NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 11:54 AM) Again, it's obvious Republican strategists realized the inexperience card didn't matter with voters. I'm sure they didn't just forget about it nominating Palin. It matters to many - its just not black and white, on and off. Its relevant to some, to varying extents.

Some of you may recall, I posted in here a couple weeks ago about the X factors in this election. One was the ground game. The other, relevant here, was the fear factor. Fear of the unknown, the inexperienced, the question marks. That would drive some people to vote McCain at the last second, who would have otherwise been saying they were for Obama. This choice now throws that X factor into the delta-neutral category. People know how old McCain is, and what his body has gone through. The idea of Palin being so close to the Presidency (an unknown, inexperienced, and female) will scare some voters TOWARDS Obama. I think this pick was a mistake for McCain. *** By the way, when I talk about this fear factor, I am in NO way endorsing it. I am just saying, some people will do this.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 11:41 AM) dude not even close. Obama has tons more "experience" and most importantly, relevant experience than Palin does. On top of it, how much does Alaska represent the national landscape. I'd say that Illinois has a little bit of everything in it. Big Cities, Rural Farmlands, Manufacturing, Financial, etc. OK wait... relevant experience? She's been an executive, Barack has not. I'm not saying I like the move for Palin here, but, to say that Obama's experience is more "relevant" is just wrong on its face.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 09:59 AM) Agreed but I also believe the national polls can be a "forerunner" of state polls. I like this example by Chuck Todd: 0-3% is a tight race where one state will make the difference. 3-6% is a strong win in the electoral college 6-10% is an electoral college landslode They are only a "forerunner" because they are published first. They aren't a true predictor of the states individually.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 10:53 AM) I still have a belief McCain is going to win, though. I was utterly shocked to hear a few days ago how close the overall numbers were. Even with the overnight shift with Obama now taking the lead, if you listen to the media and their love affair with Obama you'd believe the separation would be greater. national polls = useless

Now that the VP's appear to be in place, I wanted to throw this topic out for discussion. I was out last night with a friend, who supports Obama. But he also said that he is very concerned about who he picks for his cabinet and/or inner circle - this being very important for Obama because of his inexperience. So here are some questions to consider... --When is it appropriate to build, and announce, their cabinets? --Would cabinet choices effect your vote, potentially? --For Obama, with his lack of experience, how important are these choices and their resumes? --For McCain, with the supposed aisle-crossing abilities he is trumpeting, how important are their political leanings?

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Aug 29, 2008 -> 10:46 AM) what? she's good looking. Is it wrong to say that? I dont like her politics, but she is attractive. WTF difference does that make? And why does that deserve "credit" in a politcal forum?

Now that both VP's are out, its interesting to talk about how the choices effect our view of the candidates... With Obama picking Biden, I think its sort of a flat choice. Biden has some baggage, but nothing big. Foreign policy experience, big on some of the same issues as Barack, and lots of time in Congress. Overall, doesn't effect my view of Obama very much. I would rather have seen Richardson, but Biden is better than Clinton. With McCain picking Palin, I need to learn a little more about her. But at this point, picking a 2-year governor from Alaska who is a social conservative doesn't give me any warm and fuzzies.

I'll paste in those posts here shortly, from the Vp thread...

76-57, +1.5 over MIN (thank you, OAK)

Well, turned out the "greek columns" thing wasn't an attempt at Greek at all. It was meant to make it look like Obama was giving a speech on the front steps of the White House. Overall, very good speech. I think he struck the right balance between inspiration (his crowd needs that) and policy specifics and goals. You can't have that speech be too much of one or the other. The only gaffe I heard was, he almost said something about helping drunk drivers. His goal for energy independence is only possible if we as a nation put in a moon shot-like effort, and I don't know if he has the political capital or financial flexibility to do that (especially if he wants to cut all these income taxes). But hey, even if he gets halfway, then that's fantastic. He's reaching for something we need to reach for, and I can't fault him for that.

CJ sure looks like a steal - undrafted free agent.

Dick Durbin on to introduce Barack. Obama on soon. Should be interesting. Anyone catch Richardson? I missed it.

While it certainly has a political edge, McCain could have put his name out there many other ways. He chose this one. Hats off, well done Mr. McCain, with some class.

Hm. PED's perhaps? He's out of the system in 2009 anyway, I'd bet on it.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Aug 28, 2008 -> 01:19 PM) while its burried in another thread, i think this piece deserves its own. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/28....war/index.html Its Wag The Dog, come true. I already mentioned this in the Russia v Georgia thread. I'll merge.

Putin: The Americans started this.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 28, 2008 -> 10:19 AM) Well this point certainly holds validity to it, but is it really practical to just make everybody leave after New Orleans grew into a major city hundreds of years ago and has maintained it's status? I would NEVER live anywhere near there after seeing the affect Katrina had on the city, in large part because of it's geography, but that's just me. I'm not sure what the French Mississppi Company was thinking when they founded the place though, maybe water and sea level were foreign terms to those folks, although it obviously wasn't as bad in the 1700's as it is now with the literally sinking land they have there. There was a major opportunity after Katrina - like a Chicago fire type opportunity. A chance to NOT rebuild in the lowlying areas, condense the city rebuild into more protectable areas, and have a renaissance in NO. Unfortunately, the political will was not there to do that, so we're back to square 1.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 28, 2008 -> 10:50 AM) Not exactly...it sort of is the exact same type of fault, but it's 2 different plates subducting. The Juan de Fuca plate is subducting under NW USA, and the Pacific plate is subducting under Alaska. There is another San Andreas style strike slip fault that sits between the northern edge of the Cascadia subduction zone and the Aleutian/Alaskan subduction zone...it's just a lot less well known than the San Andreas. But those subduction zones...those are the ones that can produce the really, really big ones. Isn't New Madrid strike-slip? It produced an earthquake in the 8's, and a shallow one that produced major damage.

I actually liked Biden's speech. Best of the bunch so far, I think.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 27, 2008 -> 08:03 PM) He was off tonight, but has been very good lately. This. Tonight he was leaving his pitches up and just didn't look sharp. But I really haven't seen anything else that speaks to a "wall" he has hit. I don't know where someone would be getting that idea.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 27, 2008 -> 05:29 PM) No CQ tonight. If you are going to give him a game off, this does seem like the one to do it.

QUOTE (Jimmywins1 @ Aug 27, 2008 -> 04:19 PM) M's lead the Twinkies 4-3 in the bottom of the 7th Now tied 4-4 in the 8th, Twins with men on 2 and 3 with no outs.

QUOTE (DABearSoX @ Aug 27, 2008 -> 03:37 PM) I really like this, except the statement that McCain promises less, he said he could balance the budget by 2013...that is the most unrealistic thing I have herd from a canidate. Actually, that's a lot more achievable than many of the things that many of the candidates are promising.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 27, 2008 -> 04:06 PM) Balta, difference is, incumbent, vs. not. But I'm sure that doesn't matter, so nevermind. Why on earth would that matter?