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DUBOB 11- more tales from the Dark UnderBelly Of the Beast...
various links and websites
| 01-31-03
| The Heavy Equipment Guy
Posted on 01/31/2003 5:07:21 PM PST by backhoe
At the request of members, I am restarting those "Tales from the Dark UnderBelly Of the Beast"-- the stories and issues that the press and media either ignore, won't even talk about, or will mention once and forevermore claim "it's old news..."
Naturally, some will be stories which interest me, or things I think we all need to be aware of.
I am experimenting with a minor change in presentation- when I can, I will cut to
-GoogleNewsBeta--
with a keyword or two and see what kind of links to "mainstream" stories I can find in contrast to what we see here and on other sites.
May I remind you of a couple of points to bear in mind?
Each link usually has many other links within- follow them all to get "the rest of the story."
Don't forget the "open multiple browsers" trick with control-n -- this allows you to hold your place with one, and use the others to follow links, run searches, etc.
Rather than go back and rehash old links, I'll give you links to the original posts here:
-DUBOB 10- the *best of* the Dark Underbelly Series--
-DUBOB 9-- even *more* tales from the Dark Underbelly of the Beast..... --
DUBOB 8-- still *more* tales from the Underbelly***
DUBOB 7-- even *more* tales from the Dark Underbelly of the Beast.....
DUBOB 6-- yet *more* tales from the Dark Underbelly of the Beast.....
DUBOB 5-- even *more* tales from the Dark Underbelly of the Beast.....
DUBOB IV- yet more Tales from the Dark Underbelly of the Beast-
DUBOB III -- "Tales from the Dark Underbelly of the Beast"
DUBOB 2-- more tales from The Dark Underbelly of the Beast-- thread II
-The Dark Underbelly of the Beast- Stories the Media won't Discuss...--
TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: americans4prosperity; davidharsanyi; dubob; erichoffer; kochbrothers; lamestreammedia; oldmedia; thetruth
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To: All
This Is What a Vote for Obama Gets You [Must Read]New Media Journal ^ | October 31, 2008 | Frank Salvato
Posted on Sunday, November 02, 2008 6:03:57 AM by Zakeet
I live in Illinois, just outside of Chicago. I live in the state that incubated the political career of Barack Obama and for that, as a resident of the State of Illinois and a conservative, I apologize. But this puts me in a unique position to afford you a glimpse of things to come for our nation should Barack Obama attain the Oval Office, and especially if Democrats maintain or increase their control in Congress. I present to the citizens of the United States the State of Illinois; a working model that illustrates the consequences of a government run by the Progressive-Left.
In 2003, five short years ago, the State of Illinois went blue; not light blue or royal blue but Daley Machine, Chicago Democrat, Progressive-Left cobalt blue. For decades our state existed in a symbiotic political state; the Daley Machine Chicago Democrats controlling Cook County and most of the lesser “urban areas” and the Illinois GOP holding sway in the collar counties and rural areas. But the failure (and I believe cowardice) of Republican Governor George Ryan to take one for the party by stepping down before he was convicted of corruption, ushered in a dark era of Progressive-Left, Democrat political control in Illinois. Democrats now hold all statewide offices and control both houses of the legislature. This being said, everything that has happened since 2003 is attributable to Democrat and Progressive-Left action and leadership.
The governor of the State of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has an approval rating of 4 percent. Rasmussen Reports ranks Blagojevich as the country’s least popular governor. He is embroiled in the Tony Rezko/Stuart Levine corruption probe. Levine pled guilty and Rezko was convicted for scheming to obtain kickbacks from investment firms seeking business from two state boards. The governor’s wife, Patricia, was a business partner of Rezko. Of course, we know the name Tony Rezko from his shady relationship with Barack Obama.
Under Blagojevich, the state’s unfunded pension debt is the largest in the United States. In 2005 that amounted to $35 billion. But that didn’t stop Blagojevich from raiding the State University Pension System to the tune of $1.2 billion in order to “balance the budget,” something that still eludes the governor. Additionally, Blagojevich raised licensing fees on auto dealers almost 20-fold, required small businesses to print all of their own forms when filing state paperwork and proposed raising the fee for the Illinois Firearm Owners Identification Card from $50 to $500. He said the increased FOID fee, “...was necessary so people would think twice about wanting to own a gun.” Of course, it also put the ability to purchase a gun – to defend oneself with a legally purchased firearm – out of range for many middle and lower-middle income families, the Second Amendment be damned.
Because of the ever expanding entitlement mentality possessed by the Chicago City Council, Chicago now has a $420 million budget deficit for the year and the highest sales tax in the United States at 9 percent. The sales tax is causing Chicago residents to flee to the suburbs to buy big ticket items, thus decreasing the tax revenue earmarked for the city. The $420 million budget deficit – hot on the heels of a 2006 $217 million budget deficit – has caused Mayor Richard M. Daley to institute mandatory furlough days for non-critical, union, city employees, as well as numerous other gimmicks to generate revenue. Shedding surplus entitlement programs and/or trimming the budget of unnecessary programs or agencies would make too much sense.
The City of Chicago, being the caring, diverse, tolerant, progressive city that it is, has achieved a rare distinction among American cities: Chicago is the new murder capitol of the United States. Chicago has experienced 426 homicides this year to date. This compares to 417 in New York City and 302 in Los Angeles, California (both of those cities have Progressive-Left friendly mayors and city councils as well). In fact, Chicago is home to a number of fine, upstanding young Progressive citizens in the form of a plethora of street gangs. From the Latin Kings to the Gangster Disciples, the Insane Deuces to the Insane Gangster Satan Disciples, street gangs that deal drugs, enforce protection schemes and offer a culture of fast-living, easy money and early death reign in Chicago’s neighborhoods. Meanwhile, owning a handgun in Chicago is forbidden and Mayor Daley has shamefully used the murder of a young child to call for a complete ban on civilian owned firearms, usurping the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. Incidentally, the Chicago City Council has also passed a resolution that makes Chicago a “nuclear weapon free zone,” so we’ve got that going for us.
Chicago’s education system is also a jewel. Chicago’s Board of Education pats itself on the back for achieving a 51 percent graduation rate, while sending “graduates” to institutions of higher learning whose proficiency in reading, writing, math and science is arguably insufficient. In fact, an inordinate number of Chicago Public School graduates must take rudimentary classes in math and English in order to be fully accepted to College or University. Violence, including gang related shootings, is not unheard of in the schools of Chicago. In fact, there are special police that are assigned to schools throughout the city and metal detectors adorn many a school’s doors.
To be fair, this disturbing reality is more the result of union interference in matters of curriculum creation, teacher quality and classroom instruction and special interest group and civil rights organization influence and interference – along with parental apathy – than it is anything else. Chicago Public School Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan has made an admirable attempt to maximize the learning experience for Chicago’s students and teachers alike in the face of special interest tyranny, even if he has had to do so with one hand tied behind his back, the other under the critical and political eye of Mayor Daley.
And as Chicago, the city, becomes inebriated in decay, Mayor Daley and the Cook County Board are feverishly trying to salvage their entitlement-based regimes by capitalizing on the process of “community rehabilitation” – the exportation of residents who previously lived in “undesirable,” non-revenue generating “affordable housing” to the collar counties and suburbs. As old high-rise “affordable housing” units are destroyed to make way for the tax-revenue generating condominiums, townhouses and Olympic venues, the stench of Progressive-Left entitlement, along with the consequences its ideology brings, is infecting the rest of the state in a destructive way.
An aggressive “urbanization" of the once peaceful and amiable Chicago suburbs is causing a rise in problems traditionally found in urban areas: struggling schools, overcrowding, crime, traffic congestion, elevated costs of living, municipal budgetary woes, stagnant development, and ideological confrontation, complete with special interest influence from outside the community. Just as with the National Education Association’s encroachment upon local control of schools and their curriculums, the “urbanization” of the suburbs, collar counties and progressively (no pun intended) the rural areas of Illinois is facilitating a culture of urban morality; a society ruled by moral relativism, victimhood and the caretaker nanny state.
We here is Illinois understand the pitfalls of a one party, Progressive-Left, socialist system of government. In a state where the largest urban locale accepts as unavoidable the notion that dead men can vote, sometimes twice, the art of committing voter fraud and eliminating opposition candidates – sometimes of the same party – is handed down from generation to generation in a quest to maintain a stranglehold on power for “the machine.” From precinct captains, aldermen and community organizers to special interest activists, racially biased religious leaders and former Weather Underground terrorists, Illinois, because of the unyielding aggression of the Progressive-Left, has been transformed from a land where individual rights were guarded and constitutional liberty was valued at all costs – the Land of Lincoln – to the home of religious zealots like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Fr. Michael Pfleger and the Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan and political opportunists like Jesse Jackson, Dick Durbin, Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama. Conservatives are left with no voice on the national stage and small quarter in the state where we live.
This is just a limited glimpse into what it is like to live in a cobalt blue state; where Progressive-Left Democrats wield the tenets of socialism – including wealth redistribution and the limitation of constitutional rights – with impunity. Should the voters of America foolishly opt to discard liberty, opportunity and self-reliance in a self-centered quest for unearned wealth and a fraudulently engineered societal equality, we will come to rue the rhetoric of “hope and change,“ just as we will all soon be weeping for the freedoms we so imprudently cast aside.
Government must come before politics. The sanctity of the Constitution must trump political ideology. Country first.
"It's too early. He hasn't done anything yet." Video here.
(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com
(Excerpt) Read more at usweekly.com ... Said it before, and I’ll say it again.
Everyone reading this should hand write, or type, a personal “letter to neighbors” warning that Obama will: (deliver to at least 20 neighbors doorsteps TODAY)
Obama will:
*Remove Christmas as our national holiday.
*Bankrupt the coal industry, leaving us without power.
*Redistribute all personal savings above $100,000
(feel free to add your own)
By now, people are turned off to regular campaign literature. THIS IS VERY EFFECTIVE in changing minds and making people THINK ...
9,481
posted on
11/02/2008 3:56:37 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
The last strawPagan Power ^ | November 2, 2008 | Pagan Power
Posted on Sunday, November 02, 2008 7:21:55 AM by Pagan Power
I shamelessly stole the video below from Ms Placed Democrat, a wonderful, insightful person I had the opportunity to meet in Denver this summer. And quite honestly, if I hadn't seen the video I wouldn't have believed it existed. It's one thing to hear whispers about alleged voter intimidation, about attempts at voter suppression. It's quite another to make that charge publicly when you are supposedly a non-political entity.
So the truth is out there now. Proven truth. ACORN is squarely in the Obama camp and they make no effort to hide it. Even worse, they have made these accusations against their verifiable voter registration fraud a referendum on racism, which this ad makes no effort to conceal. In their view, requiring blacks to live up the same standards as whites is racism. That's the long and the short of it. And this particular white person that has fought for and respected equal rights for everyone my entire adult lifetime has finally had enough.
Requiring that people prove they have the legal right to vote is not racism. It is a commonly accepted practice. We are required to prove who we say we are in order to obtain a driver's license. We are required to prove who we say we are in order to obtain a social security card. We are required to prove who we say we are when we apply for a reputable job. We are required to prove who we say we are when we get a loan. So just how is it any form of discrimination to prove who we say we are when we register to vote?
Quite evidently it is not.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I have been accused of being a racist one too many times. And frankly, it's hard not to become one considering the frivolous manner in which the accusations fly. It challenges me on a daily basis. But I remember my core and do my absolute best to treat everyone as an equal regardless of these heinous accusations. I owe it to myself, the Goddess and humanity.
I wish I could tell you that this troubling trend will end at the conclusion of this election cycle. But I am certain that this is merely a prelude of what is to become. No matter who wins, this is only going to get much worse. And I don't look forward to it.
Read the rest here->
Hope you’re happy with the result - double digit unemployment and no jobs for your kids.
9,482
posted on
11/02/2008 4:46:27 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
This should be required to be posted on every poll (or poll-related, as this one is) thread. Iowahawk nails it.
Balls and Urns: Iowahawk explains “margin of error”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2117123/posts
This video clip pretty much sums up everything Glenn has been saying for the past months in just a few seconds. An excited woman is interviewed after an Obama rally and says she will vote for Obama because 'I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car and I won't have to worry about paying my mortgage'.
Watch the woman get caught hook, line and sinker.
When the populace can vote itself goodies at will from the Treasury, a Republic is likely doomed."A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."
9,483
posted on
11/02/2008 6:21:06 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
Polls have the electoral votes of Ohio(20), Pennsylvania(21), & Virgina(13) leaning to BHO.
9,484
posted on
11/02/2008 6:43:34 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
Now is the time, people- give what you can, by phone or web.
Just FYI:
9,485
posted on
11/02/2008 7:00:16 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
BUT ... the internals in the Datamar poll suggest that McCain may be as many as 6 points up. IF Republicans turnout this as they did in 2006 (which wasn't a very good year for us), then we will score a surprising (to some) victory, releative to these recent polls and certainly relative to the mid October polls.
9,486
posted on
11/02/2008 8:44:30 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
EXPLOSIVE NEW AUDIO-- Obama Promises San Francisco Audience He Will Bankrupt Coal Industry!!
OBAMA TOLD A SAN FRANCISCO AUDIENCE THAT HE WILL BANKRUPT THE COAL INDUSTRY!!!
ATTN: Coal states Virginia , Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Indiana, guess what Obama told San Francisco about you?
OBAMA TELLS SAN FRANCISCO HE WILL BANKRUPT THE COAL INDUSTRY:
Hat Tip Über Here's
the transcript via
Free Republic from his talk to the
San Francisco Chronicle in January 2008:
Let me sort of describe my overall policy.
What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there.
I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year.
So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted.
That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel and other alternative energy approaches.
The only thing I've said with respect to coal, I haven't been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a ideological matter as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it.
So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can.
It's just that it will bankrupt them."
This goes hand-in-hand with what he's said about nuclear energy.
His preconditions make it impossible to expand nuclear energy at this time.
From
The Wall Street Journal:
On nuclear power, Sen. Obama says he's open to expanding nuclear energy, which now provides 20% of the nation's electricity, as part of an effort to increase power sources that emit little or no carbon dioxide. But he also has said there is no future for expanded nuclear energy until the U.S. comes up with a safe, long-term solution for disposing of nuclear waste. He opposes the Bush administration's plan for storing waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
No wonder
Rupert Murdoch is worried about an Obama presidency.
Remember... Obama said he would raise power and fuel prices to change our bad habits and that it's going to hurt--
"It's not going to be painless."Video
HERE.
9,487
posted on
11/02/2008 10:57:21 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
What McCain-Palin Must Do to Win
Here is the latest
political dashboard posted at Yahoo.com:
This includes all of the biased and weighted polls favoring Democrats from the past several days. Yahoo currently has Obama over McCain 333 to 181 and has posted this on their front page for the last week.
What Obama must do to win on Tuesday:
First of all Barack Obama must steal Red States to win.
The polling here at Yahoo currently gives Obama these Red States from 2004:
Nevada (5), Colorado (9), New Mexico (5), Iowa (7), Ohio (20), Virginia (13), Florida (27) and North Carolina (15).
Here is how they voted in 2004, via
CNN:
Nevada-- Bush (51-48) 418,690 to 397,190
Colorado-- Bush (52-47) 1,101,255 to 1,001,732
New Mexico-- Bush (50-49) 376,930 to 370,942
Iowa Bush (50-49) 751,957 to 741,898
Ohio-- Bush (51-49) 2,859,764 to 2,741,165
Virginia-- Bush (54-46) 1,716,959 to 1,454,742
Florida-- Bush (52-47) 3,964,552 to 3,583,544
North Carolina-- Bush (56-44) 1,961,166 to 1,525,849
What We Know--
1.) We already are seeing massive ACORN voter registration fraud and Democratic voter fraud.
Obama and ACORN have been working closely this year to get out the super hero, cartoon character, and dead vote.
There has already been incidents of Democratic voter fraud in Ohio and New Mexico.
2.) Barack Obama is Still the Great Unknown
1. Occidental College records -- Not released
2. Columbia College records -- Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper -- not available, locked down by faculty
4. Harvard College records -- Not released, locked down by faculty
5. Selective Service Registration -- Not released
6. Medical records -- Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule -- "not available"
8. Law practice client list -- Not released
9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate - - Not released
10. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth -- Not
released
11. Harvard Law Review articles published -- None
12. University of Chicago scholarly articles -- None
13. Record of baptism-- Not released or "not available"
14. Illinois State Senate records--"not available".
15. US Senate record -- mediocre yet the most liberal.
Hat Tip Dan Freidman
3.) What We Do Know About Barack Obama is Frightening.
Terrorists, anti-Semites, PLO Operatives, Marxists, Racists and Far Left Radicals are his dear friends.
Glenn McCoy
4.) Barack Obama's closest friends and mentors are anti-Semites
Jeremiah Wright, Father Pfleger, Frank Marshall, Bill Ayers, Rashid Khalidi...
They all hate Israel.
Obama even toasted a former PLO operative at a Jew-bash in 2003.
Unreal.
5.) We know that the Democratic base is excited and that black voter turnout will be very high this year.
Already in all of the major metro areas black voters are turning out early to vote for Obama. Blacks generally vote 90% for Democrats anyway but this year there will be several more black voters who are very excited about the first black major party candidate.
6.) Early Voting shows a very tight race
Exit polling shows the presidential race is very close despite the spin by the corrupt media.
7.) The polls ALWAYS slant results in favor of Democrats.
When was the last time you saw a poll slanted with too many Republican voters?
...Right. It just doesn't happen.
8.) The PUMA Factor
Could you imagine if an angry Rudy Giuliani faction of hundreds of thousands of voters were openly backing Barack Obama?
Do you think this would get some attention from the media?
Today there are over 100 anti-Obama Democratic websites.
There are hundreds of thousands of angry PUMA's openly supporting the McCain-Palin ticket. They didn't like how Hillary was treated and they don't like what the Obamedia is doing to Governor Sarah Palin either.
What McCain-Palin must do--
McCain-Palin must win at least
269 electoral votes to win the presidency.
They have to keep several Red States in the fold and if they could pick up a blue state that would be a major plus.
1.) These states will likely stay Red this year--
Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina.
It would be a miracle if Obama could pick up the conservative states of Florida and North Carolina no matter how many dead voters turn out.
In Ohio Hillary won the primary 53-45% and that was before the racist Reverend Wright scandal broke in the mainstream news. Obama has certainly lost several of these democratic voters since then due to his radical anti-American background.
These three state will put McCain-Palin at 243.
2.) Pick up a Wild-Card
From internal polling Pennsylvania is very close this year.
Both Barack Obama and John Murtha have trashed the state this year with vicious comments.
Today- it was reported that Obama wants to bankrupt the Pennsylvania coal industry.
Even with voter turnout at 105% in Philadelphia this year Pennsylvania will be close.
Give it to McCain-Palin.
This puts McCain-Palin at 264.
3.) Prayer Time
If Virginia goes to McCain- It's over.
McCain-Palin will win.
If not, then McCain will have to pick up one of these states-- Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, or Colorado-- to win.
It's time to start praying.
Related... Bob McCarty posted his 10 Reasons not to support Obama.
9,488
posted on
11/02/2008 11:01:50 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
Take heart . . .Feeling discouraged, the following should help. From mccaindemocrats.wordpress.com - what some of the PUMAs have to say.
townes ward, on October 31st, 2008 at 1:50 pm Said:
I am a PUMA! I lurk the board but send 250 emails every day. I took the last two weeks off so I could focus on the ground. Flyers, phone calls and emails!
I was a DEM but now a Republican. Most of the folks I talk to are voting a STRAIGHT REPUBLICAN TICKET!
I think it would be great it we knew WHAT STATE each of the voters are in. That would let us know which state we need to send PUMAS to. I am in Georgia but on the AL line.
pacificisland, on October 31st, 2008 at 1:00 pm Said:
Don’t trust the polls. PUMA report from PA:
I worked for the McCain campaign last week and over the weekend in the downtown Philly office. We started calling on Dems in Philly and were stunned at our results. Of those we spoke with, I was getting 30-40% supporting McCain, my friend was getting 20-30% support. And this is Philly!! If you are scared, frustrated, or angry about the horse shit in this election, go volunteer at your local McCain/Palin office. It is one of the most constructive and positive things you can do for yourself and your country.
Kerri, on October 31st, 2008 at 5:53 pm Said:
What are YOU doing this weekend to get out the vote for Mccain/Palin? Dems have turned PA red, we need Ohio, VA, NC, etc…go to JohnMccain.com and make phone calls from your home, at least!
We PUMA’s are traveling hundreds of miles knocking on doors saying, Hello, I’m a democrat who is voting for Mccain/Palin.
Real life people who are candid, respectful and informed are EFFECTIVE!
WE NEED EVERYONE!
PUMA: Vigilant, Fearless, Potent!
Kenneth, on October 31st, 2008 at 6:11 pm Said:
PUMA here - not only am I voting for John McCain in early voting tomorrow. I am driving a small busload (20 + ) of folks who I have recently convinced to switch from the Obama camp to vote McCain/Palin. These people are folks who live in my gated community and it took some time to convince them but they have all finally agreed that Obama scares them with his radical past and have finally decided that a vote for McCain rather than not voting or some other candidate like Ralph Nader would be in the interest of the nation.
Never underestimate the roar of a PUMA…it’s better and more effective than the bullying tatcics of the Obamabots…………..we are out there and we will be heard on election day!!
Hispanic4Hillary 10.30.08 at 1:51 pm
Well Puma’s….my family and I went to vote yesterday…
It was 48 of us…and we all voted for McCain/Palin…The other are going tomorrow…Some have voted since Saturday…there will be a total of over 200 votes for McCain from our family…It was hard but it was a must to defeat O…and I feel dammmm good about it..
Where Hope Finally Made a Comeback.
Keeps knocking out info you need- read it!
A STEP TOWARD GLOBAL GUN CONTROL? UN panel backs call for standards in arms trade. Its supporters say not.
JOHN HINDERAKER: "We are now about to take a second vacation from history (assuming, of course, that Barack Obama prevails on Tuesday). Barney Frank has vowed to cut the defense budget by 25%. Apart from the budget, it is apparent that Obama and his fellow Democrats have little interest in the conflict with Islamic extremism and no intention of pursuing it aggressively. Like the interlude of the 1990s, the de-emphasis on national security promised by the Democrats is the fruit of success." As I've said before, this is why I don't worry as much about spending on war as on social and regulatory programs. Spending on war always gets cut back.
By Michelle Malkin • November 1, 2008 11:25 PM
I predicted the totally predictable last night. And so it has come to pass: The left-wing fairweather friends of privacy are all over the leak of Aunti Zeituni’s immigration info — while Joe The Plumber remains persona non grata. Democrat Rep. John Conyers has already called for a federal investigation. The WaPo is already up with an A-section story on the anonymous leak. And the liberal blogs are up in arms.
The MSM abhor anonymous leaks — unless they’re helping to undermine Bush administration anti-terrorism programs or conservative causes and candidates.
comments (108)
November 2, 2008 Posted by Scott at 7:46 AM
NRO has posted Stanley Kurtz's National Review article "Senator Stealth" with a new preface. Kurtz prefaces his article :
When I wrote "Senator Stealth," just over two months ago, it still seemed realistic to expect that its revelations might stimulate press follow-up. After all, the Wright affair had occasioned significant media interest. Since "Senator Stealth" established that Barack Obama had intimate and long-standing ties to yet another organization with Wright-like anti-American views, the piece's news value seemed obvious. The Wright affair was no fluke, but part of a systematic pattern. Unfortunately, as Obama moved closer to nominee status, the press circled the wagons and began its own systematic pattern of refusing to question or report on his past.
Beyond its revelation that Obama's original community organizer home-base is pervaded by anti-Americanism, "Senator Stealth" foreshadows today's debates over redistributionism, and shows that concerns over Obama's radical "associations" cannot be separated from the most significant policy disputes of the campaign.
"Senator Stealth" also lays out a way of resolving the contradiction between Obama's radical past and his apparently moderate present. After learning that incrementalism, rhetorical disguise, and ideological stealth are second nature to Obama's community organizer compatriots, it's tougher to take his current self-presentation at face value. More than two months later, the same issues play out in the latest flap over Obama's ties to the New Party.
Finally, I couldn't have guessed, more than two months ago, that the Obama campaign, abetted by the press, would have taken refuge in near-total denial of his unsavory associations, from the question of his New Party membership, to the relationship to Bill Ayers, to the links to ACORN. Obama has downplayed or denied these many ties to an extent that is shockingly at odds with the public record, while the press has played along.
Stanley Kurtz has distinguished himself with his investigations into Barack Obama's background. Consider Kurtz's "Inside Obama's ACORN," "Chicago Annenberg Challenge shutdown?," "O's dangerous pals," "Wright 101" and "Barack Obama's lost years." It's the kind of work that might win a Pulitzer Prize were its target a conservative hero rather than an avatar of the left's hopes and dreams.
Video From 1948 About The Threat We Again Face Today
Remember when you Vote
“We’re eliminating 17 specific assault weapons. There is no reason why anybody should need an assault weapon to protect themselves or their family, We’re limiting handgun sales to one a month. We’re calling for handgun registration.”
- Barack Obama
Chicago Defender, 2/20/01
I don’t know why the McCain camp is not running constant ads - at least in PA and Virginial, highlighting Obama’s admission that - given the opportunity - he’ll bankrupt any new coal plants.
The press, of course, is mum. As we see with the LA Times, which arrogantly will release neither tape nor transcript of Obama speaking at an Israel-bashing event (can you just imagine how quickly they’d deliver same were John McCain speaking instead), they have no interest in actually covering anything Obama says. They just want to sustain an illusion
At this point, I pretty much want to see O lose just to punish the press. They’ve manufactured his candidacy (”you go sit down, Hillary, even though you’re tied and you’ve won all the big states”) and now they’re trying to manufacture his “win.” Should they succeed, we’ll be seeing the press become a monster unlike any seen in our history. “Different parties, different rules,” indeed. The press needs to lose this election.
Meanwhile, Thomas Sowell calls Obama Ego and Mouth and he seems to be correct. Obama has not given a press conference since Septemeber…but he’ll give one “on Wednesday.”
As soon as the uncomfortable issues of associations, blunders and doublespeak because apparent re Obama, he stopped talking to the press.
And the press helped him get away with it by burying as much as it could, or by distracting the electorate by focusing on something else. For instance, why focus on Joe the Plumber’s question and Barack’s answer, when you can just destroy the plumber.
I’ve said repeatedly that the press is going “all in” on Obama because they see his presidency (and Pelosi’s hard-hand) as their last chance to regain the monopoly they held on information and communications before the alternative media took hold. They believe they’ll go back to being the “only game in town,” with the support of a president who clearly does not think dissent is the highest form of patriotism.
Victor Davis Hanson writes this absolute must-read on the end of Journalism: “…we have never quite seen anything like the current media infatuation with Barack Obama, and its collective desire not to raise key issues of concern to the American people.” Read the whole thing.
As Roger L. Simon said, “it’s not the bias, it’s the lying”. Actually, it’s the bias and the lying…and the plain-old covering up. The media has actively protected Obama by not reporting what it knows it should. And they’ve admitted they’re doing it.
I’m sorry. That sort of behavior should be punished, not rewarded. I’ve never been more disgusted with the press.
On the other hand, I think a three-dimensional John McCain is doing better than most polls will report. Just a gut thing, I could be wrong.
And he killed last night on SNL.
McCain’s been counted out over and over again in this election, even in the primaries. If the voter fraud is massive, and it might be, he may still eke something out . One never knows.
And oh, yeah, one more thing…just something to think about while you’re raking leaves or whatever? Read this in the WaPo:
Everybody kind of wanted to spend the last 100-plus days doing some legacy things, and the financial crisis has thrown a wrench into that,” said one prominent Republican who regularly talks with senior White House officials.
“You have a combination of no legacy stuff, a horrible economic mess and the likelihood that Obama is going to win,” this person added. “There is a real sadness there.”
Then remember this:
Woodhouse said one goal is to make sure Bush does not enjoy a resurgence in public approval toward the end of his presidency that could help Republican congressional candidates and the Republican presidential nominee in this year’s elections.
“Framing his legacy helps us in the ‘08 elections, there is no doubt about that,” Woodhouse said. “But our principal mission would be defining the failures of Bush and the ideology he represents.” …
And let yourself wonder just how many illusions are being played before our eyes.
Disorienting. Diabolically disorienting stuff.
9,489
posted on
11/02/2008 11:19:44 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
Posted on Sunday, November 02, 2008 1:41:11 PM by DogBarkTree
Barack Obama wants to institute a Civilian National Security Force, a vast militia not unlike Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a personal army. He knows he would need such a force to protect him and to enforce his will on Americans.
Americans will have not seen such arbitrary power used against them since the days of the Civil War when Lincoln put the Constitution in the bottom drawer of his desk and set about arresting anyone who opposed his policies to enforce the Union on southern States seeking secession. The moral issue was slavery. The Constitutional issue was states rights.
If you want to see another civil war, just wait for this new security force to come into being. Obama would need it because the concept of posse comitatus forbids the use of the U.S. military to enforce laws within the nation. An army of domestic followers of “the One” would fill that need, assuming that all other law enforcement agencies failed to resist such a horrendous plan.
Virginia is not in the bag because BHO let his true feelings about Coal Country out of the bag:
9,490
posted on
11/02/2008 11:55:52 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
Obama Campaign Turns on Media Clearly Lord Obama as president would tolerate no dissent and expect the media to know their place...
Obama’s “Truth Squads,” his suppression of the media who ask either Obama or his VP candidate Biden uncomfortable questions, his banning media outlets who support McCain and his [already] directing Democrat-run states to investigate “Joe the Plumbers” who ask the secular messiah and his vice-prophet Biden questions that cause either of them to tell the truth gives us a clear picture of what Obama’s regime and ruling decrees will entail.
If you want the country to devolve into Stalinistic government that creates a permanent cabinet post for the Obama voter fraud unit ACORN (so that he will NOT ever be voted out)—vote for Barack Hussein Obama. If you want the USA to continue as a free Republic, vote Tuesday for John McCain. Remember, once a dictator seizes power, all bets are off. Any of the additional safeguards the founders incorporated into our US Constitution are moot if ruling power chooses neither to follow nor to continue them. This country’s Constitution can be ended with the stroke of a presidential pen and the Democrat power elite agreeing.
FYI, FWIW:
I would note to you that we have heard no leaking of polling data from the Obama campaign.
I would assert that the reason we don’t hear anything is because it is bad. They prefer to continue to let the media press these crap public polls.
If PA is called for McCain at any time before 10pm, you can smile and breathe a deep sigh of relief. If will likely be close, but that alone is a good sign.
In the last two weeks, I believe several powerful trends have come together, and at just the right time for McCain and Palin. Independent voters have begun to look anew at Barack Obama, and many have decided that they do not like what they see, even if they once strongly desired to see something else.
Democrat voters include a significant number of new voters whom the polls assume will vote overwhelmingly for Obama, but include people who signed up to vote for him in the primaries as a counter to Hillary Clinton, as well as Hillary voters who cannot stand Obama, but will not admit so publicly.
Republicans are charged up and motivated - far more so than in either 2004 or 2006. This fact in and of itself is extremely vital, as it was completely unanticipated by the "prestige" polls like Gallup - who still refuse to recognize the facts on the ground that conflict with their prized methodologies.
One more thing: VOTE. Call a friend. Call a neighbor. Tell them how important you believe this election is - because it truly is.
9,491
posted on
11/02/2008 3:55:38 PM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
I keep telling you- read The Anchoress- and use my links. It's good stuff. Very good.
What those overeducated "journalists & writers" that the Jackal Pack Press employs ought to be writing- but won't. Because it does not fit their "template" ( can you say "prejudices," class? ) or match the "narrative" they are trying to sell you on...
I don’t know why the McCain camp is not running constant ads - at least in PA and Virginia, highlighting Obama’s admission that - given the opportunity - he’ll bankrupt any new coal plants.
The press, of course, is mum. As we see with the LA Times, which arrogantly will release neither tape nor transcript of Obama speaking at an Israel-bashing event (can you just imagine how quickly they’d deliver same were John McCain speaking instead), they have no interest in actually covering anything Obama says. They just want to sustain an illusion
At this point, I pretty much want to see O lose just to punish the press. They’ve manufactured his candidacy (”you go sit down, Hillary, even though you’re tied and you’ve won all the big states”) and now they’re trying to manufacture his “win.” Should they succeed, we’ll be seeing the press become a monster unlike any seen in our history. “Different parties, different rules,” indeed. The press needs to lose this election.
Meanwhile, Thomas Sowell calls Obama Ego and Mouth and he seems to be correct. Obama has not given a press conference since Septemeber…but he’ll give one “on Wednesday.”
As soon as the uncomfortable issues of associations, blunders and doublespeak because apparent re Obama, he stopped talking to the press.
And the press helped him get away with it by burying as much as it could, or by distracting the electorate by focusing on something else. For instance, why focus on Joe the Plumber’s question and Barack’s answer, when you can just destroy the plumber.
I’ve said repeatedly that the press is going “all in” on Obama because they see his presidency (and Pelosi’s hard-hand) as their last chance to regain the monopoly they held on information and communications before the alternative media took hold. They believe they’ll go back to being the “only game in town,” with the support of a president who clearly does not think dissent is the highest form of patriotism.
Victor Davis Hanson writes this absolute must-read on the end of Journalism: “…we have never quite seen anything like the current media infatuation with Barack Obama, and its collective desire not to raise key issues of concern to the American people.” Read the whole thing.
As Roger L. Simon said, “it’s not the bias, it’s the lying”. Actually, it’s the bias and the lying…and the plain-old covering up. The media has actively protected Obama by not reporting what it knows it should. And they’ve admitted they’re doing it.
I’m sorry. That sort of behavior should be punished, not rewarded. I’ve never been more disgusted with the press.
On the other hand, I think a three-dimensional John McCain is doing better than most polls will report. Just a gut thing, I could be wrong.
And he killed last night on SNL.
McCain’s been counted out over and over again in this election, even in the primaries. If the voter fraud is massive, and it might be, he may still eke something out . One never knows.
And oh, yeah, one more thing…just something to think about while you’re raking leaves or whatever? Read this in the WaPo:
Everybody kind of wanted to spend the last 100-plus days doing some legacy things, and the financial crisis has thrown a wrench into that,” said one prominent Republican who regularly talks with senior White House officials.
“You have a combination of no legacy stuff, a horrible economic mess and the likelihood that Obama is going to win,” this person added. “There is a real sadness there.”
Then remember this:
Woodhouse said one goal is to make sure Bush does not enjoy a resurgence in public approval toward the end of his presidency that could help Republican congressional candidates and the Republican presidential nominee in this year’s elections.
“Framing his legacy helps us in the ‘08 elections, there is no doubt about that,” Woodhouse said. “But our principal mission would be defining the failures of Bush and the ideology he represents.” …
And let yourself wonder just how many illusions are being played before our eyes.
Disorienting. Diabolically disorienting stuff.
UPDATE 1: See AJ Strata’s post on why the polls make no sense and should not be trusted.
UPDATE II: Obama: I’ll make energy prices skyrocket. See the video. Why anyone is voting for this guy, I have no idea. They said “Kansas voted against their own interests” in 2004. Well…unless your interest is high unemployment, high taxes, high energy prices in the cold, cold winter and dwindling opportunity, I don’t see how you vote for this guy, who won’t even talk to the press who like him, forget the guys he threw off his plane for not endorsing him. He hasn’t had a presser since September. Mr. Transparency. Mr. Openness.
It's going to be "interesting..." I've told you how my Democrat, apolitical wife of 24 years turned in to a SarahBot... meanwhile, Biden stumps in heated arenas and gets 400 supporters to show up... Sarah appears outdoors in the cold, and gets 10,000...
MEET THE PEOPLE WHO WILL DEFEAT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
9,492
posted on
11/03/2008 1:16:11 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
Anita MonCrief, an ACORN whistle-blower who worked for both ACORN and its Project Vote registration affiliate from 2005 until early this year, agrees. "It's ludicrous to say that fake registrations can't become fraudulent votes," she told me.
"I assure you that if you can get them on the rolls you can get them to vote, especially using absentee ballots."
I Got Nowhere Else to GoMen's News Daily ^ | 2008-11-02 | Tom Glennon
Posted on Monday, November 03, 2008 12:09:15 AM by buccaneer81
Tom Glennon I Got Nowhere Else to Go
2008-11-02
So, what can I expect from an Obama Presidency, a Reid Senate, and a Pelosi House?
The elimination of the Bush tax cuts will immediately raise my income taxes by 24 percent. This increase will impact our household income, based on my wife’s salary, and my retirement pension.
The Obama tax plan will increase the number of working people who don’t pay income taxes from 35 percent to almost 45 percent.
The promised 25 percent cut in defense spending will put our nation at risk.
Energy costs will skyrocket with the implementation of ‘cap and trade’. The coal industry will be bankrupted.
A private army, answerable only to President Obama and outside of constitutional constraints, will be created.
Abortions will increase dramatically as a result of the ‘free choice act’.
Non union workers will lose their right to a secret ballot when voting on unionization, leaving them open to intimidation, threats, and physical harm with the ‘card check’ act.
The proposed hate crime laws will eliminate free speech in our houses of worship.
Medical care will be distributed and rationed by unelected bureaucrats, rather than medical professionals.
The ‘fairness doctrine’ will monitor free speech, and squelch dissenting voices. Criticism of the administration will result in legal threats, investigations, and official harassment.
The Supreme Court will be packed with judges who do not have any respect for the Constitution, as personal agendas will be acceptable.
The President will ignore Constitutional constraints and responsibilities, as he believes it is “fundamentally flawed”.
Gun owners will be restricted in what they may purchase, and the type of ammunition they can use. Home owners will be criminally charged if they use a firearm to defend their family or property. Gun manufacturers will be driven out of business through new taxes and restrictions. Legal gun owners will eventually have their firearms confiscated, as we saw in New Orleans, Washington and Chicago.
Radio stations that criticize the administration will lose their FCC licenses.
I wish I was making these up, but each of my comments is the result of listening to Barack Obama statements, reading his writings, or watching how his campaign staff acts. In other words, there is documentation for each of the statements I have made.
When asked why he would not quit his basic training in “An Officer and a Gentleman”, Richard Gere famously replied “I got nowhere else to go”. America has been the world’s last, best hope for over 230 years. I fear that is about to change. Will my grandsons grow up in the freedom I have enjoyed, or will America fundamentally change? I hope not, because I too have nowhere else to go.
Dictators & totalitarians across the World agree- Vote for The One!
The Obama campaign: Twice the crazy of Scientology with none of the entertainment value.
If you want to know how a war is going, would you ask ...
1) a general
2) armed forces news
3) a soldier who emails other soldiers throughout the armed forces every night
PUMAs are #3. THEY know. We know because they, and FRiends tell us.
Here’s a compilation of what we know.
0) NEW!!! “Coalgate” http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2123235/posts
1) ACORN has been stuffing the Democratic registration lists for years now, especially this year. Pollsters use these stuffed registered-voter lists to poll real people, so if the lists read 60%D, 40%R, the pollster will poll 60 Ds for every 40 Rs. If every D were for Obama and every R were for McCain, Obama ought to be ahead by 20 points in the polls He’s not! Ergo, McCain is actually ahead and doesn’t know it!
2) The press (AP, MSNBC) is starting to turn on Obama. They see what’s happening in the early returns. Please see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2119327/posts and http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2119299/posts
3) If you have not considered that Democratic Presidential campaigns would try to browbeat you into thinking that a Democrat win was inevitable, and that you should side with “history,” and vote with everyone, please read http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2117212/posts
4) According to http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2118129/posts, McCain is polling evenly in early voting exit polls in a county that has 28% more Democrats. Repeat: DEMOCRATS ARE VOTING McPALIN!!!
5) Oh yeah, the “Joe the Plumber” video isn’t the only time Obama has let fly with his “spread the wealth” worldview. He blabbed about it profusely in 2001 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2116921/posts
6) “Polls” that show Obama ahead tell a different story when internals are studied. Please see http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/an-eeyore-free-zone for a primer on how polls are cooked. UPDATE: Rasmussen saying McCain ahead in Florida and Ohio.
For those among you who have more money than you will ever need, save your time and delete this email.
For the rest of us who are still working with mortgages, children and grandchildren or retired living on a pension and or Social Security perhaps you will take a couple of minutes to read the proposed changes in the American tax system.
Sharing this email with others can make a difference on November 4, 2008; for our citizens and our country.
INTERESTING DATA JUST RECEIVED ON TAXES
This is something you should be aware of so you don't get blind-sided. This is really going to catch a lot of families off guard. It should make you worry.
Proposed changes in taxes after 2008 General election:
CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN 0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples) McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA 28% on profit from ALL home sales
How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.
DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN 15% (no change)
OBAMA 39.6%
How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama become president. The experts predict that higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.
INCOME TAX
MCCAIN (no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500 Single making 50K - tax $12,500 Single making 75K - tax $18,750 Married making 60K- tax $9,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250
OBAMA (Reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts) Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 125K - tax $38,750
Under Obama your taxes will more than double! How does this affect you? No explanation needed. This is pretty straight forward.
INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA Restore the inheritance tax
How does this affect you? Many families have lost businesses, farms and ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will not only lose them to these taxes.
NEW TAXES BEING PROPOSED BY OBAMA
* New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet
* New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)
* New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)
* New taxes on retirement accounts and last but not least....
* New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries
Aww, I thought The One would just talk 'em out of it...
9,493
posted on
11/03/2008 3:40:57 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
The contrast between, on the one hand, the huge amount of material about Obama’s radical associations that has been published in on-line journals and in a few brave newspapers, and on the other the refusal by big media to address it and to vilify those who do, becomes more astounding by the day. The Obamaniacs are spinning the relationship between Obama and William Ayers, former of Weather Undergound Terrorism Inc, as of no consequence because this was supposedly a chance acquaintance and because the educational project they worked on, the Annenberg Challenge, was a worthy one.
The absolute nadir (though I hate to commit to that, as we still have two weeks before the election) came with Joe the Plumber. Middle America, even when they didn't agree with Joe, looked on in horror as the press took apart the private life of an average person who had the temerity to ask a tough question of a Presidential candidate. So much for the Standing Up for the Little Man, so much for Speaking Truth to Power, so much for Comforting the Afflicted and Afflicting the Comfortable, and all of those other catchphrases we journalists used to believe we lived by.
9,494
posted on
11/03/2008 4:15:52 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
| littleharbour wrote: |
The veil is starting to slip from the visage of the Stalinist wannabe. He's backtracking furiously on his tax cut proposal (Obama surrogate, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson), was quoted on Friday as dropping the threshold to $120,000 from the original $250,000), and The One said that on Tuesday he was going to "fundamentally transform" America. You say you want a revolution, well we all want to change the world.  |
Why stop there?
How about $60,000?
Why not $30,000? $15,000 or $7,500?
Or, we could simply give the government all of our money, and they can hand back what they think we "need..."
Never Forget:
Wee Jimmy ( like a Real president, only smaller ) Carter was elected on "change," too...
_________________
Just an old Keyboard Cowboy...gating back out, into Cyberspace and the -Dreamtime--
9,495
posted on
11/03/2008 4:57:02 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
9,496
posted on
11/03/2008 5:09:55 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
FYI, FWIW:
Florida: McCain's pollster gives us very good news
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Posted by: Dave_in_Fla
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 08:47AM CDT
86 Comments
I’m going to try and pull together a lot of different threads in this Diary entry, to give a sense of where this election is heading. As most of you know, I’ve been trying to be cautiously optimistic, without being blinded by false hopes. That is always a difficult challenge, and I think I’ve maintained that balance so far.
Let’s begin with the a memo released by the McCain campaign from their internal pollster. This has been picked up by at least The Hill and Fox. Remember, this is a release from the McCain campaign itself, so they have a reason for doing it. As for the memo itself, I can make arguments in my head for it being overly optimistic or overly pessimistic. But I have a hard time believing it can be too far from the truth, given that a polling firm “for hire” is putting its name on it. They want to have work after the election too.
There is a lot of information in this memo, so let me try to break it down into the important points:
1) The turnout for this election is going to be massive. We could be looking at 130 million voters:
Public Opinion Strategies has been using a 1 to 10 scale to help look at self-described interest in the election since 1993. In 1996, in our last track, 48% of voters described their interest in the election as a 10. In 2000, the last track was 54% saying 10. Remarkably, in 2004, our last track had self-described 10s at 75% of the electorate. You need to understand we are witnessing a day-to-day trend of serious magnitude as self-described 10s increase in every roll. Last night, 81% of voters described their interest in this election as a 10! Wow.
How is this going to effect the election? Well there are several factors in the election that have been driven by the turnout models. First, the public polls have been assuming a giant surge in Democrat voters with the Black, Youth, Newly registered (ACORN cheaters), and enthusiastic Democrat voters. But in a turnout model of this size, those factors are muted by the fact that the GOP base is also turning out in their 2004 levels, and maybe even higher than 2004. The practical effect is that Party ID advantage should be less than the +3 Dem in 2006, and might approach the +0 of 2004. The memo confirms this analysis:
My own view and our own weights in our surveys reflect a belief that African American turn-out will be at historic levels, there will be a significant boost with voters 18 to 29 years old, yet the overall high level of turn-out will begin to mute the increase in the percentage these sub-groups represent in the overall electorate.
2) Undecided’s are going to break to McCain.
There are several indicators here that point in this direction. Unlike previous elections, the Black vote being reflected in the polls includes no undecideds:
Typically a Republican candidate trails among African Americans on a survey by a margin of something like 78% to 14%. As a firm, we consistently warn our clients that on Election Day, they will underperform their polling margins with African American voters. If their tracking says 78% - 18%, they should expect to only carry 8% of the African American vote, as the Democrat candidate will typically carry more than 90% of the African American vote. Senator Obama’s numbers are different than anything we have ever seen before among African Americans. In most polls, McCain is losing these African American voters by margins like 97% to 1%.
Typically a Republican candidate trails among African Americans on a survey by a margin of something like 78% to 14%. As a firm, we consistently warn our clients that on Election Day, they will underperform their polling margins with African American voters. If their tracking says 78% - 18%, they should expect to only carry 8% of the African American vote, as the Democrat candidate will typically carry more than 90% of the African American vote. Senator Obama’s numbers are different than anything we have ever seen before among African Americans. In most polls, McCain is losing these African American voters by margins like 97% to 1%.
Take the one poll that says 52-41 — that’s 11 points. There are seven points [of] undecideds. If there’s an incumbent, generally the undecideds won’t vote for the incumbent. Sen. Obama has been the ‘incumbent’ for a while.
The old saying is “undecideds break toward the challenger”. Well we have been told for almost a year now that the Democrat candidate will be the President. For almost 5 months, Obama has been acting as the President Elect. Voters looking at someone with this much exposure, while Bush has been completely absent from the media, are seeing Obama in the same light they typically view incumbents.
The memo looks further at these undecideds, and characterizes them:
Functionally, this means the only undecided/refuse to respond voters are white and Latino. So, in a state like Indiana where he has recently led Senator McCain, in most tracks, Senator Obama is at 46% to 47% of the vote. I am becoming increasingly persuaded it will be very difficult for Senator Obama to perform much above his percentage of the vote in a state.
So if you look at polls, you need to start thinking that Obama’s top line number is going to be pretty close to his actual vote.
3) Democrats are crossing over to vote McCain in much higher percentage that Republicans are crossing over for Obama.
The memo addresses this factor when looking at general trends:
We are beginning to once again get over a 20% chunk of the vote among soft Democrats. Importantly as well, our long identified target of Walmart women - those women without a college degree in households under $60,000 a year in income are also swinging back solidly in our direction. Finally, in terms of critical improvement, even as this track shows more Republicans voting for us than Democrats supporting Obama, we are witnessing an impressive pop with Independent voters.
This tracks well with what I noted last night regarding the early voting in Nevada. While the numbers are difficult to ascertain, there is clearly a significant advantage for McCain in crossover support. Ed Rendell points out something that I find very interesting, and something I noted the other day when I realized that Obama never campaigned in the swing areas of Florida. He has only campaigned in Miami.
Obama famously dissed smalltown Pennsylvanians in remarks last April to wealthy donors in San Francisco, calling them anti-immigrant and “bitter” and saying “they cling to guns and religion.” Still, the Obama campaign heeded Rendell. Sen. Obama returned to Pennsylvania Monday to campaign — but he won’t be visiting small towns in the Bitterlands. Instead, he’ll stick to more urban locales. Monday night, he was in Pittsburgh. Today, he’ll be in Delaware County.
Remember, Obama is on record as saying small towns bore him. The practical effect of his campaign decision is that he is not trying to hold onto the rural Democrat base. He has written that off, and is trying to instead beef up support in the Blue districts that voted for Kerry in 2004. Contrast this to McCain and Palin that have been going to Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Bucks County. They are campaigning in both Blue and Red districts. This matches up well with the post I made yesterday about the PUMA ground game in Pennsylvania.
(4) The Liberal/Socialist label is sticking to Obama.
I stated back in September that the country will ultimately decide whether it wants to move toward Socialism or prefers to retain its roots in individual Liberty and Capitalism. The concern at the time was that with the blatant media bias, the voters weren’t going to get the true picture of Obama.
Well they have gotten that picture, and as I said back when the Joe the Plumber thing hit, Joe has become this election's version of the Swift Boat guys. This is borne out by the McCain internal polling:
We are tracking how much people have seen, read, or heard about a number of thematic elements from both campaigns, including the false charges about Senator McCains health care plan, being out of touch on the economy, and the Obamas campaign charges about Medicare. At the same time, we are testing awareness of Joe the Plumber, Senators Bidens quote about his own running mate being so inexperienced it invites being tested by our enemies around the world, and Obamas proposals that will raise federal spending by a trillion dollars. This has been the week where Joe the Plumber has literally become a household name. An astounding 59% of voters in these battleground states have heard a lot about this story, 83% have heard a lot or some about this episode. The 59% a lot dwarfs the other stories/thematic elements we are tracking this week.
This is critical, the final week of the election, when everyone finally finished gathering the information that they need to make their decision, was dominated by the themes that McCain wanted, not Obama. This is huge. Look at the polling results:
In our tracking, now 59% of battleground voters describe Senator Obama as being a liberal, a percentage that is higher than previous Democrat losers Gore/Kerry, and significantly higher than for President Clinton and President Carter. A majority (54%) of voters profile as saying Senator Obama is more liberal than they see themselves politically.
So the voters now have the information they need. They recognize Obama is a liberal, and they consider him to be more liberal than they are. If this country votes for Obama next week, it actually will be confirmation that Socialism is a desired (or at least acceptable) outcome.
I think that even our resident Democrats can recognize that such a result would be without historical precedent.
So we still have Obama’s infomercial tonight, which is reminding me a lot of Perot in 1992. He is going to try and get the campaign back onto the topics that work in his favor. The question is whether or not anyone cares at this point. It is hard to believe that anyone in the country has not been exposed to information about Obama, given the half trillion dollars he has spent on advertizing.
I think that the nature of the election is now pretty much set, unless something of similar magnitude to the Bush DUI can be dropped on McCain. But all the outstanding bombshells appear to be targeted at Obama, and he is working overtime trying to keep them buried.
My personal feeling is that McCain’s pollster is trying to not get anyone’s hopes up, and keep them working hard. On Tuesday, the American People will once again prove their exceptionalism. They will elect John McCain and Sarah Palin.
sourcel
Update:
Fox news is reporting that Obama's pollster is confirming the results discussed here. In a memo sent to the Florida ground operation, he confirms that the polls are tightening up and that GOTV operations are critical and in need of resources in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia. He says that resources are less of a problem in Pennsylvania. When contacted by Fox, he confirmed the McCain release, "McCain is right".
9,497
posted on
11/03/2008 6:23:21 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
“When they learn how she really hates other races, specifically white people, Obamanation becomes a one termer. But then again, when the US see that Obamanation is a hater of other races, he will be a one termer.”
This information is already “out there”, and he may still be elected.
well, after Tuesday, we’re done with polls for a while, as we all see the actual results.
And we’ll know the answer to everyone’s questions about how accurate these polls really are. Lotsa folks here think that these polls had the numbers manipulated to show higher support for Obama. And that polls were inflated in certain states such as Pennsylvania on behalf of Obama. We’ll soon know the answers to all these questions.
If anything, Joe & Sarah are the stars...
9,498
posted on
11/03/2008 8:07:34 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
Blog info:
DAVID HARSANYI: "Now, I'm not suggesting Obama intends to transform this nation into 1950s-era Soviet tyranny or that he will possess the power to do so. I'm suggesting Obama is praising and mainstreaming an economic philosophy that has failed to produce a scintilla of fairness or prosperity anywhere on Earth. Ever." But it does wonders for politicians, bureaucrats, and the well-connected.
November 3rd, 2008
From the Communist Party USA’s People’s Weekly World (formerly The Daily Worker):
(Click on images to enlarge)
OPINION: The coming landslide
Author: Marc Brodine
People’s Weekly World Newspaper, 10/31/08
Barack Obama has correctly reminded his supporters and staff not to get cocky, to remember the lessons of his New Hampshire primary loss. Nothing can be taken for granted, especially in the era of Republican voter suppression efforts, scurrilous robo-calls, and escalating ultra-right racism and desperation.
Nonetheless, if we do the campaigning, there are good reasons to expect that our work could result in a landslide.
It is likely, most experts and pundits say, that the polls will tighten, making it look like the election is getting closer. However there are a number of factors which, taken together, can lead to a much bigger landslide than the polls predict…
Except for the financial crisis which has decisively affected polls nationwide, no one of these factors by itself is large enough to change the election results significantly in more than a few states. But taken together, they show the real potential of a once-in-a-generation landslide…
True enough, there are countervailing forces as well. The blatant appeals to racism, the coded appeals to ultra-nationalism and militarism, the increased desperation of the ultra-right, the scare tactics they are using and which they will intensify between now and November 4th, the voter suppression campaign and dirty tricks like the vicious robo-calls which have already started, to mention a few. These dangers lead to the final and most important factor:
The Ground Game: Partly due to the Obama campaign financial advantage, partly due to the organizing philosophy of the Obama campaign, partly due to a huge volunteer gap (here is where the enthusiasm gap matters most), partly due to the grassroots nature of the Obama campaign from the start, and partly due to the Obama campaign using the long primary fight to build statewide organization in almost all states, and partly due to the organizational advantage of union GOTV efforts, Obama has a massive advantage in the ground game. Better organized than in previous presidential campaigns, with much better technological tools, with way more offices and staff in most states than the McCain campaign, the Obama campaign has rewritten the rules for staffing, GOTV, computerized organization, new voter registration, and providing ways for volunteers to join, donate, and take action.
Even though Obama is not a left-wing candidate, such a landslide would forever change the political life of our country, would open the doors to millions of workers joining unions, and would help enact aspects of Obama’s program (health care, ending the Iraq War, cutting taxes for the vast majority, raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, improving and expanding social programs) which will benefit the lives of hundreds of millions.
So donate, display yard signs, wear buttons, call friends and family, doorknock, hold house parties, sign-wave on Election Day, volunteer in other ways, and vote. You will make history, and change our future for the better.
It is of course no surprise that the Communist Party would see Mr. Obama as a historic victory for their party.
Along with the Democratic Socialist Party Of American and the most prominent Communist dictators, many foreign and domestic terrorists, the CPUSA have long since endorsed his candidacy.
And why not? As we have previously note, Mr. Obama’s platform and that of the CPUSA’s are practically identical.
And they certainly are correct here.
A victory for Mr. Obama will certainly change this country forever.
3 Comments »
Not Nearly As Ugly As It Will Get If McCain Wins
"If McCain loses, it may get ugly ..."
If the Obamessiah should lose, the rage that will erupt on the left towards McCain will make the last 8 years of Bush hatred seem like a vague distaste for cream sauce.And that is my only prediction for the 2008 Presidential Election.
Posted by Kate at
9:27 AM |
Comments (28)
Interesting comment I saw earlier today at Stolen Thunder:
by jingo said…
Obama may have an election-day trick up his sleeve. What if a million of his early-voted supporters show up at the polls on election day, and these invalid voters bring the process to a standstill, so legions of voters wait in line for hours before giving up, so there is mass disenfranchisement caused by these stalling tactics. It would explain why Obama wants his people to vote early, if he is planning election day anarchy.
I think he’s onto something.
Keep your fingers crossed that the following is correct:
GOP internal polling information for Nov.2
http://countusout.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/gop-internal-polls-blue-states-we-are-winning-we-are-going-to-win-do-your-part-and-vote/
New Jersey McCain 48 Obama 43 Undecided 7
Michigan McCain 44 Obama 42 Undecided 10
California Obama 44 McCain 43 Undecided 9 Barr 3
Pennsylvania McCain 55 Obama 33 Undecided 10
9,499
posted on
11/03/2008 8:43:36 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
To: All
Either get out and vote, or get ready for a thugocracy. Obama is as bad as it gets. I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt here as McCain was not present ...just Obama speaking to his minions. But he definitely shot Shrillery the bird, no doubt.
What you write is true but doesn’t capture everything. they want to go past the fairness doctrine. See:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2008/10/democrats-plans-for-controlling-media.html
9,500
posted on
11/03/2008 9:57:42 AM PST
by
backhoe
(Just a Merry-Hearted Keyboard Pirate Boy, plunderin' his way across the WWW...)
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42 Comments:
Just forwarded this link to all my friends and family in VA and PA. For anyone who is still teetering...this is a good reason to go McCain.