The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

[tutusue]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

[...]That is why a President SHOULD appoint qualified, unbiased, non-conflicted advisors that can recommend appropriate financial strategies.[...]

BINGO!
This is why Obama's short term experience doesn't worry me. I think he's more than capable of surrounding himself with top level advisors. McCain, I fear, will abuse those positions by appointing advisors for all the wrong reasons.

[matapule]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

LOL! I think you're entirely missing the point of why this story made headlines. It's not so much what Fiorina said that was newsworthy.

You are missing my point. I know full well why the headlines are there. But you have to give credit to the woman for speaking the truth. Sure it has not endeared her to the McCain campaign. But she did some straight talking, THAT is my point. I'm impressed!

You and others can applaud her for being honest by speaking her own mind, but that is not the purpose for which the McCain campaign sent her out to the media for, I assure you.

Again, you are missing my point. She is cutting through the partisan political BS. It is refreshing to see someone "speaking her mind" regardless of the partisan politics.

There's no such thing as totally "unbiased" advisors.

I agree but you are arguing about semantics. Perhaps I shoulld have used a different word, but I think most people will understand my point.

The bottom line is that it is the President who makes the final decisions on policy matters and is held accountable for them, not the advisors. That is the mantle of responsibility that a true leader accepts. I certainly don't want a President, Democrat or Republican, who passes the buck and blames his advisor whenever one of his proposals or decisions goes wrong.

So what are you saying, a President shouldn't have advisors? You are manufacturing something I didn't say. Of course the President has to take full responsibilites for his actions and decisions. And he makes better decisions, ones he can stand behind, because he has good advisors. Bush made a bad decision in Iraq because he wanted bad advice and that's what he got from bad advisors. And I am going to hold Bush accountable....and I believe history will too. Rumsfeld will just be a footnote in history. Cheney may be portrayed as Bush's Svengali.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

You are missing my point. I know full well why the headlines are there.

Sure didn't sound like it, but whatever.

But you have to give credit to the woman for speaking the truth. Sure it has not endeared her to the McCain campaign. But she did some straight talking, THAT is my point. I'm impressed!

You can give her "credit" for being a straight talker, if you want. I see it as another instance where Fiorina exposes herself as an unreliable campaign surrogate who goes off-message during interviews and seems more interested in promoting her own interests above those of the candidates she is supposed to be stumping for.

Actually, there's a simple way to know which of our viewpoints are correct, now that the McCain campaign has cancelled Fiorina's media appearances where she was supposed to be speaking out on behalf of the GOP ticket and will no longer be a media spokesperson. If Fiorina stays in the McCain camp and allows herself to be muzzled for the rest of the presidential campaign, then I'm right. If OTOH, Fiorina cuts her ties with McCain and starts making media appearances again, doing political commentary on her own behalf, then you're right.

I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for Fiorina to leave the McCain camp.

So what are you saying, a President shouldn't have advisors?

Whether a president has 10 or a 100 different advisors, the responsibility all comes down to the person sitting in the Oval Office. All this stuff about "good advisors" and "bad advisors",..... that's all Monday Morning QBing.

Anybody but anybody can play the second-guessing game. Just because someone is honest, has a Ivy League education, and has decades worth of political experience doesn't mean that every bit of advice they offer is good. History books tells everybody which cabinet members and administrative appointees did a good job or not. But that's after the fact. The President has to make decisions on the here and now, just as a Fortune 500 company CEO does. Whether he/she surrounds themselves with folks who have long and glowing resumes of past exerience or goes with promising new blood to adapt to a changing environment, it is the President/CEO who has to personally answer to voters/shareholders. If the President/CEO does not perform up to the expectations of the constituents involved, they are voted out and replaced. No excuses.

If every advisor or consultant hung a sign around their neck saying "good" or "bad," then being a chief executive of a govt. entity or a private business would be duck soup. But alas, the world doesn't work that way. It's not that easy.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

This is for timkona (who knows how much faith I put in polls) ---

Barack Obama and John McCain are neck and neck again in their race for the White House — with the momentum and the political environment tilting toward the Democrats. --- A flurry of national polls now show Obama even or slightly ahead of McCain depending on the survey. --- "The tide came in, but the tide has gone back out. We're back to where we were" in early August, said Alex Castellanos, a GOP operative and veteran of President Bush's re-election campaign. --- Bush's former political guru Karl Rove labeled Palin a "political pick" and said excitement over her will subside.

Looks like the Convention/Palin Bounce has run its course, and even the GOP knows the hardest road is still ahead.

Full story

[matapule]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for Fiorina to leave the McCain camp.

I don't think she will leave Bush. I still admire her for saying what she did.

We seem to be talking past each other, and I will leave it there.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

Looks like the Convention/Palin Bounce has run its course, and even the GOP knows the hardest road is still ahead.

Not surprising at all with the way the polls have shifted. McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis said that they wanted to make the presidential campaign center around personalities instead of issues. When the media was focused on the fresh new face and story of Sarah Palin, the Republican ticket was energized and captured people's attention and enthusiasm.

But with the Dow dropping 500+ points on Monday and another 400+ yesterday, suddenly, the issue of the economy forced its way into the headlines. Now, whether the McCain campaign likes it or not, they are forced to deal with the issues instead of gushing on and on about Palin's hockey mom story. And between the tickets, voters being polled are now saying that they like what they hear coming from the Obama camp.

But polls are a snapshot in time. I believe the next major shift in public opinion will take place with the upcoming and long-awaited presidential debate. Judging by the record TV audience for both conventions, the debates (both for the presidents and the VP) could also set new all-time highs.

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm sure looking forward to it!

[matapule]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm sure looking forward to it!

Oeiaue! I don't have a TV service. I guess I'm a Luddite. Please keep me posted. Fakamolemole.

I'm going to hop into the pool with an Arnold Palmer.

[Vanguard]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

Obama and McCain's top ten songlists

Notice no songs by Bruddah Iz on Obama's list

[matapule]

Why is this election so close?

If you look at all the polls, most of them show this election is in a statistical dead heat. How can this be? Most people, including many influential Republicans, agree the the Bush Administration has been a failure. McCain is confused on just about every issue. And Sarah Palin is becoming a laughing stock to all but her most ardent supporters. This should be a landslide election for Obama/Biden and the Democrats. But the current polls show that it isn't. This is indeed confusing and frustrating.

Columnist Linclon Mitchell gives an interesting perspective on this state of affairs. I think he raises very good points. Here is what he has to say.

Not only are today's electorate and parties more divided on ideological lines, but the country is split roughly evenly on these issues with only a small number of people truly in the middle. In this context, as long as each candidate can mobilize their party's base, presidential elections are almost guaranteed to be close. Obama solidified his base early, but even then could not open up a big lead, because voters who were not yet sold on McCain still were not eager to support a liberal Democrat. For these voters, ideology was more important than evaluations of the incumbent administration. In recent weeks, all the noise about Palin notwithstanding, all she has done to help McCain is solidify her party's base thus ensuring another extremely close race.

In other words, the Republicans and Democrats have been taken over by the more extremist views. They have both moved away from the center. The American electorate has become more ideological with less willingness to comprise on issues. The electorate is becoming more polarized. This does not bode well for our future. No place left for progressives like myself.

[Ron Whitfield]

America's last gasp

As usual, it's the electoral vote that will decide.
Who's got the current skinny on that?

[Peshkwe]

Re: America's last gasp

As usual, it's the electoral vote that will decide.
Who's got the current skinny on that?

Here's the current look of the map and which state leans which way:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...-mccain-gains/

Most are saying McCain leads by a little in the electoral college standings.

Here's another explanation of what it is, with a link to an interactive map within the article that shows a little different layout as to which states are going for who:

http://blogs.courant.com/on_backgrou...ctoral-co.html

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Why is this election so close?

If you look at all the polls, most of them show this election is in a statistical dead heat. How can this be? Most people, including many influential Republicans, agree the the Bush Administration has been a failure. McCain is confused on just about every issue. And Sarah Palin is becoming a laughing stock to all but her most ardent supporters. This should be a landslide election for Obama/Biden and the Democrats. But the current polls show that it isn't. This is indeed confusing and frustrating.

Polls are but a snapshot in time. I may sound like a broken record, but it was something that needed to said in light of your comments.

This snapshot is taken 46 days before the election. This snapshot is taken before any debate between Obama and McCain has taken place. This snapshot is taken with a significant percentage of voters who are still undecided.

I'll let you in on a much forgotten fact: History books tells us that in 1980, Ronald Reagan won in huge landslide over Jimmy Carter, with a nearly 10 to 1 margin in the electoral count and by nearly 10 percentage points in the popular vote. But what those numbers don't tell you is that in the week before that election, the polls had Reagan and Carter neck-and-neck. Some polls even had Carter slightly ahead. And this was in a situation where both Carter and the Democratic majority in both the House and Senate had low approval ratings in the polls. Recall in that year, the economy was plagued by high inflation and high interest rates. In addition, there was the Iranian hostage crisis. Under such conditions, one would think this would favor the Republican challenger, Reagan. But as I said, the polls had them very close. It seems that many of the undecided that year were dissatisfied with Carter, but were not ready to commit themselves to Reagan early on. It wasn't until their long awaited debate in late October and the final week of the campaign that those undecideds and soft leaners got off the fence and broke for Reagan in a big way.

I see some parallels between 1980 and 2008. In both years, there is an economic environment that hurts the incumbent party in power. But at the same time, many voters dissatisfied with the status quo remain undecided because they have reservations and questions about the challenger's ability to serve as the commander-in-chief. But after the debates have taken place and the previously undecideds start to feel comfortable with the challenger, they make the final decision to go with the new guy.

Right now, it is very close between Obama and McCain, both in terms of the national numbers and in key battleground states like Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, and Pennsylvania. And in 46 days, it may remain that way. But don't bet the house against this election ultimately turning out to be a landslide in Obama's favor, especially if McCain and Palin don't perform well in their respective debates.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: America's last gasp

Here's the current look of the map and which state leans which way:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...-mccain-gains/

Most are saying McCain leads by a little in the electoral college standings.

Ironically enough, the CNN map you use shows Obama in the lead.

Who's in the lead on the electoral map depends on which battleground states you classify as being a toss-up or leaning towards one of the candidates. I've seen some maps favor McCain, as it makes Florida leaning red. But most maps I've seen has Florida in the toss-up category as it is still too uncertain to conclude that McCain has the Sunshine State in his backpocket just yet.

Conversely, Obama's numbers are affected depending on whether you consider states like Pennsylvania and Minnesota to be leaning blue or toss-up. Some maps have it as the former and others, the latter.

The states that appear to be universally considered toss-up and too close to call are Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Nevada.

One thing that has to be of concern to the McCain camp. Some traditionally red states now appear to be possibly vulnerable to Obama and the Democrats. Virginia (which hasn't voted for a Democratic President since 1964) has already been covered. But McCain's campaign has also had to spend more money than they would like in previously strong GOP bastions like Indiana and North Carolina.

[timkona]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

Read a story today about how Obama's race will be his undoing in the election. It said 1/3 of white Democrats held some negative views of his race.

Gawd, I hate racism.

[tutusue]

Re: The 2008 Presidential Elections - Chapter 3

[...]
You and others can applaud her for being honest by speaking her own mind, but that is not the purpose for which the McCain campaign sent her out to the media for, I assure you. And because she holds an official position as a McCain surrogate, the Arizona senator's campaign can't ignore Fiorina's statement and they have to spend at least a couple of days going off-message and dealing with this brushfire.[...]

Hmmm...makes me wonder if, behind closed doors this time, McCain once again dropped the "C" bomb.