our input. Vote on November 4, or be complacent in the current trajectory of our nation.
I can make no claim that the video is authentic, nor can I attest to any truth in the question of whether the KKK has endorsed John McCain, whether implicitly or explicitly.
ACORN, the community activist organization that registers people to vote, and notifies registrars of the potential duplicate or fraudulent registrations, has become a target of domestic terrorists supporting McCain’s election as president. The terrorists have sent death threats and have already terrorized offices of the organization, reeling already from false accusations of fraudulent registrations.
According to reports, at least two offices of ACORN have been hit by domestic terrorists, with other offices and individuals in fear for their lives. The McCain campaign has yet to control the terrorists, and have further incited them today with more false claims of ACORN trying to ‘fix’ the election, the same election that John McCain is currently trailing by millions upon millions of legitimate potential votes. The terrorists motives are unclear, but it seems they are seeking to improve the odds of John McCain’s presidential ambitions.
The ACORN offices in Boston and Seattle have been already hit by the terrorists, and individuals in Cleavland and Providence have had their lives threatened in credible and direct threats by the domestic terrorists. Over 87 ACORN offices across the country have been targeted with other threats and emails, showing the depth and breadth of the domestic terrorists’ potential targets. Many of the emails are of a racist nature, providing a possible clue that the domestic terrorists are not only McCain supporters, but also complete savages.
ACORN has registered hundreds of thousands of legitimate voters, and works closely with local and state officials to make sure that any fraudulent registrations are pointed out. By law, ACORN, and any other organization must turn in every single voter registration card that they receive, regardless of whether of not they believe that the registration is invalid or illegitimate. ACORN has a very long history of working with local and state officials to ensure the integrity of the voter registration process, a fact that is overlooked by the McCain campaign in their inciting remarks about the situation.
Just today, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the false claims of the Republican Party and the McCain campaign, stating that newly registered voters can use normal ballots. The Republicans wanted special ballots to be made for new voters, and suppress the voters from having their votes counted. The FBI has been pressured by Republican lawmakers to investigate claims that US Attorneys have already concluded are false allegations. The Republican lawmakers are using political pressure when legitimate law enforcement officers won’t pursue the false claims.
We can only hope that the domestic terrorists inspired by the McCain campaign don’t end up killing people. It’s time that the McCain campaign controlled these terrorists before the threaten more lives, and target more offices.
The conservative movement continues to denounce John McCain, and moves towards supporting an unlikely candidate, Senator Obama. Michael Smerconish, best known perhaps for his unrelenting neoconservative views, and being a fill in for Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, and Chris Matthews on his Philadelphia based program he stated:
“My conclusion comes after reading the candidates’ memoirs and campaign platforms, attending both party conventions, interviewing both men multiple times, and watching all primary and general election debates.
John McCain is an honorable man who has served his country well. But he will not get my vote. For the first time since registering as a Republican 28 years ago, I’m voting for a Democrat for president.”
Michael Smerconish, 10/17/08
This is just the most recent in a long line of endorsements for Senator Obama from the conservative movement. The highest profile conservative to endorse recently was the National Review founder’s son, Chistopher Buckley. Buckley was forced to resign from his father’s creation after endorsing Senator Obama in a passionate editorial. Others that have endorsed Senator Obama include Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Andrew Bacevich, Francis Fukuyama, Christopher Hitchens, Dorothy King, and Andrew Sullivan, among a host of others.
A short list of other notable conservatives endorsing Senator Obama
the plaid lemur 