The McCain Thread

[jaguarr]

That's due to wounds received from being a POW, not nice!







or from being a Zombie....

jag

 

[The Senator]

You know I kept doing the same thing. After the michael incident, they should have just straight up killed his ass the next time he was in choking range.

Sidenote: when the hell did ben become a master ninja?

I don't know, but that statement makes me glad I gave up on "Lost" two years ago.

 

[moraldeficiency]

I don't know, but that statement makes me glad I gave up on "Lost" two years ago.

that might have been for the best. Apparently for some reason ben is the biggest badass fighter on the island. I can't stop watching though, I'm freaking dying to see Sun (by far my favorite character, jack sucks donkeys) go medieval on those ****ers.

 

[Marx]

Well, at least his campaign team didn't pick "Raise Your Hands" by Bon Jovi as his entrance theme.

jag

That's wrong on so many levels...

 

[sithgoblin]

Republicans and Military Men on McCain:

[YT]PdJUCU1UH2w[/YT]

 

[Marx]

McCain open to picking pro-choice VP
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/13/mccain-open-to-picking-pro-choice-veep/

 

[Raiden]

McCain open to picking pro-choice VP
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/13/mccain-open-to-picking-pro-choice-veep/

It sounds like he's seriously considering Lieberman as his VP.

 

[Superman]

Abramoff scandal figure raises McCain money
Ralph Reed touts himself as a member of McCain's 'Victory 2008 Team'


WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. - A political strategist tied to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal is helping raise money for John McCain, urging his fellow Georgia Republicans to attend a fundraiser for the presidential candidate in Atlanta.

Ralph Reed, former director of the Christian Coalition, touted himself as a member of McCain's "Victory 2008 Team" in an e-mail that solicited donations on McCain's behalf. The Republican National Committee is hosting the fundraiser set for an Atlanta hotel on Aug. 18.

A House investigative committee in 2006 found that Reed interceded with the Bush White House to help some of Abramoff's clients. Reed's public relations firm also received $4.2 million from Abramoff to mobilize Christian voters to fight the opening of casinos that could compete with Abramoff's Indian tribe clients.

Reed later said he regretted the actions, which contributed to his 2006 Republican primary loss in a bid to be Georgia's lieutenant governor. Abramoff went to prison for conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion.

McCain led a Senate investigation into Abramoff's dealings with Indian tribes, which included information about his ties to Reed. McCain said in a November 2007 presidential debate: "I led in the Abramoff hearings in the, in the obscure Indian Affairs Committee, for which people are still testifying and going to jail."

On Wednesday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean criticized what he called "McCain's decision to cozy up to one of the central figures in the Republican culture of corruption."

Reed didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The McCain campaign referred questions to the Republican National Committee.

RNC spokesman Alex Conant said, "It's laughable Democrats would try to make this a political issue, considering John McCain led the Abramoff investigations and has a record of fighting to reform Washington."

Conant noted that Democratic candidate Barack Obama has had fundraising controversies, too, including instances in which Obama returned donations from tainted contributors.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that Reed sent a message to an undetermined number of Georgia Republicans, saying that McCain "will be coming to Atlanta on August 18 for a very special event at the Marriott Marquis downtown and I have agreed to serve as a member of the McCain Victory 2008 Team."

Reed urged the recipients to donate money, saying, "If you select to use your credit card, you may fax the form to me."

The House Government Reform Committee reported in 2006 that Reed, who was close to Bush political adviser Karl Rove, helped Abramoff obtain a spot on the administration's 2001 transition team at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an agency important to his clients.

"Do you think you might be able to contact Karl, as I am sure you have more weight there," Abramoff said in an e-mail to Reed. "Be happy to," Reed replied.

The House report found at least 14 instances in which Abramoff asked Reed to contact Rove on matters including political appointments "and obtaining favorable actions on client matters."

The report confirmed e-mails that Time magazine published in 2005 in which Abramoff asked Reed to help block the proposed appointment of the wife of Orson Swindle — who was a Vietnam prisoner of war with McCain — to an Interior Department job.

"Can you ping Karl on this?" Abramoff wrote. "I can't believe they just don't get this done."

Reed responded: "Talked to Rove about this and I think I killed it. He's on it. Keep this between us, don't want to raise expectations, but I banged on this one hard."

Swindle's wife did not get the job. Swindle has been an ally of McCain's campaign, criticizing Obama supporter Wesley Clark last month for saying that McCain's Vietnam service doesn't qualify him for the White House.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26181974/

 

[Kelly]

Yeah, he was interviewed on Hannity and Colmes lastnight........Hannity was quiet, and Colmes didn't let him talk......it was hilarious.

 

[Superman]

I guess McCain is OK with him as long as he's getting him money.

McBush strikes again.

 

[Kelly]

Has McCain commented on it..........he's pretty much focusing on the Georgia situation at the moment.

 

[souvlaki]

It sounds like he's seriously considering Lieberman as his VP.

That would be a sure fire way not to win, that's for certain. Sure, he might pull in a few independent voters, but he'd completely alienate the base who are already iffy about him.

 

[Kelly]

Nah, the base is going to vote for him no matter what. They DO NOT want Obama as president. There is no chance in hell they won't vote for McCain, won't matter who his VP is.

 

[souvlaki]

Nah, the base is going to vote for him no matter what. They DO NOT want Obama as president. There is no chance in hell they won't vote for McCain, won't matter who his VP is.

I don't think that's necessarily the case this year honestly. I mean, granted, the Republican base doesn't want Obama, but quite a few of them don't want McCain either. If Lieberman is picked I'd imagine quite a few people on the far right are going to have a complete hissy fit, and either not vote, or vote for Bob Barr. I could be wrong, but I just think McCain is on far more shaky ground with the Republican base this election than Obama is with the Democrat's base.

 

[Kelly]

I think it definitely is for the Republicans, because Obama is one of the most liberal senators in the senate. There is NO WAY, no matter how much they hate McCain will they let someone that liberal just waltz into the executive office.

And, I totally disagree that the base is more shaky on McCain, than Obama.....there are many moderate democrats, or Regan democrats that are scared to death of Obama, so sorry but I totally disagree with that.

 

[souvlaki]

I think it definitely is for the Republicans, because Obama is one of the most liberal senators in the senate. There is NO WAY, no matter how much they hate McCain will they let someone that liberal just waltz into the executive office.

And, I totally disagree that the base is more shaky on McCain, than Obama.....there are many moderate democrats, or Regan democrats that are scared to death of Obama, so sorry but I totally disagree with that.

I don't see how the moderate democrats and Reagan democrats are the base of the Democratic Party, which is what I was referring to. The base of the Democratic Party (i.e. fairly liberal, straight along party line voters) are for the most part solidly behind Obama, whereas McCain's base is not. The group of people you are referring to are traditionally swing voters.

 

[jaguarr]

I don't see how the moderate democrats and Reagan democrats are the base of the Democratic Party, which is what I was referring to. The base of the Democratic Party (i.e. fairly liberal, straight along party line voters) are for the most part solidly behind Obama, whereas McCain's base is not. The group of people you are referring to are traditionally swing voters.

A huge chunk of the Democratic Party's base are zealous Hillarites, though, and that changes the dynamic considerably for the Dem's.

jag

 

[Kelly]

I don't see how the moderate democrats and Reagan democrats are the base of the Democratic Party, which is what I was referring to. The base of the Democratic Party (i.e. fairly liberal, straight along party line voters) are for the most part solidly behind Obama, whereas McCain's base is not. The group of people you are referring to are traditionally swing voters.

They may not be the base, but they sure as hell will be the difference between who wins and looses. Swing voters are the celebrities of this election.....and why do candidates hand feed the base in the primaries and then start their move towards the center in the national election? BECAUSE thats where the difference is made.

And those swing voters tend to vote for more moderate democrats .... like Clinton (bill) not far left or far right. They are far more important to Obama than the far left is. THAT IS WHY you see Obama moving to the center. Unfortunately for him, its a longer walk to the center than it was for Bill Clinton.

The far right, cannot stand Obama, they hate him even more than they did Kerry......if swallowing their religious pride means voting for McCain and beating Obama, I can assure you they will vote for McCain. That is the only group that has had ANYTHING negative to say about McCain since he became a the Republican candidate.

Just the simple fact that McCain has run one of the worst campaigns in history, and Obama seems to be able to do no wrong, YET.....................YET, he has ONLY A 5 point lead over McCain?..........sorry I still strongly disagree with you.

A Washington Post poll shows that 9 out of 10 Republicans back McCain.....IMO, he has no problem with the base.

In an August 13th Pew Poll....this is what was found....

Conversely, Obama has made little progress in increasing his support among core Democrats since June - currently 83% favor him compared with 87% of Republicans who back McCain. The likely Democratic nominee is still getting relatively modest support from Hillary Clinton’s former supporters: 72% of them support Obama, compared with the 88% support level that McCain receives from backers of his formal GOP rivals. Obama’s strong points with voters are in being seen as the candidate with new ideas and as someone who connects well with ordinary people.

The AP Poll also states this...

The Democrat Obama led McCain, the Republican, by 8 percentage points in June in the Pew Research Center poll, though by July his lead was 5 points, about the same as now. Since June, McCain has solidified his support among whites, men, Republicans, white evangelicals and whites who haven’t completed college. Obama has made few gains, but has retained his overwhelming advantage among blacks and leads by 13 points with women and 24 points among those under age 30. Seven in 10 who backed Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination now support Obama — little progress for Obama since June. Growing numbers pick McCain over Obama as the candidate who is personally qualified, could handle a crisis and is willing to take a stand. Obama retains his edge as the one with new ideas and connects with people.

The problem that Obama has at this moment is, the people he leads most decisively in, thorugh history have not been the strongest voters........will they come out and vote this time? They just might, but he needs to push harder in gaining more of the blue collar, male vote, of which, many are Regan democrats, because that will be the few % points that he needs to win this election......IMO.

 

[jaguarr]

Geez...do we want a First Lady who can't even shake hands without folding up like a dried leaf?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/08/cindy-mccains-h.html



jag

 

[souvlaki]

A huge chunk of the Democratic Party's base are zealous Hillarites, though, and that changes the dynamic considerably for the Dem's.

jag

I think people are really overplaying Clinton's influence here. Last I heard it was less than 20% of Clinton's supporters that were threatening to either sit out the election or vote for McCain. When you take into account the fact that Hillary's supporters only make up 50% of potential Democratic voters, that brings the number down to less than 10%. Figure in how many of those voters are simply Republicans that decided to vote in the primary because their primary was already over (yes, I do believe that was a factor in the primary), I'd say that number is less than 10%. With another couple months to go I don't think Obama is going to have much of a problem winning over at least 3 or 4% of these people. The media (namely CNN) try to play up the Clinton factor like it's still a big deal, but it really hasn't been a very big deal for a few months now.

 

[souvlaki]

Just the simple fact that McCain has run one of the worst campaigns in history, and Obama seems to be able to do no wrong, YET.....................YET, he has ONLY A 5 point lead over McCain?..........sorry I still strongly disagree with you.

You do realize a 5 point lead over McCain is more or less an electoral college landslide right? No candidate, no matter how good or bad a campaign they run, in 2008 is going to break that 10% lead threshold. It's just the political climate that we live in right now. So no, I wouldn't say Obama is doing bad in the polls right now.

 

[Kelly]

I don't see how the moderate democrats and Reagan democrats are the base of the Democratic Party, which is what I was referring to. The base of the Democratic Party (i.e. fairly liberal, straight along party line voters) are for the most part solidly behind Obama, whereas McCain's base is not. The group of people you are referring to are traditionally swing voters.

I'm sorry, you are wrong.

 

[souvlaki]

I'm sorry, you are wrong.

I'm wrong? So you are saying, straight faced, that hardcore social conservatives are strongly backing McCain? Can you provide some polls for me to prove this fact? I don't doubt that there aren't a large number of die-hard conservatives that will vote for McCain in November, but I'd wager the number is far lower than it was for Bush. And completely throwing their support and enthusiasm behind McCain is a completely different matter altogether.

 

[Kelly]

I'm wrong? So you are saying, straight faced, that hardcore social conservatives are strongly backing McCain? Can you provide some polls for me to prove this fact? I don't doubt that there aren't a large number of die-hard conservatives that will vote for McCain in November, but I'd wager the number is far lower than it was for Bush. And completely throwing their support and enthusiasm behind McCain is a completely different matter altogether.

*sighs*......yes, as I have proven.

 

[souvlaki]

*sighs*......yes, as I have proven.

Whoa... sorry. I guess I hit the reply button a little soon instead of reading the whole post. I just personally don't see how picking a moderate Democrat (and yes, to most people Lieberman is still considered a Democrat) is a smart move for McCain when he's been more or less having trouble energizing social conservatives. Even if a larger number of registered Republicans support McCain than registered Democrats support Obama I still don't see the sort of enthusiasm for McCain from the far right that I do for Obama from the far left. Even with the numbers you provided I still don't buy that the GOPs base is less likely to budge the closer McCain goes to the center than the democrats' base is if Obama moves to the center. For Obama moving to the middle is more or less a smart move for him. For McCain not so much, which is why he's been so hesitant to do so during the general election.