All Things Probama

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I think the Senate thing is a huge deal, that's why I don't think Webb will be Veep. They want to make it so that they don't need Joe Lieberman.

[Balta1701]

That would be foolish in my opinion. Lose 2 Senate seats? Nah. It should be a former or current Governor or someone else not currently in office (i.e., Wesley Clark, Edwards, Daschle). And it should be someone that will help him with a key swing state. A northeastern Senator would do little in that capacity.

I believe Daschle said a week or so ago that he wasn't interested in the VP slot, but he volunteered to take over HHS in the same speech.

 

Another interesting dynamic here consists of the party-building one. Let's assume hypothetically BO has a good 8 years...in that case, it's certainly helpful to the party itself to have a groomed successor who's been sitting in the VP chair for those 8 years. Or, in the event that "40 more wars" wins instead, then whoever BO picked has a solid chance at the nomination in 2012.

[Nokona]

I don't. I think it will be a liberal northeastern senator...

 

Teddy? Kerry? Hil?

 

Who are you getting at?

[southsider2k5]

Out of people who probably want the gig, though, I think Biden is the best person for the job. You're right about it not delivering a state, but I'm really thinking about VP performance after the election and not performance as a running mate.

 

That's my best guess.

[HuskyCaucasian]

All Hail President Putin of... Germany????

 

Edited June 9, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[EvilMonkey]

All Hail President Putin of... Germany????

 

SOunds like he was channelling his inner Obama.

[BigSqwert]

On a lighter note...

 

The Wounded-Courier:

Jesus Denounces McCain, Endorses Obama

 

In a stunning turn of events Thursday, the Son of God endorsed Barack Obama for President while rejecting and distancing himself from presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

 

Outside an Applebee's off the New Jersey Turnpike in Paramus yesterday, Jesus Christ told reporters, "Look, it's been a very divisive primary season between Barack and Hillary. I thought my support would aid the healing process and help unify the Democrats."

 

Asked if he was a registered Democrat, Jesus replied, "I'm actually registered with the Green Party. But no amount of faith and prayer will get their candidate elected." Christ clarified, "I perform miracles, but there are limits."

 

Why come out against John McCain?

 

"You don't have to be the Son of God to prophecy McCain wants to carry out Bush's third term," said Jesus, wearing a flag pin affixed to his traditional white robe. "Incidentally, maybe one of you guys can tell David Brooks there isn't a salad bar at Applebee's. Schmuck."

 

Later in the day, before Jesus took the stage to endorse the Illinois senator at a campaign rally in Arlington, VA, Obama said, "Well, I'm certainly not perfect, and I won't be a perfect president. Michelle has told me throughout the primary season, "'You're not the Second Coming, Barack.' And though she's right, I am proud and honored to tell you today that Jesus is by my side in this campaign for the White House. And I'm not speaking figuratively, Arlington. Ladies and gentlemen, all the way from the celestial realm, the Prince of Peace, the Mack Daddy of Nazareth, the original change agent - you know him, you love him, many of y'all even pray to him - let's give it up for Je-suuuuuuus Christ!"

 

Jesus plans to stump for Obama throughout the Bible Belt and other religious hotspots across America. But Obama campaign manager David Plouffe was quick to tamp down the sudden flurry of rumors about an Obama/Christ ticket.

 

"Of course we're thrilled to have the support of Jesus," says Plouffe. "And he would certainly make anyone's vice-presidential shortlist. But we've promised not to say anymore on the subject until we announce Barack's running mate."

 

On last night's Special Report with Brit Hume, Karl Rove, whom Jesus referred to as "Satan Lite" at the Arlington rally, told Hume, "We know Jesus is a very recognizable brand. But he has no prior campaign experience. So the jury's still out on his impact. How is Christ on the stump? He may be a skilled shepherd, but does he have that fire in the belly for the rough and tumble of campaigning? As my father used to say, Brit, just because you can turn water into wine, it doesn't mean you can build a birdhouse."

 

But on MSNBC's Countdown, Rachel Maddow pointed out some specific benefits of Jesus' direct support and counsel. "Well, for one thing, Obama doesn't have to worry about finding a new church to join until after the fall campaign. What will be really troublesome for McCain and the GOP, though, is they can't have it both ways. The can't question Obama's faith in Jesus Christ while the Son of God is literally riding shotgun on the 'Yes We Can' express."

 

Speaking with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room, Candi Crowley cautioned that the big endorsement may backfire.

 

"In the end, Wolf, this may turn out to hurt the Illinois senator more than it helps him. We know Barack Obama is already vulnerable on national security. So I'm not sure how having the blessing of a guy who coined the phrase 'turn the other cheek' is only going to help him," explained Crowley. "And you can bet that Republicans will be combing through Jesus' past sermons, which include, just for starters, not only extreme preaching of non-violence but also impassioned instruction to, and I'm quoting Matthew 5:44, Wolf, 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.' Now, in the middle of the war on terror, it's hard to see how McCain won't hammer Obama on this."

 

Commenting on The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly said, "Look, we all know that Jesus means well. He always has and that's who he is. Fine. But here in the no-spin zone, we also can't ignore the facts. And the truth is, this guy was a radical going back to his original days on Earth. A hippie and an anarchist who couldn't hold down a job. Jesus Christ, again, a fine lord and savior. I give him full credit for that. But this guy single-handedly created the welfare state and he's the prince of appeasement. Trust me, Neville Chamberlain ain't got nothing on Jesus."

 

Whatever impact the endorsement might have, the White House was not happy about it.

 

Asked about Jesus' rejection of McCain and support for Obama, President Bush said, "That's, uh, just not the Jesus I know. It's really heart-breaking. In other words, I was once born again. Okay? And, uh, now I'm feeling a little unborn."

 

White House press secretary Dana Perino echoed the president's sentiments during this afternoon's press conference.

 

"Well, it's puzzling and sad. This is not the Jesus we know." Perino added, "And, frankly, his actions are not consistent with the guidance he's given us these past seven and a half years in the White House. Invade Iraq. Tap your phones. Torture's fine. Don't listen to the American people or the rest of the world. So now, after all this time, he's suddenly not George Bush's personal Jesus. I'm not buying it. And neither should you. I think he's done grave damage to his credibility in the mind of most Americans."

 

Jesus also dropped by The Late Show with David Letterman to read "Top Ten Reasons I'm Not Endorsing John McCain," which included: "Every time I see that blinky eye flutter, I can't help but think, 'Helter Skelter! Helter Skelter!'" "Bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb, Iran." "Three words: Secretary of Peace." "He is Bush on steroids, with a prostate the size of Texas." "His middle name is Sydney." "He's Dr. Strangelove without the German accent and advanced degrees." And the number one reason? "He called his wife a c***."

 

A new 527 ad hit the networks this morning, attacking Obama's latest endorsement:

 

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Born to an out-of-wedloc

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wa

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tate and later became a drain on the occupying Roman Empire.

 

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proud to have Je

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by hi

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Obama would've fit right in with Je

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or tho

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While John McCain i

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ill every la

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to BC, Obama'

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hall peri

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Tell that to Ahmadinejad, Je

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Barac

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ein Obama. Je

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H. Chri

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in a pod.

 

Don't roll the dice with our national

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Thi

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paid for by

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wift Boat Clergymen for Truth.

Charlie Crist, the Republican Florida governor who's often mentioned as a possible running mate for John McCain and is rumored to have dropped the "h" in his last name to avoid unfavorable comparisons to Christ, called Obama's acceptance of Jesus' endorsement "the most unholy example of political pandering" and Jesus "a flip-flopping, frankincense-and-myrrh-tea-sipping elitist."

 

"The fact is, there are many things we don't know about Jesus. Things we're supposed to take on nothing but faith," charged Crist. "We do know, however, that he came to the aid of prostitutes, drug addicts and beggars - the worst of society. And that he healed leapers, the blind, epileptics, a paralytic, a man with dropsy, cast out demons entering a herd of swine, and raised Lazarus from the dead. All well and good, until you consider he had no degree in medicine and no professional training. Which really calls into question his judgment. I call on Senator Obama to denounce Jesus immediately."

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

Teddy? Kerry? Hil?

 

Who are you getting at?

 

Biden is who I figured.

 

[Balta1701]

Bumpage.

 

 

Rassmussen was showing a bump forming for the nominee last week, Gallup today joined them.

 

Interesting that Gallup is doing a 5 day average on these. I didn't notice that before.

[BigSqwert]

Obama campaign could feasibly raise $100M in June.

[BigSqwert]

Obama campaign could feasibly raise $100M in June.

And conversely

[HuskyCaucasian]

Plouffe: Obama will staff every state

David Plouffe emails supporters:

 

I am proud to announce that our presidential campaign will be the first in a generation to deploy and maintain staff in every single state....

 

Of course, some states will be more competitive than others, and we will scale our resources accordingly.

 

But your work building our party means that the list of competitive states will be longer than ever before -- and it will include states like Virginia and Montana where your work has helped a Democratic resurgence at the state level.

 

And in every single state, no matter what the likelihood that we carry it in the fall, our staff will build volunteer capacity that will provide help where we need it and impact races up and down the ballot this November.

[mr_genius]

I just saw some of Obama's recent press conferences in which he goes after McCain. He did well. I liked a lot of what he said.

 

Obama 1

 

McCain 0

 

 

not sold on him yet, basically because his hard core supporters are so bats*** crazy. i wonder if he will think he owes them 'political capital'.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

I just saw some of Obama's recent press conferences in which he goes after McCain. He did well. I liked a lot of what he said.

 

Obama 1

 

McCain 0

 

 

not sold on him yet, basically because his hard core supporters are so bats*** crazy. i wonder if he will think he owes them 'political capital'.

I've been trying to make my decisions without acknowledging the crazies. I won't allow my view of McCain to be dictated by the far right Christian Coalition nutbags, since I don't think McCain will do much for them, and I won't allow my view of Obama to be skewed by the crazy Obamatons.

 

I also liked Obama's speech on the economy, and he did in fact get into more specifics than McCain. That was good to see. Obama had some good ideas. He also has some bad ones though, like another round of rebates, for example.

 

[Balta1701]

This is a decent giggle.

 

[mr_genius]

This is a decent giggle.

 

 

and the 2008 American Idol / Daily Show election continues. bravo America (golf clap).

 

it will come down to a Kelly Clarkson endorsement.

 

lol

[lostfan]

I've been trying to make my decisions without acknowledging the crazies. I won't allow my view of McCain to be dictated by the far right Christian Coalition nutbags, since I don't think McCain will do much for them, and I won't allow my view of Obama to be skewed by the crazy Obamatons.

 

I also liked Obama's speech on the economy, and he did in fact get into more specifics than McCain. That was good to see. Obama had some good ideas. He also has some bad ones though, like another round of rebates, for example.

It's not a horribly bad idea in and of itself, but where in the hell is the money going to come from?

[NorthSideSox72]

It's not a horribly bad idea in and of itself, but where in the hell is the money going to come from?

That's just it. I think that direct rebates like that should be for pretty dire circumstances, and only if the government is in a good financial position to do so. When Bush did his first one just after 9/11, that was perfect - there was a budget surplus, a single staggering event had rocked the economy, and something needed to be done. This most recent one, I think was a bad idea - the government is too far in deficit, and we are fighting two wars, not to mention that I don't think the economy is in as much need for it. The slide has been gradual. A new round of rebate checks is just as bad an idea, IMO.

 

[southsider2k5]

It's not a horribly bad idea in and of itself, but where in the hell is the money going to come from?

 

He has proposed a ton of tax increases already... windfall profits tax, millionaires tax, social security tax cap lift, rolling back the Bush tax cuts... and even so it sounds like he is coming up short, at least based on his latest proposal.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1213132766...=googlenews_wsj

 

Political Diary

June 11, 2008

 

Obama and the 'Rich'

Barack Obama has been on a class-warfare tirade since he locked up the nomination, accusing John McCain of defending Bush tax cuts for "the rich." "For eight long years," he said Monday in a speech laying out his economic agenda, "our president sacrificed investments in health care, and education, and energy, and infrastructure on the altar of tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs."

[barack Obama]

 

Hmmm. Anybody even dimly acquainted with the record, especially President Bush's vast expansion of Medicare, might doubt the factual basis of such a statement. Never mind. Mr. Obama and the Congressional Democrats promise to sock it to "rich" taxpayers next year to pay for "middle class tax cuts" as well as some $300 billion in new spending. But there's a problem: They won't tell us exactly who the rich are.

 

In various tax proposals Mr. Obama has set the definition of rich at levels of $100,000, $200,000 and $250,000 in annual income. He has vowed, for example, to erase the Bush tax cuts not only for those who make more than $250,000, but to end the cap on Social Security taxes, which amounts to a tax hike on anyone who makes more than $100,000 in income. More recently, Austan Goolsbee, an Obama economic adviser, told me the new cap might be set at $200,000.

 

All of this has caused some heartburn among certain Democrats in high cost-of-living states. New York Rep. Joseph Crowley says a couple with earnings of $100,000 could be "a police officer and nurse." "In New York City," he adds, "they'd be struggling."

 

A similar argument came to the fore as Democrats debated the recent farm bill. Under the new law, farmers will be able to retain full subsidies even if they have incomes of $750,000. Because of various gimmicks, the USDA says that farmers could even have incomes up to $2 million and still be eligible for a farm welfare check. When it comes to farmers, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama apparently believe that "soaking the rich" means soaking them with handouts.

 

This is not just a rhetorical exercise. It could tell us a lot about whether Democrats can come anywhere close to paying for all their spending promises and still meet their vow to balance the budget. One problem for Senator Obama and his class-warfare crowd is that repealing the Bush tax cuts for those with earnings of more than $250,000 would raise only about $40 billion a year, according to Cato Institute economist Alan Reynolds. That would leave President Obama with a $360 billion shortfall to meet his other proposals. Either those nurses and policemen are going to have to be defined as "rich" by Team Obama, or the Democrats' pledge of balancing the budget in five years is a fantasy. Add the fact that his various spending proposals will certainly prove more costly than projected. It sounds like not just the top 2% but most of the bottom 98% had better get ready for higher taxes under an Obama administration.

[EvilMonkey]

Maybe he should propose a windfall profit tax on authors. I mean, it doesn't take $4 million dollars worth of time to write a book, and if an author has a successful selling book, why should he make more profit than the average guy? Maybe 90% of anything over $1 million?

[BigSqwert]

Apparently the GOP hasn't gotten the hint that nasty smearing isn't working this year for them as we have seen in the Congressional races. But here we see them going at it again by attacking Obama's religion, insinuating that he's a crypto-Muslim.

[HuskyCaucasian]

What a sound bite!! This could really sting McCain....

McCain: Bringing Troops Home From Iraq "Not Too Important"

When asked if he knew when American troops could start to return home, McCain responded: "No, but that's not too important. What's important is the casualties in Iraq."

 

[HuskyCaucasian]

Apparently the GOP hasn't gotten the hint that nasty smearing isn't working this year for them as we have seen in the Congressional races. But here we see them going at it again by attacking Obama's religion, insinuating that he's a crypto-Muslim.

If I remember correctly, he went to a public school that also taught islam as part of it's curriculum. It's kinda like sending your kid to a private christian school if you are hindu because you like the education better.

Edited June 11, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[NorthSideSox72]

If I remember correctly, he went to a public school that also taught islam as part of it's curriculum. It's kinda like sending your kid to a private christian school if you are hindo because you like the education better.

what's a hindo?

 

[BigSqwert]

What a sound bite!! This could really sting McCain....

McCain: Bringing Troops Home From Iraq "Not Too Important"

 

When asked if he knew when American troops could start to return home, McCain responded: "No, but that's not too important. What's important is the casualties in Iraq."

I would bet at least 7 out of 10 Americans disagree with the statement he made.