2008 US Presidential Race, Obama vs McCain

[cityboi]

Obama truely is a once in a life time. I always knew how he inspired so many people around the country but its shocking to see how inspiring he is WORLDWIDE. Obama spoke in Germany today and police estimated that more than 200,000!! people came to watch him speek and that tops the 75,000 that came to see him speak in Washington State. No presidential candidate in the history of the United States has had that many people come to their campaign speeches. You can find photos of him and the crowd on the CNN website. Its a sea of people and they go back to the horizon. McCain would be lucky just to fill a room up with a hundred people.

[monsoon]

It was a staggering number of people who came to hear his message. Obama promised to repair the damage cause to US/Europe relations caused by Bush/Cheney/Rumsfield and the GOP.

[cpeakesqr]

Obama Shifts Drilling Position

He's being pushed into a corner with all the disinformation and the Republican antics going on.

[Charlotte_native]

Obama Shifts Drilling Position

He's being pushed into a corner with all the disinformation and the Republican antics going on.

[cpeakesqr]

Seems a new name has been thrown around for Obama's VP... Chet Edwards (D Texas).

[Charlotte_native]

If people in my office are any indication of an overall reaction to the Paris / Brittney ad to Republicans, there is a backfire effect. I just finished listening to two ladies i work with that are die-hard GOP. They both were pissed, maybe because they are females (?) regarding this ad. I didn't speak at all, just listened, but they seem to feel this is somehow a slap at the girls in the ad and women in general, as well as the fact that it doesn't really 'say' anything about either candidate. They are, by the way, fans of both Paris Hilton and Brittney Spears -- i guess no one in the McCain Campaign (nor myself) thought about what their fans who are Republicans would think of this comparison.

Was an interesting 'fly on the wall' conversation to hear to say the least.

[cityboi]

There is serious speculation that Obama's running mate will be Indiana governor Evan Bayh. accourding to a close Obama source, they want to anncounce who the running mate is before the olympics and that they would do so within 72 hours. Obama will be making an "unusual" stop for a "major" speech in Indiana Wednesday and Evan Bayh will be in attendance. Consider this, Bush carried the state of Indiana in 2004. An Obama/Bayh ticket will likely win the state of Indiana. Bayh is very popular in Indiana. Bayh also makes sense for Obama because both have so much in common and they are good friends. Plus I think Obama needs to have a governor on the ticket. Bayh would not only have a big impact on Indiana but he could help Obama carry other states in that region of the country like Ohio which is a must for democrats.

TYPE IN www.ObamaBayh08.com and see what you get.......

[Lowerdeck]

There is serious speculation that Obama's running mate will be Indiana governor Evan Bayh. accourding to a close Obama source, they want to anncounce who the running mate is before the olympics and that they would do so within 72 hours. Obama will be making an "unusual" stop for a "major" speech in Indiana Wednesday and Evan Bayh will be in attendance. Consider this, Bush carried the state of Indiana in 2004. An Obama/Bayh ticket will likely win the state of Indiana. Bayh is very popular in Indiana. Bayh also makes sense for Obama because both have so much in common and they are good friends. Plus I think Obama needs to have a governor on the ticket. Bayh would not only have a big impact on Indiana but he could help Obama carry other states in that region of the country like Ohio which is a must for democrats.

TYPE IN www.ObamaBayh08.com and see what you get.......

[Neo]

I thought that this was interesting. It is a 'tag cloud' of words used in the latest speeches by Obama and McCain. Obama is on the top (black background) and is from his Townhall speech in Elkhart, Indiana. McCain is on the bottom (white background) and is from his speech in Jackson, Ohio. This is a great way to visually see what topics the candidates care most about...that's something that is sometimes lost in the puff politicians seem to pile on during speeches.

Thanks to Thomas Hawk for putting this together!

[monsoon]

Not sure of the relevance, but John Edwards has finally admitted to having an affair while his wife was being treated for cancer. This rumor had been floating around on the internet for the last few weeks. Even though he made payments of around $100,000 to the woman, he is denying that he is the father of her child though rumors persist this is their love child.

Even more interesting, but not being reported, it is rumored the Clintons found out about this situation some time ago and pressured Edwards to get out of the race, or else. He did withdraw abruptly after saying that he was going to stay in it to the end.

I am going to go out on a limb and say his once promising political career is done. The democrats are going to drop him like a hot potato and it would be my bet he won't be anywhere to be seen at the convention in a couple of weeks. And amazing fall for one who was the VP candidate for the party in 2004.

[kayman]

Not sure of the relevance, but John Edwards has finally admitted to having an affair while his wife was being treated for cancer. This rumor had been floating around on the internet for the last few weeks. Even though he made payments of around $100,000 to the woman, he is denying that he is the father of her child though rumors persist this is their love child.

Even more interesting, but not being reported, it is rumored the Clintons found out about this situation some time ago and pressured Edwards to get out of the race, or else. He did withdraw abruptly after saying that he was going to stay in it to the end.

I am going to go out on a limb and say his once promising political career is done. The democrats are going to drop him like a hot potato and it would be my bet he won't be anywhere to be seen at the convention in a couple of weeks. And amazing fall for one who was the VP candidate for the party in 2004.

[Justadude]

I am going to go out on a limb and say his once promising political career is done. The democrats are going to drop him like a hot potato and it would be my bet he won't be anywhere to be seen at the convention in a couple of weeks. And amazing fall for one who was the VP candidate for the party in 2004.

[Charlotte_native]

I am going to go out on a limb and say his once promising political career is done. The democrats are going to drop him like a hot potato and it would be my bet he won't be anywhere to be seen at the convention in a couple of weeks. And amazing fall for one who was the VP candidate for the party in 2004.

[JDC]

Not sure of the relevance, but John Edwards has finally admitted to having an affair while his wife was being treated for cancer. This rumor had been floating around on the internet for the last few weeks. Even though he made payments of around $100,000 to the woman, he is denying that he is the father of her child though rumors persist this is their love child.

[monsoon]

Hillary Clinton's campaign is going to have her name put into nomination at the Democratic convention. It had been expected that she would not do this but it appears that, at least for now, there is going to be a vote amongst the delegates for either her or Obama.

[krazeeboi]

^From what I've read, that move is more of a conciliatory gesture and just may help in Obama getting disaffected Hillary supporters to come on board.

Anybody catch the "civic forum" last night hosted by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church of California? I thought it was pretty interesting. The crowd, mostly consisting of evangelical Christians, was definitely an advantage for McCain, and his "shoot-straight-from-the-hip" answers did make him look more authoritative on the surface. Obama was more thoughtful and well-reasoned with his responses--which I like, and it also looked like Warren was a bit irritated with that--but I can see where he should probably cut down on the nuances just a bit in order to reach a broader audience. It reduces the charges that Obama is "dancing around" the questions, which he isn't, as he directly answered every question; he just tends to also give some context to the question that might not have been included in the question itself. I think it's a shame though that many people consider thoughtful, well-reasoned responses to be a handicap--even when they criticize Obama for his mantras of "hope" and "change." He just can't win with some people.

[kayman]

^From what I've read, that move is more of a conciliatory gesture and just may help in Obama getting disaffected Hillary supporters to come on board.

Anybody catch the "civic forum" last night hosted by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church of California? I thought it was pretty interesting. The crowd, mostly consisting of evangelical Christians, was definitely an advantage for McCain, and his "shoot-straight-from-the-hip" answers did make him look more authoritative on the surface. Obama was more thoughtful and well-reasoned with his responses--which I like, and it also looked like Warren was a bit irritated with that--but I can see where he should probably cut down on the nuances just a bit in order to reach a broader audience. It reduces the charges that Obama is "dancing around" the questions, which he isn't, as he directly answered every question; he just tends to also give some context to the question that might not have been included in the question itself. I think it's a shame though that many people consider thoughtful, well-reasoned responses to be a handicap--even when they criticize Obama for his mantras of "hope" and "change." He just can't win with some people.

[Lowerdeck]

For a lack of a better way of saying this: does anyone else seem to have a problem with the fact that there is a debate being held by a pastor in his megachurch?

Last I knew, America was not a Christian nation. And as a non-Christian, seeing these two in a church talking to a pastor in front of evangelicals trying to buy their support ... huge turnoff to me. Couldn't we just have a forum with a secular setting instead?

[Gusterfell]

The crowd, mostly consisting of evangelical Christians, was definitely an advantage for McCain, and his "shoot-straight-from-the-hip" answers did make him look more authoritative on the surface. Obama was more thoughtful and well-reasoned with his responses--which I like, and it also looked like Warren was a bit irritated with that--but I can see where he should probably cut down on the nuances just a bit in order to reach a broader audience.

[kayman]

For a lack of a better way of saying this: does anyone else seem to have a problem with the fact that there is a debate being held by a pastor in his megachurch?

Last I knew, America was not a Christian nation. And as a non-Christian, seeing these two in a church talking to a pastor in front of evangelicals trying to buy their support ... huge turnoff to me. Couldn't we just have a forum with a secular setting instead?

[krazeeboi]

Did this forum give anyone else a sense of deja vu? McCain's short, black-and-white, all-or-nothing answers smacked of George Bush's past campaigns, while Obama's more nuanced, rambling style reminded me of John Kerry and Al Gore.

[Amber]

I would like to see Obama win but I'm afraid that McCain might make it in the end.

[Charlotte_native]

I'd think most evangelicals already have their minds made up to vote for whomever the GOP nominates in every election. They haven't been warm to McCain in the past, now they suddenly are. That being said, I don't think Obama had anything to lose with this type of event. The die hards aren't going to convert to him, but perhaps some moderates who watched will. I doubt there were many who watched it (we only did for a few minutes, like someone said above, the overly religious questions were a huge turn-off) who where Obama supporters that will switch to McCain.

[Charlotteman]

For a lack of a better way of saying this: does anyone else seem to have a problem with the fact that there is a debate being held by a pastor in his megachurch?

Last I knew, America was not a Christian nation. And as a non-Christian, seeing these two in a church talking to a pastor in front of evangelicals trying to buy their support ... huge turnoff to me. Couldn't we just have a forum with a secular setting instead?

[Gusterfell]

Back to the question Warren asked about evil. After having thought about it, I can see how that question was tailor-made for McCain, as one of the options given for dealing with evil was "negotiating" with it. That inherently made the question one about terrorism, which is a rather narrow definition of evil. Obama's past experiences as a community organizer and civil rights lawyer gives him insight into evil as it exists within our own borders, whereas for McCain and typical conservatives, the notion is that America is a perfect nation that can do no wrong and evil is primarily found outside of our borders.