bmags

also doesn't count Cspan and PBS I heard, and I was watching PBS

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 10:24 PM) In JFK's case he made it a point to lean on his staff in areas he knew he was weak in. I also like that he took in Neustadt after the publishing of his book describing the new american presidency.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 09:26 PM) Obama is where he is today for a number of reasons, but those don't include a supreme knowledge of the economy or foreign policy. BTW, you DO know that Biden will be 67 in November, right? I don't see how he's any less of a health risk than McCain. Well, I guess it's good that Obama is twenty years his junior then and health records fit on one page. Vice Presidents dying doesn't lead to a new leader of anything other than their duties in the Senate. The difference here is: Biden is Obama's VP candidate and is a "health risk", while McCain is running for President. Subtle difference I know.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 08:32 PM) So, if the country doesn't have a problem with a guy with no substantial executive experience running for President, I doubt that they'll much mind somebody with executive experience (albeit slightly less overall government experience) running for Vice President. You can make this argument if you acknowledge that Obama is where he is today by proving to people that he belongs by convincing them of his policies and knowledge in the economy and foreign policy for months while running a huge nationwide campaign, he did not get tapped on the shoulder suddenly to be second in line to the presidency.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 07:27 PM) Who in their right mind would feel comfortable with Obama as our leader if something were to happen to old man Biden? What a disastrous choice. about half of the country that was supporting him before his VP was even picked.

speaking of, Titus andronicus and Ted Leo are coming here. I'm pretty excited

Palin can help bridge the enthusiasm gap between BO and JM, I imagine. But wow. I'm still amazed by all this.

September should bring excitement for me, but am I the only one that seems to get all the anxiety and rare excitement? If we win at this point its that we should win, if we lose it throws me overboard. It's so hard, but so much better than being apathetic in Sept.

well whoever posts newsmax articles.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 06:33 PM) You keep bringing that up, but it goes nowhere. Do you think that hasn't been looked at beforehand? It is nothing, and being brought to the forefront, like crap on both sides. Want scandal? How about Biden's lobbyist son and brother being sued right now, and their connections to companies that are some of his biggest contributors? How about bills cosponsored by Biden that directly benefit companies that the son represents? Also not going anywhere, just like Palin's police thing. Because other than the nice sounding headlines, nothing is there. You make no mention of the fact that the guy she fired was hired by her prdecessor. The fired guy had crime actually go up on his watch, despite a pledge to make it go down. And he also refused to follow the budget guidelines set by the state, routinely going over budget. Maybe he was fired because he wasn't doing his job. maybe he was, but then why would she lie about saying she never talked about the brother in law with him? Why would they claim they never pressured him, then it comes out? There'd be no reason to try and cover your ass if it was just about his job.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 07:23 PM) Given the circumstances, this is the best possible VP that McCain could've picked. Going with the "safer" choice of Romney or Pawlenty wasn't going to work this year. Many people (correctly) point to gender/age identity playing a major role in the Palin decision, but that was far from the only consideration. Her voting record will energize the conservative base and her reform work against the "Good Ole' Boys" network in Alaska will weaken Obama's "Third Term of Bush" characterization of the ticket. Her charisma and speaking ability, while obviously not on the same level of Obama's, will certainly help to offset his. How long will this "reformer" tag last considering she's in a scandal? Although I suppose McCain's "maverick" has played for a while.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 06:35 PM) actually this isn't fair. Alaska is about 3x the size of Rockford, Illinois. More accurate comparison would be the cities of Louisville, Milwaukee, El Paso, Baltimore, Charlotte, Memphis, Fort Worth, Austin, Columbus, Indianapolis, etc. So Sarah Palin has the same "executive" experience as say, the mayor of Columbus, OH, except for the fact that the mayor of Columbus has been in this position since 1999. A sparser population actually makes it easier to govern IMO, as you don't have the problems that cities have with people on top of each other. What's their biggest town, 100,000? Naperville is bigger than that.

Being bi-partisan means working with the opposing party to get bills passed that should get passed. In Obama's case for president, he will need republican support for his policies. His policies are progressive. Examples of him getting Republicans to support his policies is a great example of bi-partisanship.

Ethics reform typically isn't a party line. But anyways I've said this before, why the hell would you want to follow the Bush party line. That would show poor judgment, which is worse. He has gotten help from Republicans to push sensible policies, that fits reaching across party lines by any definition. Find me a time where McCain hasn't acted in his own popular self interest? The Surge? please, that wasn't ever going to hurt him. That goes for Palin too, if she wasn't a reformer in the Republican party she wouldn't have existed. Now she's in a scandal herself.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 06:29 PM) you can start with "All Kids Covered" here in Illinois. I believe he played an important role in that, but I may be mistaken. You can also google search the Lugar-Obama bill and the Coburn-Obama transparency bill. I have some links if you want them.

Obama and Biden only have no record of reaching across party lines if you choose to ignore the record of doing such.

maybe I'm thinking of kap articles.

Border state LOL, are they facing the mass influx of Canadians into Alaska? Are the Ruskies taking canoes into Juneau? What gun issues do they have other than they are pro-gun? Oil and environment I'll give you, but blue collar workers, meh. It's such a small state and this isn't the Ohio's and Michigan's in terms of heavy press on their blue collar workers.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 06:07 PM) because no ones ever hear do of her before. AHB can you embed the news report on TPM with Palin now?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 02:15 PM) http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/29/nav...=rss_topstories ss, that was a great commentary. I wish you posted more of that and less of some of the other stuff

no it isn't irrelevant. Frankly I'm not impressed by being governor of Alaska for 1.5 years and already getting caught in a scandal. Alaska has 2/3 of a million people. That's it. They are a sparsely populated area. They have like none of the problems most states have. They have a weak state government with not much to do. Does anyone know what Alaska's state legislature is like? Is it like Georgia and she can do whatever she wants, or are they powerful and give her a semblence of what it would be like to work with a powerful legislative body? Before that she was a mayor of a town of 5,000 people. Safetytown's have more people than that. Say you want about Obama, but working in the U.S. legislative body gives lots of experience. LBJ's knowledge of the congress was instrumental in him pushing through all of his initiatives. This whole "executive" experience thing is a fairly new phenomenon, although not that senate has ever been a popular jumpoff to pres, we've had great presidents that were senators. Frankly, being a U.S. senator is far better experience in running this country than mayor of Alaska or Rhode Island. Her education, poor. She has a undergrad degree in journalism. Obama has a law degree from harvard and served as the law reviews president. She has a freaking journalism degree from IDAHO! IDAHO! Please don't act like there are no discrepencies between these two's experience.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 04:42 PM) How many electroral votes do they have? Can't be more than 3. It could happen, but I doubt the difference in the election is within 6 electoral votes. as much as people talk about FLA, it was Gore's loss in RI in 2000 that could've won him the election.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 04:39 PM) Some of the same people here who laughed at the concerns over the lack of experience for Obama, are the same one hammering it home here. How can it be worse to be #2 and inexperienced, versus #1 and inexperienced??? Anyways, with the amount of advisors and cabinets and the like, experience is pretty overrated anymore. In this day and age, the President is pretty much a figurehead anyway. When the #1 is a soon-to-be-73 year old, cancer survivor with a medical history like 600 pages long for the last 10 years. Nonetheless, I find her much less experienced than Obama. She wasn't governor of Texas, she was governor for 1 and a 1/2 years of a tiny state in terms of population facing few of the problems that larger states face because of their population. Before that she was mayor of a relatively small town.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 04:19 PM) I'm sure it took less than a month for someone to explain it to her. seriously, takes about ten minutes.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 04:13 PM) Quit with the damn thank yous. Obama did the same thing yesterday. Tell your supporters to shut the hell up. Haha, I felt the same way, I like the way Clinton handled it. "EVERYBODY SIT DOWN!" haha