A Test for Leadership - The Economy, Stupid!!

For over a week now, there has been a very enthusiatic debate going on between the campaigns - Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin(Palin/McCain as Gov. Palin has put it on the campaign trail). First, Senator McCain said the fundamentals of the economy are strong after a record drop in the Dow Jones Average on Wall Street. President Bush has used this phrase for months - "the fundamentals of the economy are strong". What does that mean? Later, McCain was questioned by the press to explain what he meant. He stated that he was talking about the workers. The American worker is very productive so that means the basics of the economy are strong? Well, I am a retired American worker and yes I agree that we are very productive, but what does that mean to the economy overall? By the way, I think that was a tacky ploy of the McCain campaign to go to the Lake Orion Assembly Plant and pander to the production workers in the middle of an assembly line, a day after making that gaff about a strong economy. They saw right though it and chanted Obama's name as McCain was walking away. I'm very proud of my fellow auto workers for taking a stand. Some think that we are overpaid. Ok, we have lost jobs because we can't compete with the lower wages of economic depressed workers of Mexico and China. Mexican workers make about a $1 per hour with no benefits. I made about $30 per hour with medical and retirement benefits. If there are no laws or economic penalities for moving companies to Mexico, could you blame them? There also are no environmental laws in Mexico and the US govenment will give you a tax break if you leave the country. Now, you have to move!! So companies did make a smart business move and left the US. Everything was fine until another even larger economic depressed work force became available, the Chinese. They make about 25 cents per hour with absolutely no benefits. They also have no environmental or worker laws. Industrial businesses flew out of this country. Remember that "big sucking noise" argument that Ross Perot made against NAFTA during the 1992 Presidential campaign. That noise is from all the jobs leaving the US! And he was right. Many people did make and save a lot of money from these economic moves. Also with these moves came this: Depressed wages, falling union membership, less good paying jobs, rising unemployment, record defaulted home and auto loans, stagnant housing market, obscene fuel prices, high tuition costs, skyrocketing medical costs, and Americans putting big ticket purchases on hold. Well, ladies and gentlemen, our chickens have come home to roost. The housing loan market which is in crisis today, had no oversight. They had regulations, but they weren't enforced and that is a policy that many Republicans have including President Bush and Senator McCain, until now. I listed what I thought was the fundamentals of the economy and where they are at, and McCain's position on the economy. Senator Obama had warned of problems with the banking industry many months ago. So when this latest crisis hit, he was very concerned and decided to look at it very seriously instead of rushing something out there and he agreed to work in a bipartisan way and extended that to Senator McCain. McCain on the other hand, first; didn't recognize the seriousness of this downturn, second; decided to access blame to the dire economic situation, and third; decided to suspend his presidential campaign to work on the solving the problem in Washington and also canceling the Presidential debate this Friday. I call his actions, panic-stricken. Barack on the other hand after careful consideration, laid out a basis for an economic plan that he could agree on. President Bush extended an invitation to Senator Obama and McCain to meet with him tomorrow. Obama accepted. He also said that the Presidential debate should go on as planned because this really is a good time for the country to see both candidates in a midst of a crisis like now. As President, you can't call time out when things are not going positively your way, you have to work on many things at the same time. We don't know of a response from McCain yet, but it is assumed he will meet with Bush and reluctantly debate Obama, Friday. Senator Obama has been moving up in the polls since this economic crisis hit. I think this timeout by Senator McCain is another surprise tactic, a Hail Mary pass, to stop his falling poll numbers. He successfully completed the last Hail Mary pass when he nominated Governor Palin as VP. When you throw the Hail Mary pass, sometimes it is intercepted and returned for a touchdown against you. I think the ball is in the air and Obama is in perfect position to intercept. Let's see if he can score a touchdown, Friday! Go! Obama! Go!

The Bridge to Nowhere....Palin-McCain!!!

The very pretty Governor Palin as Coed at the University of Idaho

When I saw this very attractive woman on stage at the Republican Convention, I thought to myself, "Wow, Super Woman lives!" She has a very interesting speaking voice and gave that speech with a whole lot of enthusiasm. It was a well written speech, too. But as the echo of her voice ebbed away, many of the words in that speech where found to be not factual, or just plain fiction. So what we witnessed was a colossal performance by an attractive woman that would have won a shot at being a contestant for "American Idol". This woman came in Second Place in the Miss Alaska pageant in 1984. Wow, I wonder who won first? Well, we know now, she is Maryline Blackburn and she is challenging Sarah Palin on the issues. http://utube.smashits.com/video/8UrYVJX8uR4/NBC-Ms-Alaska-1984-speaks-out.html Getting back to her speech at the Republican Convention, she told a huge whopper when she stated fanatically that she opposed the "Bridge to Nowhere". This lady loves earmarks. She even hired a lobbying firm to obtain earmarks for Wasillia, Alaska when she was mayor. She obtained nearly $27 million in earmarked funds, some of which were criticized by Senator McCain in 2001 and 2002. When running for Alaskan Governor, she ran on "build the bridge"(Bridge to Nowhere) platform for Alaska. But nine months after winning the job for Governor and one month after Senator John McCain criticized the bridge, she shutdown the project in September 2007. No money was returned to Congress however in her turn about. You might say that "She was for it before she was against it!" This is typical political hypocritical behavior. After scratching a little below that very attractive surface, we find that she is not Super Woman, but just a typical politician desperately seeking office that will say or do anything to seek election. If Palin-McCain or vice versa are elected, we have built that bridge to nowhere and deserve what the results will be!!
There is more hypocritical behavior in Governor Sarah Palin's history and here is the link or you can just type her name in your browser and learn a lot more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin#Early_life_and_education

Senator Hillary Clinton Suspends Her Campaign and Endorses Obama, But Trouble Lurks

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed Senator Barack Obama Saturday. She recounted her and Barack's historical campaigns, and praised her supporters' efforts. She stated that the White House glass ceiling now has 18 million cracks in it (which is a reference to her 18 million votes in the Democratic Primaries). She mentioned Barack's name at least 15 times in her address. She made it very clear that she is and wants her supporters to support Barack Obama for President. It was a very elegant and unifying speech. You could see the sadness in her eyes, but she still managed to smile while giving her oration. We all know what a fighter she is, and admitting defeat had to be very difficult for her. She told the crowd not to look back at the campaign, but to look forward to November when we will elect a Democratic President. It had to be one of her best speeches. If only she could have shown this side of her, and avoided the negative attacks on Obama, she might have won the Democratic Nomination. I believe she was ill served by her husband and her campaign. They apparently wanted to show her as a hard nose fighter - take no names and ask questions later personna(John Wayne). I beleive that moved her right of center and made her appear as a John McCain surrogate. I went to Candace Newbraugh's blog post on BarackObama.com and found this link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLINTON?SITE=KLIF&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT which describes Hillary's Saturday speech to her supporters and on the bottom of the page takes you to a new GOP blog that shows all of "Barack vs Hillary" differences during the Democratic Election: http://www.gop.com/clintonvsobama/ I believe we all had a feeling that this would happen. The Republicans are using it against us. If Hillary is serious about getting Barack elected, she needs to get all her supporters behind Barack and to explain these comments that were made during the heat of the campaign. We have a tough fight ahead of us, but like Barack says: "Yes, We Can"

Obama WINS!!!!!

WOW....It's finally happened!!! Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President! The magic number and line has been crossed. The Super Delegates finally stepped forward and endorsed his nomination which made these last 2 primaries less meaningful. It appears that Obama leaves the Democratic Race on a winning note. He is winning Montana. I listened to Barack's speech tonight from St. Paul, MN from the very place that the Republicans will have their convention. What chutzpah! Way to go Barack. That is what I call taking it to them. When you think Barack has made his best speech, he comes up with another one. Tonight he was on top of his game, and he talked with very high energy and enthusiasm. The excitement was very contagious both from Obama and the crowd. Now, we can finally put the long Democratic campaign behind us. The Mainstream Media want another story. Like winning the Democratic Nomination wasn't enough. The story that they are looking for is who is Obama going to chose for VP. They are entertaining Hillary as VP, especially the Republicans. She would bring some positives, but adding in her negatives, I come up with -50%. If you give her VP, what do you do with Bill Clinton? Assistant VP? I suggest making Bill, Ambassador to the Fuji Islands and sending him on an eight year mission. President Lincoln gave some of his opponents positions in his White House. I think bringing Hillary Clinton into his administration would be very tricky. You can't give her a high profile position like VP. From Obama's speech tonight, I heard an opening for her in his health plan proposal. We'll just to have to wait and see. Let's just take a little time and bask in Barack Obama's nomination. Yes, We Can........

Why I Could Not Support Hillary as President....

The Main Stream Media, political pundits, and some Hillary supporters have made opinions why people like me haven't supported Hillary's Presidential Campaign. Opinions like; they are too polarized, they don't want a woman President, they are sexist, they are racist, they hate the Clintons, etc., etc. I am a white 60 plus year old man, and according to many, I should be a firm Senator Clinton supporter. Here is why I can't support HRC; she has high negatives(most are her own making), she is a typical politician(probably the best), there are other families that Presidents can come from(Bush-Clinton-Clinton-Bush-Bush has been our last 5 choices), she panders ALOT (which makes her true position unclear), to make her commander-in-chief position strong she had to go too far right of center(crazy right wing) of the political spectrum, it is unclear which Clinton would be making the decisions, her bad campaign manager choices (which directly reflects on her), her speaking voice(both men and women have complained about its shrillness and I agree), because she is the first serious woman candidate, the premise that I have make a choice based on the first woman or the first black president(I chose best candidate instead), Bill Clinton's off the cuff(divisive) comments, and lastly, her off the cuff(divisive) comments. Barack Obama stands out as a stark contrast to these Hillary Clinton negatives. He has energized the youth of the country including those that are too young to vote, and his very successful grass roots effort to build a large coalition of supporters impresses me. He has over a million small donors like me to depend on. If he can build that kind of support as a candidate, it is hard to imagine what we can accompolish as a nation when he is President. The choice was easy for me. I think all Americans should spend some time in thoughtful decision-making before going to the polls this November. You will be making the most important decision of our history. Please take the time to weigh your decision carefully.

HRC as VP??!! OOOHHHH NNNOOO, Mr. Bill!!!

The MainStream Media seems to think Obama owes HRC the VP slot. I hope Barack doesn't do the Democratic politically correct gesture and offer HRC the VP. She might say yes!!!!
Here is why that is a bad idea:
1) She has high negatives. If the Republican base was thinking of staying home, put Hillary on the ballot and they will get ENERGIZED real fast!
2) There are better choices for VP: Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Senator Jim Webb, John Edwards, Al Gore, etc.
3) If you offer HRC a job, you would have to offer Bill Clinton one, too. Bill and Hill disagreed during their campaign. Can you imagine a more divisive 2 members in Obama's Administraton??? Not this time.....NO THANKS!.....
4) Obama would have to hire a food taster!!! Vp is next in line to the Presidency.
Some supporters would not vote for these 2 together that would vote for them separately. I sure hope that the DNC will not force this ticket because McCain would benefit more. Personally, I would still vote for the Democratic ticket over John McCain anyday even if McCain made me his VP!!

The Urgency of Now....

We are seeing a man, a candidate, a president developing before our very eyes. Many of you have been Obama supporters from the very start, others a little later, or some just today. We are taking different parts of his powerful messages and applying it to our own situations. Many pundits understand it, but when asking us why we support Barack, sometimes we get tongue tied and can't truly express our reasons for supporting him. What is completely clear here, is that we are sold on, is this guy with this funny name and colorful associations, can achieve our goals. Yes, Barack Hussein Obama Jr. could have had a better name, perhaps more American like Barry John O'Sullivan. That may have got him several thousand more votes. Or he could have less colorful friends and acquaintances than Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Professor William Ayers or wear a flag pin everyday. And maybe that would be worth a few thousand more votes, but Barack is a different kind of politician, the likes that we have never seen before. Yet, despite all these imperfections and liabilities, we can see thru to his heart and mind. He is his own man, and not one of polls, special interests, lobbyists, or pandering.
We support Obama not only for his great qualities; great speaker and orator, his positive attitude, his uniting message, his genuine concerns, his intelligence on issues, his grass roots campaign, but also on his less then superb issues and imperfections like his name, flagless lapel, and previous associations. We are at a point that we need someone to unite this very troubled and divided country. This political season has been a long drawn out fight. There are hurt and bruised feelings from all sides. Senator Hillary Clinton is not our enemy, neither are Senator John McCain or President George Bush. They are no less Americans then ourselves. They just see America and the World in a different light. However we must state our cases for the country and the world to see which is based on our best case for our candidate on the issues, and let the cards fall where they will. Let's all pledge not to use personal attacks against each other, we are all Americans and on the same team in the end. The urgency of now as Senator Barack Obama supporters should be to elect this man to President of the Whole United States and Leader of the Free World. Yes, We Can.....
Link to Senator Obama's last speech: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24492787#24492787