The Republican Thread

[Texsox]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?i...8351&page=1

 

I'm just not liking Obama's short list. I do like a couple names on McCain's list. The more and more I see, the more I like McCain's chances. He seems to be running a tighter, more professional campaign and making better decisions.

[NorthSideSox72]

I'm just not liking Obama's short list. I do like a couple names on McCain's list. The more and more I see, the more I like McCain's chances. He seems to be running a tighter, more professional campaign and making better decisions.

Forget the shortlists you see in the news. Those are just educated guesses by the press. More often than not, the nominee's choice ends up NOT being the one people expected.

 

I still think Richardson is the most likely choice for Obama, even though you don't see him discussed much. And I think McCain may pick Huckabee, but I'm less sure on that one.

 

[Cknolls]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8072403506.html

 

What are they afraid of?

Edited July 25, 2008 by Cknolls

[southsider2k5]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8072403506.html

 

What are they afraid of?

 

Not to mention that the polls indicate a majority of Americans are in favor of more drilling...

[lostfan]

I'm just not liking Obama's short list. I do like a couple names on McCain's list. The more and more I see, the more I like McCain's chances. He seems to be running a tighter, more professional campaign and making better decisions.

I dunno, McCain seems to be running a crappy campaign with no identity that is frustrating a lot of Republicans. I don't really mean this as a bash against McCain, I think this has been a weakness of his. He's spending most of his time telling people why they shouldn't vote for Obama than telling people why they should vote for him.

 

And also I feel comfortable saying that in this thread because I don't get the impression many people here actually like McCain.

[southsider2k5]

http://businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/...0724184650.aspx

 

CNN Host: Obama's Anti-Free Trade Position 'Does Not Go Down Well' with Europe

Christiane Amanpour says senator's position is at odds with European officials that want 'globalization.'

 

By Paul Detrick

Business & Media Institute

7/24/2008 6:50:34 PM

 

“[Europe] wants to see an [American] president committed to free trade,” cautioned CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour from Berlin, Germany, the site of a speech by presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

 

Amanpour pointed to Obama’s wanting to renegotiate the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement as a problem for the Illinois Senator in Europe on the “CNN Newsroom” broadcast July 24.

 

“But let me tell you a word of caution. The European top trade official for instance has said, ‘Listen Barack Obama quit that crowd pleasing rhetoric and get serious for instance on the issue of trade.’ You know Barack Obama as a candidate has talked about renegotiating NAFTA. Well, that does not go down well in Europe, which believes in internationalism and globalism, in globalization,” said Amanpour on the morning broadcast.

 

Amanpour also restated in the online version of the story that the top EU trade official offered caution to Obama on NAFTA, saying that he needs to be serious about a “U.S. commitment to free trade and unfettered markets.”

 

European conservative leaders like President of France Nicholas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have both embraced globalization as a part of policy.

 

But Obama’s open criticism of NAFTA during the primaries has worried some Europeans about how he would treat trade with Europe.

 

Obama campaigned against NAFTA before the Ohio primary and criticized Democratic presidential rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) in a speech of supporting the deal.

 

FoxNews.com quoted Obama February 19 attacking Clinton on NAFTA saying, “She says speeches don’t put food on the table. You know what? NAFTA didn’t put food on the table, either.”

 

“Ten years after NAFTA passed, Senator Clinton said it was good for America,” Obama was quoted in the Associated Press February 24 as saying. “Well, I don't think NAFTA has been good for America — and I never have.”

 

The Associated Press also noted that Obama also said that attempts to repeal the trade agreement “would probably result in more job losses than job gains in the United States.”

 

“NAFTA has been a huge boon to the United States as well as its trading partners to the north and south,” Washington Times columnist Helle Dale said March 12. “Between 1993 and 2006, imports from Mexico rose from $48 billion to $216 billion, and at the same time, exports from the United States rose from $52 billion to $156 billion.”

 

Dale also echoed a call by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that free trade and national security are interconnected.

 

“Canadians, like Australians and Brits, are the most reliable U.S. allies in times of crisis. Mr. McCain is suggesting that if we tear up NAFTA after more than a decade, Canadians might not feel obligated keep their end of the bargain in Afghanistan.”

 

Amanpour also said, “A lot of people around the world are saying what we want to see is change from the United States. They really feel like they have gone through quite a trauma.”

 

“And really if you look at polls around the world, America’s standing has plunged dramatically over the last eight years. And so what they’re looking for is a president, whoever it might be that could rebuild alliances that could engage in multilateral diplomacy instead of a go-it-alone policy, that will take the lead on the great issues that certainly Europe believes in. For instance: climate change, the environment, human rights,” she added.

[NorthSideSox72]

http://businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/...0724184650.aspx

But I thought Obama was over there bowing to his European overlords?

 

 

 

 

Sorry, I had to.

 

[southsider2k5]

But I thought Obama was over there bowing to his European overlords?

 

 

 

 

Sorry, I had to.

 

He probably did like he did with Canada...

 

"Nah, I am just saying those things to get elected. They won't really happen."

 

[not real quote]

[lostfan]

He probably did like he did with Canada...

 

"Nah, I am just saying those things to get elected. They won't really happen."

 

[not real quote]

The people in the Midwest and whatnot who are pissed about losing their jobs to NAFTA are misguided and they just need something to direct their anger at. But those blue-collar workers are a big part of the Democratic party and you have to play to that sentiment. Obama got carried away trying to out-do Hillary. All of it should've been immediately recognized as BS though. Why anybody thinks that NAFTA is killing this country, specifically losing our manufacturing jobs to Canada, is beyond me.

[Balta1701]

Not to mention that the polls indicate a majority of Americans are in favor of more drilling...

A large majority of drug addicts favor cheap drugs for themselves as well.

[bmags]

maybe this oil spill in the gulf should be of concern right now?

[HuskyCaucasian]

maybe this oil spill in the gulf should be of concern right now?

ssshhhhhh.... you're not supposed to talk about that!!!

[southsider2k5]

http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/pos...TRiODg2YTU3NjM=

 

Obama's Week in Review

 

This weekend, when you’re told Obama had a fabulous week abroad, recall:

 

One of his chief foreign policy advisers declared, “bows to nobody in his understanding of this world.” To support this statement, she cited his living overseas from age six to age ten.

 

He told CBS News that the U.S. could have stopped Osama bin Laden from escaping to Pakistan in 2001 if they hadn’t invaded Iraq in 2003. In the same interview, he admitted his policy of targeting bin Laden “is the current policy.”

 

He said that knowing what he knows now, he still would have opposed the surge. (You will hear a lot about this one in the fall.)

 

Petraeus objected to Obama’s Iraq withdrawal plan in an “animated” discussion. (You’ll hear a lot about that one, too.)

 

He told Katie Couric he wouldn’t answer questions about a “hypothetical” like Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear program sites.

 

He told Charlie Gibson that his position on moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem isn't one of the "things that I should say on Charlie Gibson's evening news."

 

After insisting his speech was not “political,” it was revealed his campaign was printing up German-language fliers to promote it.

 

He insisted that his answer in the YouTube debate included caveats and provisions that he didn’t mention at the time.

 

After telling skeptics to “look at my deeds,” Obama bragged about passing a bill out of a committee that he doesn’t serve on, calling it, “my committee.”

 

Obama canceled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in Germany to visit wounded troops. But he found time for a workout.

 

His supporters put campaign posters uncomfortably close to the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism.

 

His speech in Berlin erred in describing the walls falling in Belfast, and as Josh Trevino notes, would probably have a hard time pointing to the portion of Atlantic coastline that “cars in Boston and factories in Beijing” have shrunk. (His statement “The rubble of this city had yet to be built into a wall” is only a metaphor, and a clunky one at that. By the time construction of the wall began, World War Two had been over for sixteen years. It consisted of wire fences for the first four years.)

 

Having said all that, yes, he did take some pretty pictures.

[bmags]

The DoD essentially canceled his trip with the troops, but nice try. Actually half the s*** on there doesn't even makes sense.

[southsider2k5]

The DoD essentially canceled his trip with the troops, but nice try.

 

More like Obama didn't get his way and cancelled the trip. He could have still gone, just sans the traveling circus.

 

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmart...ical_rules.html

 

DoD spokesman says Obama camp was reminded of political rules

 

[uPDATED]

 

Chief Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell confirmed to Politico that Department of Defense officials cautioned Barack Obama's campaign that his planned visit to wounded American troops in Germany could not be political in nature and that he would be barred from bringing along campaign staff and reporters. He also said that Cindy McCain recently requested to visit sailors aboard the U.S.N.S. Comfort and was denied.

 

"Sen. Obama is welcome to visit Landstuhl or any military hospital in his official capacity as a United States senator," Morrell said in a brief interview. "But there is a DoD policy which governs campaigning and electioneering at military facilities that would have to be respected if he were to visit. That distinction was relayed and made clear to campaign, and they made a decision on their own based on that guidance."

 

Morrell, in a subsequent interview, added that military officials told Obama he could only visit the military facility with his Secret Service detail and Senate staff.

 

"We made it clear to him that campaign staff and press would not be permitted to accompany him," Morrell said of Obama. "We relayed those ground rules. They made a choice based upon the information we relayed to them. It was their choice. We had nothing to do with it."

 

Military personnel at Ramstein Air Force Base, where the senator was to fly into, had already made arrangements to accomodate Obama's travelling press pack and campaign staff while he visited the wounded troops, Morrell said.

 

Obama's campaign tells a different story.

 

Obama adviser David Axelrod told the Chicago Sun-Times that the Pentagon "viewed this as a campaign event and therefore they said he should not come."

 

In a briefing to Obama's travelling press corps, another adviser stopped short of saying they were told to not come but also suggested that even a visit by Obama alone may have been at issue.

 

Robert Gibbs said one of Obama's military advisers had been informed by the Pentagon that the visit may be seen as a campaign stop.

 

"They cited a regulation," Gibbs said of their point of contact, described as legislative affairs in the office of the secretary.

 

"We believed that based on the information we received that any presence, even his own and only his own, would get into a back and forth on whether his own presence was a campaign event," Gibbs said.

 

Gibbs also pointed out that that their plane had been cleared to land at Ramstein and the Pentagon subsequently issued the reminder about political activity at military posts.

 

Obama, who was not travelling with any Senate staffers, decided on the flight Wednesday from Tel Aviv to Berlin not to visit the hospital.

 

Trying to make clear that this was not an attempt to undercut the Democratic nominee, Morrell also noted that when McCain officials asked the Pentagon for permission to let Cindy McCain visit the massive U.S. hospital ship, the U.S.N.S. Comfort, the request was rejected.

 

"Had she gone with Sen. McCain, it would have been ok," Morrell said, underlining the delineation between what are official and campaign activities.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Obama canceled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in Germany to visit wounded troops. But he found time for a workout.

 

Debunked

A Pentagon spokesperson confirms to me that because of longstanding Department of Defense regulations, Pentagon officials told Obama aides that he couldn't visit the base with campaign staff. This left Obama with little choice but to cancel the trip, since the plan to visit with campaign aides had been in the works for weeks.

[southsider2k5]

Debunked

 

Uh that doesn't debunk anything. The Pentagon made him observe the rules, he didn't want to do that, and he cancelled. As I said before Obama could have still gone himself as a US Senator, but he didn't want to be without the press in tow so he could look "Presidential". If he really cared just about visiting the troops, he would have still gone and told them all of the same things he was going to say in front of the cameras.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Uh that doesn't debunk anything. The Pentagon made him observe the rules, he didn't want to do that, and he cancelled. As I said before Obama could have still gone himself as a US Senator, but he didn't want to be without the press in tow so he could look "Presidential". If he really cared just about visiting the troops, he would have still gone and told them all of the same things he was going to say in front of the cameras.

do you understand the logistic of a trip like this? When you have everything planned to almost the minute, just ditching your plane and staff isnt exactly easy.

[NorthSideSox72]

do you understand the logistic of a trip like this? When you have everything planned to almost the minute, just ditching your plane and staff isnt exactly easy.

I understand the argument you are making here, and its true that it would have been a huge headache.

 

However, if Obama was really dead set on making that visit, he (and his campaign) could have made it work. The staff (other than security detail) could have stayed off the facility while he went in. Its not THAT hard to make that work.

 

[southsider2k5]

do you understand the logistic of a trip like this? When you have everything planned to almost the minute, just ditching your plane and staff isnt exactly easy.

 

Get another plane, hell drive. If is that important, make it happen. I sereverly doubt that they couldn't have made arrangements for the 5 or 6 people we are talking about here.

 

One of two things happened. Either they had no idea what the rules were, or they figured they didn't have to worry about them. Either way people trying to paint this as some kind of McCain conspiracy are just laughable. This is the Obama camps fault. They have no one else to blame but themselves.

[southsider2k5]

A large majority of drug addicts favor cheap drugs for themselves as well.

 

I forgot 50% +1 only should apply to the Presidential election...

[bmags]

you are absurd, they make the trips for weeks than the day before, on a trip planned to the hour, they weren't even sure if his plane could land on the base. Grow up.

[NorthSideSox72]

you are absurd, they make the trips for weeks than the day before, on a trip planned to the hour, they weren't even sure if his plane could land on the base. Grow up.

Tone it down, please.

 

[southsider2k5]

you are absurd, they make the trips for weeks than the day before, on a trip planned to the hour, they weren't even sure if his plane could land on the base. Grow up.

 

LOL. Obama's camp can't figure out the rules, and I am absurd and need to grow up. Nice. Any other insults you would like to hurl?

[HuskyCaucasian]

LOL. Obama's camp can't figure out the rules, and I am absurd and need to grow up. Nice. Any other insults you would like to hurl?

i'd be nice if McCain could figure out the facts about Iraq. i tend to find that a little more important.

Edited July 25, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000