Obama/McCain Down to the Wire!

[schoeney]

Well we are getting down to the last few days of a very energized election. The most energized that I can remember.

The results from our poll are in......McCain 49 votes. Obama 8 votes....write in 2 votes and 1 no vote. Not a surprising result due to our probable demographics.

While I am sure these results won't reflect the national results it should show that McCain may have a better chance than the media is portraying. Regardless of who we support we all need to get out and vote!!

I do not like the system we have but at the same time I think voting for a third party in this election is akin to throwing away your vote or at least helping either Obama or McCain depending on who you vote for....kind of like winning a battle but losing the war.

For instance, I feel a vote for La Riva helps McCain and a vote for Barr is a vote that helps Obama. Obviously everyone can vote for who they choose. I just hope we think through the impact on the the end result before we vote.

One other comment...I think many of us are very impressed with how we KawaNow members can carry on civil discusions/debates without it turning ugly. Good job to all.

Now could we do the same thing with Harley Owners??

[texasfisherdude]

I got no beef with Harley owners I cant help there jealous :)

[ridemslow]

Or just brain dead?

Originally Posted by texasfisherdude

I got no beef with Harley owners I cant help there jealous :)

[formikec]

Depends on whether they can look and wave. If not, I don't care for them, if so, they're just another biker like me.

There's all types.

I think we are so manipulated by the media that NOT voting for a third party is just going to give us more of the same. Why does the American public tolerate a media that does not invite all of the presidential Candidates into a debate? Over 50% of the American people feel that Barr should have been allowed in the debates, yet he was not invited to a one. I will not shut my ears to someone because they 3rd party. I do not vote for the best candidate between the two major partys, I vote for the best candidate. The Libertarian party is the fastest growing Party right now in America.

[schoeney]

Hi Wolfman,

I certainly respect your decision to stick with your candidate. My opinion is at this late stage of the election that your vote may possibly end up helping the candidate you like the least.

The system sucks. But it is what we have until we change it.

I've already early voted. I think most people have already decided who they are going to vote for. In a way I almost hope Obama gets in: If Obama gets in and this country goes to crap, maybe the republican party will pull their head out, and put someone in like Romney. Maybe the country needs a good shock to wake them up and bring them to their senses rather than a slow slip into socialism. I know right now they are reproting a major anti-incumbent movement in Utah. I fear for my fellow Americans, if a 700 billion dollar bailout is not only Propposed but PASSES and most americans have an "O, Well" attitude, I don't think there is much anything that CAN bring them to their senses of whats going on in government.

I remember a while back there was this black lady on TV who was on welfare and she said "It's against my constitutional rights to make me work for money, THATS SLAVERY" Where do fools like her think the government is getting money from?

I didn't like Mcain from the get go but after his choice of VP I drew the line. I know most of the 50-60 year old age group of people I know (like my dad and father-in-law) absolutly LOVE her. If McCain has a stroke in office is Palin qualified to become the President of the United States? I would say she is about as qualified as Barack Obama.

I didn't participate in your poll because I didn't really fit the criteria. I don't consider Bob Barr a write in because he is actually on the ballet (in Utah anyway)

I'm not looking forward to the drama of recounts though.




With the election just around the corner, and an Obama victory almost unavoidable, it is not too late to shift gears and send a message to the Republican National Committee that we true conservatives want Barr’s version of conservatism—not McCain’s or Palin’s. The Republican Party needs to realign itself with the traditional political right, and the more votes Barr gets, the more the RNC will understand that its version of pseudo-conservatism is no longer acceptable. This is not changing the Republican Party; this is reminding it of its roots.

[formikec]

I completely agree with Wolf.

[mrfuni]

"If McCain has a stroke in office is Palin qualified to become the President of the United States? I would say she is about as qualified as Barack Obama."

I'd have to say MORE qualified. Obama never ran anything nor has he ever accomplished anything. Palin has a track record of success as a mayor and governor. She would surround herself with good people to make up for her lack of experience. Without her or McCain the Dems are going to have full run of the country without opposition veto power. We need checks and balances in government.

I pray every night for our future and our children. So help us God....

I actually agree joe. I'm just greatly annoyed at what politics is becoming ......weather or not you wear a lapel pin or weather or nor you're a soccer dad or a hockey mom. Barr gave a great speech on leadership, it's the redish colored video on www.bobbarr.com Why does the american public support these so called "debates" where the candidates only tell us what they want to say and don't answer the questions WE want answers to?

I copied and pasted that specific part of his speech:

You’ll notice that there have been, thus far, three debates for president, two for president and one for vice president, which essentially is the same thing, or at least should be the same thing.

In other words, if we’re to be voting for somebody to be vice president, that person we obviously demand that person satisfied every criteria, appropriate legitimate criteria, to serve as president. So, it’s really not appropriate to say, “Well it was a debate for vice president, so it doesn’t really matter”, it indeed does matter.

But there have been three debates so far, two between the two major party presidential nominees and one between the two major party vice presidential nominees. And the Libertarian party has not been present even though, according to a recent Zogby poll, some 55% of the American people believe that I, that is Bob Barr as Libertarian nominee for president, should be included.

But the two major parties have seen fit to assure themselves and basically to guarantee that there is nobody that is going to be on that stage with their hand-chosen candidate who might ask a tough question or pose an issue that the candidates would be forced to come outside, step outside their comfort zone for a minute. And this is something that is going to trouble a lot of us.

I want to talk today about the vacuum of leadership, of political leadership in this country. And it can be illustrated in many ways, according to many of the issues and procedures that we see in today’s world.

Now let’s just take for a minute, the debates such as they are in a useful word very loosely, they don’t really, these sessions, these hour and a half long sessions, which are preceded by endless hours of negotiation between the campaigns for the two other major parties to assure themselves that everything is being done possible to make their candidate look good, to make sure that their candidate is not forced outside his or her comfort zone.

And, that ought to bother us greatly. If we are electing a president or vice president, I say essentially the same thing, ought to be the same criteria, then we ought to be able to and we ought to insist that those men and women be judged according to not how they behave in their comfort zone, I mean it’s easy to operate properly, to appear impressive if you are in your comfort zone.

The fact of the matter is that there is probably not likely to be more than a few moments during an entire four year term of a president of the United States of this modern world that our president is going to be able to sit back and enjoy the luxury of operating within their comfort zone.

Almost by very definition a president is going to spend the four years of their term in office or the eight years if they’re honored with two terms in office, having to operate, deal with issues, deal with people that are outside their comfort zone.

And yet this notion that we have these so-called debates between the two major party candidates for president and vice president to simply allow these folks to preen and pump their chest up throw out their sound bites and once again tell us how great they are, does a tremendous disservice not just to the process what a debate ought to be, but does a tremendous disservice to the country itself.

The most graphic illustration of the lack of willingness of the two other major parties to deal with issues outside their comfort zones, occurred I guess it was the week before last, I think was the debate between Senator Biden and Governor Palin.

Normally, and of course we are used to seeing this, we are used to seeing the candidates just not answer the question directly or answer a question as posed to them very quickly and then say: “But I really want to talk about this.” Or, “Let me go back to that“.

But I’ve never seen anything quite so brazen in terms of a refusal to operate outside one’s comfort zone than when the vice presidential nominee during the debate, moderated, wasn’t really moderated by Gwen Ifill. It was really simple; there wasn’t really a moderator there.

But she said basically, she removed any pretense that she was not going to, that she was going to answer any questions posed to her, in other words be drawn outside of her comfort zone. She said basically “I’m not going to answer any questions, you may not like that!”. She was talking to the moderator but she was really talking to the American people saying:

“I don’t know whether you like it or not, and it really doesn’t matter to me whether you think it’s important for a candidate for the highest office in the land to answer questions posed to him or her but I’m not going to.”
I mean the arrogance of a candidate for that high office saying,

“I’m going to just stand up here and say what I want to say to make me look good and tell you what I think you are to hear about me, not what you want to hear about me. I’m not going to reveal to you how I might deal with the top issues or the top personalities or unusual situations that I might be faced with, that I inevitably will be faced with as president… I’m just going to keep all of that for a later date; I’m just going to pontificate and say those things that I think are important to you, like, ‘I’m a hockey mom’, or, you know, ‘you betcha that’s really exciting’, wink wink.”

[formikec]

While I agree that Palin has more executive experience than Obama, she isn't an effective speaker, and Obama is more than effective. That gives him the edge over her and McCain. McCain should have picked Romney, or better yet, the voters should have picked Romney instead of McCain. How it turned out the way it did, I just can't understand.

Back to Obama vs. Palin. Obama has already proven he will surround himself with smart and qualified people, so with that, he closed the case on his experience. Plus, the number of smart and qualified people that have backed Obama really makes it a no brainer between him and Palin.

I don't like it anymore than anyone else that is a true conservative (as I am), however, the democratic machine that Obama has run this election is probably the best democratic campaign ever run.

I still won't vote for him, though. I'll either vote for McCain/Palin or Barr. I'd like to vote for Barr, so that's probably what I'll do.

And this conservative doesn't feel that Palin was a good choice, or that she would make a good president/leader.

[mrfuni]

"Back to Obama vs. Palin. Obama has already proven he will surround himself with smart and qualified people..."

Sorry, can't let that one slip buy...

Jeremiah Wright
William Ayers
ACORN
Tony Rezko
Rev. Wright
Farrakhan
Quadaffi
Obongo Obama
James Meeks
Father Flager
etc.
etc.
etc.

Sorry to those I left out ???

[dantama]

One huge difference between Obama and Palin that hasn't been mentioned, is education.

Palin sounds uneducated, is uneducated (I'm not counting a 4 year degree that took 6 years to earn, from a handful of different small colleges).

There is no question that Obama is highly intelligent, and extremely educated.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by Joe (mrfuni) #250

"Back to Obama vs. Palin. Obama has already proven he will surround himself with smart and qualified people..."

Sorry, can't let that one slip buy...

Jeremiah Wright
William Ayers
ACORN
Tony Rezko
Rev. Wright
Farrakhan
Quadaffi
Obongo Obama
James Meeks
Father Flager
etc.
etc.
etc.

Sorry to those I left out ???

Joe my friend, the next time we are together, the beer is on me.......