• Ok, McCain’s speech isn’t the shot out of the park that Palin delivered last night, but its a good solid double off the wall… #

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Popularity: unranked [?]

In case you missed it last night, Obama made his acceptance speech last night and while it reads to be a fairly good speech and the critics have all had nothing but praise, as I read through it, it reeked of the same old Democratic rhetoric that they’ve been spewing for years. Promising change, promising more government interference in your life and promising more wealth redistribution. The funny thing is that he wasn’t too specific in how he’s going to pay for it all.

I won’t go in to the fact that its not the Government’s job to provide for me and my own, nor is it expected. The problem lies in the fact that as a country we’ve strayed from the beliefs that helped form this country more than two centuries ago. The willingness to work hard has been thrown away and its become an “Its my right” country.

It wasn’t unexpected that the GOP was spinning the speech as soon as it started. The Dems will be doing the same thing next week in Minnesota. Its expected. They managed to do a good job poking holes in the promises (its not the government’s job to help automakers, the Japanese and European automakers aren’t having a problem at all) Obama was making. It will be interesting to see (if he makes it to the office) how many of those promises actually materialize. For S&G if you want to see how Obama voted while in the senate (he missed more than 50% of the votes this year) head over to Project Vote Smart.

I did like the fact that McCain congratulated Obama on the historic feat he accomplished (he did manage to become the first black man nominated for the presidency) and the fact that the acceptance speech was on the anniversary of King’s I have a Dream speech.

In other FLIPPING AWESOME news, McCain is set to announce that Sarah Palin is going to be his VP Candidate. She’s a relatively new governor for the State of Alaska and she seems to bring a lot to the table as a candidate. It will be interesting to see exactly how this plays out and while I didn’t watch more than five minutes of the DNCC, I’ll be tuned in to the GOP Convention every night.

Does McCain's Choice of Palin as VP make you more or less likely to vote for him?

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Popularity: 46% [?]

Day two of the DNC Convention is under way in Denver (lovely city! Shame about the Liberals though) and I have to wonder (as many outside the liberal mindset do) if the Dems should be feeling any buyer’s remorse yet or if that will set in after the close of the convention on Friday. Thousands of liberals will wake up Friday morning with that cheap wine hangover haze wondering what led them to sleep with the campus fatty.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that they’re pulling behind a virtual unknown in the realm of politics. Another issue may be the fact that his VP candidate has publicly said that Obama is not ready to be President. Then there’s the fact that as far as the two of them (Obama/Biden) go, there is little difference ideologically (they have almost identical views on everything) and there isn’t much for the moderate Democrat to stand behind.

Biden’s track record is proven and he’s fairly well liked inside the beltway. He knows his way around Washington politics and has even made a run a the office himself. He’s fairly well suited for the position. Obama on the other hand, may be little more then fancy rhetoric. Can anyone name *ANYTHING* productive that he has done during his tenure in the senate? ANYONE??

Popularity: 74% [?]

Despite his claims earlier in the week that he “isn’t the guy”, it appears that Joe Biden is in fact the guy. Its interesting to note that Obama choose someone who just a year ago said that “Barack Obama is not ready to be president”. What prompted the change? Well, maybe the fact that he’s now Number one to Obama’s Captain Pickard. Maybe the fact that he thinks Obama may not last long in the office and this is his chance to become President. Who knows.

What is apparent is that this move by the Obama Camp provides some much needed Foreign policy experience to a group that was lacking. Its known that Obama does not have the strongest (or any for that matter) FP background, being a 2nd year Senator from Illinois and this adds some much needed depth to his campaign. Is it enough?

A poll earlier this week had McCain up by 5 points, however at this point in the race it could go either way and I’m not too thrilled about either main party candidate (did you know that Bob Barr is running?) and I’m getting tired of picking the lesser of two evils. Obama’s Social Welfare programs do not bode well for the country (bordering on bringing mass socialism to the States) and I’m not too keen on another 4 years of the same old GOP drivel.

Maybe if a democrat is elected President, the rest of the country will wake up and realize the mistake they made by giving control of the House to the Dems. Things seemed to work remarkably well when Clinton was in the White House and the GOP held the House. Unfortunately, I think that this political season will have too big an effect on the future of America.

Does Obama's Choice of Biden for VP make you more likely to vote for him?

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Popularity: 81% [?]

Popularity: 43% [?]

Sometime last week, Obama unveiled a new “logo” while he was speaking to the Democratic leaders. Surprisingly enough, this logo didn’t last more than a week. Hailed by Obama supporters as “insightful” and “inspiring”, the new logo took on the current presidential seal and made many question the reasoning behind it.

When I saw it, and when I read an email floating around about how he would like to change the National Anthem, it made me really question what else he would change about our country and the answers I came up with scared me.

Its true, he studied Marxism in college (anyone who took a Poli Sci course did) but he took more from the reading than most. Its also true, that he doesn’t wear the Flag pin or put his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is sung. He wants to see “health care for all” something the government shouldn’t be controlling at all and in a time when many Americans are looking for new and inventive ways to be able to afford gas, food and shelter, he wants to increase the funding for many government programs by raising taxes.

But the problem with Obama isn’t necessarily the fact that he wants to do all of these things, its nice to see a candidate that wants to see things done rather than toe the party line (oh, wait, thats what he’s doing!). Don’t get me wrong, McCain isn’t too much better in that regard either and its a tough call for me as to who to vote for this November. But if it comes down to voting for a Senator who’s been proven in both battle and the Senate or one who is still considered a relative new comer to the DC scene, I may just have to move to the Cayman Islands.

Popularity: 11% [?]

It would seem that the democratic candidates are doing a better job at destroying their party then the GOP ever could. I haven’t written much about politics (or anything lately) since Huckabee was knocked out of the race, but the way Clinton and Obama go after each other, they seem to be doing little more than dividing the liberal base more than before.

Much to the point is the fact that Obama is (for all practical purposes) the nominee, yet Clinton still refuses to acknowledge that or step aside and let him move on. Bill Clinton was on record the other day talking about the fact that Clinton supporters are more against Obama then before. While this means some good news for McCain, its only good if they actually come out to vote. Lets see how long this infighting in the Democrat party can last. Maybe it will take some heat off the general election.

Either way, its a good thing that the popular vote does not decide the president…..

Popularity: 18% [?]

While one party stands united behind a candidate (Poor Mike!) the other is decisively split on who they think will best represent them. Unfortunately for us, that means more bickering between the two Democratic (socialist) candidates for at least another month. I was looking at the math and it seems this race could go on for months, or at least right up to the DNC. It’ll be interesting to watch, but will it help or hurt the Democrats over the long haul in this election?

I could see it going either way. The good thing for the Republicans is that they can unify behind one person well before the GOP meets to formally nominate their delegate. This unity in the party can only help strengthen the resolve the GOP should have to make right the mistakes of the past 12 years (since 1996) and to forge a cohesive vision for where this country needs to be. I’d like that vision to include more personal freedom, changes to the tax structure that include less personal and business income taxes, and an overhaul of the Social Security Admin and the health care system in this country from the current system to a privitised system.

For the democrats to unify, it may be a little harder unless both Clinton and Obama end up on the party ticket (something Clinton has alluded to, but I think that Obama might have an issue with it). It seems that people either love or loath the candidates this year. If you love Clinton, you dislike Obama, if you love Obama you dislike Clinton. I feel the Dems have a longer way to go to reach party unity (no matter how hard Howard Dean tries) in this election cycle. Not to mention, that they haven’t delivered on any of their promises either…

Popularity: 40% [?]

Almost 6 months after Obama appeared in the Halloween edition of Saturday Night Live (SNL) Hillary made a stop on the set and met face to face with her twin played by Amy Poehler. Clinton was on in response to two sketches the troupe has done now based on some of the more recent debates where the anchors seem to give preferential treatment to Obama and play hardball with Clinton.

While I agree she does have a bit of a point, that it seems unfair that they’ve chosen their Golden Boy and this time around its Obama, I do think that if she really wanted to have any affect on it, she should have made an attempt earlier in the season to make an appearance (Granted, the strike took SNL off line for a while).

For instance, Huckabee is a favorite on almost all the late night talk shows, making appearances on Colbert, The Daily Show, Late Night with Conan, The Tonight Show and others. This appearance by Hillary almost seems to be a last ditch effort to gain votes coming in to the crucial Ohio and Texas primaries tomorrow. But who am I to judge??

On another note, I seem to have made up some of my PR loss from the fall when I dropped from a 4 to a big, fat zero. Now I’m sitting happy at a 3 while Gruntled is still an Oh!

Popularity: 33% [?]

Tomorrow is Super. No, really, in addition to being Mardi Gras, its a super Tuesday tomorrow as 20 states take to the ballot boxes to help choose the next president and while both parties think they have their chosen ones pretty much chosen (Obama and Mccain), I’m here to urge you to take a different tact when voting tomorrow.

I’d like to ask you to consider supporting Mike Huckabee tomorrow on one issue. The FairTax. Mike is the ONLY candidate in either party who supports this revolutionary new way of taxes, which ensures that EVERYONE (rich, poor, legal or illegal) pays their share of taxes. The fairtax could be considered the “Great Equalizer” of our time and the best way to get the information out there about it is to let those politicians know we want someone who’s serious about it.

If you’re like me and you live in a state with open primaries (I can vote in either party tomorrow) and you hadn’t decided who to vote for yet on either side (lets face it, NONE of the candidates really have anything new and exciting to offer) please consider Mike Huckabee and the FairTax. Please?

EDIT: I got home tonight and there were THREE messages on the Answering Machine from Romney for President. This is on top of the four we received over the weekend. If he wanted my vote, he definitely went about it the wrong way…

Popularity: 36% [?]

Next up in the race to be the next leader of the Not So Free World is Michigan. The polls opened in MI today to a somewhat limited Democratic side (the DNC is punishing MI for moving their primary by taking all of their delegates away) with only Clinton listed on the ballot there while the GOP has a full slate of contenders (though, Thompson, Guliani and Paul are visibly lacking in the state) listed. Mit Romney is looking to gain some ground here as many have guessed that another second or third place finish in the motor state would leave him questioning whether or not he wants to continue.

Its interesting that by now, the Democratic side is almost paired down to the final three, while the GOP hopefuls are looking past what has happened to states with later primaries to gain ground (Thompson is looking to the Carolinas and most of the south, while guliani is looking to Florida and some of the other red states). It definately proves how split the republican party is going in to this election and I think if Ron Paul were smart, he’d drop out of the GOP race and focus on gaining a third party nomination. Of course whether or not he could do anything with that nomination would be a stretch.

The only thing I know for sure is that the American people have not found one consistant leader from either party to put their faith behind. If the election were today, and you had to vote for one of the six leaders, who could you vote for with out feeling the need to go in to a drug treatment program??

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Popularity: 42% [?]

I’ve found the pres/vp combo that I’d vote for in heartbeat if only it would happen in real life. Mike Huckabee (the GOP candidate who currently has my support) was on The Colbert Report again last night and he reaffirmed his plan to make Steven his VP if he gets the nomination. While I’m sure its little more than a publicity stunt, I honestly think it’d be good for the country to have someone in office like Colbert who doesn’t seem to take the whole process too seriously (remember his bid in South Carolina?).

Of course if elected, I bet we see a huge rush on addiction treatment centers as people try to figure out if its all just a bad drug induced dream or not.

Would you vote for a Huckabee/Colbert ticket??

Popularity: 31% [?]

12:01 am on January 8th, 2007, New Hampshire was the first state to hold an official Primary in the presidential season. Sure, Iowa had their caucuses last week, but come on, standing in a corner is hardly the way to pick the future president of the country is it? New Hampshire is generally the first official primary in the country (its been that way by tradition since 1920 and by state law since the 70’s, though I don’t see how a state can decide its going to be first. Thats like the last place qualifier at a nascar event deciding to take the choice poll position).

Its not that important of a primary as far as delegates go (come on, this ISNew Hampshire we’re talking about) but the important part of the NH primary is the media exposure that a candidate gets from the event. Most sub-third place finishers will most likely begin their exit after today’s primary while the two or three main players in either party may fight for more of their life. If Obama can finish strong here beating out Clinton (or even if Hillary looses to John Edwards), the Clinton camp will either have to ramp up their fight for super tuesday or take a good look at their strategy and decide to go home. Its seldom that a candidate looses the party’s nomination after taking both Iowa and New Hampshire (and another loss here would take a lot of wind out of HRC’s sails).

On the Right side of the aisle, if McCain can stage a coup and come out ahead of Romney, then the Mittster will have to step his game up a tad as well as he would have suffered two early losses in Key states. Same for Rudy. Fred isn’t expecting to do well until he hits the southern half of the country, but more than anything, I think I’d like to see him drop out and endorse Huckabee who could do well with anything above a third place finish in the Granite state.

All in all its going to be an exciting day. By the way, if you’re in Georgia and you did not register to vote before Yesterday, you’re out of luck for the Primary coming up in February.

Popularity: 41% [?]

So the caucuses were good for some and not so good for others. On the side of the donkey we have two senators (dodd and biden) dropping out of the race as Obama edges past Edwards and Clinton for the Iowa delegates. Whats surprising is that Edwards beat out Hillary Clinton for second. The talking heads are calling this a “debate between change and experience” this go round. Personally, I think people are beginning to see Hillary Clinton for what she is, and I hope it continues to New Hampshire.

The GOP pushed Huckabee to the front of the pack and gave him the nod and its my hope that he’s able to parlay this early win in to a string of them. I think an Obama vs. Huckabee general election in November could prove interesting and beneficial for the country. They both offer different views from previous holders of the office and most importantly, they both seem to know whats on the minds of the average person. Of which, there are a lot. It makes me wish I had real estate in NH and some of the early primary states so I could vote now, but I guess I’ll wait my turn. Georgia votes in February.

Caucus Outcome (top 3 in each party)

Democrat

1. Obama - 38%
2. Edwards - 30%
3. Clinton - 29%

GOP

1. Huckabee - 34%
2. Romney - 25%
3. Thompson - 13%
4. McCain - 13%

Popularity: 43% [?]

They don’t send out kids party invitations to people in either party reminding them about the Caucuses on January 3rd, people just know about them. If you’ve turned on a radio, tv or picked up a paper today then chances are fairly good you know about them as well. The opening of the political voting season is brought in with friends and neighbors meeting in schools, churches, halls and other meeting areas for a chance to literally stand up and be counted.

According to CNN the democratic caucuses actually require a person “voting” for one of the candidates to stand in the appropriate corner of the room for the candidate, while the GOP Caucuses take a secret ballot. I prefer the secret ballot as opposed to standing in my guy’s corner, after all, one of the two things you don’t discus with friends is politics.

It will be interesting to see who from the Democrat side walks away triumphant (Obama, Edwards and Clinton are in a tight three way race) and I’m even more excited to see which GOP frontrunner takes it and whether or not Thompson can garner enough votes to stay alive in the race.

Popularity: 41% [?]

Apparently, people like Mike because he looks like your average medical supplies salesman from the midwest (I don’t know if there are a lot of Med Supplies salesmen there, it just seems like something they’d have in the midwest, doesn’t it?). He took the opportunity over the holiday weekend to go pheasant hunting. Apparently the group he was with bagged three birds and he even snagged one of the little buggers himself quipping:

“Don’t get in my way,” he said while pointing to the three dead birds.
“This is what happens…You vote for me, you live. You don’t…there you go.”

Got to love a guy with a sense of humor (of course, the shotgun he’s holding helps a little too). The media sees his rise in the polls as an effect of his likability. He’s the favorite uncle everyone has when they’re growing up, as opposed to the really old one who continually tells you how it was when he was younger.

Popularity: 27% [?]