This is the Presidential Campaign Thread.

Barack Obama Vs. John McCain.

Edited November 6, 200817 yr by Toups

I ask.......why does MSNBC have this man and Brad Blakeman on their network?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/13/v...words/#comments

I was watching Dan Abrams' show for a little while out of curiosity when that exchange took place. I can't find any reason whatsoever for MSNBC keeping him around. I've heard him refer to Obama as "exotic" on some other show and I was hoping one of the women would say something about it this time because I think he often gets away with his code words. glad when she asked him if it was code for black and he started bumbling through some ridiculous explanation which proved he was busted.

I am editing this to add that I watched the clip and thanks for posting the link. I completely forgot about how PB claimed to be Independent on one of those shows, yet here he is clearly aligning himself with the GOP. I kind of recall one of them on CNN (I'm thinking) saying how Obama isn't the kind of guy that you'd find at Applebee's salad bar. Me neither because my local Applebee's doesn't have a salad bar but more to the point, does McCain frequent local restaurant chain's salad bars? Should I be concerned if I don't see candidates throwing down Big Macs and fries? Can you imagine what would happen if they were to find any photos of Obama eating chicken or ribs?

Edited June 14, 200817 yr by Wales2004

McCain is from a uppercrust Milltary Family , while Obama is from very modest roots , so i don't get this whole thing about him not coonecting too lower income peeps?

I thought this was interesting:

Black conservatives conflicted on Obama campaign

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER

WASHINGTON - Black conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams has never voted for a Democrat for president. That could change this year with Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee.

"I don't necessarily like his policies; I don't like much that he advocates, but for the first time in my life, history thrusts me to really seriously think about it," Williams said. "I can honestly say I have no idea who I'm going to pull that lever for in November. And to me, that's incredible."

Just as Obama has touched black Democratic voters, he has engendered conflicting emotions among black Republicans. They revel over the possibility of a black president but wrestle with the thought that the Illinois senator doesn't sit beside them ideologically.

"Among black conservatives," Williams said, "they tell me privately, it would be very hard to vote against him in November."

Perhaps sensing the possibility of such a shift, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has made some efforts to lure black voters. He recently told Essence magazine that he would attend the NAACP's annual convention next month, and he noted that he recently traveled to Selma, Ala., scene of seminal voting rights protests in the 1960s, and "talked about the need to include 'forgotten Americans.'"

Still, the Arizona senator has a tall order in winning black votes, no doubt made taller by running against a black opponent. In 2004, blacks chose Democrat John Kerry over President Bush by an 88 percent to 11 percent margin, according to exit polls.

J.C. Watts, a former Oklahoma congressman who once was part of the GOP House leadership, said he's thinking of voting for Obama. Watts said he's still a Republican, but he criticizes his party for neglecting the black community. Black Republicans, he said, have to concede that while they might not agree with Democrats on issues, at least that party reaches out to them.

"And Obama highlights that even more," Watts said, adding that he expects Obama to take on issues such as poverty and urban policy. "Republicans often seem indifferent to those things."

Likewise, retired Gen. Colin Powell, who became the country's first black secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said both candidates are qualified and that he will not necessarily vote for the Republican.

"I will vote for the individual I think that brings the best set of tools to the problems of 21st-century America and the 21st-century world regardless of party, regardless of anything else other than the most qualified candidate," Powell said Thursday in Vancouver in comments reported by The Globe and Mail in Toronto.

Writer and actor Joseph C. Phillips got so excited about Obama earlier this year that he started calling himself an "Obamacan" - Obama Republican. Phillips, who appeared on "The Cosby Show" as Denise Huxtable's husband, Navy Lt. Martin Kendall, said he has wavered since, but he is still thinking about voting for Obama.

"I am wondering if this is the time where we get over the hump, where an Obama victory will finally, at long last, move us beyond some of the old conversations about race," Phillips said. "That possibly, just possibly, this great country can finally be forgiven for its original sin, or find some absolution."

Yet Phillips, author of the book "He Talk Like a White Boy," realizes the irony of voting for a candidate based on race to get beyond race.

"We have to not judge him based on his race, but on his desirability as a political candidate," he said. "And based on that, I have a lot of disagreements with him on a lot of issues. I go back and forth."

Michael Steele, the Republican former lieutenant governor of Maryland who lost a Senate race there in 2006, said he is proud of Obama as a black man, but that "come November, I will do everything in my power to defeat him." Electing Obama, he said, would not automatically solve the woes of the black community.

"I think people who try to put this sort of messianic mantle on Barack's nomination are a little bit misguided," he said.

John McWhorter, a self-described political moderate who is a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute and a New York Sun columnist, said Obama's Democratic Party victory "proves that while there still is some racism in the United States, there is not enough to matter in any serious manner. This is a watershed moment."

"Obama is probably more to the left than I would prefer on a lot of issues," he adds. "But this issue of getting past race for real is such a wedge issue for me. And he is so intelligent, and I think he would be a perfectly competent president, that I'm for him. I want him to get in because, in a way, it will put me out of a job."

James T. Harris, a Milwaukee radio talk show host and public speaker, said he opposes Obama "with love in my heart."

"We are of the same generation. He's African American and I'm an American of African descent. We both have lovely wives and beautiful children," Harris said. "Other than that, we've got nothing in common. I hope he loses every state."

Moderate Republican Edward Brooke, who blazed his own trail in Massachusetts in 1966 as the first black popularly elected U.S. senator, said he is "extremely proud and confident and joyful" to see Obama ascend. Obama sent Brooke a signed copy of his book, inscribed, "Thank you for paving the way," and Brooke sent his own signed book to Obama, calling the presumed Democratic nominee "a worthy bearer of the torch."

Brooke, who now lives in Florida, won't say which candidate will get his endorsement, but he does say that race won't be a factor in his decision.

"This is the most important election in our history," Brooke said. "And with the world in the condition that it is, I think we've got to get the best person we can get."

Williams, the commentator, says his 82-year-old mother, who also hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate, has already made up her mind.

"She is so proud of Senator Barack Obama, and she has made it clear to all of us that she's voting for him in November," Williams relates. "That is historic. Every time I call her, she asks, 'How's Obama doing?' They feel as if they are a part of this. Because she said, given the history of this country, she never thought she'd ever live to see this moment."

I thought this was interesting:

Me also, but I hope they end up voting for the person who represents their policies and beliefs.

Where has hillary gone?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Her every step over the last 17 months was captured by a legion of cameramen and a press corps of journalists from around the world.

But for the last seven days, Hillary Clinton has been nowhere to seen, and Washington is speculating about where exactly the ubiquitous New York senator has gone.

WATCH: What will Clinton do now?

Is she camping out in her Georgetown home or is the former presidential candidate back at her Chappaqua estate? Perhaps she ventured to an isolated vacation spot, far removed from cable news and the political chattering class.

Members of her formal presidential campaign and her Senate staff aren't saying.

"She's enjoying some much-needed time with her family," said a staff member for her former campaign who asked not to be identified.

The two-term senator has a day job to return to, though no public events have yet to be scheduled and Clinton's Senate office is giving few clues on when she might return to the Hill.

"She'll be back before you know it," Philippe Reines, a senior adviser to Clinton said.

Laying low after a hard-fought presidential campaign is not exactly out of the ordinary.

After the 2000 presidential election, former Vice President Al Gore largely dodged the public eye, only to emerge six months later with a full beard. In 2004, John Kerry too took some down time after his loss to President Bush, though the Massachusetts Democrat was back in the Senate just over a week later.

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton on Thursday made his first public appearance since his wife formally dropped her presidential bid, speaking at the eighth grade graduation of his nephew in Torrance, California.

==========

I knew this would happen. The press loves to cover the clintons because they are like a bad soap opera thats entertaining. Just leave hillary alone.

Edited June 14, 200817 yr by EricaKane70

ON DEADLINE: Obama wedged between black, white By SONYA ROSS, Associated Press Writer

Fri Jun 13, 3:13 PM ET

If Barack Obama is looking for a theme song, he should consider "Stuck in the Middle With You."

And not just because there are clowns to the left of him and jokers to the right.

It's because the man is stuck in the middle.

Anyone who looks at him — his hair, his face, his honey-toned skin — is bound to see a black man.

But the thing is, his mother was white, his father was black. He's both and neither, a completely gray place to be.

So, really, Obama's fortunes in this race for the White House hang less on his race and more on his identity.

His black identity.

Every time Obama takes a step toward November, blacks and whites pull on him as if he were a wishbone, expecting him to build up or water down his blackness as evidence that, if he becomes president, he won't drag them out of their separate silos to confront America's race problem; he'll just join them where they are.

Obama hoped the tug of war would go away back in March when he gave a speech about race in Philadelphia. He tried to explain the anger of his much maligned former black pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. He tried to explain the soft bigotry of his white grandmother. He laid bare his own struggle with being "too black" or "not black enough" with all the passion he could muster and said he'd sincerely like to light the way out of this mess.

Here's what he's getting for his trouble:

Skeptical whites say, Vote for this guy? The United States isn't ready for a black president. He'll be bad for business. He'll be too friendly to the likes of Iran and Cuba.

True-believer blacks say, Vote for this guy! We are beyond ready for a black president. He'll end that war and he'll stand up for us. Surely they wouldn't kill him for that.

A plate served cold, with a side order of expectations.

Obama acknowledged the pressure during a fundraiser in Chicago Thursday night.

"They're going to try to make me into a scary guy," Obama said. "That drumbeat — we're not sure if he's patriotic or not, we're not sure if he is too black. I don't know, before I wasn't black enough. Now, he might be too black."

To put it in perspective, Obama is one of more than 6 million Americans of mixed race and one among the 0.3 percent of Americans who are of mixed black/white race. He is not the first person of black and white parentage to identify culturally as black, nor would he be the first of his particular racial blend to become the first black something or other — Halle Berry, for example, is the first black woman to win an Oscar for best actress.

Black people are glad enough to claim Obama according to the one-drop rule. The blood of his African father makes him black enough and, besides, there are other black/white mixed-race people out there who look whiter than Obama does and identify just as black as he does, if not blacker.

They look Obama over and beg him, Yo, Barack, keep it real for us, bro. Make that White House the Black House. Stick with your pastor. Play them hoops. Don't shake my hand, hit me with a fist pound. Leave Hillary alone. While you're at it pick a brother as your running mate too. You can't go white on us if you want to be our president.

White people are glad enough to claim Obama, too, what with his Midwestern roots, his international flavor, his Ivy League degrees and all.

They look Obama over and say, Listen, dude, you need to cut off that loud preacher of yours. Tell your unpatriotic wife to keep her opinions to herself. Put on a Brooks Brothers suit, be an elitist. No, wait, don't be an elitist. Put on a plaid shirt and bond with the blue collars. Leave Hillary alone. You need an established white man as your veep so you'll be more electable. What's that fist pound about? You're a secret Muslim, aren't you? You can't do all that black stuff if you want to be our president.

Whenever the expectations clash, Obama should just start singing "Stuck in the Middle With You," a piece of 1970s pop music by Stealers Wheel that warns of the contradictions bred by success:

"Trying to make some sense of it all/But I can see it makes no sense at all ... Well, you started out with nothing/And you're proud you're a self-made man/And your friends, they all come crawlin'/Slap you on the back and say/Please ... Please ...

"Clowns to the left of me/Jokers to the right, here I am/Stuck in the middle with you."

Obama may not be a first in his mixed-race subset, but he is a first in the realm of presidential politics. Therefore, black people have to come to reckoning with the fact that he is not MLK or Malcolm X or Jesse Jackson, and white people have to come to reckoning with the fact that he is not FDR or JFK or Bill Clinton.

If Obama does win the election, he's got to be president of all the people.

Perhaps Obama should talk Stealers Wheel into doing a remix especially for him: "Stuck in the Middle, With Hue."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Sonya Ross, an African-American, is a former White House reporter for The Associated Press who occasionally writes about race.

Edited June 15, 200817 yr by EricaKane70

I just read a wire story saying that Obama picked a woman who Hillary had fired to be the chief of staff for whomever he selects as VP. I think that sends somewhat of a signal that he doesn't want Hillary. Hillary blamed this woman for her failed Iowa campaign.

I just read a wire story saying that Obama picked a woman who Hillary had fired to be the chief of staff for whomever he selects as VP. I think that sends somewhat of a signal that he doesn't want Hillary. Hillary blamed this woman for her failed Iowa campaign.

Patti Solis Doyle. I saw various spins on her hiring yesterday. The prevalent one is the signal that HC won't be his VP selection. Other spins included her bridging the teams, her presence making HC more comfortable and giving HC the opportunity to fire her again. I don't think it is as much as a signal as it is an effort to move on and focus on the general election. Many of the people I saw commenting on it yesterday didn't think HC was going to be selected anyway. Dan Abrams was the only one I saw that seemed to be perturbed by it but I doubt that will make a difference to his routine push for her anyway. Though now the speculation has shifted to Al Gore and may even include John Edwards since he may have lightened up on his initial stance.

Here's a link to an article about Jon Stewart mocking the media for publicizing Obama rumors (a show clip is included):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/17/j...f_n_107539.html

HC moved Dole to another job and is still super-tight with her. Plus Dole is Latina and the main force behind getting Hillary the Hispanic vote. Dole made a huge mess when she was the main peep on team Hillary and speant money like it was going out of style however Obama's team are will known for not wasting money. IMO this means Hillary and Bill Richardson are on on the VP list

Edited June 17, 200817 yr by Southofnowhere

Well if Gore is on obama's list then hillary is out. I still say hillary will be the strongest vp choice. Besides Gore and Hillary what other vp candidate can bring out big numbers of voters in Nov? I think Edwards could bring out some voters but not like Gore and Hillary.

HC moved Dole to another job and is still super-tight with her. Plus Dole is Latina and the main force behind getting Hillary the Hispanic vote. Dole made a huge mess when she was the main peep on team Hillary and speant money like it was going out of style however Obama's team are will known for not wasting money. IMO this means Hillary and Bill Richardson are on on the VP list

Most of the media reports that I saw yesterday indicated that she was fired from the campaign. Initially she was moved to another position but at some point I recall hearing that she left and they do use the term "resigned" although they insist that she was fired. She was supposed to have been shopping a book about her experiences two or three months ago and then within a few weeks after the book rumor she was supposed to have been trying to get on Obama's team. Depending on who was doing the talking yesterday she either hasn't spoken to HC in a long time or has a strained relationship with her.

She may really just be there to help attract certain voters and because the Chicago team feels comfortable enough with her to trust her. More interesting than Dole being hired is the fact that they also hired a chief of staff for Michelle Obama.

HC moved Dole to another job and is still super-tight with her. Plus Dole is Latina and the main force behind getting Hillary the Hispanic vote. Dole made a huge mess when she was the main peep on team Hillary and speant money like it was going out of style however Obama's team are will known for not wasting money. IMO this means Hillary and Bill Richardson are on on the VP list

I've never voted for a presidential candidate based on the running mate because while it's essential to have the right second on the ticket, I'm still looking at the headliner and I would never ever vote for someone with whom I felt uncomfortable just because I was okay with the second. The thing I might do though, is not vote for someone with whom I was okay if I didn't care for the running mate.

Most of the media reports that I saw yesterday indicated that she was fired from the campaign. Initially she was moved to another position but at some point I recall hearing that she left and they do use the term "resigned" although they insist that she was fired. She was supposed to have been shopping a book about her experiences two or three months ago and then within a few weeks after the book rumor she was supposed to have been trying to get on Obama's team. Depending on who was doing the talking yesterday she either hasn't spoken to HC in a long time or has a strained relationship with her.

She may really just be there to help attract certain voters and because the Chicago team feels comfortable enough with her to trust her. More interesting than Dole being hired is the fact that they also hired a chief of staff for Michelle Obama.

From all the news reports your totally right about the bad blood i just hadn't heard about it before. As for Mrs.Obama's COS i bet they have big hands , so they can cover her mouth when she starts to say something stupid!

From all the news reports your totally right about the bad blood i just hadn't heard about it before. As for Mrs.Obama's COS i bet they have big hands , so they can cover her mouth when she starts to say something stupid!

Yep, I think Michelle needs a little media and public exposure training.

Is it weird to anyone else that the campaign would hire a COS for a VP rather than naming the VP and allowing that person to make the choice of his/her top aides?

Team Obama are control freaks and it's clear to see that any VP pick will be under thier control and not let loose to do thier own thing. I think it's clear no one will be pushing Obama around. It's very smart for Obama to hire his Wife a babysitter. I really like how Obama runds things. I also think this whole VP COS thing tells us that Obama wants to take the VP spot back to where it was before Bush/Cheney.

I hope and think that the VP choice for Obama will either be Hillary Rodham Clinton or Al Gore. I hope it's Hillary, maybe with Al on his team in another capacity, Maybe Secretary of State.