John Sidney McCain

Richard S. wrote:If I was John McCain walking down the streets og Baghdad I wouldn't be comfortable at all, if it were me walking down the streets I couldn't answer that question because I have no idea what the real conditions are. I'd have to make that judgment after being there. Having said that I'd imagine it would be a lot safer than taking a stroll through the "hood" in LA.

I think we all realize just how dangerous the street of Iraq still are. Here is a headline from today:
Bomb kills 6 Iraqis, 4 Americans in Baghdad By Dean Yates
Tue Jun 24, 1:06 PM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb killed 10 people including two U.S. government employees and two U.S. soldiers at a council meeting in the Baghdad stronghold of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday, officials said.

Full story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080624/wl_nm/iraq_dc_14

Richard S. wrote:As far as McCains economics experience most decisions are made by cabinet members now to some dgree. The President rarely gets any direct information but instead its filtered though various cabinets and hes sees what they feel is important and advise him on what they feel is best. There is no one man that could possibly do all the things a president needs to do or know all the things a president needs to know.

While every President needs advice, knowing something about the subject himself is very important. Polls show that the number one issue on voter's minds this election will be the horrible state of our economy.

Richard S. wrote:Mark my words, the Democrats are going to lose this Presidency. Iraq their major card is on the back burner, its becoming less and less an issue every day. The big issue for this presidency is going to be energy and Mcain is the only one that can step forward with a policy that can lead us into the future. Even if Obama wanted too change his energy policy to be more realistic he can't because he'll be pissing off half the people that are voting for him now namely the environmentalist leaning crowd.

Again, we just simply disagree Richard. Not only do I think that Obama will win, he will win big because this country is hurting so badly. The economy is the Democrat's "major card" & Sen. McCain's admitted weak point. McCain's pro oil company views will just be more of the Bush/Cheney energy plan. Obama has no life long ties to big oil & being a front for environmentalists is just right wing rhetoric. ( I too have to decide if I think this country is really ready to elect a black President........To be honest...I don't know, but we are in such bad shape & the electorate is so angry this year......I think it should & will happen!)

What's gonna change these figures?

Richard S. wrote:When people are paying $5 for a gallon of gas, $6 a gallon for heating oil and who the hell knows where NG is going... and Obama is still sticking to his environmentally sound energy policies who do you think people are going to vote for?

Obama is not in the back pocket of "Big Oil" & does not walk around holding the hands (literally) with the Saudis like Sen. McCain's role model, GW Bush does.

Devil5052 wrote:While every President needs advice, knowing something about the subject himself is very important. Polls show that the number one issue on voter's minds this election will be the horrible state of our economy.

I'm sure he knows something about the subject, as I said you can't expect a President to know everything. Simply impossible. The economy is bad because of energy prices, it has by far the largest influence on the cost of things. The direct impact on people is of course home heating and the fuel they need for their car. Heating bills this winter will probably be the single biggest expense for any family only superseded by rent/mortgage and food bills.

You can certainly go on with the mantra that McCain is for big oil and Obama is against it but the fact is as I have already pointed out the exact opposite is true as clearly indicated by their voting records. It's preposterous to think that he's "pro oil" just because he doesn't support some ridiculous idea that taxing the rich for making a profit is somehow going to fix this mess. It should be noted McCain's position is not against prosecution for illegal activities.

The economy as you have stated is the main issue for this election, I guess we can agree on that. Energy is by the single biggest issue, the reason we are in this mess to begin with is liberals catering to the environmentalists for decades. It's hasn't been republicans blocking off shore drilling, coal plants, nuclear power plants, refineries and all the other types of activities that go along with energy production. These are all things McCain is in favor of in balanced with development of green technology. Simply creating more taxes and hoping for some miracle that green technology is going to save is will not fix this issue.

Richard S. wrote:Energy is by the single biggest issue, the reason we are in this mess to begin with is liberals catering to the environmentalists for decades. It's hasn't been republicans blocking off shore drilling, coal plants, nuclear power plants, refineries and all the other types of activities that go along with energy production

I disagree as to who is to blame for the energy prices skyrocketing Richard & I think the vast majority of the American public do as well. We see through the "finger pointing" & White House rhetoric & most of us see that, for the last 8 years business has run our government with no oversight to speak of & look at where it has gotten us..........Worst economy since the Great Depression, fighting 2 wars that we can't afford to continue, Osama Bin Ladin nowhere to be found, we can't heat our homes or drive our cars & yet the major oil companies are swimming in profits. (I don't buy their spin)
Next November we will see exactly how many voters are buying into the Republican's BS that we should listen to them & not believe our "lying eyes!" (if you read the poll I posted above, it shows that an unknown black man with a crazy Pastor is already leading by a substantial margin. Why?...... voter anger)
As far as off-shore drilling, etc.....the major oil companies are already sitting on huge oil deposits that they are not pumping to keep supply's low & prices up. The need for more places to drill is pure BS & we will all see how many voters are buying it.

Haven't been here as regularly recently, so the back and forth on candidate quotes is not something I have time to immerse myself in right now.

But, the way things are going, even GOP strategists like Matthew Dowd believe that McCain simply cannot win the race, Obama must lose it.

And there's a litany of reasons why. Some are out of McCain's control, but many are self-inflicted. Richard, you like to make lists. I have two I suggest you make as you try to come to grips with McCain's predicament this year.

1. Make a list of the reasons the radical right, like for example Ann Coultergeist, hates McCain. For example, he was against tax cuts, he was for campaign finance reform, he got in the religious right's face. All these were the "principled" stands of the great, maverick "straight talker."

2. Now make a list of the reasons independent voters are suspicious of McCain. Retreats on his "principled" tax stand. Makes a pilgrimage to Liberty U. His Supreme Court app'ts would mean the end of a woman's constitutional right to choose, he's for wars but against the diplomacy to avoid them, the draft to staff them and the taxes to pay for them.

Notice I haven't gotten to a whole host of factors which will influence plenty of voters, like the economy, energy, his age or his mental status. But McCain's basic problem is pretty simple: independents like the "maverick" of 2000, party regulars came grudgingly to accept the McCain who evolved in the primaries this year. Trouble is, there's no way to reconcile the two. And each of those factions is suspicious of the other -- and of his true allegiances. Exhibit A will be his VP choice; as with so many of the moves he's had to make this year, I suspect not everybody will be happy.

Now, Obama most certainly CAN lose this -- through complacency, sloppiness, failure to respond swiftly to swiftboating, if the race-mongering or religious distortions get traction, if there's another big attack (maybe, but it'd raise a lot of suspicions about wagging the dog), and I'm sure in other ways. But so far, he's shown pretty good discipline, both in message and organizationally. They've even got the Muslims mad at them because they know they can't allow him to by YouTubed with burkas in the background. And I think they're about as ready as you can be for the viral internet stuff.

Richard, as you correctly noted, there is no such thing as a perfect candidate, and there will be inconsistencies with all of them, but Obama's already been able to raise unprecedented amounts of money without the PAC's and lobbyists, and now that's DNC policy. That alone makes him a genuinely different candidate. He will have enough resources not only to play in red states but answer any low blows quickly and forcefully. And, you know what? Those are the qualities I'm looking for in a Commander in Chief!

P.S. -- If the "Enron Loophole" can be shown to have played any significant part in the recent hockey-stick increases in the cost of energy, none of the above will matter much. Wendy Gramm, wife of McCain chief financial guru Phil Gramm, was on the Enron board and has her fingerprints all over the loophole. If this turns out to be what passes for "free enterprise" under the GOP, you can forget all the rest; the voters will throw a rope over a tree and the GOP will be stone dead.

Polling of "registered" voters.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/108376/Gallu ... ed-45.aspx

I find it interesting that the man who ran the Hanoi Hilton for the NVA that kept John McCain locked up and tortured all those years, has come out publicly and said he would make a very capable President and that he would vote for him if he was a US citizen. Very interesting.

spc wrote:Polling of "registered" voters.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/108376/Gallu ... ed-45.aspx

Bwhahahahaha.... :D

You have to love this shape : >

Interesting the polls are showing an upswing in McCains favor after the revelation of his energy policy. As I said this is the most important issue this election by far and Obama simply cannot change his position to match the realistic needs that we have without disenfranchising much of his support that he gets from the environmentalist left. Oil is huge part of our economy, green technology will not solve the problems we face within the next decade or two.

spc wrote:Polling of "registered" voters.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/108376/Gallu ... ed-45.aspx

Wow

There will be upticks and downticks from now until November. Just as the Newsweek 51:36 number last weekend was probably an "outlier," this is probably about as good as it gets for the bottom of the Midshipmen class.

And Richard, while you may think his energy policy is an advantage to him, offshore drilling sure won't be in the crucial state of FL.

Anyhow, enjoy it while it's still news.

Still news? Do you think this energy problem is going to magically go away going into the fall when energy prices historically rise? Not only will it still be news it will be huge news.

As for Florida you need to keep in mind that the off shore oil well drilling will be put into the hands of the states, in case you were not aware the governor of Florida supports this policy. The people of Florida stand to gain quite a bit financially from any off-shore drilling and the fact that the decision to allow it lies within their own hands certainly isn't going to harm McCain. They are the masters of their own destiny so to speak, nothing is being forced on them with McCains policy.

According to this site McCain has an advantage in Florida by a +5 average over various polls over the last few months. There is only two polls predicting Obama and coincidentally one of them is the Quinnipiac poll cited earlier for Obama at a national level.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls ... a-418.html

No, I meant the news of the poll. And, BTW, the other news today is the LA Times poll, which has Obama up by 12.

If you think offshore drilling will fly in FL, you haven't been in FL in a while. It's suicidal, so much so that even Jeb Bush was against it.

Besides, drilling isn't the answer anyway; the oil won't be online for 5-10 years, requires more refining capacity and doesn't address the immediate problem of the amount of energy we waste in this country.

But all that being as it may, the commodity speculation scheme that has the fingerprints of McCain's financial people all over it will, if connected to current prices, snuff his chances out like a match.

God Bless America



Fight for what’s right for our country.
Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.
Fight for our children’s future.
Fight for justice and opportunity for all.
Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.
Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.
Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up.
We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

Yup...McCain represents change.......NOT!

stockingfull wrote: Besides, drilling isn't the answer anyway; the oil won't be online for 5-10 years, requires more refining capacity and doesn't address the immediate problem of the amount of energy we waste in this country.

I'm so tired of hearing this. If Clinton or Bush had done this 5-10 years ago we would have it now. The same people who blocked it then are blocking it now.I am sure we will be quite happy to have it in 5-10 years.

We would be still driving Model T's with that mentality. Nothing happens over night.

coalmeister wrote:I'm so tired of hearing this. If Clinton or Bush had done this 5-10 years ago we would have it now.

Probably true. ......& if we had it now we would still be totally dependent on middle east oil but probably savings 2 or 3 pennies per gallon. Big Deal!
(Just ask T. Bone Pickens if we can drill our way out of depedency)

More drilling is just an election year talking point for the Republicans.