Palin? You gotta be hosing me...

Karen Thurman, chair of the FL Dems:

Dear Friends,


John McCain rolled the dice with his VP pick today - in an attempt to woo women voters.

But we cannot gamble with women's lives.

Don't let your friends, family and co-workers be fooled: Alaskan Sarah Palin is a dangerous right-winger who lacks the judgment to lead.

In 2000, Palin endorsed Pat Buchanan for President. Yes, that Pat Buchanan.

In 2006, Palin ran for Alaska Governor on a message of change - and then turned out to be just another corrupt Alaska politician who's now under investigation in her own state.

She's no Hillary Clinton. She's Dan Quayle in a dress.

Women voters who care about equal rights, choice, family and other issues, will not see a partner in Palin.

Help us fight for these issues by electing Democrats up and down the ticket. Click here to donate today:

https://secure.fladems.com/page/contribute/

She is lockstep with Bush and McCain on issues important to women. Every one of them. That's scary.

The corrupt trio of Ted Stevens, Don Young, and Lisa Murkowski all raised campaign money for Palin.

John McCain claimed that Barack Obama lacked experience. Then he picked a VP who has just 20 months at the helm of a state with a population smaller than the city of Jacksonville, and zero foreign policy experience. Palin would be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Barack Obama is ready to lead. Last night he showed us what the next American President will look like. He and Joe Biden will deliver change we need.

She is worse than Quayle. She is a female Bush. She is a right-wing extremist who thinks abortion should be illegal in ALL circumstances. She doesn't believe in evoluton. She is corrupt.

No one can convince me that she would have been picked if she had been a man. How insulting. Women will vote for her just because she is a woman? HRC didn't run on being a woman--she was a competent and effective leader. If she had Palin's "qualifications", she would have been laughed off the national stage.

This was a hail mary pass by a desperate candidate. He made this decision out of panic--and it shows how he would make decisions as president.

If you haven't been moved to the Obama camp by now, look again.

Who McCain Won't Pick

I know who McCain won't pick.

Romney, Pawlenty, Lieberman, or Ridge.

I say that now so I can say I told you so.

He won't pick Romney because he wouldn't be able to paint Obama as an elitist. Romney, like McCain, has an obscene amount of money. Romney is also a flip-flop on everything who will say anything to be elected--McCain knows this and doesn't trust him.

Pawlenty? Paw-lease. Biden would chew him up and spit him out at a debate. McCain already can't match Biden on foreign policy credentials--so what's smiley gonna do? Besides, Minnesota is just not going to be in play. There's nothing there, dudes.

Lieberman--he would LOVE to have him. He's his buddy and a fellow "maverick" (if you read "maverick" as back-stabbing traitor who is one of the few remaining cultists who insist Iraq is a rainbow castle dreamland filled with chocolately goodness instead of the corrupt, trillion-dollar sucking bloodbath). Of course, his GOP Masters won't allow this. Lieberman votes a LOT with the Democrats and the GOP hates him. (Something we have in common.)

Same with Ridge. Even though Ridge is qualified, he doesn't have that "ideology". And if there is one thing you need, it's "ideology".

W was brimming with it. Even though he didn't (and still doesn't) have anything else. (Quick aside: and the GOP has the audacity to criticize Obama as not prepared? W was the least experienced in history--and unlike Obama, he reads, he can put a coherent sentence together, and doesn't make major foreign policy decisions based on his "gut". But then again, Obama wouldn't read a children's book when we are attacked, or eat cake when a major city drowns, or...ya know, it's just easier to say fucking idiots and leave it at that.)

I would be impressed if McCain would pick Ridge, but that would take principle-and he has flip-flopped on every major "principle" he's had--huge tax cuts, pork, even torture. ANYTHING to get the GOP to love (back) him.

He needs someone who is conservative enough for the conservatives but just independent enough for those independents foolish enough to think he's one of them.

My guess is someone like Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

what do you think?

Seminole Paster Delivers Benediction at DNC

I teach at, as well as worship at, Northland Church here at Longwood.

The Rev. Joel Hunter was invited to give the Benediction at the DNC. His mega-church here is a testament to his brand of Christianity, which is the model that Jesus teaches in the New Testament.

I know that the Son of Man would be appalled at fake prophets who twist His Word to justify hate towards others and enrich themselves. He is the new breed of Christian, like the Rev. Warren, who believes that Christians are defined by what we do and what we are for--not just what we are against (re: abortion and gays). His kind is the antidote for the hate that falsely defined Christianity--mostly stemming from the former Falwell and Pat Robertson. Evangelical Christians are giving Obama the chance he needs, and like my church, I couldn't be more proud.

Congratulations Obama! HRC shows real class!

For the first time in American history, a major U.S. party nominates an African American for the presidency. Hillary Clinton called for the roll call of states to end in a bid for unity.

McSame is gearing up for his pitch for another 8 years of failure to start next week in the Twin Cities. America can't be that stupid to give the GOP another extension to prolong the never-ending, trillion dollar war, tax-breaks for the super-wealthy and the oil companies, and to finally put the last nail in the coffin for any sembelance of justice from either the Justice Dept. or the Supreme Court.

God Bless America! Hang on...help is on the way!

PRIMARY DAY! Vote and ensure you are registered!

No shenanigans in Florida this time. Go and vote today--if anything, it will let you know that you are ready to vote in the General Election this November.

If you are in Feeney's specially-carved district, PLEASE vote for Suzanne Kosmas. the Daytona Beach paper endorsed her recently and expressed why Feeney is so wrong:

Recent votes show how extreme and out of step Feeney is with his more moderately conservative district. He voted against a bill strengthening prohibitions against pay discrimination (it passed the House, 247-178). He voted against the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that strengthens federal regulations of tobacco products (it passed, 326-102, with 96 Republicans in favor). He opposed a bill strengthening and expanding President Bush's 2003 AIDS initiative with accountability provisions (it passed, 303-115, with 75 Republicans in favor). He opposed the 2008 Foreclosure Prevention Act (it passed, 272-152, with 45 Republicans in favor). And he opposed a highway bill strengthening infrastructure inspection standards (it passed, 367-55, with 137 Republicans in favor).

All that just in the second half of July. Feeney's six years in Congress follow the same pattern. He's not just anti-government. He's anti governance. Set aside charges of corruption that have dogged Feeney (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ranks him among the 22 most corrupt members of Congress) and the pride he takes in his abrasive partisanship. Just on his votes and his poor record of constituent services, the case to replace this incumbent builds itself.

Vote for Suzanne and let's get Seminole County back on a winning team!

McCain defines "Rich"--w/Video

Glad to see the DNC on top of their game. Take notes Obama, this is how we fight back:

Cafferty Sums Up Bush and McCain

Cafferty said it best:

It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president.

and

I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.

George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.

He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.

I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.

Effective ANTI-MCCAIN Ad

You know I couldn't stay away!

Here's an ad for "maverick" McCain. Send the link to anyone who says he is not like Bush. Hope you like it!



Digg It

Obama leads in Florida

46 to 44 percent. It's tight, but compared to where he was just a month ago--he's made up a lot of ground.

All McSame has left is fear and smear. None of his new ads have anything on what McSame will do once in office, (hint--more of the same), so they all smear Obama. We tried 1.3 trillion tax cuts for the wealthy and big oil. We tried spurning all our allies and going it alone on the war on terror. We tried running a war by ourselves--breaking our military and our budget.

We tried the GOP way for the past seven years. How has that worked out for you? There is not an issue that Bush hasn't f***ed up. How much worse can things get?

Don't fear change, because we desperately need it!! Florida, don't let me down...

Outrageous Attack Ad. So much for Honor, Mr. McCain.

John McSame is one desperate somma bitch.

Obama had the most successful visit to the Middle East and Europe, including an electrifying speech that captivated the largest audience ever for an American politician. (It was nice to see Europe waving American flags again.)

So McComplain decided to resort to the Rovian GOP playbook--smear. His latest ad launches a false attack against Barack Obama for "ignoring our troops" to play basketball. Nevermind that it actually includes footage of Barack Obama playing basketball with our troops on his recent trip to Kuwait, in order to make its point. And nevermind that he visited wounded troops in Iraq.

It was the Pentagon that pulled the plug on the hospital visit. They claimed that this was not only "inappropriate", but violated DoD rules. The Pentagon spokesman even quoted Obama advisor Gibbs a DoD regulation about campaign staff visiting a hospital.

Rather than going back and forth on whether his own presence was a campaign event, and subjecting the wounded troops to this mess, he agreed to cancel. Three weeks ago, it was fine.

This was a no win situation for Obama. If he fought the Pentagon, he would be attacked for not listening to DoD leaders and using wounded troops as a campaign prop. If he respected the Pentagon's wishes, --well, you can see the fallout.

John Mccain has no trouble, however, using the troops as a political football. But just keep in mind, it was JOHN MCCAIN that stood with George Bush in opposing our new GI Bill.

Someone else put it better than me:

...a bill that was supported overwhelmingly by Democrats and Republicans alike, and meant to give our returning men and women all the benefits they deserve. John Mccain said it was "too generous".

Barack Obama stood with our troops. John Mccain stood with George Bush.

I love you Barack, but it's time to quit playing nice. McSame has nothing to run on, so he is resorting to smears. All of his new ads are extremely negative, and they get more extreme and more false each cycle. Apparently, you personally are to blame for the high gas prices-- (the administration with the most oil executives ever, however, has nothing to do with it). And apparently, you hate wounded troops.

McCain no longer deserves to have the word "honorable" before his name.

Soft on Obama? CBS never covered for him!

If Obama made half of the ignorant statements that John McCain made on Iraq, he would have been laughed off months ago as being naive. It is John McCain who keeps confusing the Sunni and the Shia, it is John McCain who doesn't know who is in charge in Iraq, it is John McCain that called Al-Qaeda a radical Shitte group, and it is John McCain who doenn't even know when the surge began.

And it is CBS who covered it up. They edited out his complete misstatement and substituted it with an answer to another question:

See for yourself:

Barack in Iraq

Hurry up, November!!!

Whistleblower: Diebold Rigged GA Election

Click here to see the description of Seminole's voting apparatus. Verfied voting lists county by county and state by state what everyone does and if there is a verified paper trail, audits, etc.

Of course, we use the untrustworthy Diebold.

A whistle-blower has come forward with a shocking allegation of election tampering. This isn't some fruitcake. The whistleblower is one of the most prominent cyber-security experts in the country who has appeared on both CNN and ABC News. He is also a prominent Republican who served as a McCain advisor. But at an Ohio press conference last Thursday, he presented fresh evidence against Diebold regarding election fraud.

Freedom of Speech Does Not Apply to McCain/Bush

Unreal.

You are allowed to protest in a public place. Period. The 61-year old librarian was arrested for simply holding a sign that said "McCain=Bush".

(What does it say that the GOP considers that statement an attack on McCain. Hmmm.)

Don't believe me? Watch this:



America will return 1-20-09.

Happy Fourth of July!! Hang in there America!

These dark times will serve as history's reminder to never again allow a manipulated moron to lead our great nation. On January 20, 2009, an era of healing will begin as the Democratic Congress, with President Obama, will finally be able to undo the damage caused by GOP rule.

God Bless America!!

Must Win States for Obama

We did McCain last time. (Scroll down to see the map). McCain is certainly the underdog in this campaign. I focused on 5 battleground states that he would be wise to focus on. The main difference here is that Obama has vast sums of money to spend, whereas McCain is heavily relying on the RNC to make up the slack. McCain can only really afford to spend his money in a few key areas. Obama, on the other hand, has set up shop in all 50 states. He is pouring money to run advertisements in states he has become competitive but will likely lose, such as Georgia. His strategy seems to be the same for McCain as it was for Hillary: bankrupt the opponent by forcing them to play defense in favored but competitive states.

Obama can afford to spend money to build networks and run ads in every battleground state--as he should. If I was a McCainiac, I would tell John to focus hard on the 5 states he needs desperately to win. If I was an Obama-mite, I would say, well, keep doing what you are doing.

Nonetheless, here are the states in order I think Obama should focus on.

1/2 Wisconsin and Minnesota. Several polls have put Obama with massive leads recently, such as a 17-point lead in MN. Wow. I don't even think Pawlenty can help McCain now. Several of the sites I visit don't even have these two states as "toss-ups" anymore. These two are Obama's to lose. Start with 219 Electoral Votes.

2. Pennsylvania. This is the largest Democratic swing state. It didn't go blue the past few times and probably won't change in a Democratic year. McCain is making an effort, but this state has been sailing further into the Democratic column. Obama should dispatch Hillary here (and in Ohio) to really bring this state home. 240 EVs.

3. Michigan (Battleground)! I told McCain that this is one he should fight for. Putting Romney on the ticket would help. But this is one state that clearly is in a full-fledged recession. They are hurting badly and it's just too easy to tie McCain to Bush economic failures--especially since McCain hasn't said he would do much differently in this area. MI has moved from weak to moderate Obama, and Obama would be wise to see that it stays with him. Regardless, sandwiched between Ohio and Wisconsin, I predict this area of the country will be getting a lot of attention from the Obama camp. 257 EVs.

4. Colorado. Although it has been weak Obama, it hasn't budged from supporting him. This is one of the clearest flips from 2004, and the convention will only boost his chances here. 264 EVs.

5. New Hamphire. This is McCain's only real shot at picking up a Kerry state. And it's slipping fast. Right now, it is strong Obama. Again, it's Obama's to lose. 269 EVs.

To put Obama over the top, I recommend focusing on Iowa, another swing state that has consistently been favoring him. That would give Obama the presidency without even winning Ohio, Virginia and Florida. Although I really think he should fight for those in that order. And he will.

I'm Voting Repbulican

This really spells it out...

Must Win States for McCain

I take off my partisan hat every now and again and do my own prognostication...

I have consistently looked at polls from a variety of reputable pollsters and featured on a myriad of conservative, liberal, and neutral websites.

I don't believe in using all those different shades of blue and red--they are confusing and unhelpful. There are VERY few states in this election that are super solid one way or the other. Yes, you could argue that Mississipi is a solid red state, but if 90% of their African-American population votes and votes for Obama--then Obama would only need a little over 25% of the "white" vote. Alaska is another "solid" red that just had a poll from Rasmussen showing Obama a lousy 4 points behind.

On the flip side, deep blue Massachussettes' latest poll shows Obama only 3 points ahead. Texas is less "solid" than Oklahoma because OK has consistently polled for McCain since he won the nomination, whereas TX flirted with Obama back in March--yet now seems to have returned to its red roots.

In other words, some states are more solid than others. NC, Oregon, even Georgia, may be more competitive this year, but in the end barring an unexpected event (and those do happen) they will move to their proper columns.

The true swing states I have below in gray:



(Note Nebraska is purple--I think Obama has a real shot at winning a portion of their split EVs in the district with Omaha)

Right now, factors favor Obama. Not just the popular vote and EVs, but right now, Obama is leading in all of these swing states except for Nevada. The good news for McCain is that Obama is leading in all of these swing states by under 5%. (I didn't say great news.) But McCain doesn't need to win ALL of them, just the right amount to win the magic 270. If I were a McCainiac, these would be the states I would tell him to go after:

Starting with 187 pretty assured EVs:

1. Florida. Florida, like the rest of the nation, has been trending Democratic in the national polls. But this is still a red state with a red governor and overwhelming GOP state legislature. The GOP has built quite an apparatus here--(believe me, I know!). It would make sense for McCain to take advantage of it. But this state is also a must-win for McCain. It is the largest swing state with 27 electoral votes. He would have to win Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota just to make up a defeat here. Out of the big 3 (Ohio, PA, and FL), Florida is his best shot. up to 214

2. Ohio. No modern republican has won without Ohio. Like Florida, Ohio shows a blue lead for Obama. But the good news is that if any GOPer would win Ohio in this Dem year, it would be McCain or no one. He has got to spend a lot of RNC money here and a lot more time to get his lead back. But this is also a must-win. up to 234

3. Virginia. This state hasn't voted GOP since before I was born--Lyndon Johnson was the last one. But this year it is trending Dem. McCain should try to hold on to this state one more time using the typical conservative playbook in the Southwest and the moderate "maverick" playbook in the Northeast. PS--If Obama picks Webb or Kaine as veep, then McCain should spend his resources elsewhere. up to 247

4. Michigan. Out of the mid-west states, this one is the best shot for McCain with the exception of Missouri. Wisconsin has moved solidly to Obama. Iowa has consistently been with Obama over 5%, as has Minnesota (although the convention here may give it a short-lived crimson boost.) Although Michigan is currently trending Obama, it is under 5% and until recently favored McCain. Michigan also has the most electoral-votes as the other states mentioned here--17. He has got to fight here and fight hard. Since Ohio is just below, he should get a lot of mileage with his bus fleet between these two states. up to 264

5. Nevada. The only swing state that currently has McCain leading. McCain is favored to win here, although his lead has been shrinking steadily. But the other swing states have been trending Obama, so his best bet is to focus his attention on retaining this Bush state. up to 269

Where to get the remaining EV? Nebraska. Make sure Obama doesn't split NE, and that's it.

I would much rather be in Obama's shoes, but the task is not insurmountable.

Next week--Obama!

Learn to USE Veep-Hungry Crist

I wrote to the Sentinel after they had a legnthy editorial bashing him for changing positions on oil-drilling the SAME DAY McCain did.

I recommended to the editor there that they simply make a list of everything they are crowing about (red-light cameras, car boot laws, light rail, etc.), and ask McCain to list a few of those next time they interview him. I promise you'll see Governor Sock Puppet swing into action.

YOU ARE WELCOME!

GAMETIME: Try to find McCain at GOP.org

Go on -- try to find him: www.gop.org

He's nowhere.

Of course, Barack Obama is EVERYWHERE. No less than 7 pictures on the front page alone. Every story is on Obama, every headline is Obama, there is countdown clocks on Obama, there is "meet Barack Obama"--my God, it's like someone stumbled on the Democratic site.

Now compare:
www.democrats.org

Notice a difference?

Not really. Everywhere there is Obama! Not nearly as many pictures and articles, but he's there!

Maybe that's because we are genuinely PROUD of our candidate. Maybe because our candidate has something to talk about and share--

Not just Fears and Smears, which seem to be the GOP's ENTIRE platform.


What does McCain stand for? Good luck finding that on GOP.org. There is one small icon on "climate change". Everything is Obama this and Obama that. You won't even be able to see what a John McCain looks like--but maybe that's intentional:

The McCain camp doesn't even feature McCain in their sad promotional videos. My diary yesterday featured the "exclusive tour" of his Straight Talk Express ala "Cribs" -- Click here if you can stomach it. As always, no McSame.

I really feel for the GOP. Really I do. I can't blame them for not featuring McCain. He's just not that popular. You can't feature the president, or the vice president either. (that would be suicide!)

Who can you feature? The only one in politics who is popular I suppose.

Barack Obama!!