Joe Biden For President

 

I haven’t written much here in the last year.   The Trump administration has been a steady stream of craziness and I realized early on I had no hope of keeping up with writing about everything wrong with it.

With the 2020 presidential election a week away, I thought it was time to help anyone who was still undecided to decide.

Vote for Joe Biden.   Joe Biden will bring stability and sanity back to our government.

Let me outline what’s wrong with the current Trump administration. If you are still undecided, this is a clue that  something is wrong with the current administration, otherwise it would be an easy choice for you to vote for them, right?    The things that are wrong with the Trump administration – and Donald Trump himself – are glaring, in my opinion.  First and foremost,  his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been pathetic, and now, as of this writing, over 225,000 Americans are dead from it and overall cases in the U.S. are nearing 9 million.   Had Donald Trump not minimized the risk early on, had he directed the country as a whole on a shut down quickly, had he closed off international travel faster, had he not ignored the pandemic playbook already put in place by the Obama administration - just to name a few things -we would not be in this predicament now.    If you’re complaining that your children  are still learning remotely, if you still must wear a mask in public, if you’re still required to socially distance, if you’re still having trouble getting supplies, and if your business is still trying to recover from being shut down months ago or worse yet, has closed completely, blame Donald Trump and his administration.    By the way, Trump himself  had COVID and he had at the White House in late September that is now called a super-spreader event. 

There’s much more wrong with Trump and his administration than just COVID.  There is the constant stream of hateful, childish, and inaccurate tweets from the president.  I would be here for days just outlining the falsehoods spoken by the president.   Even social media, such as Twitter, is flagging some of Trump’s tweets because they are misleading.  What does this say about a president?   Trump has fanned the flames of hatred in the U.S. and I don’t think this country can handle even another year of his kind of division between the American people.  I can’t even begin to outline how the United States is viewed in other countries, other than we’ve become and international joke.   If Donald Trump can’t handle tough questions from the likes of Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes (he walked out of the interview), he surely can’t handle tough negotiations with world leaders.

Joe Biden will bring stability, respectability, and rationality to our government.   Will things be perfect right out of the gate? Probably not.  There is a lot to fix after the last four years of the Trump administration.  But one thing is clear, 4 more years of what Donald Trump has been doing will fix nothing.  Trump has had 4 years to keep his promises to “Make America Great Again” and Trump has failed miserably.    The only thing that will help us out of this mess is  Joe Biden.  I urge you to vote for change and for a healthy American by casting your vote for Joe Biden.

 

 

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We Need Health Care Reform – Not Angry Mobs

It seems every day there are more news reports of angry mobs at some senator’s town hall meeting. While I am all for free speech, I am for free, rational speech, not free, angry and ignorant speech.

This country is in dire need of health care reform. There are many poor American citizens that can barely afford to feed their families and pay for a roof over their heads, much less get medical care. Too many people are denied medical coverage because of pre-existing conditions. And for those people who are employed and/or who are paying for their medical insurance, the costs have been rocketing upward each year, with no real improvements in the type of coverage they are receiving.

The Obama health care plan is not about socializing medicine, as the angry mobs want people to believe. It is not about making euthanasia easier for the elderly, or denying the elderly care, as the angry mobs want you to believe. It is not about taking away your choice for coverage and for doctors as the angry mobs want you to believe.

This is about providing a health care option for those people that don’t already have coverage. It’s about helping to reduce medical costs and encouraging people to live healthier lives to prevent their illnesses. It’s about getting rid of loopholes that, for example, allow insurance companies to deny covering any illness that is considered “pre-existing.” It's about encouraging competition between insurance companies to help lower costs.

The government doesn’t want to take over the entire health care system. Yet these angry mobs are intent on trying to make people believe that the government wants to control whether people get health care, what kind of care they get, or even if people live or die. These mobs are trying to prey on peoples’ fears. Don’t buy into it.

I am not saying the plan is perfect, and I do have concerns about funding. But I would rather do my homework and research the issues, and ask my questions or voice my concerns rationally. My opinion is that rational questions often get rational answers. The angry mob mentality gets one nowhere.

Information about the Obama/Biden Health Care Plan can be found here.


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McCain Campaign: The Smell of Desperation

Probably one of the lowest blows to come out of the McCain campaign is Sarah Palin's accusation where she attempts to create a connection with Barack Obama and a former member of the Weather Underground, William Ayers. But this tactic may backfire.

According to CBS News:

“Before her campaign plane took off for a Sunday fundraiser here, CBS News asked Sarah Palin to respond to an analysis by the Associated Press that concluded her attempts to establish a friendship between Barack Obama and Weather Underground member William Ayers were “unsubstantiated and carried a racially tinged subtext that John McCain himself may come to regret.”

"The Associated Press is wrong,” Palin said. “The comments are about an association that has been known but hasn't been talked about, and I think it’s fair to talk about where Barack Obama kicked off his political career, in the guy's living room.”

Palin was referring to an event that Ayers hosted for Obama early in the Illinois senator’s career. But the AP notes, “No evidence shows they were ‘pals’ or even close when they worked on community boards years ago and Ayers hosted a political event for Obama early in his career.”

Associated Press goes on to say that Palin’s comments are “a deliberate attempt to smear Obama” and “exaggerated at best if not outright false”

With McCain rapidly losing ground in the polls in swing states, apparently he is becoming desperate by trying to make this an issue. What is even more pathetic is that McCain now seems to be relegating his dirty work to the inexperienced newbie Sarah Palin, who at this point seems to be willing to parrot anything that she’s told by the campaign.

The Obama campaign isn’t taking any of this lying down. Later today, the Obama campaign will be releasing a 13-minute documentary about the Keating Five scandal called "Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis". I have some very personal recollections of the Keating scandal because one of my banks was affected by it, so I followed the issue very closely when it happened. Frankly, I don’t think John McCain should be trying to point fingers about a person’s association with someone, as flimsy as it was, when McCain’s own past has the Keating scandal.

On the lighter side, if you haven’t seen the Saturday Nigh Live version of the Biden/Palin debate, here it is:




PS: I can't stand MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, but I have to admit his fact checking of Sarah Palin's statements at the debate was very interesting. The first two minutes gives you most of it. Watch and listen:



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Palin’s Debate Performance: Style over Substance

After watching the Vice Presidential debate with Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, the differences in each candidate became obvious.


Biden’s “bar” to measure his performance was set very high.
Palin’s “bar” to measure her performance was set very low.

Biden would focus on the issues and John McCain.
Palin would focus on the cameras and appealing to Joe six-pack and hockey moms.

Biden’s responses seem to be effortless and drawn from experience.
Palin’s responses seemed rehearsed (almost memorized) and shallow.

Biden would smile and laugh, seeming very loose and comfortable.
Palin would wink at the camera, as if there was an inside joke going on.

Biden respected his opponent’s title and addressed her as “Governor”.
Palin asked immediately if she could call him "Joe".

Biden appeared Vice Presidential and likable.
Palin appeared cute and folksy.


All in all, I think while Palin did not give the media any real sound bite to be used to mock her (unlike the Katie Couric interview), she seemed to be more concerned with how she looked on the camera. Biden, because he knew that all eyes would be on him for a gaffe or to make sure he didn’t bully poor Sarah, may have shown too much restraint. However, his game plan to debate the issues and the platform of John McCain rather than focus on Palin’s responses or recent gaffes of her own worked in his favor. He exuded confidence and experience. I didn’t get the same feeling from Palin.

I admit I am biased, seeing that Palin has not impressed me one bit before the debate. But the key thing here is that she did nothing last night that was remarkable enough to question my original opinion of her. So I’d have to say that Joe Biden was the clear winner, and I suspect that John McCain will not see any measurable “bump” in his poll numbers after this debate.


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Sarah Palin: Give A Straight Answer Already!

Chance for VP

In one of my favorite movies – “Being There” the main character, Chance the Gardener (played by Peter Sellers) is a sheltered, simple minded man, whose life revolved around watching television and gardening. He finds himself thrust into the world of politics when he’s mistaken for a genius by people who mistake his name as “Chauncy Gardener”. Everyone sees what they want to hear and hears what they want to hear when it comes to Chance. While Chance looks distinguished and his brief comments about tending his garden are taken to be deep philosophical musings, he’s thrust into a the powerful world of money and politics. When, at a high-class social gathering, Chance is asked by someone about whether he’d write a book, we get this dialog:


Ron Steigler: Mr. Gardner, uh, my editors and I have been wondering if you would consider writing a book for us, something about your um, political philosophy, what do you say?

Chance the Gardener: I can't write.

Ron Steigler: Heh, heh, of course not, who can nowadays? Listen, I have trouble writing a postcard to my children. Look uhh, we can give you a six-figure advance, I'll provide you with the very best ghostwriter, proofreaders...

Chance the Gardener: I can't read.

Ron Steigler: Of course you can't! No one has the time! We, we glance at things, we watch television...

Chance the Gardener: I like to watch TV.

Ron Steigler: Oh, oh, oh sure you do. No one reads!

I’ve come to the conclusion that Chance really would do well in politics these days. The problem is, his answers are truthful, direct, and right on target. That would never work!

Direct answers seems foreign to Sarah Palin, who seems to have difficulty answering the simplest of questions. Case in point, the continuing saga of the Katie Couric interview, where Palin is asked about what newspapers she reads: (video and transcript below)



COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read, before you were tapped for this, to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I've read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press for the media, I mean...

COURIC: Like what ones specifically? I'm curious that you...

PALIN: Um, all of 'em, any of 'em that um have been in front of me over all these years, um...

COURIC: Can you name any of them?

PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news too. Alaska isn't a foreign country where it's kind of suggested it seems like, wow how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, DC may be thinking and doing, when you live up there in Alaska. Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.

What is so hard about this question? Even, if like Chance the Gardner, she doesn’t read a newspaper, she can say something like: I don’t have time to read the paper, but I watch CNN, or Fox, or check the internet, or get updates from my advisors….. She must be getting her news from somewhere, no? Just for a point of reference, I’m not running for public office, but I read, daily, two local papers (The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The News Herald), and the Wall Street Journal. I read Barrons on Saturday and Investors Business Daily on Monday. I check the Internet often, I watch the news – local and national – several times a day. I would have NO problem answering Katie's question. But Sarah Palin seems to be stumped by it. It’s almost as if she is afraid that Katie will use her answer against her. I don’t know how that could be, at least it couldn’t have been worse as how her non-answer is being used against her. (Or could it?)

I’ll be watching the Vice Presidential debate tonight, but not for reasons one might think. I’m watching it because I want to see how this “great debater” Sarah Palin will fare with Joe Biden when she actually has to provide a definitive answer to a question. So far, she avoids specifics so she can’t be pinned down to anything, turning avoidance of a question into an art form. Maybe she should watch the movie “Being There” before the debate and take a lesson from Chance – answer the question completely and honestly, and talk about television and gardening. There really is no way to fail if one can do that.



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Palin A Weak Debater; An Accommodation is Made

So much for women being treated as equals to men. Sarah Palin and the Republican campaign have just made a step backwards for women.

The New York Times is reporting that the vice presidential debates required a change in format because of Sarah Palin’s weak debating ability. Patrick Healey of the New York Times wrote:
At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.

McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive….

…McCain advisers said they were only somewhat concerned about Ms. Palin’s debating skills compared with those of Mr. Biden, who has served six terms in the Senate, or about his chances of tripping her up. Instead, they say, they wanted Ms. Palin to have opportunities to present Mr. McCain’s positions, rather than spending time talking about her experience or playing defense.


My question is, if Sarah Palin is unable to freely debate the issues and speak coherently about the Republican platform, how can she be even considered for the office of Vice President of the United States? Would she expect that when dealing with members of Congress or world leaders that those encounters would be so tightly controlled or scripted for her?

This situation makes me even more convinced that John McCain needs his head examined for choosing someone who can’t even argue the issues. It seems clear that McCain et al. are aware that Joe Biden would chew Palin up and spit her out, and they just can’t have that on national television. I’m not a politician but I bet that I could debate her and win without any problem.

My opinion is that even with the tighter structure, that her inexperience will be evident. I only hope is that the candidates are not given any question in advance, because true debate is best when spontaneous. And since Sarah Palin has been largely sequestered to the media, we are seeing very little spontaneity with her. If she doesn’t know how to handle unrehearsed, unstructured real life politics, she shouldn't be running for Vice President. And McCain doesn’t deserve to be President for his poor choice of running mate.



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Political Fundraising and The Economy

Be careful when you point fingers,
because three are pointing back at you.

It takes money to do or get just about anything these days. And depending on what you want to do, or what you want to get, makes a difference on how much money you will need. Running for the office of President of The United States is one of those things that require a massive amount of money. With so many people to see, and so many advertising methods to use (print, television, internet), candidates need more money than ever. BOTH candidates.

Last night, Barbra Streisand held a benefit concert for Barack Obama which reportedly raised $9 million. But the McCain campaign, who hasn’t performed nearly as well overall in the fundraising category, took the opportunity to mock the Streisand fundraiser , saying about Obama: “Talk about siding with the people, siding with the people just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends.”

How short is McCain’s memory? Very. It seems he forgot his own posh fundraiser just this past Monday in a swank Miami hotel, where he raised $5.1 millions dollars. McCain should be careful at whom he points a finger – because three more will be pointing back at him.

Coming on the heels of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers , and now the bailout by the Fed of AIG, the politicians are turning their sights on the economy. The McCain campaign accuses Obama of capitalizing on a crisis. But, earlier in the day, when McCain called for a crisis commission, Obama called it "the oldest Washington stunt in the book."

McCain’s prior statements that he doesn’t know much about the economy (see short video ad below) are coming back to haunt him. While McCain may be trying to use the Streisand fundraiser to portray Obama as being elite and out of touch, it may backfire on him as more are reminded of his own fundraising from the wealthy, not to mention his lack of understanding of the economy. My opinion is that his running mate, Sarah Palin, won’t bring much to his economic knowledge base. Since Barack Obama is a Columbia University and Harvard Law graduate, I would think that his education, not to mention his senate seat covering populous Chicago, would give him a much better grasp of the US and world economy. And Joe Biden's background and experience is also a plus.

John McCain’s vocal disdain for the Obama fundraising steamroller is only a diversion. If McCain doesn’t know that a political campaign needs lots of money (he would take more of it if he could get it, don’t let him fool you) and if he doesn’t understand the economy, I don’t want him or his VP candidate sitting in the big chair, making big people decisions.

So John McCain, that’s my two cents, because that will be the only "money" your campaign would ever get from me .

Don’t know much about the economy:




This is a 30+ minute video of a Barack Obama speech on September 16 in Golden, Colorado.









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The Republican Strategy – My Theory

After watching John McCain’s acceptance speech for the Republican candidate for the presidency, I came to a conclusion about the Republican campaign:

They are throwing the election away because they know they can’t win, and they want to save their money, and their top candidates, for the next presidential election 4 years from now.

It wasn’t just the speech itself that made me draw this conclusion. It is a culmination of months of watching the campaign unfold, starting with the Republican primary season. If you recall, during the initial stages of the primary, McCain was having money problems, and he didn’t appear to have a very organized campaign. But, suddenly it looked like McCain was appealing to more Republican voters than anticipated, and it breathed some new life into the McCain campaign. It wasn’t enough though, as the party spent more time pointing the fingers at Democratic candidate Barack Obama than defining their own platform.

This was even more evident in the last few days, when McCain chose unknown Sarah Palin as his VP running mate. With Palin’s inexperience, this immediately took their whole argument about Barack Obama - which was that he just didn’t have the experience and judgment to lead – completely out of the picture. It was also directly opposite to the Democratic strategy, where Joe Biden was selected as Obama’s running mate, to help balance out Obama's experience issue. While some pundits say that Palin has energized the party, it has only help draw days of negative attention to her (with many more days to come), and cause many to question McCain’s judgment. With the election less than 60 days away, the media and public will continue to vet Palin, and I imagine only the negative issues will come out. Again, this is unlike the Obama campaign, which chose a candidate who is well known and thoroughly vetted, just by the nature of Biden’s tenure with the Senate.

Now, let’s review McCain’s speech. You’ve heard of style over substance? Well, this speech had neither style nor substance. McCain seemed stiff, his smiles forced – he looked like he could not wait to get it over with. He said he would drive change in Washington, yet he’s had years to do it, and hasn’t done so. In fact, in many cases he supported the current administration, which is expected from any dutiful party member. But it doesn’t make for a person who can say that NOW he will make change. McCain also did not really define just exactly how he would make change, so the speech was very thin on substance and relaying the party platform. I still don’t know what their platform is.

It is evident that Barack Obama is an excellent public speaker. That was made crystal clear years ago when he made a speech at the Democratic convention during the 2004 DNC, which catapulted him into the spotlight and may have set the stage for his current bid for the presidency. I am sure that the McCain campaign knows that they are unable to match the oratory skills of Obama, but their approach with McCain acceptance speech could have had more life to it.

Another issue of concern is that during this convention, it has become apparent by the camera coverage of the delegates that there is little representation from African Americans. The Boston Globe reported that “only 36 of approximately 2,000 delegates gathered here at the Xcel Energy Center this week are African-American, according to the study by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. The center, which tracks such data, said it is the lowest rate of black participation in 34 years.” This could mean that McCain has little chance of drawing African-American voters, who seem poised for a record turnout for Barack Obama.

And despite what the Republicans say is a whole host of disgruntled Hillary supporters out there who will vote for McCain out of protest that Hillary isn’t the Democratic candidate, I just don’t see it. I supported Hillary in the primary, but I also am currently an Obama supporter. All the women (and men) that I know who voted for Hillary are also currently supporting Obama. I think the whole “we are going to get all the Hillary voters by selecting Sarah Palin” was a Hail Mary pass that is going to fail.

The Republicans know that they have a formidable opponent in Barack Obama. Based on many people that I speak to on a daily basis about this election, I tend to think that we may have a near landslide coming for Obama. The McCain supporters are few and far in between. But, as we all know, anything can happen between here and the election, but one thing I don’t see happening is the Republican Party waking up and energizing their candidate or better defining their platform. I think they know it’s over, and are already setting the stage for excuses as to why they failed. We’d probably hear things like “people aren’t ready for a woman as VP” or “the media was easy on Obama” etc. etc. I think the Republican big wigs have already moved on to four years from now. So as far as the Republican strategy, I say that right now, it’s either duck and cover, or cut and run. Maybe a bit of both.



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