Free Republic

Gay Democrats talk strategyKristen Wyatt The Associated Press Aspen, CO Colorado DENVER — Gay and lesbian Democrats are gathering early to prepare a strategy for next week's convention, and their marching orders are the same for all states: Make sure other delegates know who you are and what gay voters want this fall. The Stonewall Democrats started a four-day "boot camp" in Denver Thursday. At the top of their agenda for the convention, which starts Monday, are pushing Democrats to fight proposed gay-marriage bans in three states and passing federal anti-discrimination laws. With a record 370 lesbian, gay and transgendered...

...He said some researchers in the United States are already using automatic association tests to determine why undecided voters seem to be flocking to Republican presidential nominee John McCain, rather than Democrat Barack Obama. The results could prove controversial. While there is no data as yet to prove it, Gawronski said there is anecdotal evidence that many Americans are uncomfortable with the idea of an African-American president. And in past automatic association tests, he said even people who consciously express "strong egalitarian convictions" have sometimes betrayed unconscious bias against African-Americans.

Let me offer Obama some more free advice of my own, also worth every penny: Don't defund the 527's. I know that this is an old one, and that Obama has quietly changed his tune on 527s lately, but it seems pretty obvious. No one is going to vote for you because you stopped the evil 527 money from entering politics. However, people might very well vote for you because the 527s unleashed a $125 million spending barrage against your opponent. Target white Democrats: Pretty much every demographic analysis of this election has shown that Obama is over-performing other recent...

McCain responds to Obama at an event today in New Mexico: Yesterday, Senator Obama got a little testy on this issue. He said that I am questioning his patriotism. Let me be clear: I am not questioning his patriotism; I am questioning his judgment. Senator Obama has made it clear that he values withdrawal from Iraq above victory in Iraq, even today with victory in sight. Over and over again, he has advocated unconditional withdrawal – regardless of the facts on the ground. And he voted against funding for troops in combat, after saying it would be wrong to do...

CNN) -- John McCain's attacks on Barack Obama on national security issues seem to be working: Polls show McCain has cut the Democrat's lead in half. Sen. John McCain speaks at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention Monday in Orlando, Florida. 1 of 2 According to CNN's average of several recent national surveys, Obama's lead is now a slim 3 points over the Arizona senator, 46-43 percent -- half of his advantage in a CNN poll of polls one week ago, and down from a high of 8 points in mid-July. A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll out Tuesday evening was...

While no one knows who first uttered the sentiment "It’s better to say nothing and seem a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt," Republican presidential hopeful John McCain’s speech this week on climate change certainly supports the phrase’s validity. McCain spoke at the facilities of Vestas Wind Technology, an Oregon-based firm that manufactures wind-power systems. The irony of the setting was rich given McCain’s outspoken opposition to pork-barrel spending. He even risked his presidential hopes by criticizing ethanol subsidies ahead of the all-important Iowa caucuses. Next to solar power, however, wind power is the most heavily...

LAST week raised important questions about whether Barack Obama is strong enough to be president. On the domestic political front, he showed incredible weakness in dealing with the Clintons, while on foreign and defense questions, he betrayed a lack of strength and resolve in standing up to Russia's invasion of Georgia. This two-dimensional portrait of weakness underscores fears that Obama might, indeed, be a latter-day Jimmy Carter. Consider first the domestic and political. Bill and Hillary Clinton have no leverage over Obama. Hillary can't win the nomination. She doesn't control any committees. If she or her supporters tried to disrupt...

RUSH: Here is Obama answering the question from Rick Warren, "What's the most significant...? Let me ask it this way: What's the most gut-wrenching decision you ever had to make and how did you process that to come to that decision?" OBAMA: The opposition to the war in Iraq was, uh, as tough a decision as I've had to make. Um, not only because there were political consequences, but also because, uh, Saddam Hussein was a real bad person. Uh, aaand there was no doubt that he meant America ill. So I -- I -- I agonized over that, and...

The 2008 Presidential Election represents the Republican Party’s single best opportunity to advance its agenda in recent presidential history. That’s not a misprint. Read it again...

The New Republic Be Not Cool by Michelle Cottle For Barack Obama, the presidential race right now demands a sense of urgency. And that's hard to convey when you never seem to sweat. Post Date Friday, August 15, 2008 In a way arguably unlike any previous presidential contender (yes, okay, fine: JFK, maybe), Barack Obama personifies cool. He's young. He's hip. (Check out that iPod playlist.) He's black. He's got that whole smooth-talking, fist-bumping, "What, me worry?" vibe going. His oratory uplifts without inflaming. He talks of hope and change and endless possibility, but always with an edge of restraint...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain says that he's taking another look at the possibility of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, and as part of that assessment McCain says that he plans to talk to the nation's most prominent advocate of drilling in ANWR, Alaska governor Sarah Palin. McCain has opposed drilling in ANWR. In the past he's compared it to drilling in the Grand Canyon. But as energy prices climbed over the past several months, he has been careful to avoid locking himself into an anti-drilling position. In late June, McCain told voters in...

Update: I linked to the msm item that characterized it as a "vote." There's also this - it doesn't use the word "vote." But frankly, decision seems a reach, too - unless you're simply calculating your way to the White House back in 2002. Obama didn't make any decisions of real consequence regarding Iraq. He may have had opinions. But not only has he had a pass on any real decision-making - it isn't like he's been an anti-war leader either. While he may skate on this one, if having an opinion on the Iraq War while you're presumably doing...

In his color-coded article, “The Color-Coded Campaign,” John Heilemann doesn’t just hint that racial prejudice will prevent Barack Obama from winning the White House. He states it directly and without equivocation. The reason America’s first black major party presumptive presidential nominee hasn’t blown out the intractably boring and uninspiring John McCain in the polls, given “surging” Democratic voter registration and voters’ disenchantment with Republicans, is his skin color. It wouldn’t have anything to do with Obama’s liberal beliefs, inexperience, gaffes, and inconsistencies, would it? No, it’s because he’s black, says Heilemann and other liberals...

As we all remember from the 2000 election the MSM, more accurately called the Democrat Media believes Gravitas is extremely important. They talked about G-A-V-I-T-A-S more than any issue for quite some time. Bush was a very risky candidate because he lacked a certain level of, of, ah, hold it…GRAVITAS. Now I just watched the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency hosted by Rev. Rick Warren. Senators Obama and McCain were both asked essentially the same questions. And I have to say that while Sen. Obama did OK without his teleprompter Sen. McCain came off much more Presidential with much...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would emphasize public-private research and development grants to encourage the government's application of technology and establish a nationwide public safety network for first responders by the end of his first term, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has said. In general, McCain would also make more government information available online. McCain announced his government information technology plans as part of his overall technology platform that was published on his campaign’s Web site Aug. 14. In addition to encouraging the government’s use of IT, much of the platform focuses on the premise that with lower taxes, freer trade,...

As Senator Barack Obama prepares to accept the Democratic presidential nomination next week, party leaders in battleground states say the fight ahead against Senator John McCain looks tougher than they imagined, with Mr. Obama vulnerable on multiple fronts despite weeks of cross-country and overseas campaigning These Democrats — 15 governors, members of Congress and state party leaders — say Mr. Obama has yet to convert his popularity among many Americans into solutions to crucial electoral challenges: showing ownership of an issue, like economic stewardship or national security; winning over supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton; and minimizing his race and...

As Senator Barack Obama prepares to accept the Democratic presidential nomination next week, party leaders in battleground states say the fight ahead against Senator John McCain looks tougher than they imagined, with Mr. Obama vulnerable on multiple fronts despite weeks of cross-country and overseas campaigning. These Democrats — 15 governors, members of Congress and state party leaders — say Mr. Obama has yet to convert his popularity among many Americans into solutions to crucial electoral challenges: showing ownership of an issue, like economic stewardship or national security; winning over supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton; and minimizing his race and...

You've Gotta Have Heart? How Obama Chooses Judges by Deal W. Hudson 8/10/08 Evoking the power of the human heart is the daily bread of American pop culture. It rarely raises an eyebrow. But the use of "heart" by Barack Obama to describe his criteria for picking judges is troubling. Speaking to Planned Parenthood just over a year ago, Obama said: We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom; the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And...

WASHINGTON -- There's a big difference between listening to one of Barack Obama's speeches, as inspiring as they may sound, and carefully reading them and weighing each passage. There is less there than meets the ear. Maybe it sounds good to the unquestioning mind, but much of his thinking doesn't hold up to even the most cursory scrutiny. Many of his suggestions are disturbing because they would move the country in old directions that have never worked in the past. He gave a speech about the economy the other day in Titusville, Fla., that contained many of the thoughts he...

DALLAS, Aug 15, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Below is a statement issued by T. Boone Pickens following his meeting this morning with U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) in Aspen, Colorado: "It was a pleasure to sit down with Senator McCain and discuss firsthand an issue that is America's top priority: ending our dependence on foreign oil, which today is approaching 70 percent. We plan on having a similar meeting with Senator Obama in the very near future. I have repeatedly stressed the nonpartisan aspects of my initiative. This is a threat to our economic and national security and something that...