More chatter about Hillary as State Secretary

I agree with most of what Thomas Friedman writes in NYT, except his description of the effectiveness of Condoleezza Rice's diplomatic efforts under President Bush: "Condoleezza Rice had a close relationship with Bush, but Bush had no coherent worldview to animate her diplomacy, so all her travels added up to less than the sum of their miles." On the contrary, Bush had a clear worldview, it was just one that many like Mr. Friedman doesn't agree with. Bush vowed to promote democracy around the globe, fight terrorists in any way, and if other nations weren't on board with us, then they weren't our friends. What's incoherent about that?

And it seems that Hillary is taking her sweet time in giving Obama an answer. Can't really blame her -- now she failed to become president, she's planning on what to do for the next few years.

Al-Qaeda insults Obama

Ayman al-Zawahri, Al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader, has released a message calling President-elect Obama and other black officials "abeed al-beit," literally translated as "house slaves." The terrorist leader warns Muslims and Arabs that Obama's victory doesn't mean a change in American foreign policy of supporting Israel.

This is a clear message that al-Qaeda continues to be the greatest terrorist threat against the country, no matter who enters the White House.

Calls against Hillary as State Secretary

Hillary is being vetted as a candidate for Secretary of State in the Obama administration, but there are many out there who do not like the idea. David Ignatius explains in the Washington Post blog:

The game changer in foreign policy is Barack Obama himself. Traveling in Europe earlier this month, I was stunned by the excitement he has aroused. The day after the election, the French newspaper “Le Monde” carried a cartoon atop its front page that showed Obama surfing a red, white and blue wave. Above him, it said: “Happy New Century!” You can sense the same enthusiasm around the world -- in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Even among the followers of radical groups, such as Hamas and the Taliban, Obama has inspired a sense of change and opportunity.

Furthermore, Ignatius worries about Hillary stealing Obama's thunder in foreign policy should she become Secretary of State. I hate to say it but with Obama's thin resume, almost any Washington politico would steal Obama's thunder if appointed to a post.

I applaud Obama's effort to unify his party, but I can't help but wonder if this move is to keep his enemies closer? Besides, we all know that Hillary voted for McCain/Palin, right?

Paulson, Bernanke grilled in the Hill

The House Financial Services Committee plans to hear testimony from Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke today about their U-turn decision in using the $700 billion bailout money. Originally the money was for rescuing bad mortgage loans, but now Paulson wants to alleviate the pain in consumer debts. He's even taking his cause to the media with an op-ed in the NYT.

Congress gave Paulson overwhelming power with TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program), but now it realizes that things aren't improving much, especially with the doomsday talk from Detroit automakers and stock markets continue to plunge. Lawmakers now want some answers as to how Paulson's new focus would help the economy.

I really don't think Paulson and Bernanke know what they are doing. Either the scale of the problem is beyond their control, or they are just incompetent. Whatever the reason, I think the only sure way we know will work is through capitalism without government interference. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but it'll help with the recovery. I'm afraid that the government's help isn't really helping and will only prolong the pain.

CAP is liberals' Heritage Foundation

The Center for American Progress is in headlines a lot these days. And that's no surprise as the liberal think tank aims to be high profile, thanks in part by its funding from George Soros and Clintonite president and founder, John Podesta. The organization has shaped Obama's campaign agenda and Podesta is even part of the president-elect's transition team. CAP's influence reaches deep into the incoming administration.

Its website lists the following priorities: Restoring America's global leadership, Seizing the energy opportunity, Creating progressive growth, and Delivering universal health care. Out of these four priorities the most misleading would be "creating progressive growth." That's really liberalese for "more taxes and wealth redistribution." In fact, that's probably the highest priority but they dare not list that above "restoring America's global leadership" (national security) because it would make them look bad.

One thing is for sure in the next four years... We can count on Obama and Congress to follow CAP's marching orders on many issues.

Gingrich rains on Palin's parade

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich isn't that impressed with Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin, especially about her prospects in the 2012 presidential election. He categorizes Palin as "a significant player" for the GOP in the years to come, among "20 or 30 significant players," such as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Utah Gov. John Huntsman, and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.

One thing is for sure: Gingrich wants attention directed towards the Republican governors in hopes of a sound victory in 2010. It's clear he wants to see the governors shape the state politics in the coming years, win in 2010, then prepare for the victory in 2012. The big question is who will emerge as the leader?

Latest bailout saves UAW, not Big Auto

Another bailout package is in the works in Congress, one that's even less popular but that's not stopping the Democrats from pushing for it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a government lifeline would be provided only if the auto industry meet new fuel-efficiency standards and restructure to limit executive compensation. Of course, there is no mention of concessions from the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.

We all know that the Democrats are good buddies with the UAW. This bailout will infuse fresh blood into the dying General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler so that the UAW can drain them some more. Big Auto already knows to make better, fuel-efficient cars. They came late to the green game and are paying the price. But the root of the problem is unionized labor in the auto industry. It's interesting how Jeffrey D. Sachs never mentions this in his Washington Post article. Michael E. Levine, writing for WSJ, is on the right track: Why bankruptcy is the best option for GM.

With Obama elected, radicals feel more comfortable

Bill Ayers, the unrepentant 1960s Weather Underground terrorist, gave an interview on "Good Morning America" and guess what? He's still unrepentant:

"The content of the Vietnam protest is that there were despicable acts going on, but the despicable acts were being done by our goverment... I never hurt or killed anyone," Ayers said.

"Frankly, I dont think we did enough, just as today I dont' think we've done enough to stop these wars," he said.

This is the guy that our president-elect sat on the same board of directors with. This is the guy that our president-elect sought advice in his presidential run. And now that Ayers' candidate will enter the White House, he's more than proud to be on TV to blab about his past deeds and continue to point fingers at the U.S. government.

Obama wants to probe Bush, where's the change we can believe in?

Change we can believe in? Obama had just gotten a tour of his future White House home, and he's already talking to Congressional Democrats about investigating Bush and his administration of torturing terrorists. In anticipation of such actions by Democrats, Bush is readying a "blanket pardon" to all who were involved in the administration's interrogation policies. Such a pardon would be rare but completely legal under the Constitution.

I can understand if Obama wanted to pursue this when he's a senator. Now that he's president-elect and got elected on a "change" narrative, why can't he just let it go? It's just classless for an incoming president to plan such investigations of the outgoing president. What would it prove? It's just more of the same Washington partisanship and to an extent, political persecution.

Leftists will argue till their faces turn blue that there's nothing more sacred than human rights. Yes, it is true. But when a person's sole purpose in life is to blow up innocent people and destroy others' right to live, then that person is a criminal. And in our society, we want to stop criminals from harming others.

Can torture be allowed? Just imagine this scenario: A person in custody is known to have information pertaining to an attack which will kill your family and others. He remains tough and silent, unwilling to divulge that important piece of information. Wouldn't you do anything to try to extract that information from him in order to save your loved ones and many others?

To President Bush, his fellow countrymen are his family. Somehow I feel that President-elect Obama and his Democrats think their families share no ties with the rest of us...

The importance of the Georgia senate race

Incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss won only 49.98% of the popular vote and cannot avoid a runoff against Democrat challenger Jim Martin. The runoff election is on December 2. Dick Morris puts it best: The election is not over.

He also mentions GOPTrust.com as the conservatives' MoveOn.org. Seriously? I hate to say it, but GOPTrust.com has a long way to go to even be as effective as MoveOn.org.

Use and abuse Sen. Lieberman

Poor Sen. Joe Lieberman. Ever since his speech at the RNC, he's probably the most hated Democrat in the world. There are calls to purge him from the party, but then the Democratic caucus needs him to reach the 60-seat supermajority pending senate race results from Alaska, Georgia, and Minnesota. John Nichols writes in The Nation:

If Democrats did somehow get to 60 in the Senate, and if Lieberman then betrayed the party on a critical vote, that would be the point at which to debate expelling him from the caucus.

At this point, the discussion sounds more like venting than smart, or serious, politics.

In other words, use him and abuse him until he's no longer valuable to the Democrats.

The Architect breaks down election numbers

Karl Rove thinks the Republicans have a good chance in 2010 from a historical context. Cautious optimism, I say.

A (nut)case study in BDS...

Paul Waldman's article published on Nov. 11 in The American Prospect is a great case study in BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome). He's euphoric that President Bush is about to leave the White House because it is apparent that he has a deep hatred and irrational emotions toward this man...

Goodbye, we can say at last, to the most powerful man in the world being such a ridiculous buffoon, incapable of stringing together two coherent sentences. Goodbye to cringing with dread every time our president steps onto the world stage, sure he'll say or do something to embarrass us all. Goodbye to being represented by a man who embodies everything our enemies want the people of the world to believe about America -- that we are ignorant, cruel, and only care about foreign countries when we decide to stomp on them. Goodbye to his giggle, and his shoulder shake, and his nicknames. Goodbye to a president who talks to us like we're a nation of fourth-graders.

BDS patients' #1 complaint about our president? He's dumb, "a ridiculous buffoon," and incoherent. Be reminded that in any argument when a party starts calling names, it's more than likely that he has ran out of intelligent things to say (or he isn't very smart at all). Mr. Waldman goes further in insulting President Bush's body language and gestures. Hmmm, this may be a severe case of BDS.

And I beg to differ about America's reputation among foreign countries. So maybe Russia, France, and China think we are ignorant and cruel, but they are not the world. We are loved in the former Soviet bloc because these nations understand tyranny as they overthrew communism. We are loved in Israel because that's the only nation in the world surrounded by enemies and America helps defend the Jewish state. We are loved by the Japanese because we helped defend them, rebuild their economy, and buy their products. We are loved by many all over the world. Otherwise, how do you explain the millions of legal and illegal immigrants?

Goodbye, indeed, to the entire band of liars and crooks and thieves who have so sullied the federal government that belongs to us all. We can even say goodbye to those who have already gone, to Rummy and Scooter, to Fredo and Rove, tornados of misery left in their wake.

Liars, crooks, and thieves. President-elect Obama, with his past and present associations with radicals like Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, and criminals like Tony Rezko, probably wouldn't be granted security clearance had he not been elected. I do like Waldman's use of "tornados of misery" though -- quite a penmanship.

Goodbye to the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war. Goodbye to the lust for sending off other people's sons and daughters to fight and kill and die just to show your daddy you're a real man. Goodbye to playing dress-up in flight suits, goodbye to strutting and posing and desperate sexual insecurity as a driver of American foreign policy. Goodbye to the neocons, so sinister and deluded they beg us all to become fevered conspiracy theorists. Goodbye to Guantanamo and its kangaroo courts. Goodbye to the use of torture as official U.S. government policy, and goodbye to the immoral ghouls who think you can rename it "enhanced interrogation techniques" and render it any less monstrous.

Just one question to ask Mr. Waldman: Have you been safe, going about your business, in the seven years since Sept. 11, 2001? You are able to write an opinion piece criticizing the president and his administration because of the Bush Doctrine, brave American troops, and the information extracted from torturing terrorists. Please don't be an unappreciative child.

Goodbye to James Dobson and a host of radical clerics picking up the phone and hearing someone in the White House on the other end. Goodbye to the most consequential decisions being made on the basis of one man's "gut," a gut that proved so wrong so often. Goodbye to the contempt for evidence, to the scorn for intellect and book learnin', to the relentless war on science itself as a means of understanding the world.

Mr. Waldman ran out of bad things to say about President Bush, so he'll badmouth James Dobson and "radical clerics." Speaking of radical clerics, what's happening with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Father Pfleger, Barack Obama's religious buddies?

So that concludes the case study of a BDS sufferer. Can it be cured? Why, yes we can! Come January there will be a prescription for higher taxes, nationalized health care, social programs, and more to cure BDS.

Obama urged to send daughters to public school

Being the first family means relocating to Washington, D.C. and scoping out the education choices around town. Right now chances are that the Obama daughters will attend a private institution rather than a public school. The D.C. Board of Education really wants to teach the young Obamas, though.

GM, Ford look for handouts

There's already talk in Washington, especially among Democrats, to bailout the troubled U.S. automakers. GM and Ford may be no more if they cannot get a good-sized loan or some sort of capital infusion. GM is betting its future on the Chevy Volt all-electric car to come out in 2010, but the automaker may not make it through next year. That's how bad they are...

Let's face it. These U.S. automakers are in the shape they are in now mainly because of bearing the burden of labor unions like UAW. Hundreds of thousands of employees could lose their jobs if the companies go under, but maybe that's what's needed to get Detroit back on track. The unions have to realize that the automakers do not provide social programs and welfare. The automakers are in the market to make cars that'll sell and create profits. If GM and Ford want loans, then let them go bankrupt first so the court can restructure their obligations and fire the executives, too.

Something fishy in the MN senate race

The Minnesota senate race is in a real mess now. Republican Norm Coleman had a decent lead after election day, but in the next few days Democratic challenger Al Franken started getting more and more votes. In fact, a gain of 504 votes in 4 days. And there hasn't even been an official recount yet!

Obama leaks private conversation with President, say goodbye to national secrets

President-elect Obama can't even keep to himself a private conversation with President Bush. And this guy is to be entrusted with our national secrets and classified information???

House Democrats discuss confiscating retirement accounts

The Democrats' election victories have emboldened them. House Democrats now want their hands even deeper, and I mean deeper, into your pockets. The have been holding talks on handing your private retirement accounts -- 401(k)s and IRAs -- to the management of the Social Security Administration.

As crazy as this sounds, what's their excuse?

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, in prepared remarks for the hearing on “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Workers’ Retirement Security,” blamed Wall Street for the financial crisis and said his committee will “strengthen and protect Americans’ 401(k)s, pensions, and other retirement plans” and the “Democratic Congress will continue to conduct this much-needed oversight on behalf of the American people.”

Yes, of course they blame the economy. Because of the economic downturn, these retirement accounts are threatened, and therefore it is the government's job to protect them by confiscating them!

No, thank you. I'd like my retirement accounts where they are right now, managed by the private financial institutions. The government can get my tax dollars, but they better not touch my hard-earned retirement savings.

Remember, folks: what the government gives, they government can take it away. Think twice about nationalized health care, nationalized banking, nationalized oil production, etc.

Let's focus on 2010

I share the same sentiment as Patrick Ruffini. Stop worrying about the presidential election in 2012. The focus should be transforming Congress and state legislatures in 2010, and that will eventually bear fruit for the 2012 race.

Calls for Obama to keep turning left

David Sirota writes in Salon for Obama to "go big and go liberal," claiming that is what the voters want:

... acknowledge their progressive mandate, rather than denying it as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did on Tuesday. "This is not a mandate for a political party or an ideology," he fearfully told reporters.

They should also retire the Innocent Bystander fable about being powerless onlookers. Democrats first cited this myth as reason the Iraq war continued during their congressional majority -- expecting the country to forget that Congress can halt war funding. Today, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that "there's not much we can do" to amend the sputtering bank bailout. In 2009, such mendacity will metastasize from banal dishonesty into grist for scathing comedy-show punch lines.

Wait a minute, "progressive mandate"? Let's have Mr. Sirota run the Democrat Party, I'd love to see him drive it to the ground. If Obama had won 60% of the popular vote, then I'd agree with "mandate." But he won only 53%, and as much as people hated Bush and disagreed with the Republicans, still 46% of voters chose McCain. Why? Because they weren't going to give Obama a mandate.

This will be the primary struggle for the Obama presidency. Based on his background, we know he leans very left and there are many supporters who share that spectrum of ideology. But when he governs from the White House, he also has the other half of the population to please. After all, he'd want to keep his job after four years, no?

Will miss ya, Dubya...

Yes, me too.

Moderate House Democrats want leadership roles

It's not just the Republicans and conservatives who are worried about the gains liberal Democrats made in Congress. Moderate, or Blue Dog, Democrats are vying for committee leadership positions in a Pelosi-run House. They warn that if their voice is not respected, then there will be seats to lose in 2010.

What will Pelosi do? I think she's drunk with power and will ignore the Blue Dogs. Like many in the Democrat leadership, she sees her party's seat gains as a mandate to stride towards the left, quickly. If she's smart she'll heed to the moderate voices in the House. After all, there is another election in two years...

WaPo admits unequal campaign coverage, but doesn't sound sorry

Is this an apology or gloating? I'm reading the article by Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell, and I don't get a sense that she thinks it's embarrassing that the newspaper tilted Obama's way in political coverage. She reveals all the evidence of pro-Obama coverage and unwillingness to dig deeper into stories which potentially hurt their candidate, but still gives the journalists -- writers, rather -- a pat on the back.

Obama must lead from the center

Let's be clear: there was no mandate in this year's presidential and congressional elections. Although the Democrats won the White House and majorities in the House and Senate, the geopolitical landscape of the U.S. didn't change that much. Still almost half of the popular votes supported McCain, and that's after eight years of Republican leadership. Democrats captured additional seats in Congress, but they did not reach a super-majority.

Obama is the most left politician to become president, but he must govern from the center. I believe even a Democrat-controlled Congress will check and balance him on it, too. Some good observation from Peggy Noonan over at WSJ:

Can Mr. Obama claim a mandate? The answer: a firm no-yes. This was not 1980, with a landslide 10-point, 44-state win and the will of a clear majority firmly revealed. And yet of course it's a mandate—a clean win, a new beginning, a solid Democratic victory in the House and Senate. A friend noted the other night that George W. Bush from the beginning governed as if he had a mandate, and he'd lost the popular vote in 2000. Presidents are presidents and claim what they claim. Mr. Obama won it the old-fashioned way: he earned it. He confounded history to get it. And because he replaces a president whose unpopularity has impeded his ability to govern, he is, in a way, president from day one.

McCain campaign postmortem

We all know that the Obama campaign did many things right. It energized the youth vote with new voter registration drives. It kept Sen. Biden away from the press in the later weeks. It never allowed the candidate to speak without a teleprompter (when he did, he created the "Joe the Plumber" panic). Undoubtedly a well-oiled political machine.

So what went wrong with McCain's campaign?

It took too long to bring Obama's past and current associations into focus. It wasn't until the last presidential debate that McCain decided to talk about Bill Ayers. It was a valid topic, but at that time the general perception was that McCain is desperate, especially when polls continued to show a comfortable Obama lead. Plus he never followed through -- kind of just mentioned Ayers' name, Obama rebutted, and moved onto the next topic.

The choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as running mate was a masterful maneuver. She was a breath of fresh air in politics, a strong conservative leader far away from Washington. She was comfortable on stage and in front of the cameras, perhaps thanks to her experiences in journalism, television, and beauty pageant. Many people had doubts about her when McCain made the announcement, but overall she was welcomed by the conservative base. McCain kept his decision under wraps in order to launch a surprise attach at the opponent. This may have backfired as there was no time to prepare her for the national stage. There were some interviews where she bombed, I think mainly because of lack of preparation. But when you are the underdog you cannot afford mistakes. Unfortunately towards the last several weeks, many have labeled Palin a liability rather than an asset to the campaign.

Then there was the issue of fund utliziation. Obama was outraising and outspending McCain. But when you have little money, you should use it wisely, get the most bang for the buck. Recall Mike Huckabee's campaign. He had no money, but he lasted till the end losing to McCain in the primaries. Huckabee had a great online following, and what better advertising medium than the Internet? The McCain campaign was not inventive enough in advertising. His opponent actually bought ads inside a video game. What better way to reach the younger voters?

These are just some of the things I came to think about after McCain's loss. His campaign was still respectable, but there were definitely some strategic mishaps and lack of vision.

Lieberman to feel peer's wrath

Sen. Joe Lieberman may not stay a Democrat much longer. Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't very pleased with his high-profile speech at the RNC attacking Sen. Obama, so now he's wanting to kick him off the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Now that Reid leads a 55-Democrat (at least) seat senate, he has no more use for Lieberman. The Republicans will welcome Lieberman with open arms...

Tension between McCain and Palin?

On stage they seemed to be the perfect maverick combo: McCain the war hero and seasoned senator; Palin the Washington outsider who fought the Republican establishment. But now that the votes have been counted, details are emerging about the tensions between them.

This is another clear example that Republicans need to get their acts together and unite. Yes, you lost. Now is not the time to sling mud amongst yourselves, especially with respect to the ticket.

Where's the "change we can believe in"?

Obama is said to be tapping Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), former aide in the Clinton White House, to be chief of staff.

So much for "change we can believe in"... Let's see if he really reaches across the aisle to fill in his cabinet positions.

Georgia senate race heads for run-off

Neither Chambliss (R) or Martin (D) received 50% of the votes, so a run-off election will happen on December 2. This is a high profile race as Chambliss unseated Democrat and war veteran Max Cleland previously and the Democrats would love to have one of their own from this southern state. Winning this won't put the Democrats to the magical super-majority, but another pickup would hurt the GOP in the Bible Belt.

Gay marriage ban passed

It wasn't all doom and gloom for conservatives after all. Voters in "left coast" California backed a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on Tuesday in a state where homosexual unions are legal. The amendment will override the recent state supreme court decision legalizing gay marriages. Maybe this is the best indication that the country is still center-right?

Post-election eyes on Alaska and Palin

Republican Ted Stevens is likely to win Alaska's senate race. However, about week ago he was found to be guilty on all seven counts of corruption charges, so whether or not he will be seated is still a big question.

Then that leaves the governor of Alaska to appoint a fill-in. Would Gov. Palin be interested in a job at Washington? Would (Can) she appoint herself to the senate? Or would she resign and ask the lieutenant governor to appoint her?

It's a tough call. Does she have White House aspirations in 2012? She jumped onto the mainland political scene as a Washington outsider and reveled in that label. If she were to become a U.S. senator, that would damage her outsider status and potentially hurt her politically. However, on the other hand, she may be interested to enter the Democrat-controlled senate to join her party's fight and advance herself politically by having a voting record in Congress.

The aftermath of the senate race in remote Alaska could end up being the post-election story of the year.

The day after...

So America and the world celebrate Obama's victory, another orderly and lawful power transition in the United States. Many heralded the end of racism in the country and proof that in America, you can reach your dreams no matter your skin color and background.

As of this posting Obama/Biden won 349 electoral votes vs. McCain/Palin's 163. Things started to look gloomy for MacCain last night when Ohio and Virginia turned blue. In popular votes, Obama/Biden captured 52% against McCain/Palin's 47%. Some would categorize this as a landslide win, but I beg to differ. Maybe in the Electoral College, but not among the population.

The result of the senate races did not give the Democrats a mandate, either. First, Harry Reid's hope of leading a filibuster-proof senate is dashed. The Democrats' plan to unseat minority leader Mitch McConnell also fizzled as he won re-election by a comfortable margin (53% against Lunsford's 47%). In the hotly contested Minnesota senate race, Republican Norm Coleman held a slim lead to win over Democrat and entertainer Al Franken. The race is still tight in Alaska where convicted Republican Ted Stevens holds the lead, but whether he is actually seated is still questionable; and in Georgia, incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss may have a run-off against Democrat Jim Martin if neither garner 50% of votes (Chambliss leads a slim margin right now). Overall it looks like Democrats will pick up five more senate seats.

There's a lot of talk about a change in the electoral landscape. Yet that isn't really the case. We still have a Red South, Red Midwest, and Red Prairie. With the exception of Virginia and North Carolina, the other battleground states have traditionally been toss-ups. The GOP needs to refocus on why support in the south has slipped. Although Georgia went for McCain/Palin overwhelmingly, it was troubling that the state became a toss-up in the latter weeks of the campaign.

History is made - Obama is president-elect

There's no need to count California's votes... The state's 55 electoral votes will go to Obama. (As well Oregon's seven, Hawaii's four, and Washington's 11.)

That puts Obama over the 270 electoral votes necessary to become the next president, and history is made as America will have her first black president.

Congratulations to Obama and his well-run campaign. As much as I don't agree with his platform, I think it is a well-deserved finish to his historic presidential campaign. Congratulations.

This is beyond a wake-up call for the GOP. The wake-up call was two years ago when the party lost control of Congress. Now there will be a Democratic president in January, not to mention more Democratic senators and House representatives. The GOP has to completely turn itself inside out and return to its true conservative roots.

True. Conservative. Roots.

It's now or never.

Virginia goes to Obama

FOX News just called the battleground state of Virginia for Obama. Well done, as Virginia hasn't turn blue in decades. He now has 220 electoral votes as of this posting.

Unfortunately, with the loss of Ohio and Virginia, it's unlikely for McCain to obtain 270 electoral votes to win the race. The next wave of poll closings come from the west coast, and it's almost certain that states like California, Oregon, and Washington would not flip to red.

Ohio called for Obama

The bellwether state of Ohio has been called for Obama. McCain's outlook is even dimmer now unless some sort of miracle happens...

Georgia holds for McCain

The McCain camp can let out a sigh of relief as Georgia is called for the candidate. This was a southern state which ended up being a toss-up in recent weeks.

GOP loses several senators

The Democrats make gains in the Senate as the GOP candidates Elizabeth Dole (NC), John Sununu (NH), and Gilmore (VA) lost.

Networks call Pennsylvania for Obama

Not a good sign for McCain: TV networks are calling the Keystone State for Obama. This was a state which McCain concentrated in the latter weeks of the campaign in hopes to turn the tide to capture its 21 electoral votes.

America decides tomorrow

Americans will wake up tomorrow morning to greet one of the most important days in history -- Election Day 2008. Tomorrow voters will stand in long lines, perhaps in dreary weather, to cast a ballot for the candidate they think qualifies for the most important job in the world: President of the United States.

The next president won't have it easy. Our troops are still fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The economy is in a global recession. The government is borrowing and printing money like never before. The threat of terrorism against America is still real.

Each candidate promises change for the better. One is eager to bring soldiers home at the expense of a new democratic Iraq. One is an advocate of taxing wealth to give to the poor. One does not recognize evildoers and the ill they have against America. One spent his political life so far avoiding votes.

The other candidate is determined to achieve victory in Iraq. He also wants money made to be kept in the earner's pocket. He's also seen the faces of evil and lived through hell. He has a voting record of ayes and nays.

Sen. John McCain's life is an open book. Americans who lived through the Vietnam War know him as a surviving POW and war hero. He embodies the American spirit: self-sufficient, perseverance, sacrifice. He understands that there is something greater than himself -- his beloved country. And he genuinely wants to better her and her people.

History will be made no matter who wins the election. Tomorrow you will have a vote in your hand to pen your words in America's history pages.

Supporter believes Obama will pay for her gas and morgage!

Peggy Joseph is Internet famous now. She took her kids out of school early to attend an Obama rally. She thinks helping Obama to get into the White House will help her with gas money and mortgage!

Seriously, we need to require people to take an exam on American history, basic economics, and IQ before allowing them to vote. Seriously.

Keystone State to become key state

Voters in the Keystone State hold the key to the presidential election on Tuesday. The McCain campaign has been targeting Pennsylvania in order to capture its 21 electoral votes, something to counter the likely losses in the west (Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico). Sen. McCain may have a good chance there, as Selena Zito points out in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Most Pennsylvania Democrats who live outside of Philadelphia are very Midwestern in their values and their votes.

If they lose their jobs, they go out and get two more to make up for the loss. They do not take handouts and they don't whine; they provide for themselves and their families.

What are these people made of? I can remember listening as a child to my union-Democrat immigrant grandparents saying they never took "relief" during the Great Depression -- and they were raising five children, had no education beyond the fourth grade and spoke broken English.

Liberal racemonger

For some reason I am sensing some doubt in the Collective Left. The majority of polls have Obama leading, way ahead of McCain. But then there's some eye-catching news about some polls -- ones with a better history -- in a statistical tie between the two candidates. Not to mention that the gap continues to narrow as election day closes in. Let's not ignore the fact that the undecided voters still consist of a big chunk of voter bloc, and a lot are leaning McCain. Also, "Joe the Plumber" has become an effective narrative in outing Obama as a liberal.

But the biggest indicator that the Collective Left has lost some confidence is when they turn into racemongers. Susan Estrich trusts the Obama-positive polls so much that she decides if her candidate still loses the election then it must be caused by -- gasp! -- racism:

The only way all these polls could be that far off is if people are lying in numbers never before seen in American politics.

Why would they do that?

You tell me it has nothing to do with race. I'll laugh. What else could it possibly be?

Here's the problem though. Obama has been elevated to uber-celebrity status by the media and has a cult-like following. It's sort of like how Bush-hating has become hip. If you like Bush, you're labeled a right-wing nut, Nazi, or worse. Well, turn that around and apply to Obamamania. If you don't love Obama, there's something wrong with you and you're an idiot. It's hip to endorse Obama. He'll save us from everything bad in life and should star in the next 007 movie.

I won't be surprised if there are people who will lie when being polled. That will always happen and there is no way to prevent it. People lie for various reasons, too. Maybe Joe Smith just want to be left alone by pollsters. Maybe Joe Smith is really undecided and leans Obama for the moment. Maybe Joe Smith just wants to screw around with the poll numbers. Who knows?

But please, it is insulting to assume that such a poll liar is a racist. Stop with the racemongering already...

"Aunti Zeituni" lives in Boston public housing

Obama's aunt, Zeituni Onyango, is found to be living in South Boston's public housing and have lived there for five years. She's believed to be the "Aunti Zeituni" in Obama's memoir, Dreams From My Father.

Which other U.S. senator you know has a brother living in a slum and an aunt in public housing?

The purge begins...

The headline this morning on Drudge: The Big Purge... The NY Post, Dallas Morning News, and Washington Times were given the boot off the Obama plane. Interestingly, these three newspapers endorsed McCain a few days ago.

Well, there's really nothing wrong with that. The Obama campaign can invite and kick out whoever it wants. It's just funny that they did this soon after the publications endorsed the opposing candidate.

Murtha in trouble

The race for PA-12 is now tied. Democratic incumbent Rep. John Murtha now has to put up a fight against Republican Bill Russell in order to keep his job. Maybe some folks forgave him for lying about heroic Marines in Iraq. But it looks like Pennsylvanians don't appreciate the fact that their elected congressman would call them "rednecks" and "racists."

Drinking the polling Kool-Aid

How incredible is this: Andrew Kohut, the president of the Pew Research Center, has a piece in the NYT that Obama leads McCain 52 to 36%.

No. Friggin'. Way. Look at Pew's track record and it's not that accurate.

Counting down...

In less than a week will Americans cast votes for their next leader in the most important job in the world. The race is still close according to polls with better track records. Other media-sponsored polls have Sen. Obama leading many points. The media has already picked its winner.

But most polls have Obama still under 50%, and that means a good 10% or more are still undecided. These are the folks that'll decide the outcome of the Electoral College and determine which candidate reaches the magic 270 electoral votes.

It's been said that America is a center-right country. Obama's surge and consistency in polling numbers certainly question that. Here is a community-organizer-turned-politician from Chicago with an affinity to Marxism and calls left-wing nut Bill Ayers a friend. Without a doubt Sen. Obama is the most left-leaning presidential candidate in U.S. history. But he's probably also the most charismatic and eloquent -- a celebrity in the media's eyes -- and one of the youngest. More importantly, he made history by becoming the first black presidential candidate of a major political party. That's something all Americans should be proud of.

However, Americans should also be proud of their unique heritage in the context of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, two of the most important documents in Western democracy. The Declaration tells the truth of our "unalienable Rights... Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." The Consitution starts in its preamble with "We the people..."

Which candidate offers us a closer ideology to what our Founding Fathers had in mind? Right to life -- denied by pro-choice activists. Right to liberty -- limited by leftist lawyers and judges. Pursuit of happiness -- something the government is more than happy (no pun intended) to take its share with taxation.

So ask yourself: Which candidate cannot bring himself to acknowledge that life begins at conception, even though he's a Christian? Which candidate desires a court with activist judges? And which candidate thinks taxes, not opportunities, are a way to achieve fairness in society?

We the people... have we lost sight of the principles this great nation was founded on? Have we been caught up in the celebrity culture of modern day? Have we become so selfish that we no longer care for the devastation we could cause to our children and grandchildren? Yes, we the people...

Slate staff picks Obama for president, thankfully they've been wrong for the past two elections

In a meaningless exercise to further pay homage to The One, Slate asks its staff members who their pick for president will be and why. Well, Obama/Biden wins in a landslide of 55 out of 57 votes.

The good news is that in 2000 the staff picked Al Gore and 2004 John Kerry. So that leaves a 0-3 record for this fine publication.

Redistribute THIS!

The Obama campaign doesn't like its candidate being called a socialist (yes, the truth hurts), even though Obama himself said he'd like to "spread the wealth around" and in a recently uncovered interview favored wealth redistribution. Of course, the liberal media is ready to rescue and spin Obama out of this disturbing ideology. Here we have Cass R. Sunstein's defense in The New Republic:

It is true that Obama supports the Earned Income Tax Credit (an idea pioneered by Republicans). It is also true that Obama supports the minimum wage. It is true too that Obama is centrally concerned with decent education for all -- and the right to education was at stake in perhaps the most important case that Obama is discussing. It is true, finally, that Obama wants to make health care available for all. But it is truly ridiculous to take Obama's remarks in 2001 as suggesting that the nation should embark on a large-scale redistributive scheme.

Sorry, but education isn't a "right"... Neither is health care and housing, for that matter. The Constitution is very clear about our rights: free speech, bearing arms, just trial, etc. What Obama and liberals call "rights" are really just privileges we can enjoy should we take advantage of the opportunities in this free society.

Refuting Biden's view on Catholic Church and abortion

On the subject of abortion Sen. Joe Biden has said that "my church has wrestled with this for 2,000 years." But this is simply untrue. Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Catholic Diocese of Wilmington points out:

...The teaching of the Church is clear and not open to debate. Abortion is a grave sin because it is the wrongful taking of an innocent human life...

Many liberals like to avoid the issue of abortion because they know deep in their hearts that it is, as Bishop Malooly says, a sin of murder. Worse yet, they will falsely accuse the Church of being indecisive or flip-flopping. And that is an unfortunate perversion of their faith.

Newspaper looks into the future, declares Obama president but sees no readership

The New Mexico Sun News wants to claim the first newspaper to declare a winner in the presidential election: Sen. Barack Obama. It's no wonder so many liberal newspapers are losing readership... Death of journalism indeed.

One party to rule them all...

DNC Chairman Howard Dean is looking forward to complete domination of Washington politics. This is the most scary outcome of this election.

Death of journalism

Many has said that 2008 is the year journalism died. The media bias in this campaign season has been too apparent, and thanks to it Sen. Obama has a celebrity cult following. The bias has been so obvious that even a seasoned journalist, Michael Malone, cannot stand it any longer.

Donating to Obama is easy... (too easy)

Evidently it's a little bit too easy to donate to Obama's campaign...

The United States of Europe

That's what American will become should Obama enter the White House. Writing in the WSJ, Pete Du Pont calls it the "Europeanization of America," and lists seven things that'll happen:

The U.S. military will withdraw from Iraq quickly and substantially, regardless of conditions on the ground or the obvious consequence of emboldening terrorists there and around the globe.

Protectionism will become our national trade policy; free trade agreements with other nations will be reduced and limited.
Income taxes will rise on middle- and upper-income people and businesses, and individuals will pay much higher Social

Security taxes, all to carry out the new president's goals of "spreading the wealth around."

Federal government spending will substantially increase. The new Obama proposals come to more than $300 billion annually, for education, health care, energy, environmental and many other programs, in addition to whatever is needed to meet our economic challenges. Mr. Obama proposes more than a 10% annual spending growth increase, considerably higher than under the first President Bush (6.7%), Bill Clinton (3.3%) or George W. Bush (6.4%).

Federal regulation of the economy will expand, on everything from financial management companies to electricity generation and personal energy use.

The power of labor unions will substantially increase, beginning with repeal of secret ballot voting to decide on union representation.

Free speech will be curtailed through the reimposition of the Fairness Doctrine to limit the conservative talk radio that so irritates the liberal establishment.

Doesn't sound very appealing at all, does it?

Obama already thought about "redistribution of wealth" in 2001

For a candidate that promotes "change" incessantly, Obama's tax plan doesn't seem to reflect much of it. And in a 2001 radio interview, Obama's already keen on the idea of "redistribution of wealth."

Obama supporters are voting themselves out of their jobs, especially if they work for small businesses.

Liberal Halloween props

I suppose it's no surprise that people are going to make Halloween decorations a platform for their political views this year. But a Palin mannequin hung from a noose and a McCain emerging from flames?

Only in West Hollywood.

NYT endorses Obama, credit rating cut to junk

Surprise! S&P did what all of us have known for years: cut NYT's credit rating to junk.

Obama up, markets down

Are we seeing a correlation here? As Obama gathers even more steam in the last week and a half until election day, the global markets continue to slide in a downward death spiral. Investors are well aware of an Obama presidency and the policies that will bring. If this is any indication of the collective intelligence, I'm going to believe that the public is smart enough not to want a socialist America and will not cast the ballot for Obama. A few polls showing McCain and Obama in a tight race are starting to get more attention, and people are starting to discount those polls having Obama leading five or more points.

As Peggy Noonan says in the WSJ, "Obama looks like a winner, but it's not over yet."

The Forbes analysis

Steve Forbes of Fobes writes one of the best analysis of the economic meltdown. The article is long, but it's a good read on the why and how paired with historical context.

Vote, with vengeance or principles?

Let's face it: many conservative voters are in a bind this year in choosing the next president. Conservatives are not thrilled with Sen. John McCain, but casting a vote to the opposing candidate, the furthest-left ever in American history, would cause countless sleepless nights. Many people will go the "lesser of two evils" path and stick with McCain. 

Then there are those who will vote blue (and turn blue as well?) to punish the GOP for its failure to reign in government largess and the prolonged war in Iraq. That's the mentality of Radley Balko who'd voted Republican in 1996 and 2000, but voted Democrat in 2004. His frustration is clear as he pens in Reason "Why the Republicans Must Lose":

...The Republican Party has exiled its Goldwater-Reagan wing and given up all pretense of any allegiance to limited government. In the last eight years, the GOP has given us a monstrous new federal bureaucracy in the Department of Homeland Security. In the prescription drug benefit, it's given us the largest new federal entitlement since the Johnson administration. Federal spending—even on items not related to war or national security—has soared. And we now get to watch as the party that's supposed to be "free market" nationalizes huge chunks of the economy's financial sector.

Agreed, agreed, and agreed. But even Mr. Balko understands "This isn't to say that Barack Obama would be any better." So why vote for the "more of the two evils"?

His argument is simply... revenge. Wake up call. Punishment for the GOP. Let the Republicans have it for four years and hopefully they'll come out better and stronger. But guess what? Politicians, Republican or Democrat or whatever, won't suffer as much as the everyday folks, supposedly the "Joe the Plumbers" across America.

Your vote, that piece of paper so honored in a democratic society, is not really a weapon. Don't think of it as a firecracker that'll get a politician's undivided attention. Rather, think of a vote as a reflection of your beliefs and principles. Cast your vote because you agree with Obama or share McCain's agenda.

Don't throw away that vote simply because of your vengeful partisanship.

Obama foretells victory

Remember when Obama gave a speech at a podium with a mock presidential seal? The media had a frenzy. Now we have Obama acting like the race is over, talking about his transition in the White House. His campaign is spending tons of money in preparation of the election night party in Chicago.

Several polls have Obama in the lead with as high as 10 points. But there are polls with the delta of around five points or less. The race is most definitely not over.

The end of journalism according to a Democrat

Orson Scott Card, an author, columnist, and Democrat, writes in the Meridian about the whole subprime fiasco and how journalists ignored the facts. His words aren't very flattering:

Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That's what you claim you do, when you accept people's money to buy or subscribe to your paper.

But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie — that the housing crisis should somehow be blamed on Bush, McCain, and the Republicans. You have trained the American people to blame everything bad — even bad weather — on Bush, and they are responding as you have taught them to.

Ouch!!! The truth hurts, especially coming from a Democrat against the left-leaning MSM. Kudos to Mr. Card for setting aside partisanship and presenting the facts.

Spinning voter fraud

You'd would think that voting is a straightforward subject as it's something that's bound by various state laws. But in light of the recent ACORN debacles of registering dead people, fictional people, and football team members, the left has some pretty crazy spins about "voter fraud." Check this out.

McCain's reason for targeting Pennsylvania

Chris Bowers of OpenLeft has a good analysis of McCain's efforts in Pennsylvania.

Biden unsure of Obama's leadership

Sen. Biden predicts that should Obama becomes president, he will be tested with an "international crisis" within six months, "to test the mettle of this guy..." And that "he's gonna need help..."

It looks like Obama's V.P. choice isn't so sure of his boss's abilities in a time of crisis. Is Biden simply insinuating that he is the one with more foreign policy and crisis management experience?

Biden avoiding the press

Remember the complaints about Gov. Palin being shielded from the press? There was a reason for that... Palin needed a crash course and some protection before being thrown to the press wolves. After all, she's been fairly new to the Washington game.

But what's the excuse for Obama's running-mate, Sen. Joe Biden? Being a career politician, he's certainly not new to Washington and the press. Could it be that now with two weeks to Election Day, the Obama campaign wants to make sure Sen. Biden doesn't make any gaffes to hurt Obama's lead?

Colin Powell, GOP's Lieberman

The Democrats have Sen. Joe Lieberman to hate. The Republicans have Colin Powell, now undoubtedly labeled a RINO (Republican In Name Only).

Over the weekend on Meet the Press, President Bush's first Secretary of State endorsed Obama for president. What's really painful is that he's also a long time friend of Sen. John McCain. His endorsement doesn't really come as a surprise. It's a well known fact that during his tenure as Secretary of State, he didn't get along well with the president and his neoconservative buddies. He resigned in November 2004, near the end of Bush's first term.

As Dick Polman of Philly.com puts it, Powell still has "symbolic power" and the endorsement will cause trouble for the McCain campaign. Powell is well liked by many veterans and his opinion may sway the "soft supporters" of McCain to vote the other way as Newsweek's Andrew Romano points out.

Buffet upgrades America to "Buy"

In an NYT op-ed by the Oracle of Omaha, he shows leadership in this difficult economic time in urging readers to accumulate stocks instead of sitting on cash, providing some historical insight:

Over the long term, the stock market news will be good. In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.

And guess what? The Dow is up (so far). Would his article have something to do with it?

Holes in Obama's tax plan

The Obama campaign's talking point on its tax plan: We are going to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans.

Where is the 95 percent going to come from when at least one-third of Americans pay no income taxes?

Philip Klein of The American Spectator pursues this issue with members of the Obama campaign, but nobody really gave a decent answer.

Obama vs. McCain, final round

Last night's debate was definitely more interesting than the previous one. Both candidates were focused, knowing that this would be the last chance to sway voters on television. McCain seemed more energetic -- probably because he's the underdog -- in his answers, often going on the offensive. He brought up issues about Obama's ties to Bill Ayers and Obama's contribution to ACORN, the community organization under investigation in several states for voter fraud. Obama was on the defensive, trying to explain the allegations of wrongdoing.

McCain scored points for the attacks, but Obama handled well in defense. At no time was Obama thrown off balance by McCain's punches. My opinion is that McCain should've done these in the second debate and not the last one. I don't think it was enough to refuel the buzz in the last weeks of the campaign.

Karl Rove in his WSJ column points out that there are still a significant number of undecided voters:

Barack Obama holds a 7.3% lead in the Real Clear Politics average of all polls, but the latest Gallup tracking poll reveals that there are nearly twice as many undecided voters this year than there were in the last presidential election. The Investor's Business Daily/TIPP poll (which was closest to the mark in predicting the 2004 outcome -- 0.4% off the actual result) now says this is a three-point race.

Mr. Rove aka "The Architect" has a very good point. It's always been the undecided and independent voters who'll determine the outcome of an election.

What's worse than an Obama presidency?

Mona Charen paints a bleak picture of an "Obama/Pelosi/Reid regime." Riding on Obama's surging popularity and the worsening economy (by the way, notice the correlation), the Democrats are within reach a super-majority in Congress, having enough seats to be filibuster-proof. If that scenario comes true, then the country will be looking at some very liberal changes in government which will trickle down into society, affecting the lives of everyone.

Democrats want bigger government, and obviously to support that you'd require more taxes. How else can government fund nationalized healthcare? How else can government give credit for college education?

These points seem lost to Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post, who writes:

...the Reagan-Thatcher faith in unregulated capitalism, to which every GOP presidential candidate was pledging allegiance just last winter, has collapsed? The doctrine of laissez faire has been so dominant, so pervasive over the past three decades that hundreds of Democratic politicians can deliver a paean to the market at the drop of a hat, but not a single Republican pol can plausibly defend government as a check on capitalism run amok, even at the drop of thousands of points in the Dow.

The truth is that laissez faire works. The credit crisis that's going on occurred because of government intervention in the first place! The government interfered with free market principles by passing legislation which created a subprime mortgage market. Any bank in its right mind would never offer loans to people who cannot afford to pay back. Yet the government forced banks to lend to subprime borrowers, then created Fannie and Freddie to back those loans, and look what happened...

The issue is beyond nationalizing banks and injecting trillions into the economy. Mr. Meyerson fails to point out that government was the problem, and now government still is the problem.

Ayers friend defends Obama

In the WSJ today, Thomas Frank says he is friends with Bill Ayers and that Obama shouldn't be attacked for the same association. In typical elitist fashion, he complicates the relationship with historical references to the Civil War and the culture wars.

I don't care if Mr. Frank is a friend of Ayers or even Usama bin Laden -- he's not running for president. But Obama is, and his past associations, especially with an unrepentant terrorist, should be examined and questioned.

What Mr. Frank fails to understand is that pundits aren't that angry about Ayers' past. What really bugs us is that he feels no remorse for his past crimes and has gone on the record about it. If Ayers had issued a public statement about being sorry for his past mistakes, then more folks would be understanding because, well, we all make mistakes.

Obama finally explains his tax plan truthfully

In an exchange between Obama and a plumber, the candidate finally let slip the truth about his tax plan: to "spread the wealth around."

Thanks for the socialistic clarification! My only hope is that the plumber understands the implications and won't vote for Obama...

Acorns falling everywhere

More bad news coming out about ACORN and voter fraud. Enough that the Obama campaign is distancing itself from the troubled organization.

Insulting Sarah Palin

Liberals gone wild! Look at these T-shirts. Aren't you glad you're not an Obama supporter?

Freedom of speech only when it favors liberals

Evidently liberals believe in the First Amendment only when the other side is shut up. Michael Barone of Washington Times calls it "liberal thugocracy" --

Today's liberals seem to be taking their marching orders from other quarters. Specifically, from the college and university campuses where administrators, armed with speech codes, have for years been disciplining and subjecting to sensitivity training any students who dare to utter thoughts that liberals find offensive. The campuses that once prided themselves as zones of free expression are now the least free part of our society.

Not to mention liberals' infatuation of the "fairness doctrine," a weapon against the conservative media, especially talk radio. Liberal talk radio, Air America, crashed and burned because it simply cannot compete against conservative talk radio. Liberal bias permeates the print and television media, so who would want to listen to more of that nonsense on radio? If you can't beat 'em, silence 'em. That's the liberal way.

Obama obstructed Iraq security effort

Is there a presidential candidate more arrogant than Obama??? He's acting like he's already the president. Remember the Obama "presidential seal" gaffe? Or his whirlwind tour of Europe, meeting the European heads of state? Now we learn that he privately urged Iraqi leaders to delay the agreement being negotiated with the White House until next year when a new president is inaugurated.

Here we have a United States senator undermining the efforts of the current administration. This is like the times when a few Democrats went overseas to badmouth the administration. This is like when Nancy Pelosi went overseas to criticize the president. No shame.

Liberals trying hard to paint Palin a radical

Look what happens when Palin starts throwing punches at Obama in regards to his ties with terrorist-turned-educator Bill Ayers... The media comes to the rescue of the Obama campaign. We have Max Blumenthal and David Neiwert of Salon digging into Palin's political past in Alaska and her association with the Alaska Independence Party. The authors write about Mark Chryson, former AIP chairman, and his political friendship with Palin in her Wasilla mayoral bid.

What a desperate attempt by the authors. Comparing Chryson and his associates, who have never harmed anybody in their political goals, to Bill Ayers, who made bombs and targeted government agencies with the intent to kill. Comparing AIP, a legal political party, to the Weather Underground, a domestic terrorist organization.

Allow me to suggest a way for liberals to defuse the Obama-Ayers situation. It's simple. Obama should just issue a press release to renounce Ayers' past and admit his poor judgment in serving on boards with him and befriending him. But instead, Obama and his campaign continue to find excuses, saying that he was just a little boy when Ayers was a terrorist and that he had no knowledge of Ayers' past activities when they server together.

If the Obama campaign is hoping for the media to be his attack dogs, I'm sad to say that the media isn't doing a very good job based on what Salon has put out.

What if it was Obama vs. Huckabee?

I've been a Mike Huckabee fan since he announced his campaign for the GOP nomination, knowing he was a supporter of the FairTax. Plus, how can anyone not like a man endorsed by martial artist badass and actor, Chuck Norris?

McCain's diminishing approval among voters prompts Andrew Romano of Newsweek to ask the question I've had swirling in my head for the past few days: What if Huckabee were the nominee?

The economy is front and center on people's minds now, not the war in Iraq or hunting down terrorists. Joe Sixpack is worried about keeping his job, keeping his family in the house, and keeping his retirement savings. When the Dow closed under 9,000 today, so did McCain's poll results. Battleground states are now showing a hue of blue.

Armed with the FairTax and a track history of helping the middle class, Gov. Huckabee would fare well in the current economic environment and counter Obama's economic plans. He also has a great sense of humor -- imagine pairing Gov. Palin with him. The crowds would be incredible! And with his former profession as a Baptist minister, he'll have a lock on socially conservative votes.

A Palin/Huckabee ticket in 2012 would be so much fun.

Rights that are not

Bill Whittle from the National Review says it perfectly:

Simply this: Constitutional rights protect us from things: intimidation, illegal search and seizure, self-incrimination, and so on. The revolutionary idea of our Founding Fathers was that people had a God-given right to live as they saw fit. Our constitutional rights protect us from the power of government.

But these new so-called “rights” are about the government — who the Founders saw as the enemy — giving us things: food, health care, education... And when we have a right to be given stuff that previously we had to work for, then there is no reason — none — to go and work for them. The goody bag has no bottom, except bankruptcy and ruin.

This is a major difference between conservatism and liberalism. There is always one thing to remember: What the government gives, the government can take it away.

An Obama landslide win (thanks to ACORN)?

Unfortunately for McCain/Palin, several swing states are now leaning Obama/Biden, so much so that many Democratic strategists are predicting a landslide victory. Maybe thanks to ACORN, too, for hounding already-registered voters and boosting registration beyond 100%!

Behind the scenes of campaigns

The candidates always put up their best smiles on the campaign trail. The general public usually sees the best of the candidates. CBS News' Dean Reynolds provides readers a behind-the-scene look at both candidates and campaigns. And he has some poor reviews for Obama and his campaign...

Defending Palin's kind of patriotism

Thomas Friedman of the NYT has a problem with what he calls "Palin's kind of patriotism":

Criticizing Sarah Palin is truly shooting fish in a barrel. But given the huge attention she is getting, you can’t just ignore what she has to say. And there was one thing she said in the debate with Joe Biden that really sticks in my craw. It was when she turned to Biden and declared: “You said recently that higher taxes or asking for higher taxes or paying higher taxes is patriotic. In the middle class of America, which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, that’s not patriotic.”

What an awful statement. Palin defended the government’s $700 billion rescue plan. She defended the surge in Iraq, where her own son is now serving. She defended sending more troops to Afghanistan. And yet, at the same time, she declared that Americans who pay their fair share of taxes to support all those government-led endeavors should not be considered patriotic.

Not so fast, Mr. Friedman! Palin was commenting on Biden's argument of paying higher taxes is patriotic. She never said paying taxes is unpatriotic. It's a shame that the author made an incorrect and unjust assumption to pen his op-ed column.

We all know that taxes are necessary in our society. But what does the government do with our tax money? Earmarks and pork legislation. Welfare programs for people who don't pay taxes. So paying higher taxes isn't patriotic. It's actually irresponsible in our democracy as we the people ought to hold our politicians accountable for every penny.

Ultimately liberalism brought down Wall Street, not terrorists

Wall Street, the stock market, the Twin Towers. These are icons of Western capitalism, or even more specifically, American capitalism. The free market catapulted America into a world power, wealth amassed and opportunities abound. In the eyes of Islamic terrorists, America was corrupting the world -- their world of purity and faith. Our enemies would make many attempts to destroy not only these symbols of America's financial achievement, but also have no regard for human life.

Today capitalism is diseased and the American dream shattered. Al Qaeda couldn't have hoped for a better attack on America and the Western world. But this time terrorists didn't do a thing except watch TV as the news cycles break story after story of bear markets and economic doom.

On February 26, 1993, Ramzi Yousef drove a rental truck into the underground garage of the WTC North Tower then detonated the 1,500 lbs. of explosives. Six people died and thousands injured. The Twin Towers were damaged, but still stood -- an icon still.

Then the 9/11 attacks struck. Al Qaeda terrorists flew passenger airplanes into the Twin Towers, causing them to eventually collapse. Islamic terrorists danced in the streets when they saw the news footage of the towers' downfall. The stock markets closed on that day of infamy and reopened on Sept. 17 to a 7.1% decline. By the end of the week it'd fallen 14%, wiped out nearly $1.4 trillion in value for the week.

However, Wall Street titans still stood firm. Business conducted under a cloud of despair, but there were no major bankruptcies or fire sales.

Now look at where Wall Street stands today. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, IndyMac -- those are just the major institutions. Many other regional and smaller banks have failed. Subprime mortgages are blamed, but the deeper issue lies in how American liberalism influenced Washington policies and the adverse effects trickled down to Main Street from Wall Street.

Liberalism is the disease which sucked the life out of American capitalism. For decades Democrats in Washington have willingly manipulated our free market under the guise of social equality and fairness. We are now just getting a taste of the bitter fruits of their labor...

Obama meddling in Kenyan politics?

Jerome Corsi, the author of The Obama Nation, was scheduled for a press conference in Kenya to announce his findings about the presidential candidate and his connections in the African nation. Fifteen minutes before his conference he was detained by Kenyan immigration and is now going to be deported.

According to WorldNetDaily where Corsi is also a senior staff reporter:

Corsi was set to show Obama and Odinga have been in direct contact since the senator's visit to Kenya in 2006. He was to claim Obama advised Odinga on campaign strategy and helped him raise money in the U.S. for the Kenya presidential campaign.

Corsi was to report Odinga's 2007 presidential campaign strategy called for exploiting anti-Kikuyu tribal sentiments, claiming victory and charging voter fraud even if the campaign knew the election had been legitimately lost. Odinga, Corsi said, also was willing to fan the flames of ethnic tribal tensions and use violence as a last resort by calling for mass action that led to the destruction of properties, injuries, loss of life and the displacement of over 500,000 Kenyans. The purpose was to compel the Electoral Commission of Kenya to declare him the winner or enable him to declare himself the winner by force.

Who is Obama? He is becoming an international man of mystery...

Obama supporters drive homeless to vote

If this doesn't disturb you in this election, then you shouldn't vote... The bigger problem, I suppose, is Ohio's election law where people can register and vote at the same time without proof of residency.

Of course, you wouldn't read much about this in the MSM.

RNC releases fact sheet on Obama-Ayers

Today the GOP posted details of Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers on its website in an effort to bring it into focus within 30 days of the election. Ayers is a self-proclaimed domestic terrorist, and although never convicted, has admitted to the criminal deeds of bombing the Pentagon, NYC Police HQ, and other government offices.

Why Obama associated himself with this man of questionable character is certainly fair game in a presidential campaign. Do Americans care if the president befriended a radical who's unrepentant about hurting innocent lives? I would say so.

But there are those who doesn't think it matters, or at least not anymore. Howard Wolfson declares the race over in The New Republic:

Perpetually fretting Democrats will not want to accept it. The campaigns themselves can't afford to believe it. Many journalists know it but can't say it. And there will certainly be some twists and turns along the way. But take it to a well capitalized bank: Bill Ayers isn't going to save John McCain. The race is over.

The financial crisis on Wall Street has quieted McCain's voice against Obama's foreign policy and national security experience. Main Street voters are now more worried about their pension funds, 401(k) plans, and keeping their jobs.

I hope opinions like Mr. Wolfson's would only energize the conservative voters to turn out on November 4. The race is over when you cast your vote, not when somebody pens an article.

The editors of The New Yorker wants Obama to become president, while spewing the usual leftist arguments against the Bush administration's economic and foreign policies. There's too much fat in their endorsement column. Even a liberal would fall asleep reading that article of redundancy... Yes, we know you have BDS, please move on.

Economic downturn, conservatism downturn

The current economic crisis is hurting McCain/Palin big time. It's not surprising -- throughout history whenever the economy's gone sour, so did the incumbent party's approval.

There's also a lot of gloomy talk about conservatism. John Harwood of the NYT writes:

The first stirrings of conservative ascendance came in the 1950s, after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Coalition won five straight elections. The cultural divisions of the 1960s lent new force to Republican candidates.

But it was stagnating incomes in the 1970s that allowed Ronald Reagan to knit free-market economic policies with cultural and foreign policy conservatism into a Republican revolution. In 1994, Newt Gingrich matched his achievement in Congressional elections. Democratic politicians like Bill Clinton adapted, ending the federal welfare entitlement and declaring the era of big government over.

With the collapse of the markets, the party traditionally identified with big government — the Democrats — has reason to wonder if public sentiment has decisively shifted in its direction. “Are we looking at another inflection point today?” Michael Barone, a political analyst and historian, wrote in National Review last week. “Maybe so.”

He has a point. History doesn't lie, and history is on Obama's side for now.

Palin Derangement Syndrome starts showing its ugly head

How can you tell if you've won an argument? When your opponent can only come up with remarks using words such as "dumb," "stupid," and "idiot." Once a person starts spewing out such words in any debate, you'd know that the person is losing ground and reaching for straws.

Enter Salon's Joe Conason and his piece titled "The dumbing down of the GOP." Let's see what he thinks of Palin...

"...devoid of qualifications..."

"...ideas make no sense..."

"...inability to string together a series of coherent thoughts..."

Did Mr. Conason forget to research who Sarah Palin is? Previously mayor of Wasilla, AK, now governor of Alaska, the largest state in the union, bordering Russia and Canada and rich in oil reserves. And to reach that point in her career, she ran a tight and popular campaign against incumbents of her own Republican party. And by the way, be reminded that Obama has never ran a real campaign in his political life (he pretty much won by default to become U.S. senator for Illinois) and since joining the Senate, started his campaign for presidency. Leftist columnists need to just stay away from any talk about qualifications and abilities when their candidate is Mr. Vote Present Community Organizer.

Oh, the author manages to insult ex-V.P. Dan Quayle, too.

Maybe he is just jealous that more people were interested in watching Palin speak than read his online columns or his new book (#54,749 on Amazon's sales rank). 

MSM starts to defend Obama's tie to terrorist

Gov. Palin is going on the offensive to highlight Obama's tie to Weathermen terrorist Bill Ayers, who's gone on record of being unrepentant of his violent crimes in bombing the NYPD and Pentagon. Can you imagine the media reaction if McCain was found to be even remotely associated with such a person of questionable character? Just look at how the media went cuckoo over him owning more than one house.

Here comes Scott Shane of the NYT to clear things up for readers, mainly reiterating what the Obama campaign has publicly released already: "...the Ayers relationship had been greatly exaggerated by opponents to smear the candidate."

I'm glad Palin is bringing this up in the campaign. The general public needs to know what type of folks Obama used to hang around with. Bill Ayers had committed crimes to harm innocent people and should've gone to prison for it. The fact that Obama even sat on boards with this man to run the same organizations is really unthinkable.

Biden vs. Palin, the poll story

Everyone is looking at poll numbers to gauge the public's reaction to the V.P. debate. Ezra Klein of The American Prospect referenced CNN and CBS polls to claim victory for Obama on both debates: 2-0.

Never mind that Drudge Report readers overwhelmingly think Palin won. FOX News readers also declare Palin the winner.

Another Obama friend in trouble

The FBI has raided the office of Will County executive Larry Walsh, a former Illinois state senator and is a friend of Barack Obama.

Another story you wouldn't see on the MSM.

Biden vs. Palin, the buzz after

Here are some post-debate commentaries from pundits of old and new media...

Adam Nagourney of the NYT practically yawned through the debate based on his analysis. I've learned through the years to believe the opposite of whatever the NYT publishes.

Peggy Noonan of the WSJ gives Palin a better grade and offer her POV from being a Reagan speechwriter.

Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard calls it a comeback for Palin.

Michelle Malkin thinks "Sarah made history. Biden is history." Palin did a great job, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Biden. Never underestimate the opponent, right?

Biden vs. Palin, round one

Let's face it: tonight's debate was all about Sarah Palin than Joe Biden.

We all knew Biden could handle it. The uncertainty was surrounding Palin after the MSM and blogosphere heavily criticized her lame Katie Couric interview. But I think after tonight's debate, Gov. Palin passed the test.

She had presence. You couldn't tell by her appearance that she was a newbie in the Washington political scene. You could tell she was fresh, somewhat different, but she presented herself as any seasoned politician could. She became more comfortable and confident as the debate went on. And she looked happy to be on stage arguing with a career senator.

She was a good communicator, always talked to the camera, unlike Biden who seemed to only acknowledge the moderator. She was confident enough to be on the offensive, pointing out on several occasions that her opponent simply cannot move beyond the past eight years of Bush and that the Obama/Biden plan for Iraq is equivalent to raising a "white flag of surrender." She echoed Ronald Reagan's sentiment on big government and freedom, quoting the former president: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." Every chance she got she contrasted her partner against the opposing ticket: tax cuts vs. tax hikes, victory in Iraq vs. withdrawal, bureaucracy vs. reform.

She knew a lot of the attacks would come from association with the current administration, so she made sure those blows didn't stick. In fact, she turned them against Biden, almost insinuating that he's just an old broken record filled with BDS tirades.

What remains to be seen is how independents and undecided voters view this debate. But for those McCain/Palin supporters who were a little worried about her performance, I think they could go to sleep knowing she did well. There's always tomorrow morning to read all the analyses there is...

Teachers union encourages members to wear Obama button

United Federation of Teachers has been handing out Obama/Biden buttons for members to wear, sparking a complaint from the Department of Education. The DOE has a long-standing policy of not mixing education and politics. The UFT will challenge the DOE decision.

I'm all for the teachers' right to free speech and wear buttons for a cause within the confines of school policy. In this case, the UFT already publicly endorsed a candidate and are encouraging its members -- public school teachers -- to promote its political agenda, even during class. Public schools are funded by taxpayers and should not be a place for politics. 

Bernhard show cancelled at shelter

Unfunny comedian Sandra Bernhard has been told not to show up to headline the annual benefit of Rosie's Place, a women's shelter in Boston. Previously in a one-woman show in Washington, she had remarked that V.P. candidate Palin would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers."

Exactly. I fail to see the comedy in that too. Buh-bye, Sandra Blowhard.

Read the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act

Readers, I urge you to take a look at the revised $700 billion EESA of 2008. If you read carefully you'll even find tax breaks for Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands' rum excise tax and economic development credit for American Samoa.

Yes, I'm with you: What do those provisions have anything to do with the current crisis?

House Republicans not to blame

The House rejection of the bailout plan sure has the left wound up and ready to fire. Take Thomas Friedman of the NYT, for example:

...I’ve been frightened for my country only a few times in my life: In 1962, when, even as a boy of 9, I followed the tension of the Cuban missile crisis; in 1963, with the assassination of J.F.K.; on Sept. 11, 2001; and on Monday, when the House Republicans brought down the bipartisan rescue package.

Oh, don't be so easily frightened! How can you compare what's happening in Wall Street to the Cuban missile crisis, the JFK assassination, or 9/11?! A tanking stock market and people losing their homes aren't even close to those national crises we'd endured.

Besides, what he fails to mention is the highly partisan speech given by Speaker Nancy Pelosi before the vote. Don't blame the House Republicans, Mr. Friedman. It was the Democratic speaker who injected partisanship into the ordeal. Everyone was onboard until the speaker ranted about "failed Bush economic policies."

And obviously Mr. Friedman doesn't quite grasp the role of a representative in the House. Otherwise he wouldn't have written

...We have House members, many of whom I suspect can’t balance their own checkbooks, rejecting a complex rescue package because some voters, whom I fear also don’t understand, swamped them with phone calls. I appreciate the popular anger against Wall Street, but you can’t deal with this crisis this way.

Excuse me? House members are elected to serve their constituents, and if the voters swamp them with phone calls to voice their opinion on a bill, then it's the House member's responsibility to reflect the will of his or her constituency. It's not about anger against Wall Street. It's about fairness in dealing with the problem.

V.P. debate moderator is pro-Obama

Gwen Ifill of PBS' "Washington Week" has a pro-Obama book coming out and the McCain campaign didn't even know about it!

She should be disqualified to be the impartial moderator for tomorrow's vice presidential debate.