Back to a dead heat

Gallup is now +1 Obama and recent Ras polls were similar. Obama's "Berlin bounce" is gone.

Gallup also had a +4 McCain result, an outlier from the usual polls of Obama leads. As of right now, with both Obama and McCain polling under 50% consistently, neither being ahead by much, and with poll average around a 1-4% Obama lead, this race is still wide open. Either man can win depending on how the campaigns go. Obama's inability, despite huge media and funding advantages and an exciting primary, to be further ahead should be discomforting to the Obama camp. The Republican Presidential candidate since 1972 has generally improved from July to election day, in some cases (like in 1976 and 1988) dramatically.

It won't be until Labor day that we can really take a read on the election polls, but we should treat the election as a toss-up right now.

Obama's public funding hypocrisy

Newsweek: Obama's public financing acrobatics.

Politico.

Whiners for Barack

The thin-skinned Obama cant take criticism. So no wonder he has supporters out there saying:
Leave Barack Alone!

Many Faces of Barack

Many Faces of Barack.

Barack and Friends now on Barackbook.com

Facebook for Barack, courtesy of the GOP.

Heard on the Web: Osama and Obama, two men with good friends who have bombed the Pentagon.

Rick Warrens disappointing Forum

Obama is trying to hoodwink Evangelical voters.

Pastor Rick Warren is enabling this, with his ‘forum’.

Now ... what issues are of importance to Rev Warren?

“The primaries proved that Americans care deeply about the faith, values, character and leadership convictions of candidates as much as they do about the issues. While I know both men as friends and they recognize I will be frank, but fair, they also know I will be raising questions in these four areas beyond what political reporters typically ask. This includes pressing issues that are bridging divides in our nation, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights.”

Really now. What a disappointing list of topics that will do absolutely nothing to tell us who is best to lead.

The Elephant (or donkey) in the room are the major issues least discussed in this race so far: Gay marriage, abortion, and judges.


Gay Marriage: Redefining marriage to include homosexual unions is about to be instituted across America if California doesnt protect
traditional marriage in its state constitution in the election this November. New York state is about to accept marriage licenses from California, and
so the de facto result will be the spread of gay marriage across the country.
McCain is for the Cali amendment protecting marriage. Obama is a against it, and is therefore now in the pro-gay-marriage camp.

Abortion: Obama is a pro-abortion legislator, who has a 100% NARAL record and 0% right-to-life record. Obama even voted
against a bill that would protect infants born alive after ‘botched’ abortions. McCain’s pro-life record is almost the opposite; strong
pro-life record, but in favor of embyonic stem cell research. Both men need to be asked about their positions and asked to defend them.

Judges: McCain voted for Roberts and Alito, Obama voted against both. Judges have too often ruled on matters involving church and
state, in ways that undermines our Christian heritage. They need to be asked to defend their approach to selecting and approving judges.

Education: Obama’s opposition to abstinence education should be brought up, and their views on sex ed. McCain and Obama
differ on school choice. The vital issue of education should be discussed, especially the areas of sex ed, educating moral values and citizenship, and school choice.

Abortion, marriage, education, judges - these are fundamental issues that must be discussed!

Two hours devoted to the questions Rev Warren mentions instead of the above important differences between the two candidates will be a huge missed opportunity. The topics he wants to cover will inform us little:

Poverty: The US Federal Govt spend hundreds of billions of dollars redistributing wealth from taxpayers to address ‘poverty’. There is no leadership issue there, since it takes no leadership to take from Peter to give to Paul, just the power of the state. What would take leadership though is better economic management and economic growth policies that long-term will reduce poverty.
HIV/AIDS: unless the president is actively going to stop STDs, this is more of a “what taxpayer funded program shall we increase?” question. On that score, President Bush’s Africa AIDS initiative got bipartisan support. So this will be a genial agreement area.
Climate: The earth has stopped warming in the past 10 years. It would be better for candidates to say nothing on this, and just wait for the temperature record to tell us if global warming is real or not. So long as the earth is not warming, it’s a non-issue.
Human rights - It might be nice to see one candidate speak out on behalf of the US military and point out that by liberating 50 million people in the past 7 years, no organization has done more to advance human rights in that time period than the U.S. military, but I don’t expect it from Obama, who won’t even credit the military for the successes in Iraq.

On these 4 issues, we will get vague assurances from both candidates that they will ‘do the right thing’. They will not be much different. What’s the point of dwelling on something where they are the same?

Obama - socialized healthcare for illegals

Obama offers taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegals

Obama has said, proudly and often, "I am going to give health insurance to 47 million Americans who are now without coverage." But are they "Americans?"

That 47 million statistic includes illegal immigrants - who virtually all lack insurance. In fact, about one in four of those lacking insurance is here illegally. And they are, by far, the group most in need of health insurance.
...
.

Care for illegals is the biggest unmet medical need in our nation, and Obama's program targets it squarely. But do we really want to give them federally paid coverage equal to what US senators get, as Obama proposes?

Covering illegals adds dramatically to the cost of any program - and would encourage more folks to enter America illicitly.

1976 all over again, pt3

Michael Barone sees 1976 in 2008, and talks about how the Ford team almost pulled off an incredible upset:

The Ford ad team honed in on his record, with man-on-the-street ads, some filmed on the streets of Atlanta. It was risky, going against the grain of public opinion. But the Ford campaign persisted, and it worked. The McCain campaign needs to take the same risk and to persist in the face of media disapproval.

Finally, the Ford campaign altered the mood of the nation. Voters then, as now, thought the nation was off on the wrong track. The Ford campaign, with a catchy song, "I'm Feeling Good About America," and upbeat ads starting off with shots of Air Force One, argued that their candidate was leading the nation around the corner, making Americans feel proud again. The McCain campaign needs to do something similar, to argue that their candidate can help the nation turn the corner and lead us into better times.

Beware Charismatic Men Who Preach 'Change'

He might be another Fidel:

When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said "Praise the Lord." And when the young leader said, "I will be for change and I'll bring you change," everyone yelled, "Viva Fidel!"

Obama Speaks Rubbish

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Absolute and utter rubbish. None of it is true.

San Fran Fetishists for Barack

We've had death row inmates, Hamas, and despots on board Obama's Hype and Chains campaign, so why not Violet Blue, author of erotica and a fetish model as an Obama supporter. She is looking forward to the day when Barack Obama fight her war against abstinence education and gets condoms to kids in public schools:

here's how Barack can put an end to the war on public school sex education and the sharing of accurate sex information to people of all ages: 1. Kill the abstinence programs. Period. Think of them as creationism in schools: optional to include in curricula but privately funded only. Fire the f— out of anyone with a religious agenda in a position of power in relation to public health.

Now we know the "San Fransisco fetishists" er, um, ah, position on the matter. I somehow doubt that view resonates with flyover America.

Malkin: Ich bin ein Beginner

Malkin: Ich bin ein Beginner.

Speech was panned by some.

Why do germans like Obama?

Regulus said:
With that in mind, any thinking American should be asking, “If they don’t like us so much, then why do they like him so much?”
You know why: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Germans want to see America taken down several notches. To see us humbled, humiliated, and reduced to impotence — just like we did to them in the two world wars that they started.
And lo, there comes to Berlin a candidate for the American presidency who wants to do just that. No wonder they’re slobbering all over Hopenchange just like they did with der Fuhrer seventy years ago, right down to the public hysteria at his speeches.

Killers for Obama

death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop apologized to his victim’s family, thanked America and urged people to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Adding that to the Hamas and PRNK despot's endorsements, and he's on a roll!

Obamedia Update

Obama's thin skin and arrogance is even rubbing the media the wrong way.
But they still love him.
Yet they know something aint right:
"They’re terrified of people poking around Obama’s life."

Obamedia acronyms:
CBS: Constantly Barack’s Servants
NBC: New Barack Clowns
ABC: All Barack Clowns

Obama cancels visit to troops

And the rich part about it is ... he cancelled it because it couldn't be a photo-op. See Patterico:
This Obama’s Cancellation of Visit to Military Bases in Germany Caused By Restriction On Press Coverage?

From NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube
A U.S. military official tells NBC News they were making preparations for Sen. Barack Obama to visit wounded troops at the Landstuhl Medical Center at Ramstein, Germany on Friday, but “for some reason the visit was called off.”

One military official who was working on the Obama visit said because political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops, Obama’s representatives were told, “he could only bring two or three of his Senate staff member, no campaign officials or workers.” In addition,
“Obama could not bring any media. Only military photographers would be permitted to record Obama’s visit.”

The official said “We didn’t know why” the request to visit the wounded troops was withdrawn. “He (Obama) was more than welcome. We were all ready for him.”

Comments:
- just a few hours after Obama’s “non-political rally”, his campaign finance director sends out begging letters - citing the speech.

Some Protein Wisdom on it.

Obama Gets It Wrong on Terrorism

reported in the Hyde Park Herald Sept. 19, 2001: "We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine or connect with the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy ... most often ... grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair."

Obama was terribly wrong indeed.

Obama's World farce Tour

Truth about the tour:

MITCHELL: Let me just say something about the message management. He didn't have reporters with him, he didn't have a press pool, he didn't do a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq. What you're seeing is not reporters brought in. You're seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questions by the military, and what some would call fake interviews, because they're not interviews from a journalist. So, there's a real press issue here. Politically it's smart as can be. But we've not seen a presidential candidate do this, in my recollection, ever before.

Obamedia's love fest is enough to start a few

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/07/analysis_obamas_gravitas.html


"McCain knows that both he and the Bush administration have caved in and followed Obama in the most important of international issues: Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran.

You can dress it up with "general time horizon"...but you are still following what Obama said no matter what sematics you use, my friend."

Are Obama koolaid drinkers *all* this stupid?

Obama comes late for the parade and starts marching out in front and hubristically calls himself the leader.

Truth: Obama was willing to lose in Iraq. He preached the "I've always been against it" line. Now that Bush and Patraeus have succeeded in Iraq, following a strategy that McCain supported and was right about, and Obama opposed and was wrong about, we can go to the next step: Victory and then bring troops home.

Obama is in a box. Obama has to let our troops finish the job, but the surge has done SO WELL, Obama will just pretend that they are 'coming around' to his 'withdrawal'. its nuts. Its like being against WWII and then saying the allies came around to pacifism in May 1945.

Obama is now flipflopping to a 'general time horizon' Do people not notice that obama is the one who kept shifting the goalpost?

Now comes the Obama let-down. He is dissembling, pretending to not change his position while in fact doing so. And so we learn ... Insiders in Obama's campaign suggest that his "residual force" that stays in Iraq to "target any remnants of al-Qaeda, protect remaining U.S. troops and officials and train Iraq's security forces" could include as many as 50,000 troops. (See WashPost article on it)

50,000 troops!!! In 2012?!?! What happened to 'all troops out except the ones guarding the embassy'? What happened to 'get them out by spring 2008? Why not spring 2009? Out the window.

Just Like Obama's FISA promise, his primary election promises are baggage to be jettisoned at the first available moment. Like now.

If Obama admitted this in January, Hillary would be the nominee. In the Dem primary, Obama hammered Hillary for admitting that we might still have troops in 2013, while Obama touted an ironclad get the troops out ASAP.

Hillary must be hitting the hard liquor right about now, aghast that she lost to this rookie who managed to bamboozle voters and steal her thunder.
... Amazing!

And McCain ... he can take some small satisfaction that Obama's attempt to be less exposed on this issue has removed some of the space between them. but the fundamental problem with Obama, that his decisions are political calculations and not actual national security-based decisions, means that our Iraq success is still at great risk if his is President, hostage to the wind of political expediency.


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"What will be remembered by voters about this trip is that it was a great success."

LOL, no I think his gaffeprone "uhhh" filled presser will remind us of how unReady this Rookie is for the CinC job. The Obamedia did everything they could to make all the photo-ops for this taxpayer funded campaign junket, but they couldnt improve the empty suit candidate.

" Not only was he treated to a red carpet in Iraq, he was taken seriously in Afghanistan, Jordan, and, one thinks, everywhere else."

Great, then President McCain can appoint him ambassador to Afghanistan so he can bone up a bit more on his foreign policy credentials, and will be beloved by these muslim folks who take him so seriously in those countries.

Obama is not only an awful candidate, but is becoming an awful, arrogant, presumptuous, thin-skinned, elitist candidate to boot.
He manages to combine the worst elements of Carter , Mondale, Dukakis and Kerry in one package. ...oh, and he needs to learn a bit of humility for a Change. He's not President *yet*.

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Funny the contortions the liberals are going through to prove that despite mcCain beign right about the surge, and Obama being wrong about the surge, that somehow thats a plus for Obama.

Such as:
"The GOP caused the mess, then they found the solution to the mess."
The GOP has shown it can learn from mistakes.

Obama, by not admitting that the surge has indeed worked and was a success and was the right thing to do in 2007, has shown that he cannot.

Score 1 for the GOP. And Obama is unfit to be President.

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"The thing that gets me is that Obama has been demonstrating gravitas for some time--look at his speech on race in Philly "

Yeah, that BS speech where he said he would never disown his good friend Rev Wright even though Rev Wright said "God d8mn America" and worse. Obama sat in the pew for 20 years while Rev Wright spewed racial bile about "White Mans Greed" and he lapped it up. he gets in trouble for it and he makes such a great CYA speech, except 6 weeks later he did what he said he would never do in that great Philly speech and disowned Wright, because Wright kept yammering about how the Govt created AIDS and it became obvious to everyone that Rev Wright was a total lunatic. A lunatic and extremist who just happens to preach radical Black Liberation Theology that Obama loves so much he called Wright his mentor, and titled a book after the radical sermon of Wright's. Great speech? Gravitas? No, it was a disgusting act of deflection and deception that didnt answer the basic question/issue honestly, a question he never fully answered: If obama did not agree with the principles of Black Liberation Theology, why did he join and stay in that church for 20 years? Or did he in fact agree with the extremist tenets of black liberation theology? Obama never really answered that question AT ALL.

Obama lied/flipflopped about FISA, he lied/broke his word on campaign finance, and his whole race speech and other speeches on the matter was about his own political survival above all else, as proven by his later self-serving actions.

All of these acts of self-serving political BS you call 'gravitas'. I feel sorry for you and for America that you are getting suckered in by this phony hype. Obama will be the worst President of our lifetimes.

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Knowing what you know now, would you support the surge?"

Obama's answer was, "No."

This must surely rank as among the most misinformed, ideological, and reckless statements by a presidential candidate in modern times. The McCain campaign should do everything they can to make Obama pay a high price for it. That one word answer, "No," should be advertised in bright neon lights. It should become Exhibit A that Obama not only doesn't have the "judgment to lead;" he has now supplied us with evidence that few people possess judgment as flawed as his.

The evidence that the surge is working is simply beyond dispute. Obama himself has now conceded that part of the argument, even to the point of admitting that victory in Iraq is possible. To admit to progress while still insisting that you would deny the means to that progress is to position of a fool. And this is not an issue of marginal importance. The surge, after all, is easily the most important national security decision and debate we've had since the war to liberate Iraq began in March 2003.

That Obama opposed the surge is bad enough -- but that opposition was not itself irresponsible or unforgiveable. It was understandable, if in retrospect quite wrong, to believe that Iraq, caught in an apparent death spiral in the latter half of 2006, was unsalvageable. Critics of the surge argued that we were sending American troops to die in a lost cause.

It turned out that Iraq was redeemable and that the President's strategy, brilliantly executed by General Petraeus and the American military, worked faster and better than anyone thought possible. To say that he would oppose a military plan that one day may well rank as among the best in our history is stunning. Whatever would motivate Obama to say what he did -- political cowardice, willful denial, astonishing blindness to the facts, or the mindset of an ideologue -- it ought to cause Americans to rethink, in the most fundamental way, whether Obama is responsible enough to be President.

I suppose it's also now reasonable to ask Obama if he would, in hindsight, oppose the Normandy invasion. His judgment is that open to question.

-----------

There came a time when liberal Democrats decided Afghanistan was the Good War and Iraq was the Bad War. This was about the time the Afghan effort appeared successful and the Iraq effort not. So the big word became "distraction": The Afghan War was necessary -- at least defensible -- but the Iraq War was a mere "distraction."

Barack Obama, obviously, sings from this book. It's not just that he appears not to have an original thought in his head -- he appears not to have a thought outside liberal-Democratic orthodoxy. So, while visiting Afghanistan, he said, "I think one of the biggest mistakes we've made strategically after 9/11 was to fail to finish the job here, focus our attention here. We got distracted by Iraq."

Yes, and if we had let the threat of Saddam gather and he had created further, worse havoc in the Middle East -- would anyone be complaining more obnoxiously than Barack Obama?

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Arrogance Alert; Obama Violates Logan Act

Apparently, Obama once again does his 'VERO POSSUMUS' thing and presumes to be President before he's elected.

ITEM 1: Another advisor gaffes an attempt to equate him with President
NRO

“It is not going to be a political speech,” said a senior foreign policy adviser, who spoke to reporters on background. “When the president of the United States goes and gives a speech, it is not a political speech or a political rally.

“But he is not president of the United States,” a reporter reminded the adviser…

ITEM 2: Logan Act and his negotiations, er discussions, with Maliki
CNN blog
A comment notes:
Sen. Obama has left himself open for prosecution under the Logan Act which addresses individuals interfering with negotiations with governments we are in engaged in conflicts with. Treaties are the priviledge of the executive branch so the Senators remarks about any agreements being ratified by legislative branches of both governments to the Iraqi government may as well be a usurping of executive powers since the President may have been opting for a sole executive agreement as opposed to a formal treaty which Sen. Obama has now asserted won’t be the case. At the very least it would seem appropriate to compel the various news agencies to release all portions of their coverage to be scrutinized for this potentiality.

CNN tries to cover for Obama by calling it a mere 'mistake':

CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360"
July 21, 2008

David Gergen: "I think it was the first — Barack Obama made the first mistake of his trip, in my judgment, in releasing a statement in which he said exactly what Maliki had said in those conversations. We have a long tradition in this country that we only have one president at a time. He's the commander in chief and the negotiator in chief. I cannot remember a campaign which a rival seeking the presidency has been in a position negotiating a war that's under way with another party outside the country. I think he leaves himself open to the charge tonight that he's meddling, that this is not his role, that he can be the critic, but he's not the negotiator. We have a president who does that. So, I think the underlying facts support him, but I think it would be a real mistake — and I think it was a mistake — to get into these conversations and let it be used politically."

CNN's Anderson Cooper: "That's interesting. Gloria, do you think this is the first mistake he made on this trip?"
Gloria Borger: "You know, it's very interesting, I do agree with David. And Candy, in her earlier piece, talked about walking the fine line between being this candidate and being presumptuous. And I think that he may just have crossed that, because, you know, it is a tradition. You don't talk about these private conversations. And it's not up to Barack Obama right now to negotiate troop withdrawals. It's up to Barack Obama to be on a fact-finding mission, which is indeed what he has said he was on."

Obama would "rather lose a war than lose a campaign"

"When we adopted the surge, we were losing the war in Iraq, and I stood up and said I would rather lose a campaign than lose a war. Apparently Sen. Obama, who does not understand what's happening in Iraq or fails to acknowledge the success in Iraq, would rather lose a war than lose a campaign." -John McCain

McCain nails it - Obama has put political expediency above what's best for our national security.

Truth has an eloquence all it own!

Obama is NOT READY

After watching Obama's live news conference I can only say this man is not ready to be a dog catcher. He came across arrogant, ill advised, lost and misplaced. The MSM media has "totally" destroyed America's election process. The MSM media has already has crowned Obama President and today Obama was trying to show them how Presidential he really is. Today, Obama was out of his elements and it showed but more important is the MSM media's undermining our election process. I would think the Justice Department needs to start investigating "how the MSM is destroying" our political process. I would classify this as a coup d'état but more important is they are OPEN in their support.

All the Obama manaics saw was their "savior" and a savior he is not. Obama is over his head and he can be deadly.

Obama would still oppose (the now-proven) surge

Obama would still oppose the surge even though we now know it WORKED.

YouTube of it.

The hit on Bush was that he was too stubborn to bend to new realities ...
What is revolting here is that in Bush's case it at least revolved around a conception of our national interest, and here the "idee fixe" is the fetish, as mentioned prior, to be against whatever Bush was for, right or wrong.

Political expediency a dangerous thing to be stubborn over.

File this under the meme:
"Obama is the new Bush."

"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it."
- Barack Obama

HYPE - The Movie

Hype - The Movie, a Citizens United production set to expose the Hype that is the Obama campaign.

Falling in Line Again

A response to this Protein Wisdom pearl of wisdom: “Remember: hope and change are not about falling in love; they’re about falling in line.”

My response:

Well, its about the falling in love first and then getting in line.
I envision a YouTube:
- Marlene Deitrich’s “Falling in love again” in the bilingual German/English version, which BHO would surely approve as an attempt at teaching American yahoos some Euro-culture, we overlay …
- the adoring crowds throwing flowers and kisses on the original model for cult politicians Herr Hitler and mix in the soon-to-be adoring crowds in Berlin cheering again with the new cultic leader, the Oba-fuhrer.

“Falling in line again, what can I do? What can I do … I can’t help it.”

Barack's election will be an Obamanation

An Obamanation

The Obama Glossary

Obamessiah - What his followers think he is.

Lightworker - Obama's art at managing to say nothing and accomplish nothing with great flair and aplomb.

Obamanation - What this nation will become if he is President., As in: "We face an Obamanation once his tax increases and socialized healthcare plans get passed."

Obamedia - The cloying Obama-friendly media, who put Obama press release as front page news, bury every critique of Obama that is legitimate and bend over backwards to do the dirty work for Obama. As in, "Obamedia meme of the week puts Michelle

Obamunism - Obama's ideology. From everyone accroding to how much he can tax you while still getting elected, and to you, according to how much his pandering to you will help him in key battleground states.

Obamacans - Republicans who are hoodwinked and bamboozled into buying into Obama's deceptive campaign.

PUMAs (Party Unity My Ass) - Democrats who are NOT hoodwinked and bamboozled into buying into Obama's deceptive campaign.

Obamerang - Like a Kerry flip-flop, only lighter and faster. As in, "The FISA Obamerang sure has ticked off his far left supporters."

Hype and chains - The ugly reality behind the 'hope and change' Obama campaign.

UPDATE:

Oba-fuhrer - Our new cultic Maximum Leader, who re-images Presidential Seals, who re-paints flags on the planes to have an "O", who is a thin-skinned control freak that cannot tolerate dissent like satirical cartoons, and who gets huge adoring crowds in Berlin. Erich's Fromm's "Escape from Freedom" suddenly becomes relevant again.