Posts with the tag 'John McCain'
Uh, Senator, you’re actually just drawing attention to the issue:
Barack Obama has launched an all-out effort to block a Republican billionaire’s efforts to tie him to domestic and foreign terrorists in a wave of negative television ads.
Obama’s campaign has written the Department of Justice demanding a criminal investigation of the “American Issues Project,” the vehicle through which Dallas investor Harold Simmons is financing the advertisements. The Obama campaign — and tens of thousands of supporters — also is pressuring television networks and affiliates to reject the ads. The effort has met with some success: CNN and Fox News are not airing the attacks.
Obama has also launched his own response ad, directly addressing Simmons’ attempt to link him to domestic terror.
The project is “a knowing and willful attempt to violate the strictures of federal election law,” Obama general counsel Bob Bauer wrote to Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Keeney last week in a letter provided to Politico. Bauer argued that by advocating Obama’s defeat, the ad should be subject to the contribution limits of federal campaign law, not the anything-goes regime of issue advocacy.
Bauer’s letter called on the Justice Department to open “an investigation of the American Issues Project; its officers and directors; and its anonymous donors, whoever they may be.”
“This is a sad ploy to circumvent the First Amendment by a campaign who has no arguments with the merits of our ad. It’s the classic maneuver: If you can’t win on the merits, file a lawsuit,” said a spokesman for the American Issues Project, Christian Pinkston, who said his group’s non-profit status allowed it to participate in elections as long as it does a majority of policy work, which it plans to do.
A spokeswoman for Keeney, Laura Sweeney, declined to comment on Bauer’s letter.
The Obama campaign plans to punish the stations that air the ad financially, an Obama aide said, organizing his supporters to target the stations that air it and their advertisers.
You can see the ad here - its not terribly effective, but it does open up the can of worms Obama would rather keep closed: His ties to radical leftism. Its seems that Jeremiah Wright is just the tip of a kook left iceberg in Obama’s background.
Now, is Obama a wanna-be terrorist? Of course not - first off, he’s not of that generation. He’s of my generation, and we don’t tend to blow things up. If there were “60’s radicals”, we’re more “70’s stoners”, and didn’t have the oomph to go do much of anything. The downside to all this is that a lot of us also didn’t bestir ourselves to really learn about the past. I, on the other hand, did (there was a small upside to being bad at sports and a complete flop with chicks) - and even a cursory examination of 60’s radicals - like Ayers - convinces the knowing to steer clear of them. What profit is there is talking to a man who is unrepentant about the monumentally stupid idea of trying to change American policy via a terrorist bombing campaign? Obama isn’t a stupid man, so the presumption must be that he simply didn’t know, or at least didn’t know enough to draw the proper conclusions. To Obama, Ayers probably seemed well meaning - just as all too many dimbulb kids these days put on Che t-shirts because he seems romantic, and well meaning. As the kids today are unaware of Che’s brutal murders, so Obama is unaware (or only dimly aware) of just what Ayers and his cohorts were up to.
Why is this a problem? Because a man who hasn’t figured out that Ayers is persona-non-grata in decent society isn’t a man who can properly judge persons and proposals. If a screwball like Ayers can seem reasonable to Obama, then any kook out there can seem reasonable. While Obama has stepped out of the leftwing coocoon far enough to understand that people like Wright and Ayers have to be kept at arms length, he still hasn’t figured out that the whole leftwing project - ie, Obama’s whole worldview - is flawed and prone to such things as racist rants and terrorist bombs. Obama has some smarts, and our prayer should be that he’ll figure it out - but I don’t want him trying to figure it out while, during a tense moment with Iran, he’s got Sensible Advisor locked in battle with Nutty Leftist Advisor, and Obama unable to determine which one has it right.
UPDATE: Obama camp: Prosecute Simmons
Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Ayers, John McCain, liberal lies, Terrorism
August 26th, 2008
Dave Hartline over at The Catholic Report gently rebukes Pelosi, Biden and all those who wrap themselves in Catholicism, but don’t adhere to the teaching authority of the Church:
Catholics who faithfully attend Mass are tired of hearing that Cafeteria Catholics are really faithful Catholics even though they think they know better than the Church. This type of self absorbed excess has not only damaged the Church but society as well. Pope Benedict XVI is fond of referring to the Dictatorship of Relativism, a reference to those who believe there is no truth in the world and therefore we are free to think everything is the truth and or nothing is the truth. Against the backdrop of freedom they have become slaves to the latest whims of secular society, truly a sad development.
Thankfully with the advent of talk radio, the internet and the Youtube age, the faithful are aware of those who claim they know better than the Church and yet try to keep it under wraps. Gone are the days when Catholic politicians who cared little for what the Church taught but yet wrapped themselves In the Catholic faith, could get away with it. There are an increasing number of orthodox-minded bishops, priests, religious and lay people who are calling out folks on these discrepancies.
Try as they might liberal operatives will never be able to sell the “Catholic Identity” of Speaker Pelosi and Senator Biden to the rank and file Catholic. While secular Catholics, primarily in the Northeast and West may be receptive to this message, the Catholic voters Senator Obama and Senator Biden needs to win in the states of Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania are not receptive to their Catholic message. On the evening of November 4, 2008, the world will see that the age of Cafeteria Catholicism has come and gone and in its place orthodox-minded Catholicism has returned. Before then there will be many bitter exchanges, as the secular media and the Catholic left complain that the Church is too strong and the conscience of the individual is being persecuted. However, the smokescreen will not work, orthodoxy will prevail, it always has. Truly, the tide is turning!
I know, it does seem that I’m harping on the Catholic issue quite a lot of late - but it does appear that us little, old Catholics hold the balance of power in the United States in this, the Year of Our Lord, 2008. We’re deeply honored by this state of affairs and we promise to be jolly nice about the whole thing - though we of the orthodox variety to intend very much to win.
A week-kneed appeal to Catholics won’t work, Senators - its not good enough to have someone with “Catholic” in their bio…we’ll need someone who acts on the faith, especially on that most crucial of issues, the right to life. Mush-minded sloganeering about “choice” and “personally opposed, but” just don’t cut the mustard anymore. Biden will pull in precisely those Catholics who were going to vote Obama anyways…what you need is Catholics who take Christianity seriously, and you won’t get them merely by installing Biden as your Veep.
And the really sad thing is that you have to pretend you like us - because you’re toast unless you can get a majority of believing Catholics to pull the lever for the Democrats. McCain, on the other hand, has no need to pretend - he’s not a Catholic, but he’s a believer, and agrees with fundamental Christian morality on the social issues. Much as we are delighted to see fellow Catholics rise high in an America which used to discriminate heavily against the Church, we aren’t so pleased that we’ll surrender our principles.
Tags: Barack Obama, Catholic Vote, Joe Biden, John McCain, Nancy Pelosi
August 26th, 2008
Downplay this all you want, Democrats, but this looks like it will be a close election, and even 10% of Hillary’s voters switching to McCain could spell the difference between victory and defeat:
Debra Bartoshevich hoped to attend the Democratic National Convention this week as a delegate helping to give the party’s nomination to Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Instead, the Wisconsin nurse crashed the Democrats’ party Monday by starring in a campaign ad for Republican John McCain. The spot targets former Clinton supporters as Democrats try to unite the party behind Barack Obama during the Denver convention.
In the ad, Bartoshevich describes herself as a “proud Hillary Clinton Democrat” who is switching sides to vote for a Republican for the first time in her life.
“She had the experience and judgment to be president,” she says in the ad. Of McCain, she adds: “I respect his maverick and independent streak, and now he’s the one with the experience and judgment. A lot of Democrats will vote McCain. It’s OK, really!”
McCain’s campaign said the ad was running in Wisconsin and other key states.
Bartoshevich was elected as a Clinton delegate to the convention. After Clinton conceded the race, Bartoshevich said she could not support Obama and threw her support to McCain. The state party stripped her of her status as a delegate last month.
McCain seized on her story, meeting with Bartoshevich for coffee when he campaigned in Racine last month.
On Monday, the mother of two joined other McCain supporters in Denver, outside the convention hall where she had hoped to spend the week.
As I’ve said before, McCain is manifestly better qualified than Obama - in cold, hard reality, Obama is entirely out of his depth and its a risk not just to the United States but the entire world to have someone so inexperienced become President. Obama has many gifts and he might make a great leader at some point, that point isn’t now, and anyone who thinks of country before party will have to come down hard on McCain’s side in November.
UPDATE: The American Prospect has an interview with two more Hillary supporters turned McCain voters.
Tags: Barack Obama, Democratic Disunity, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, PUMA
August 26th, 2008
Bad news for Obama leading into their convention.
It’s a dead heat in the race for the White House. The first national poll conducted entirely after Barack Obama publicly named Joe Biden as his running mate suggests that battle for the presidency between the Illinois senator and Republican rival John McCain is all tied up.
In a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Sunday night, 47 percent of those questioned are backing Obama with an equal amount supporting the Arizona senator.
“This looks like a step backward for Obama, who had a 51 to 44 percent advantage last month,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
D’oh.
Tags: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain
August 25th, 2008
No surprise given that Democrats always put party before country that they would then turn and put personal desires ahead of party:
As Democrats arrived here Sunday for a convention intended to promote party unity, mistrust and resentments continued to boil among top associates of presumptive nominee Barack Obama and his defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
One flashpoint is the assigned speech topic for former president Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday night, when the convention theme is “Securing America’s Future.” The night’s speakers will argue that Obama would be a more effective commander in chief than his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
The former president is disappointed, associates said, because he is eager to speak about the economy and more broadly about Democratic ideas — emphasizing the contrast between the Bush years and his own record in the 1990s.
This is an especially sore point for Bill Clinton, people close to him say, because among many grievances he has about the campaign Obama waged against his wife is a belief that the candidate poor-mouthed the political and policy successes of his two terms.
Some senior Democrats close to Obama, meanwhile, made clear in not-for-attribution comments that they were equally irked at the Clinton operation. Nearly three months after Hillary Clinton conceded defeat in the nomination contest, these Obama partisans complained, her team continues to act like she and Bill Clinton hold leverage.
After a period earlier this month when the two sides were working collegially over strategy, scheduling, and other convention logistics, things turned scratchy again in recent days.
As a practical matter, Obama has to lose for Hillary to have a shot at being President - she can’t run any more in 2008, but if Obama loses she’ll immediately be the overwhelming favorite for 2012. Given the known level of dishonesty, backstabbing and political gamesmanship the Clintons bring to the table, one cannot but feel they are up to something - and McCain isn’t their actual problem at the moment, Obama is. Only if Hillary has resigned herself to being a long-term Senator and then resigning into obscurity can Obama feel other than nervous with Hillary at his back - and I see no signs that Hillary has renounced her Presidential ambitions.
On the other hand, Obama still seems to view himself as some sort of Man of Destiny and it irks him to have to share the stage with anyone (in my viewing of the Obama/Biden get together, Obama didn’t seem to be thrilled to be sitting quiet while Biden spoke). An overweening pride in one’s self is not conducive to those tactical surrenders which a real winner is happy to endure in order to sooth a prickly rival unreconciled to coming in second. Obama has yet to kneel before the shrine of Clinton, Inc. and its causing friction not just with Bill and Hillary, but with their ardent supporters, a large number of whom still believe not only that Hillary is the better candidate, but also won the primaries.
All in all its a poisonous mix and leaves open the prospect of, well, anything - for the world, things might go smooth as silk and Obama gets to make his acceptance speech to a massive crowd of cheering supporters, but behind the lines and outside of camera view, stresses might be building up swiftly to make it so that the Clintonites sit on their hands until November…or even try to embarras Obama during the convention.
Tags: Barack Obama, Democratic Disunity, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, PUMA
August 25th, 2008
There might be far more of these out there than anyone suspects:
Silverio “Silver” Salazar has been an active Democrat for decades, just like his cousins, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and U.S. Rep. John Salazar.
But for the 2008 presidential election, Silver Salazar is squarely behind John McCain.
Silver Salazar, who had served as a Pueblo precinct leader for 20 years, was a Hillary Clinton backer. So when Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination, he began to research McCain and liked what he read.
He chose McCain because of his experience and readiness to take office.
Now, Silver Salazar is working to convince Democrats and Hispanics to support the GOP nominee.
“I’m making history for myself,” said the 59-year-old retired steel company operations manager. “This is the first I’ll vote for a Republican president - or work for one.”
Silver Salazar has been publicly supporting McCain since early summer. He’s done national media interviews and attended campaign visits across Colorado. On Thursday, he spoke at a news conference in Pueblo with other Hispanics supporting McCain.
About a dozen Hispanic McCain backers also held a press conference in Denver.
Hispanics across Colorado and the U.S. typically vote Democratic. But President Bush took an estimated 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004, up from 34 percent in 2000.
As far as qualifications go, its really not debatable: John McCain is vastly more experienced than Barack Obama and thus manifestly more qualified to be President. What Obama brings to the table is mere fairy tale - he’s Prince Charming coming to save the Damsel in Distress (the United States) from the Ogre (President Bush). Obama knows precisely nothing of military affairs (and not just in the sense of not serving - in the sense of clearly never having read a single book about military affairs in his life), nearly nothing about the way things work, on a day to day basis, in Washington DC, he’s never run a business, he’s never had an executive position in his life, he’s never had to make a public policy decision for which he would bear the main or sole responsibility. And on top of all that, there seems to be something just off about Obama - while he clearly wants “to be”, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of willingness “to do” in him. There isn’t in his history and indication that has the desire or the courage to step outside his comfort zone and take on something uncongenial to his nature and desires.
And anyone willing to step outside partisan blinders on and/or leftwing hatred of President Bush can see this. Mr. Salazar did so, and quickly saw the truth of the matter - McCain is the better man, in all respects, to be President of the United States. And this is not to say that Obama is a bad man - its to say he’s not ready to take on the most powerful office in the world. What the United States does in the world is too important to be placed in the hands of someone who’s life experience is as sheltered and narrow as Obama’s. Let Obama become governor of Illinois, or Vice President, and gain some experience, and then he might be ready - but he’s not in 2008, and we’d be a very foolish people, indeed, if we elect Barack Obama President.
Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats for McCain, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, PUMA
August 24th, 2008
Back on that day the Towers crumbled, who saw that we’d have in 2008 armies of Iraqi and Afghan Moslems fighting on our side?
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan National Security Forces fought off several insurgents in the Bak district of Khowst province August 20.
The insurgents attacked a group of construction workers. Citizens from a nearby village notified the district centre, and ANSF responded to the site and engaged the militants.
And ISAF ground element responded to assist the ANSF, and U.S. forces sent attack helicopters. More than a dozen insurgents died during the fighting.
This is what the critics don’t understand but what President Bush - backed by John McCain - saw clearly; that the people of the Moslem world are, indeed, people and thus not inclined to kill and destroy but to live and to build. People like Senator McCain understood that the reason for terrorism isn’t Israel or American policy, but the fact that wicked men, backed by wicked governments, were able to have the field all to themselves, with the peoples of the Moslem world cannon-fodder for Islamist ambitions. Get the people away from the wicked men, even for a moment, and the idea was that they would choose living over dying, and that is what happened…and not only did they choose to live, but plenty of Iraqis and Afghans have chosen to risk their own lives so that their peoples can have a better future.
Victory is ours in this War on Terrorism, provided we just keep fighitng and, more to the point, fighting to provide a better life for the people of the Moslem world. The only thing which can stop us is ourselves, should we be so foolish as to elect a President who thinks you can sit down with evil and come to an agreement.
Tags: Afghanistan, John McCain, Terrorism
August 22nd, 2008
As Real Clear Politics points out, Obama said he’d bring a gun to the knife fight with the GOP - but it look like he’s only capable of shooting himself in the foot. The set up: Obama’s people run an ad in Georgia linking McCain to Reed in an attempt to tie McCain to Abramoff. Response from Team McCain:
“Barack Obama’s ad is ridiculous. Because of John McCain, corruption was exposed and people like Jack Abramoff went to jail.
However, if Barack Obama wants to have a discussion about truly questionable associations, let’s start with his relationship with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, at whose home Obama’s political career was reportedly launched. Mr. Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, a terrorist group responsible for countless bombings against targets including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and numerous police stations, courthouses and banks. In recent years, Mr. Ayers has stated, ‘I don’t regret setting bombs… I feel we didn’t do enough.’
“The question now is, will Barack Obama immediately call on the University of Illinois to release all of the records they are currently withholding to shed further light on Senator Obama’s relationship with this unrepentant terrorist?”
Now thats gonna leave a mark! Obama said the other day that McCain doesn’t know what he’s up against - I begin to think that McCain has taken the measure of Obama and heaved a sigh of relief that the Democrats didn’t pick Hillary, Richardson or any Democrat who actually has some experience in a hostile campaign environment. Obama is a man of many gifts, but there’s really no substitute for experience. Obama vs McCain is the difference between a recent business school grad and the guy who’s been in business for 20 years - the grad might have some really good things going for him, but he doesn’t know how things work in the real world.
As of this moment, I still place the advantage with Obama - in terms of money, friendly media and the continuing unpopularity of President Bush and the GOP, Obama still has all the ingredients a Democrat needs to win the White House. But there has been a noticable shift in the campaign, and McCain is now surging while Obama is trying to hold on to his early advantage.
Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, liberal lies, Terrorism, William Ayers
August 21st, 2008
An excellent pick, if you ask me:
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will give the keynote address at the Republican National Convention next month.
First lady Laura Bush, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and John McCain’s former Republican rivals will speak as well.
The theme will be “Country First” with four days devoted to service, reform, prosperity and peace.
President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other dignitaries also get speaking roles at the convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Giuliani brings a strong public presence to the GOP stage and will help greatly set the “Country First” tone of the McCain campaign - and offer up the stark contrast with Obama and his Democrats’ “party first” politics.
Tags: John McCain, Republican National Convention, Rudolph Giuliani
August 21st, 2008
Once nominated by the Democratic Party to be their vice-presidential candidate, Joe Lieberman will be speaking at the Republican National Convention in September.
Lieberman’s speaking at the Republican Convention demonstrates just how out of the mainstream the Democratic Party has become.
The themes of the convention will be service, reform, prosperity and peace.
Tags: Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Republican National Convention
August 20th, 2008
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