Barack Obama Elected President!

[GHJunkie4Life]

We're probably from the same generation then! BUt yeah I agree with you.

Anyways time for The Dark Knight!

I can't believe people are still waiting in the ratings thread...wow.

[David_Vickers]

I agree that Jesse Jackson is jealous of Barack Obama. He's also a hypocrite for using the "N" word when he complained about rappers and comedians doing so.

[Wales2004]

I've never thought of Jesse Jackson as a leader except maybe over whatever organization he heads. He's been sort of an activist but never a leader in terms of leading any sort of movement. I think the media appointed him a leader and spokesperson and maybe some people bought into that or maybe even considered him their leader. Maybe all of that went to his head and made him think people would accept him as president of the country.

He had a few good sayings with "I Am Somebody" and "Keep Hope Alive." If he positively influenced anyone with those messages then he did some good. I don't have a problem with his condemning the use of the "N" word any more than I do with a person electing to use the word. I would prefer not to hear it but I'm not going to pretend it doesn't exist or what it really means no matter what other meanings people attach to it. I think it's hypocritical of someone to say it's okay for them to say it but not others. And if Jesse Jackson used the word then it's hypocritical of him to condemn others for using it. It also makes no sense for him to condemn that word but then support "Ebonics" and for him to have coined the term "African American." I assume that he wants to be viewed and treated as just another American so to find ways to emphasize the separation of races makes no sense to me at all.

I'll gladly disagree with you about Barack Obama being a black leader as well. There is no black leader as far as I can tell. I don't see where all or even most black people are following anyone. I don't see the correlation between Obama being someone of whom black people can be proud and his being a leader of black people. If he becomes president then he'll be a president who happens to be of African descent.

[Wales2004]

I'm really late on commenting about Najee Ali's open letter but I think he should have handled it more tactfully.

There is a way to make his point about Jesse Jackson without taking personal family issues and passing judgment over them. Adultery may have led to the birth of Jesse Jackson's daughter but it is a separate issue from taking responsibility for a child since it doesn't always result in children.

As for being a dead beat, I get the impression that he's financially responsible which is the main crux of the issue with dead beat dads since taxpayers end up supporting many of these children. How a wife deals with the fact that her husband fathered a child during their marriage and how their children deal with that are more complex and personal than Najee Ali suggests in what seems to be his opportunity to express contempt for Jesse Jackson.

On to presidential election political notes: Courtesy of the LA Times, the one thing that I thought was admirable about John McCain (outside of his military service) has been taken away. Without that I am seeing his inept campaign more clearly. I can't believe that he thinks that people with an ounce of intelligence will accept that Barack Obama is responsible for the high gas prices at the pump.....okay maybe I can believe he thinks that little of his fellow Americans ability to reason. I mean after all, George Bush has great ideas about why the economy is so bad with Wall Street's hangover and all.

[Southofnowhere]

I just read that a new study says that 1 third of McCain's ads are anti-Obama. To makes matters worse alot of them are filled with out-right lies!

[Wales2004]

One of his ads shows Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Obama and the subliminal message is that he may be as popular as the two of them and about as qualified as they are to be a world leader.

Some of the media has taken to using words such as "arrogant" and "presumptuous" to basically ask who he think he is and there's a suggestion that there is some racist undertone to that.

Yesterday I don't know why but I listened to Pat Buchanan try to make his way of assessing Obama sound as if it's the way that the majority of Americans think and feel and Rachel Maddow challenged it as hinting at racism but Harold Ford Jr suggested that it was the norm and not at all racist. Instead of confronting that topic though, he's always suggesting how Obama can "fix" himself and his campaign, imo.

Here's a link to an article on Huffington Post that suggests the racist aspect:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-jenkins...w_b_115671.html

[Ryan]

McCain campaign accuses Obama of playing race card

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/ap_on_el_pr/obama

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 42 minutes ago

John McCain's campaign accused Barack Obama on Thursday of playing racial politics a day after the Democratic candidate predicted Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out "he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

Obama "played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement. He called Obama's remarks "divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

While Obama was meeting with victims of this summer's flooding here, his aides were initially dismissive of the McCain broadside. "We're not in the habit of reacting every time they put out a statement," spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The first black candidate with a shot at winning the White House, Obama argued while stumping in Missouri on Wednesday that President Bush and McCain will resort to scare tactics to maintain their hold on the White House because they have little else to offer voters.

"Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," Obama said. "You know, `he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, `he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.'"

Obama himself didn't make clear what distinctions he thinks McCain is likely to raise regarding the presidents on U.S. currency — white men who for the most part were much older than Obama when elected. McCain has not raised Obama's race as an issue in the campaign; he has said Obama lacks experience.

On Thursday, Gibbs said the senator was not referring to race.

"What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn't get here after spending decades in Washington," Gibbs said. "There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn't come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race."

Obama often makes references to his distinctions as a candidate, such as saying there are doubts among some voters because he has "a funny name." At times he refers to his race as well, saying he looks different from any previous candidate but then adding that the differences are not just about race. Addressing supporters Tuesday night at a fundraiser in Springfield, Mo., he said, "It's a leap, electing a 46-year-old black guy named Barack Obama."

During a round of appearances in Missouri, an economically challenged battleground state, Obama worked to link McCain to the unpopular Bush. He said the Republican senator from Arizona would serve the equivalent of a third Bush term if elected. He said the country can't afford more of the same and expects different results.

"That's a definition of madness, but that's what John McCain is offering. He's offering Bush economic policies and Karl Rove politics," Obama said.

He pressed the theme later at a rain-soaked barbecue in Union, Mo.

"They're going to say I'm a risky guy," Obama said. "What they're going to argue is I'm too risky. The real risk is that we miss the moment, that we do not do what's needed because we're afraid."

For its part, McCain's campaign on Wednesday released a withering television ad comparing Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, suggesting the Democrat is little more than a vapid but widely recognized media concoction.

"He's the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead?" the voiceover asks in the ad, which mixes images of Obama on his trip to Europe last week with video of the 20-something pop stars.

Obama's campaign quickly responded with a commercial of its own, dismissing McCain's complaints as "baloney" and "baseless."

Throughout the day, Obama argued that McCain "thinks we're on the right track" economically.

"These anxieties seem to be growing with each passing day," Obama said. "We can either choose a new direction for our economy or we can keep doing what we've been doing. My opponent, John McCain, thinks we're on the right track."

That elicited boos from some of the 1,500 people who filled a Springfield high school gymnasium. When an AP-Ipsos poll asked the "right track, wrong track" question this month, 77 percent said they thought the country was on the wrong track. The same poll set Bush's approval rating at 28 percent. Both were records for the AP-Ipsos survey.

[Wales2004]

Keith Olberman pointed out how Obama said something even stronger over a month ago and McCain's camp had nothing to say until yesterday which was seen as a reaction to the Britney/Paris ad.

I saw the ad as more of an attack on what they're painting as a lack of substance but I guess a few in the media are saying there are racist undertones in the ads.

[Southofnowhere]

IMO Team McCain are playing the he's playing the race card so that when they and the GOP hit the real racist stuff and it will be harder for Obama to call them on it.

[Wales2004]

I disagree. I think McCain is just seeking to discredit Obama in any way he can. I don't think there is another level the GOP can go to without being more specific and overt and if they do go there then it's not going to be hard for Obama or anyone else to call them on it/ This isn't one of those situations where a person only gets to point it out once and has to sit by silently if it intensifies. I don't think McCain sees his claim as an opening for him to do that.

One of the reasons I don't like the phrase "playing the _____ card" is because I think it makes it harder for people who are legitimately pointing out problems to be taken seriously and the person placing the label doesn't even have to be sincere or actually understand the ramifications of labeling.

McCain is late to the party since Obama has been said the same thing before so his ad didn't evoke a brand new response. And a faction of the GOP already put out blatantly racist buttons to which I don't recall a response from McCain. I'm not sure who McCain will win over with his accusation since it probably only reaffirms the Obama haters' position and people who already have a racial bias. It makes him seem stupid to go after a true throwaway statement.

I'm disappointed that no one spoke up about how wrong it is for McCain to exploit Britney Spears in his ad. Regardless of whatever point he's trying to make, she is a troubled person with a lot of serious personal issues and his insensitivity to that is an indicator of how he's okay selling his soul for political gain so he's guilty of the same thing of which he accused Obama.

[Ponz]

I think the difference is his previous claims were generic remarks that could have applied to any of his opponents (far right extremist groups included). In this case, he's explicitly attributed racist tactics to McCain and mainstream GOPers.

[Southofnowhere]

Obama never mentioned race. He said the McCain and company would call he dangerous , not like us and UnAmerican. McCain and he team have said all of that and much more!

McCains the 1 with the attack ads not OBama!

[Wales2004]

Maybe you didn't see the previous claims. On or around June 20th he named a number of things that would be used about him to incite fear and one of those things he said is that he is black. I don't know the differentiation between the GOP and the mainstream GOP. It's the same party whether it includes people who are more extreme as is the case with the Democrats being one party. His statements yesterday were less explicit than when he actually pointed out previously that they would say he was black.

The bottom line is that McCain is wrong and that Obama isn't making himself out to be the victim of racist attacks. He stated a fact in saying that some would try to make him seem scary because he is black just as when he said that they would make him seem scary because his middle name is Hussein.

McCain is being tactical in making a false claim against Obama and then lying about Obama retracting what he said. Saying that they'll try to point out that he doesn't look like all the other presidents on the dollar bills is a fact not a woe is me cry of a victim. McCain would prefer to make this election about Obama instead of substantive issues.

[Jess]

Since it was McCain who brought race up, I think he certainly is guilty of playing the race card. Why is he pissed all the time? STFU Sen. McCain.

[Roman]

No, Jess.

Let him keep talking.

The Independents and Moderates who are actually paying attention will turn away from attacks such as this. JM hasn't stayed consistant in one policy speach for weeks, and all his campaign can do is use the same tired crap the RNC have used for years.

If he thinks that will sway voters......right on to him. Hope he has fun returning to the Senate in January.