Yes we did, a new voter's landmark day

Jeremy Whiting shares his experience voting in this historic presidential election.


"Yes We Did.

I am an undergraduate student at Wayne State University. Yesterday, I voted for the first time in my life, and what a first time it was. I drove from Detroit back to Ann Arbor, where I am still registered, and stood in a relatively short line before casting my ballot. Although I was only cautiously optimistic, the hope I have seen in the city of Detroit in the past few weeks let me feel a little excited about my vote. (I have to say, I am most definitely an Obama supporter, though I don't consider myself a Democrat.)

Little Obama-Biden signs were sprinkled along most of the on-ramps on I-94, and homemade Obama banners on bedsheets hung from footbridges overhead. High in the late afternoon sky, a sheet of Georgia O'Keefe clouds stretched out, with blue in between. My friend Ben was also in the car, voting for the first time in Ann Arbor, and the two of us couldn't help but be in a good mood. For me it was partially the joy of participating in our government, and partially the banners. I've yet to see any sort of McCain gear that didn't come out of a machine.

Many people in Detroit and the rest of Michigan see Obama as a welcome change. Although he hasn't pandered to auto companies, Detroit and the unions still support him. In my opinion, it's because Barack Obama has been a welcome dose of honesty in a region that needs it badly. Between the Engler/Granholm mess that's been left in Lansing, the Bush-Cheney deception in the White house, and the sad corruption in Detroit city government, Michigan has taken a lot of hits in the honesty department.

Besides that, the fact that those in charge still cling to a car-based economy hurts even more. The Big Three probably won't exist in the way we are used to come next year. We have suffered more than most other states, with one of the worst economies in the nation, something reflected in our biggest city more than anywhere else. So even when Obama came to the city of Detroit early in the election and told the automakers to raise fuel economy without government handouts, Michigan didn't get mad. We all knew Obama was right, and Mitt Romney was wrong. Car jobs aren't coming back. And that was before the economic crap really started hitting the fan.

My polling place, an elementary school, is used by two wards in Ann Arbor. One ward consists of 1960s subdivisions and upper middle class families. The other hugs I-94 and includes co-housing, a sizable African-American community, and some of the only real low-income housing in the city proper. The election workers kept talking about how the lower income ward was voting in record numbers. People who hadn't voted in 20 years but were on the rolls were coming in and when I heard that, I knew they weren't voting for another old white man. I cast my vote with no big issues, no malfunctions, and was on my way back to the D.

When Ben and I got back, we eventually went to a friends' house to watch the results come in. On the way over, even one of the neighborhood bums was talking about the election (albeit after asking for a cigarette).

“Now, I see you all did your duty today, but let me ask you this. Do you really, really, think it's gonna happen?”

We said we hoped so. As he walked with us and talked about bringing the power to the people, I realized that for him, nothing would change no matter who won. But at least if Obama was elected, we would have a president who cared more about telling the people what was really happening than hiding the truth and giving away taxpayer money to corporations. Not to mention, we've been overdue for a black president for a long time.

As the results came in, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of accomplishment. Michigan went for Obama and so did the nation. Standing out on the porch, we could hear fireworks, celebratory gunshots, ecstatic cheers, and the city felt alive. People walking by cheered with us and the liquor store down the street was hopping. Drivers honked as they cruised by.

As we all called friends and family, I knew that I would vote in every election for the rest of my life. Because last night, people who had never voted, and people who hadn't voted in 20 years were the ones who made a difference. If nothing else, the thing I'll remember the most about last night was the feeling of hope I felt watching Obama speak, and the same feeling on the streets of Detroit. Thousands of people flooded them to celebrate, and we were back in the game. Michigan needed this one, and we got it."

Presidential election prediction from University of Illinois

The talented political science and computer science students at the University of Illinois offer their modeling of tomorrow's likely result. Who needs the "media" with its busyness and chatter and compulsion to fill every second of the next 24 hours with punditry and prattle? Not this Illinois alumnae.

Hail to the Orange.

See you at the polls.

Picking the next President

I don't belong to a political party and I am not active in either presidential campaign. But I have decided who's my man for this election.

If you are having trouble making up your mind, ask yourself these questions:
1. Do you want to make your choice on the content of a candidate's capabilities or the color of his skin?
2. Would you rather have a smart president or an angry one?
3. Would you rather have a president who can't manage his disdain for his opponent or one who stays cool while being attacked?
4. Would you rather have a president who can clearly articulate his policy positions or one who gets snared in his own talking points?
5. Would you rather have a president who knowingly put the country in danger by picking an ignorant running mate or a president who chose a running mate with greater experience than his own?
6. Do you want a president who months ago said he just doesn't understand the economy trying to govern during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression?
7. Would you rather have a president who wants to keep the middle class from going extinct or one who doesn't give a damn?
8. Would you rather have a president who wants to provide health care access to more Americans or one who wants to tax your health benefits?
9. Would you feel safe having a president with PTSD?
10. Would you rather have a president who has respect for women or one who chose vacuous pandering as a campaign tactic to win the "women's" vote?
11. Do you want another president who got into a prestigious college because of family connections and graduated near the bottom of the class or a president who earned his place at top schools through skill and aptitude, excelled, and paid his way with scholarships and aid?
12. Do you want a president who practices a politics of hope or a politics of hate, fear and smear?

Think carefully. Your future depends on this choice.

The Obama Acorn distraction

Brace yourselves. The GOP is in the home stretch of the smear campaign for the White House. McCain's Friday bombshell was an accusation of guilt by association: Obama is linked to a "front organization" for ACORN. This seems to be their counterpunch to "Phil Gramm and John McCain helped deregulate the entire financial sector so that greed could run amok and screw the middle class." Since their mob hate mongering and race baiting ran its course last week, they've moved on to "Obama is a socialist and a cheater and responsible for the financial crisis."

Curiously, what exactly ACORN is depends on the eye of the beholder. According to the Nation Magazine, ACORN is "the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, with over 350,000 member families, organized into 800 neighborhood chapters, in 104 cities nationwide."

But according to Mona Charen, "ACORN is where Sixties leftovers who couldn't get tenure at universities wound up."

And in the words of Michele Malkin, "This left-wing group takes in 40 percent of its revenues from American taxpayers — you and me — and has leveraged nearly four decades of government subsidies to fund affiliates that promote the welfare state and undermine capitalism and self-reliance, some of which have been implicated in perpetuating illegal immigration and encouraging voter fraud."

And here's a scary description of Obama's work from Stephanie Block:
"In the 80s, he was the lead organizer of the Developing Communities Project, a campaign funded by Chicago’s south-side Catholic churches and formed on the organizing principles of Saul Alinsky. He spent another four years building an organization in Roseland and the nearby Altgeld Gardens public housing complex." (Eek! Beware of those socially radical Roman Catholics trying to live the principles of justice laid out by Old Testament prophets.)

Here's a really hilarious one from Stanley Kurtz in the Chicago Daily Observer, asserting that poor people and dark-skinned people and community organizers are to blame for the financial crisis, since they bullied banks into giving loans to folks who couldn't manage their personal finances:

"In the name of fairness to minorities, community organizers occupy private offices, chant inside bank lobbies, and confront executives at their homes – and thereby force financial institutions to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgages to low-credit customers.

In other words, community organizers help to undermine the US economy by pushing the banking system into a sinkhole of bad loans. And Obama has spent years training and funding the organizers who do it."

Community organizers forced banks to make bad loans? Wow. I thought banks were responding to President Bush's call for the mythical "ownership society."

As this latest smear campaign unwinds, keep your eye on the ball and keep asking questions. Give it all the test of reasonableness. Nobody forced banks to make stupid loans. Nobody forced loan originators, who wanted to make fat commissions, to falsify documents so that folks who shouldn't have gotten loans did get loans. Community organizers didn't lobby Congress to deregulate the financial services industry.

But if the worst allegations are true we might all throw up our hands and scream running for the hills, "Oh my God! Obama helped poor people form local groups to advocate on their own behalf in the legal system, which is typically unavailable to them since they lack money and connections. He tried to empower them to help themselves and their communities through skillful means and yes...this was community organizing. AH!!"

Okay, so Obama wasn't in the pocket of the shadow banking sector. So he marched in protest of payday loans in Illinois. So he spent time advising people how to navigate the legal system. So he served as a role model in leadership training seminars.

What's the problem?

McCain-Palin hate mongering, stinking slime of desperation

This week as the global economy continued to tank, the McCain-Palin campaign chose to whip up angry mobs with innuendo in a parallel universe energized by hate and ignorance. Rather than address voter concerns about the financial crisis, McCain-Palin seemed to align their campaign with hate, ignorance, fear and bigotry -- powerful, irrational motivating forces. There are some amazing videos documenting this activity.

Check out this one from Ohio:



The McCain-Palin campaign continues to push guilt by association with the Bill Ayers story. Tomorrow's St. Petersburg Times has an article debunking the assertion of guilt by association and surveying other notables who have associated with Ayers including the current mayor of Chicago, a former president of Northwestern University, and a former president of Brown University.

Unfortunately for Obama, McCain's slimy ads propagating this filth are just one part of a full-court press by the GOP's operatives. Check out this coverage and commentary:

Michael Reagan says, "If the truth becomes better known — and it will if the Ayers issue is doggedly pursued — it will be clear that Obama was not only deeply immersed the fetid swamp of Chicago's far-left political scene, but was from the very beginning of his career carefully groomed by the city's socialist left to follow the path he's on now in his quest for the presidency of the United States."

As someone educated in the socialist public schools of Illinois, kindergarten through masters degree, I sort of hope that's true (tongue in cheek).

Ed Morrissey wrote, "Barack Obama told us we could trust his judgment. Where was that judgment when he allied himself with people like Ayers, Khalidi, Tony Rezko, and the Daleys and their Chicago Machine? That’s not just a series of accidental associations from random juxtaposition, but deliberate alliances from which Obama benefited in his political career."

But at least one great Michigan Republican has rebuked the McCain-Palin slime machine. My favorite Republican, Bill Milliken has gone on record with his disappointment. Thank you, one more time from the bottom of my heart, Governor Milliken.

McCain shows contempt for Obama

Last night referring to Senator Barack Obama as "that one," Mr. Straight Talk Express showed his true colors: John McCain has contempt for Barack Obama.

John McCain can't say "my friends" enough to take away the sting of his expressing open contempt for fellow presidential candidate, Barack Obama, the likely next president of the United States according to all polls.

At least we now know what we suspected all along: Senator McCain is struggling desperately just to be civil, has a hot temper, feels entitled to be president and exhibits very poor judgment. And, in light of his choice of running mate, he may believe himself immortal.

In last night's town hall session McCain said he would talk softly and carry a big stick. But his contemptuous words uttered softly through a clenched jaw on national television and followed up with countless appeals to "my friends" reveal an arrogant, disingenuous person who will do or say anything to win this election.

Surely, "my friends" doesn't include those who openly support Barack Obama. Can "my friends" include anyone who respectfully disagrees with McCain? Can McCain respectfully disagree with anyone? If he can't, is he likely to possess the necessary humility and self control to be President? Will he listen to advisers who say things he doesn't want to hear, things at variance with his world view? Probably he's never heard of being a servant/leader, just a hard-ass leader.

He recently said he has always aspired to be dictator in a session with the DesMoines Register editorial board.



I suppose dictators don't have to respectfully disagree with opponents, they have other options.

Good thing we're electing a President in November!

Presidential candidates favor the trickle-down bailout

Our current financial system sucks capital out of small communities, pads pockets on Wall Street and condemns ordinary people to lives of debt. But it's the devil we know and the presidential candidates think we should keep it on life support by passing the "rescue plan" currently pending in Congress.

Obama has warned of financial catastrophe if the "rescue" doesn't pass.

In a brazen effort to win popular support linking the woes of Wall Street to the woes on Main Street, McCain said on CNN:

"By the way, the first thing I'd do is say, 'Let's not call it a bailout. Let's call it a rescue.' Because it is a rescue. It's a rescue of Main Street America."

This supposes that our bloated, top-heavy, corrupt, unproductive financial system is worth propping up in its current form. This supposes that business as usual is good for Main Street. This supposes that the current system based on greed, fraud, unregulated worthless derivatives, swindling and a lifestyle of deceit has ever helped Main Street.

The words "crisis" and "catastrophe" are meant to scare Congress away from their responsibility to deliberate. After 9-11, Congress traded away liberty for false security with the U.S.A. Patriot Act. Now, "crisis" and "catastrophe" are employed to sway Congress away from their golden opportunity to remake our horribly broken "financial system" by re-establishing appropriate regulation and oversight. There is tremendous popular support for letting Wall Street take its licks and letting the so-called "free market" function for a change. The People would like to dole out some tough love through their elected representatives.

But some argue, since our retirement savings and college savings are tied up in the financial sector's worthless products, we will all suffer if more institutions fail. Worse yet, as global credit remains sluggish, companies will not make payroll and people will lose their jobs. Credit is the life blood of the global financial system. Traders need to float puffy clouds of highly leveraged risk around the globe around the clock to grow our retirement savings. We are all in this together, they intone. And drug dealers need users to stay in business.

But remember, prior to the hideous meltdown, millions of people were already suffering and losing jobs through downsizing and outsourcing -- the result of efforts to increase share value quarter to quarter.

Instead of propping up the system that brought us this mess, why not start by helping small businesses and individuals directly harmed by the situation. Why should Congress save huge banks from their own bad investment decisions and let local communities continue to crumble as foreclosures drive down property values and devastate once healthy neighborhoods?

How about giving Main Street a bailout, a chance to start over and let the benefits trickle up to the bloated big boys for a change?

--Take the $700 billion and start making very small loans ($20,000-$50,000) to homeowners in trouble. Think of it as the grandest ever micro-loan program. Consumers will spend at the local level, resume making their mortgage payments and keep their mortgages from simply lapsing into "bad paper." The big boys will get their money and people won't lose their shelter.

--And if you really want to get radical, just make grants. Don't expect repayment. It would be no worse than the billions flushed down the drain in Iraq. In fact it would be better -- directly benefiting U.S. citizens and killing no one.

--Have local banks that meet strict criteria for sound lending administer the program, service and hold the loans, or disburse the grants. This would establish local financial institutions and people as authorities in their communities. This would cultivate working financial relationships at the local level.

--Create a service corps of financial counselors who can work with consumers lacking financial literacy to help them get on the right track. This would create jobs for dislocated financial industry workers.

--Assist small businesses having difficulty getting loans for operating expenses. Rather than prop up unproductive financial gamblers, get the money to small companies that make things people need and provide vital services in small communities. This would keep people employed and maintain consumer spending, which accounts for nearly two thirds of all economic activity.

Granted, things are in such a state, that the fat cats will need a little hand out to keep going. But it would be obscene if Congress provided that corporate wefare with no commensurate support for small businesses, workers, families and children and communities.

Senators Barack Obama, John McCain, and Joe Biden will all be in Washington, D.C. after sundown to vote on the Wall Street "rescue plan". Main Street will be watching closely.

Michigan, you could be the next Ohio

To a tried and true Michigander, this is a chilling thought. We don't want to be Ohio; we want to beat Ohio. But only on the football field, not at the game of corrupt elections, thank you very much.

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee are suing the Michigan GOP as a result of investigative journalism by the Michigan Messenger. Well, it wasn't even really hardcore "investigative" just the result of a well-conducted interview by a seasoned journalist. According to the Michigan Messenger, the Michigan GOP wanted to suppress votes by challenging people in the foreclosure process. The GOP denies it, because it really is repugnant. The Messenger stands by its story.

Some salient quotes about GOP strategy:

Laura Bush to the Michigan delegation at the recent GOP convention:
“I think Michigan can really be in play this time,” she said.
"We want every single Michigan independent. I want you to feel the pressure, because Michigan could be the Ohio of this election.”

Paul Weyrich, father of the conservative movement on the advantages of low voter turnout:


Here's a Project Vote explainer about caging.

Let's try to keep Michigan from turning into Ohio. Given our history with Ohio, the very thought of following in their footsteps should send chills down every Michigander's spine. If you have the time, go forth and protect the rights of Michiganders to vote.

Phil Gramm feeds McCain his lines on the economy

As 158-year-old Lehman Bros. investment bank collapsed into bankruptcy, GOP presidential candidate John McCain had the nerve to stay yesterday that the "fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong." Really? Actually this puts him at odds with numerous economists.

He's also been quoted as saying he really doesn't understand the economy -- believable given his statement about good fundamentals yesterday. How then can a guy who admits he doesn't understand the economy make such ridiculous statements on the same day that Wall Street's excesses bring down industry giants?

Phil Gramm, one of McCain's economic advisers, must be whispering these idiotic sweet nothings to the candidate. Gramm prepared the way for this mess in 1999 with the historic Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. This law repealed the depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, which prohibited a bank from offering investment, commercial banking, and insurance services. This is the real culprit behind our financial mess. Gramm's law freed up banks and insurance companies and investment firms to intertwine incestuously and invent absurdly complex "financial products"amounting to junk. Gramm's modernization of financial services actually facilitated greed and speculation run amok with boundaryless interlocking entities pawning off bad investments to eachother.

Remember Phil Gramm said we're in a mental recession and that Americans who are having a hard time are whiners.

Yesterday, thanks to Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Bank of American purchased Merrill Lynch. Bank of America, has benefited from Gramm-Leach-Bliley with CEO Lewis leading "a buying spree in recent years. In addition to the Countrywide purchase, Bank of America has acquired FleetBoston Financial Corp., credit card company MBNA Corp. and Chicago's LaSalle Bank. In July 2007, Bank of America paid $3.3 billion to buy private bank U.S. Trust Corp. from Charles Schwab & Co." (SanFrancisco Chronicle)

Probably, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis isn't a whiner. He seems to be at the cutting edge of Phil Gramm's vision for the financial services sector. But even he thinks the economy is tanking. At a press conference yesterday, going over the fundamentals of the Merrill acquisition, Lewis allowed that the U.S. economy wouldn't see significant recovery until 2010, that the financial services sector would continue to spin out and that the next 12 months would be very difficult for economy generally.

Today central banks are scrambling to pump more cash into markets, you know, to keep this fundamentally sound system functioning. Today the Bank of England will inject $35.9 billion and the European Central Bank will pump in 70 billion euros (about $100 billion). But this hasn't settled down markets. This morning International Herald Tribune reports that "Wall St. woes trigger Asian markets sell off." Didn't those investors and central banks get the memo that the economy is fundamentally sound?

Palin and Clinton on Saturday Night Live

Time for overdue comic relief.

New York Times: Once elected, Palin hired friends and lashed foes

Just read it for yourself and resist the urge to write it off as the liberal media bashing conservatives unfairly. It's a breathtaking account of vendettas and cronyism, just the kind that would dovetail nicely with the current crowd in Washington. The report also seems to support assertions that choosing Palin amounts to pandering to religious and social ultra-conservatives. It also reveals Palin's bold political ambition; she wants to be President. Democrats need to spend less time trying to caricature her and more time strategizing how to push back and play offense.

Excerpts:

"But an examination of her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor finds that her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics — she sometimes calls local opponents “haters” — contrasts with her carefully crafted public image.

Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials."

...

" Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.

Rick Steiner, a University of Alaska professor, sought the e-mail messages of state scientists who had examined the effect of global warming on polar bears. (Ms. Palin said the scientists had found no ill effects, and she has sued the federal government to block the listing of the bears as endangered.) An administration official told Mr. Steiner that his request would cost $468,784 to process."

...

"She appointed a pastor to the town planning board. And she began to eye the library. For years, social conservatives had pressed the library director to remove books they considered immoral.

“People would bring books back censored,” recalled former Mayor John Stein, Ms. Palin’s predecessor. “Pages would get marked up or torn out.”

Witnesses and contemporary news accounts say Ms. Palin asked the librarian about removing books from the shelves. The McCain-Palin presidential campaign says Ms. Palin never advocated censorship.

But in 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book “Daddy’s Roommate” on the shelves and that it did not belong there, according to Ms. Chase and Mr. Stein. Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand homosexuality, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Ms. Palin read it.

“Sarah said she didn’t need to read that stuff,” Ms. Chase said. “It was disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn’t even read it.” "

Democratic party leader receives threat against Obama

According to a report from WHMI, an FM radio station in Livingston County, Michigan:

"The Secret Service Agency is investigating a handwritten threat that came in the mail yesterday to the Livingston County Democratic Party Headquarters in Brighton Township. Party Chair Judy Daubenmier tells WHMI the handwritten unsigned note was addressed to her. Using racial slurs, the person suggested that it was their fondest hope that Barrack Obama “gets a bullet.” While the area has been noted for its history of racial tension, Daubenmier says when they knock on doors and make phone calls in the county they virtually never hear this type of offensive language. She says the view of this “one cowardly person” doesn’t reflect the general feelings of residents, which is unfortunate given the efforts to rid others’ stereotypically negative views of the area relating to race. Commander of the Michigan State Police Brighton Post Gene Kapp tells WHMI the complete document was handed over to the Secret Service, who will assist them in the investigation. Daubenmier says they will not be intimidated by the threat because they know it doesn’t represent the feelings of the broad community."

Anti-Obama attack ads in Macomb County

Michigan is so critical in the presidential election that Freedom's Defense Fund in Washington has launched an attack ad against Senator Obama in Macomb County, what should be a democratic stronghold.

The ad employs guilt by association and resurrects the Reverend Wright flap. "Barack Obama's spiritual adviser for more than two decades is America's sharpest critic," said Todd Zirkle, executive director of the Freedom's Defense Fund.

To see the ad click here.

According to a press release from the group, the ad is scheduled to run a saturated one-week schedule on cable news networks in Macomb County, Michigan.

"Our donors are demanding that we be strategically relevant in this campaign," continued Zirkle. "We will stay active in Macomb County, as we believe it critical to the Michigan outcome. Michigan will be a decisive to the national result."

Last week, the group ran an ad falsely linking Obama with former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Palin says she's ready to be President, me too

Ratchet up the OMG factor. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin claims that although she's never met a foreign head of state, she is ready to be President of the United States, should it be necessary. Well folks, if she's ready to be President, I'm ready to be President.

Her reasoning? She won't blink. That's right. In an ABC news interview, when asked about McCain's asking her to be running mate she said, "I answered him 'yes' because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink," she said. "So I didn't blink then even when asked to run as his running mate."

Maybe the blink factor was important to McCain, because he passed over a number of better qualified Republican women in choosing Palin. Let's see...McCain could have picked Condi Rice, Heather Wilson, Olympia Snowe, Kay Granger, Margaret Spellings, or Elaine Chao (Correcton: Chao is ineligible since she was born in Taiwan)for starters. Or even Lynne Cheney to keep it all in the family. But he picked Sarah Palin who didn't blink and was a bang up demographic fit for getting out the hardcore social conservative base.

But I have to admit, if Obama had asked me to be his running mate, I wouldn't have blinked either. Not because I was committed to the mission or ready to become unconditionally committed to the mission. Rather, because I'd have been in a state of shock. I'd be thinking, "Hey, wait. There have to be better qualified people than me. Better qualified women even. You know, people who've traveled more, have foreign policy expertise, better grasp of geography, have devoted their lives to public service. Why are you picking me? You want a wise-cracking, bird-watching, garden-tending, middle-class, mother of three, former law librarian turned writer to be just a chicken bone away from the Presidency? There must be some mistake. You've got the wrong gal."

And then I'd say, if the offer was still on the table, "You know, I'd like to sleep on this. It's gonna wreck havoc on my family life, I'll have to drop all my professional activities and I'll have to put off writing the great American novel for a few more years."

Like I said if she's ready, I'm ready.

Women in white flight to McCain, please reconsider

An ABC/Washington Post survey seems to indicate that white women ditching Obama for McCain-Palin in vast numbers are flipping Obama's advantage to McCain. The UK Guardian speculates "the loss of support among white women could be fatal for his chances of winning the presidency if it was to be sustained. Obama had upset this constituency before the conventions, with many Democratic women unhappy that he had dumped their champion, Hillary Clinton, out of the nomination race."

Ladies, please familiarize yourselves with McCain's positions. This material is from the McCain-Palin website.

On abortion:
"John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench."

Juno was a great movie, wasn't it?

On expanding the military:
"John McCain believes we must enlarge the size of our armed forces to meet new challenges to our security...John McCain believes that the answer to these challenges is not to roll back our overseas commitments...John McCain thinks it is especially important to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps to defend against the threats we face today."

Anybody feel a draft in here?

On marriage:
"John McCain believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman."
Whip up the base and pray away the gays.

On assault weapons:
"John McCain opposes restrictions on so-called "assault rifles" and voted consistently against such bans. Most recently he opposed an amendment to extend a ban on 19 specific firearms, and others with similar characteristics."

Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

On Supreme Court appointees:
"A President should have confidence in the judicial philosophy of those he is appointing to the bench. That is why he strongly supported John Roberts and Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court and that is why he would seek men and women like them as his judicial appointees."

Load the bench.

On globalization and subsequent outsourcing of jobs:
"John McCain believes that globalization is an opportunity for American workers today and in the future...John McCain understands that globalization will not automatically benefit every American."

Hey, Michigan, outsourcing will go on. Deal with it. No wonder he's sure the auto jobs are not returning to Michigan.

On the war on terror:
"John McCain supported the adoption of the Military Commissions Act (MCA) in 2006...John McCain recognizes that we cannot treat dangerous terrorists captured on the battlefield as we would common criminals."

No habeas corpus in the war on terror.

"John McCain is more concerned with protecting the American people from future terrorist attacks, by killing or bringing to justice those who commit them, than he is with giving terrorists rights that would allow a judge to set them free before they are tried."

Shoot first, ask questions later?

On Homeland Security:
"Public-private partnerships are an essential part of the entire homeland security effort – from planning to implementation and operations."

Entrepreneurs are essential to our economy. More domestic opportunities for Blackwater, perhaps?

Change, yes we can -- the McCain-Palin strategy of repackaging

Cross posted at Huffington Post

Obama says of McCain and Palin "You can’t just recreate yourself. You can’t just reinvent yourself. The American people aren’t stupid."

Oops. But, change? Yes, we can. The possibility to redefine and reinvent yourself is absolutely central to the American experience. It's at the heart of the immigrant story. Come to the new land, reinvent yourself and make your fortune. And if you make a mistake, try again and start over. This is the land of second, third and fourth chances. And rebranding.

Absent from McCain's claims of being a change agent is any admission that his past performance is wanting. He needs to pose as a change agent to win votes. The only reason for him to present himself as a reformer is to bait a citizenry ravenous for change in Washington -- he's betting that voters are so desperate for change, they can't think clearly and discern his rhetorical co-opting of Obama's message of change.

In fact, he seems to be taking a page from Dubya's 2000 campaign play book. McCain is claiming he'll "drain the swamp, "take 'em on" and "bring the right kind of change." While he sounds like a Clint Eastwood character, he actually sounds even more like Dubya on the campaign trail in 2000.

Here's how Dubya took aim at McCain in the 2000 election. From a New York Times article dated February 8, 2000:

"Bush proclaimed today that he was the true reformer in the Republican field and portrayed his chief opponent, Senator John McCain, as someone who 'says one thing and does another.'"

and...
"'If you're tired of no results and simple, empty rhetoric,' he said, 'if you're tired of people who say one thing and do another, come join our team.'"

McCain's Straight Talk Express, while an ironic joke to Obama supporters and intelligent, thoughtful observers, isn't about truth, facts or straight talk. It is about simple, short catch phrases -- verbal gestures that suggest populism and patriotism and the guy next door. The technique is meant to make a false impression, not to persuade on the merits of policy positions. It is calculated deceit to make McCain accessible to masses of voters who don't seem to realize that they're not going to have a beer with a guy owns seven houses and whose wife can afford a $300,000 outfit, no matter how plain spoken he presents himself on TV or at a town hall meeting.

The American people aren't stupid, just gullible and spent. And you only need to fool some of them in a very close race.

Unless Senator Obama has a brilliant trump card he's saving for the right moment, he'd better take off the gloves, quit being politely incredulous and let rip some real straight talk. If he delays much further, McCain's puffed-up fake populism and pretense of being a reformer might stick with voters.

Celebrate Banned Books Week with Sarah Palin: Sept. 27 - Oct. 4

Don't believe everything you read. Sarah Palin is not a book burner or banner, but she does tend toward small town cronyism. Reporting by the Boston Herald gets to the heart of the matter: Palin was willing to fire an employee for not complying with ideology and sent requests for resignation to administrators as "just a test of loyalty."

This morning I received an email sent and resent half a dozen times purporting to list books Sarah Palin wanted to ban from the Wasilla Public Library. Over four days the email has whipped up concern among intellectual freedom fans, book lovers,liberals and Obama supporters.

Looking like required reading for high schoolers with titles like A Clockwork Orange, Canterbury Tales, and Huckleberry Finn, the presence of a dictionary, Little Red Riding Hood, and Tarzan of the Apes suggest the list is fake. These just are not typical book banning choices for prudes or evangelicals.

But could it be true? Reporting by Time Magazine inspired the email rumor.

According to Time, former Wasilla mayor John Stein "says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

With that, the blogosphere was off and running, spinning yarns about lists.

Housecleaning with a new administration is standard procedure, but public librarians are not political appointees. They are civil servants who conform to professional standards and abide by ethics set forth by the American Library Association.

Maybe this is what ultimately qualifies her to be McCain's running mate: she's a political creature who values loyalty above professional standards and qualifications. If this is the case, the McCain Administration really could be Bush's third term.

The McCain--Palin road show: swagger and cheek in Michigan

McCain and Palin have hit the trail with swagger and cheek -- riding a post-convention boost in popularity straight into Michigan. Some Michiganders seem receptive to the story-telling road show, although many are resisting the snake oil. The hard facts of economic life in Michigan can't be cured with old-time remedies.

If this year's presidential campaigns were books, they'd be a western and an exhaustive non-fiction treatment of some tragic truth -- Louis L'Amour meets a remaindered tome on the demise of American industry. Which would you rather read in your off time? But we're not talking about picking summer reading; we're considering electing the next president of the United States.

The GOP is working one of its stock in trade strategies for electing presidents. Stick a cowboy hat on a guy (or gal) with a can-do attitude and you have a de facto American leader. Remember, Maverick is a legend of the west. And if your protagonist is a western hero in a white hat wrapped in the flag what does that make the other guy? Effete, over-intellectual, hand-wringing, unpatriotic...

What's worse, it doesn't have to be true to stick. Recently McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, told the Washington Post - that the election is "not about issues" but about "a composite view of what people take away from these candidates." Pure political pragmatism. This isn't about speaking truth to power; this is about power speaking myth to voters. This is about winning. Expect negative ads and plenty of misinformation.

A truckload of compelling facts can't necessarily compete with a myth, story and propaganda. Human beings are hardwired for stories. Our subconscious speaks in archetypes and the GOP knows this. So does team Obama, which has come this far thanks to strong message control and branding (Change, Yes we can).

Obama has a can-do attitude, but with a collective sensibility. McCain, on the other hand, is playing to American individualism. Obama wants to invite us to a barn raising with a big potluck afterwards. McCain wants to pace off at high noon and then fence off the back 48. Obama needs to remind voters that McCain will be a continuation of the last eight years. That swallowing more Bush administration "remedies" won't cure what ails us. That to elect McCain is like trying to heal an earache by blowing tobacco smoke into the ear and saying "pain, pain go away, go into a bale of hay." Sure, people tried it. It's even got quaint old west charm. But it doesn't work.

Viguerie annoints Palin, "the next Ronald Reagan"

Richard Viguerie, conservative icon, has dubbed Alaska Governor Sarah Palin "the next Ronald Reagan" after her acceptance speech last night.

Even if this is an overstatement, the Democrats seem to have a problem. Palin will mobilize white, middle America. She's an underdog, a hockey mom, a small-town gal, a devoted wife. She can zip up the American dream narrative like a comfy house dress while toting a rifle and flipping griddle cakes. She can line dance her way past accusations of being a Washington insider and talk tough. Well, she can deliver tough lines in a speech anyway.

Did the GOP succeed last night in contrasting their small-town, tough gal with the Democratic ticket? We shall see. Elections are about stories. Voters will eat up stories that resonate with their lives and give them hope. This has been Obama's strength. And now the GOP seems to have found a direct challenge to Obama's "change and hope" narrative. She's a tough gal with a tale. She's not afraid to take on Obama. And she's the only gal on the dance floor.

Biden better get busy.

Bonior: the election will be "won at the margins"

Former John Edwards supporter, congressman David Bonior told Inter Press Service (Italy) the presidential election will "be won at the margins."

In an interview with IPS at the Democratic convention, Bonior allowed that the election will be a squeaker nationally and in Michigan.

Picking up that theme, Laura Bush today met with Michigan's delegation at the Republican convention and urged them to work hard for McCain, saying that "Michigan could be the Ohio of this time. Michigan could be the state that carries the ticket for us and carries the election for us."

In a very close race all it would take would be: a little caging, inadequate numbers of machines in heavily Democratic districts, aggressive GOP election challengers at polling places, long lines on a workday, strategic misinformation about where and when to vote, and misinformation about Michigan's voter ID law.