Either John McCain is an elitist or he is senile. I really can’t see how there could be any other explanation to the fact that he does not even know how many houses he owns. Is this really the guy we want running the government? He can’t remember how many houses he owns! That’s so incredibly absurd…
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.
“I think — I’ll have my staff get to you,” McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M.
Like I said, either that’s the epitome of elitism, or McCain is going so senile that he can’t even remember how many houses he owns. Either way, it’s pretty sad. This man should never be elected to anything.
“Somebody asked John McCain, ‘how many houses do you have?’ and he said, ‘I’m not sure, I’ll have to check with my staff,’” said Obama at a Thursday morning campaign stop. “True quote! ‘I’m not sure, I’ll have to check with my staff.’ So they asked his staff and he said, ‘at least four.’ ‘At least four.’”
“Now think about that — I guess if you think that being rich means you gotta make five million dollars, and if you don’t know how many houses you have, then it’s not surprising that you might think the economy is fundamentally strong,” he continued. “But if you’re like me and you’ve got one house — or you were like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so that they don’t lose their home — you might have a different perspective.”
Paul Krugman gets it right, as usual, in his column today. The Obama campaign could be destroying McCain on the economy, but just doesn’t seem to be doing so:
Why isn’t the Obama campaign getting more traction on economic issues?
It’s not the Republican offensive on offshore drilling. It’s true that many Americans have apparently been misled by bogus claims about gas price relief. But as I’ve already pointed out, Democrats in general retain a large edge on economic issues.
Nor is there any valid basis for the complaints, highlighted in Sunday’s Times, that Mr. Obama isn’t offering enough policy specifics. Delve into the Obama campaign Web site and you’ll find plenty of policy detail. And the campaign’s ads reel off lots of specific policy proposals — too many, if you ask me.
No, the problem isn’t lack of specifics — it’s lack of passion. When it comes to the economy, Mr. Obama’s campaign seems oddly lethargic.
Maybe Obama just doesn’t have the passion for economic issues. That’s fine, everyone has certain issues that are most important to them. But the economy is where Democrats win. As much as the American people are against the war, McCain will never lose big on that issue (or other national security issues). The way to beat him is to focus on the reasons for our failing economy (8 years of Bush-McCain economic policies).
Barack Obama raised $7.8 million dollars today at 3 fundraisers in California. Looks more and more like he will absolutely dominate McCain on the money front. If this fundraising pace keeps up, McCain doesn’t stand a chance. He won’t be able to compete at anywhere near the same level as Obama and will be overwhelmed in state after state.
Barack Obama raised almost twice as much as John McCain in July. Obama pulled in $51 million, which means he has raised over $400 million total so far. McCain’s total is just $171 million.
Sports team owners may not be John McCain’s answer to the Hollywood elite, but they’re overwhelmingly supporting his presidential campaign over Barack Obama’s.
Through the end of June, team owners in the four major sports and their families have given to or raised more than $3.2 million for McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, compared with only $615,000 for his Democratic rival Obama, according to a Politico analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission, the campaigns and interviews.
Looks like Hillary is getting what she wants at the convention by having her name placed in nomination. Although, this announcement probably officially ends any chance she had of the Vice Presidency. I always assumed that pushing for her name to be placed in nomination was a bargaining chip to try to get VP. Anyway, here’s the statement:
Since June, Senators Obama and Clinton have been working together to ensure a Democratic victory this November. They are both committed to winning back the White House and to to ensuring that the voices of all 35 million people who participated in this historic primary election are respected and heard in Denver. To honor and celebrate these voices and votes, both Senator Obama’s and Senator Clinton’s names will be placed in nomination.
“I am convinced that honoring Senator Clinton’s historic campaign in this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong united fashion,” said Senator Barack Obama.
Senator Obama’s campaign encouraged Senator Clinton’s name to be placed in nomination as a show of unity and in recognition of the historic race she ran and the fact that she was the first woman to compete in all of our nation’s primary contests.
“With every voice heard and the Party strongly united, we will elect Senator Obama President of the United States and put our nation on the path to peace and prosperity once again,” said Senator Hillary Clinton.
Senator Obama and Senator Clinton are looking forward to a convention unified behind Barack Obama as the Party’s nominee and to victory this fall for America.
Big news out of Ohio today. Ohio has passed a law to allow same day voter registration and early voting. These laws typically help to increase low income and minority turnout which clearly helps Barack Obama. It is good for voters as well because it makes voting so much easier. Many non-voters don’t realize they need to be registered ahead of time to vote; they go to vote on election day and are turned away. Same day registration fixes that problem and allows everyone to that wants to.
Early voting makes voting much easier for people that have trouble getting to the polls. Usually these are people who work long or odd hours, or people such as single mothers that work two jobs. Giving these folks extra time to plan when they can cast their vote is just the right thing to do. Everyone has a right to vote and should be given the opportunity to do so.
Of course Republicans don’t like more people exercising their right to vote:
In Ohio, Republicans are clearly not pleased with same-day registration and voting and have not ruled out a lawsuit against Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s office.
“You have to wonder, when they look at what they consider a loophole with such excitement,” said Jason Mauk, the Ohio Republican Party’s executive director. “That would suggest manipulating the process, and I think opens the door to suspicion.”
Typical of Republicans. Whenever a law is passed that helps people vote they scream about voter fraud. Note to Republicans: it’s not voter fraud to allow legal U.S. citizens every opportunity to vote.
Robert Samuelson writes about energy in the Washington Post today, and how neither candidate is being completely honest about it. The issue is that both candidates are pandering to some extent, rather than telling the truth and helping the country face the cold hard fact: it’s going to be rough while we dig ourselves out of this hole.
I’ve mentioned McCain’s idiotic obsession with Offshore Drilling on more than one occasion, so I might as well take another opportunity: Offshore Drilling will not lower oil prices. Samuelson is wrong on this point when he claims that
if we don’t increase drilling, import dependence will worsen as production from mature fields ebbs. Since 1990, U.S. oil production has dropped 23 percent, while imports have gone from 42 percent to 58 percent of consumption. Greater exploration is common sense, as more Americans recognize.
The issue is that the drilling with have such a small effect that it will not change prices. Yes, basic logic informs us that if we drill for more oil in the U.S. we will need less from other countries. But the tiny amount that increased drilling will provide, in addition to increasing world demand for oil, will not lower oil prices.
I do agree with one point he makes that is critical of Obama:
To lower oil prices (which were already dropping), Obama proposed releasing 10 percent of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This is an atrocious idea. The SPR was intended as insurance against a catastrophic loss of oil from wars, embargoes, terrorism or natural disasters.
Samuelson is correct here. Opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is bad policy. It might sound great to voters and win some extra votes, but as a policy it is incredibly short sighted and foolish. Considering the price of oil and the possibility of peak oil arriving any day, we need the Strategic Petroleum Reserve more than ever.
I realize Obama is in a tough spot here. McCain is happily selling out the nation in order to win extra votes, and the Obama campaign feels the need to counter his pandering. But Obama offered the truth about the Gas Tax Holiday during the primaries and won that fight. Perhaps he should heed that lesson and continue with some truth about the rest of our energy crisis.
“I have consistently called for deepening relations between Georgia and transatlantic institutions, including a Membership Action Plan for NATO, and we must continue to press for that deeper relationship,” Obama says.
I’m glad to hear him taking a strong position on this. Had Georgia been admitted to NATO earlier, Russia would never have invaded. It would have pissed the Russians off, but they wouldn’t have invaded.
In other Georgia and Russia related news, Russia today ordered a ceasefire. What this actually means is yet to be seen. Russian troops are still in Georgia and show no signs of leaving, they just aren’t actively attacking at the moment.
Either John McCain is an elitist or he is senile. I really can’t see how there could be any other explanation to the fact that he does not even know how many houses he owns. Is this really the guy we want running the government? He can’t remember how many houses he owns! That’s so incredibly absurd…
