Hate and Hope

If it was not apparent at the moment of his inauguration it is becoming very clear now that Americas electing of the western worlds first minority head of state was too much change for some. A sign of where the US is in terms of demographics, basic race size and strength. Hispanics are the fastest growing minority, surpassing African Americans. Increasingly children are not just black and white or hispanic but a melting pot of all different nationalities and even religions.

This change in our nations population is real and apparently a threat to a segment of our population. They seem to feel helpless in the face of what they see as too much government. A country over run with immigrants that don't even have the decency to learn "our" language. This is not the America that is told in the history books. This is not Ronald Reagan's "shining city on a hill". This is a mongrel society that threatens them and all they know be true about this great land. Sounds a little over the top but from the stories I have done around the country, (mainly in the south and midwest), this pervasive feeling of losing control of their lives and country is truly real with some . If you want to see how out of control this country is just look who they elected president

To some Obama's election was not historic but apocalyptic. Some on the fringe and not so fringe right are saying he's the anti-Christ. Look at the rise in militia activity and this "call to arms". A rally was called in Virginia that encouraged rally goers to bring their firearms. People and members of Congress still questioning the citizenship of the president. Such an edge and anger to our politics.

I think of something that Obama said during the campaign. It is something that I can remember many social justice leaders like MLK or Malcom even Ghandi often said, basically, that power will not give it up easily. That change is a struggle a fight. This uprising of what some call populism, is not about health care, gays in the military or carbon taxes on polluters, its about change. Change in our country or politics and mostly our president. Now we have to hope that hate does not kill hope.





For those on the right that have no legitimate ideas nor identity have chosen to fan the flames of paranoia and misinformation.

Where Are They?

Last week I traveled with my correspondent to Orlando Florida to do a story on the Tea Party Movement that is growing in that area. When we arrived we immediately went to a chain restaurant outside Orlando. About 60 self-titled Tea Party members had gathered to meet about a half dozen candidates running for local office. Although their numbers are small, the Tea Party Movement has shaken up politics. The candidates in the room were on a kind of Speed Dating circuit around the room. They seemed in a desperate rush to prove how "down home" they all were. Who was more country. I over heard two of the candidates boosting about their pickup truck ownership. They were not just trying to generate votes, they knew they needed these votes to have any chance to be elected.

Which brings me to the estimated 30 million Americans without health insurance or the self-employed person or the one's that have insurance but the deductible is so high that it renders the policy next to useless or the small business owner that has to lay someone off or not hire someone because of the cost of health insurance. Where are these people? Why don't we see them? Why are so many politicians finding it so easy to ignore them?

It would seem that these merging constituencies would be much larger than a group of Libertarians and disgruntled conservative, mostly white, voters. Yet say what you will about loonies in the Tea Party membership, they are passionate, vocal and for a while, omnipresent in the media. Republicans, like a kid trying to jump into a game of Double Dutch, are trying to figure out how to get in on the action.

President Obama was quoted as saying to a group of reluctant Democratic Congressmen, that the "strength of his presidency" depended on the passing of health care reform. The fact that this president who campaigned on health care reform has to convince large portions of his own party to follow him is shameful. Shameful because its political. Elected officials who are more concerned about the next election cycle than doing what is right for their constituents. Wrapping it in the guise of principle. The fact that the barely and uninsured don't have a louder voice is quizzical

No Change At All

I think that America is growing up. Becoming more tolerant more open. Maybe we have become more pragmatic in general. This was not just made apparent by the election of the first minority President but the reasoning behind it. My fellow citizens ,some truly against their natural instincts, voted for the better candidate. They listen to his message and ideas for the country and made an educated choice.

I think some of this tolerance stems from self preservation. I don't think if your losing your home or job,if your dealing with bankruptcy because of an illness or disease you really don't care if gay men and women want to have the right to be as miserable as the rest of us. Or if women exercise their right to choose what happens to their bodies. Nor do we seem to care if the new president has a Muslim middle name.

The democrats have won the last 2 congressional elections and the White House in large part due to inclusiveness. Micheal Steel, newly elected chairman of the Republican Party, was touted as the historic rebirth of the party. I really heard a guy on Fox News say that.

But if the GOP has made an historic change at the top that's all the change some in the party want to happen. Even though this is the man,(Steel), that said that a job created by the government was not a real job, every time he says anything that would be described as sensible or inclusive, such as moderate positions on abortion or questioning the legitimacy of conservative host Rush Limbaugh, he has been hammered by those within the party. Now some are calling for him to resign.

When will the grand old party realize that a change in leadership without a change of ideas or methods will yield no change at all.

Barry Goldwater, the father of the conservative movement, although rigid in his stance of smaller government and even voting against the Civil Rights Act, said that "a man can change his mind" when he reversed his long held views on abortion. His wife was co-founder of Planned Parenthood in Arizona. I bring this up because as long as the conservative movement is defined in large part by the intolerant christian right they will never be able to grow the party.

When you can believe in smaller government and be gay or black or Hispanic and believe in lower taxes and still be considered a conservative, that will be change. If you stick with these issues and show the population how it will be better for them, now that is change.

A Fringe Party

How can you wish that the person running the country, (the president), will fail? Who would hope that the leader of our country, a country in one of the worst economic down turn in its history, would fail to turn it around? Is there really a person that would relish in the suffering of millions of Americans for the sake of politics? Yes. Radio personality and apparent leader of the GOP, Rush Limbaugh, said he is hoping that President Obama will fail in his efforts to change the direction of the America.

I didn't agree with many of George W. Bush's decisions as president but that's a long way from wanting him to fail. If he fails it effects all of us. That bit of common sense was also shared by a Republican congressman in regards to President Obama's policies. He didn't agree with the methods but he hoped that the President would be successful. Asked if he would say Rush Limbaugh was wrong in his view point and the congressman danced like he was in the Soul Train "grove line."

Why are they so scared to speak truth to this demagogue? This is not only Representatives in conservative districts that won't speak up but apparently all Republicans including the newly elected Chairman of the GOP, Michael Steel. He, (Steel), made the mistake of criticizing Rush. Calling him a entertainer only to apologize profusely a few days later. Rush responded, "Steel is not the head of the GOP."

I asked again, why do they allow this entertainer with fringe appeal to represent their party? Is that the Republican party today? A fringe party?

Why So Shocked?

President Obama said during the campaign that he would end the war in Iraq, reform health car and push hard for energy independence. He said he would let the Bush tax cuts expire. I have to add that the tax hikes would be almost exactly the same as during the Clinton presidency. The economy did pretty well too. He said he would make a major investment in education. He said it not once but consistently and was elected by a decisive margin.

Now over the last couple of days Mr. Obama has shown that he is a man of his word. Maybe that's why so many people seemed shocked at the large ideas expressed in his "not "State Of The Union" speech and today to the release of his budget plans.

The people really want change. Not just a campaign slogan. Real change. We have tried supply side economics, lower taxes for the wealthy and business in hopes that they would create jobs with this extra money. Guess what they kept the money and took the jobs overseas so they could make more money. It didn't work.

Millions of people that have or are losing their homes said we needed change. Same for those going bankrupt because they have an illness in the family. Same for the people that have lost their jobs and their ability to support their families. Millions of Americans voted for change and the President is delivering. Maybe that's why there seems to be shock, shock I say, over the dramatic initiatives the President proposed today. A politician really following through with what he or she, in this case he, promised in order to be elected.

Critics of the President's agenda say that he will leave a great debt for our children but it is clear to me that if nothing is done our children won't have a future. We, Americans, now own 41% of the second largest bank in the United States.

I think that In tough times you need from a president 5 things; honesty, confidence, competence , empathy and lastly and most importantly, leadership. Mr. Obama has shown all of these traits. The cynical among the Washington status quo, both Republican and some Democrats will show resistance but change is coming:-). If we are an engaged electorate.

I have Another Question

I seem to have a lot of questions about the economy. The question this time is in regards to the banking industry again.

There was a raging correspondent for CNBC on the floor of one of the exchanges and he was responding to President Obama's answer to the housing crisis. The correspondent, (I think his name was Santorm), was yelling that is was unfair that the President's plan would help people that were not "responsible". You know, the people that borrowed more than they could afford.

The traders on the floor behind this irate journalist were cheering with discontent. The same traders that had no complaints when they were all making money. Now they are filled with moral outrage that some homeowners might be helped by the Obama Home Recovery Act. Is it not their job, meaning the lenders, to confirm all information that is provided by a loan seeker. Is there not supposed to be due diligence on their part that prevents fraud on the part of the public. That's how it use to be. I had to verify my employment and income and they checked it too. But when you know that you will not be holding on to that loan. That you would sell the loan before the ink even dries, fact and proof be damned.

The fact that every time the Obama Administration proposes an idea we look at how Wall Street will react is ridiculous. I believe that only a truck load of money to the doors of the stock exchange in NYC will satisfy these people. Like the Golddiggers they are, they now despise what made them rich now that it can no longer sustain them.

We are constantly seduced if not bombarded by things we must have. People naturally want to not only have better for themselves but for their families. Lender seemed to be saying that they could have it all. They were offering home equity loans, sending pre approved credit card applications. "Your Job Is Your Credit"...

A large segment of our population is to blame for being stupid, lazy, naive and yes, greedy but why would the banks put their very existence at risk. Surly they knew what risk they were taking. A little greed is part of a successful capitalist economy. It became the entirety of our economy. To the point that the banks and Wall Street, forgot what they were about. Now they have fallen silent. With no ready answers to solve the crisis that they in large part created.

Not Over Yet

When I started this blog it was to tell stories from the campaign trail that I was on for the better part of 2 years. I quickly found myself discussing the issues that came up along the way. So when the election ended on that unusually warm night in Chicago's Grant Park I thought my blogging days would be over. I found, however, that my passion for the issues have not faded. So I'm back in no small part because my wife still has a limited capacity for my rants and raves.

Even though President Obama said countless times on the campaign trail that change would not come easy, I still find it hard to believe how little help the minority party has been in this time of global crisis. I guess if you can't be the party of influence then you can be the party of obstruction.

Please feel free to read more of my tirades to come:)

How come...

If you're a banker worth hundreds of millions of dollars you would have to be pretty good at what you do. You would know the ins and outs of banking. Now that doesn't mean that you don't take chances and go against your better judgement but you definitely know your business better than someone that makes laws for a living. It took a lot of CEO's and middle management people to get in this mess. So why is it up to one guy, in the government to figure out how to get out of the financial hole we dug ourselves into, with no contribution from Wall Street?

Timothy Geithner, the new Treasury Secretary, has been charged with finding the way back to financial security and prosperity. I might know much about finance but shouldn't the banks be figuring out how to save their own necks. Government can set regulations but how we got here is answered by the one's that got us here. And figuring it out is in their best interest.

I'm sure finding the answers to the banking crisis will make evident that some not only did stupid, greedy things but probably even criminal things. Bernie Madoff was not the only person with dirty hands. So no one really wants to look into the past but they're going to have to to find the "magic bullet" answer.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, wants to set up a commission to look into the many wrong doings in the administration of George W. Bush. But there needs to also be an investigation of the banking industry. So maybe we can have justice and a more sound banking system at the same time.

I know this is probably a pipe dream. Especially since this banking crisis will most likely turn into a scandal with the light an investigation would shine on it. So we have to Hope that through the solution to the problem we can purge ourselves of, if not the people, at least the mentality of how we got here. And maybe then we can see our way to the other side of this economic downturn, credit crisis, financial melt down, recession.

Happy Holidays

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Donnie Doubter....

What if there was no financial crisis. If Bush had decided not to invade another sovereign nation and lied about his motivation for doing so. What if all we were concerned about right now was whether the Tennessee Titian's, were as good and their record or whether Brad and Angelina are really splitting up. If the country was fine and dandy, would America have made history?Would America elect its first minority president?

I thought of this, because the other day there was a story on the news about if the push for alternative energy would subside now that gas prices have dropped dramatically. Remember way back in the summer when people were actually conserving? Thinking before we drove that extra mile and thinking that regular coffee from McDonald's was better than that $4 latte from Starbucks. It took $4 a gallon gas to make us park are minivans and favorite SUVs. It took a market collapse and rampant gas speculation to make us steer clear of caffeine dispensing baristas and $4 specialty coffees or decide to walk or take the bus or bike for daily trips.

Politicians rarely want to tell us that we are a country of excess. That we are spoiled. Jimmy Carter tried to tell us in his famous "Malaise" speech and was quickly replaced by the ever positive Ronald Reagan. "We're not spoiled. We're a shining city on the hill". Like telling a country full of over eaters that your only fat if you think so."

My point is that this country seems to only make serious changes when we have to. We only seem willing to take a chance when our collective backs are against the wall.

I guess I should not be surprised that desperation is one of the strongest motivators of change. Like the Alabama bus boycott in the '50's. The bus companies were losing so much money that they caved and let blacks ride anywhere they wanted to on the bus. Our military was so hard up for recruits that they lowered their standards for admission.

But is this why America made history last week? Did Bush,Congress and Wall Street mess things up so much that it drove the electorate to consider the formally inconsiderable? Or is this just the ramblings of a suspicious black man unwilling to believe in the "new" America. I hope it is the latter.

My Life on the Campaign Trail

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm so late...

Well, I have gotten some sleep after 72 hours with only 4 hours of sleep in Chicago. So it has taken a little time to respond to this moment in history. I was so consumed by making sure that I was in the right spot at the right time in Grant Park that night. I was in a cab making my way to Grant Park when a roar like wave rushed down Michigan Avenue announcing that history was made.

My tears began the night before the election in my hotel room in Florida. I was watching an Obama rally in North Carolina. That was when I learned of the passing of Obama's grandmother. It wasn't just the tragically ironic timing of her death, but what he said she represented in his life. What she had sacrificed for him to succeed. It made me think of my own mother who used to clean houses, and worked in factories so that my sisters and I could have better opportunites than she had. It moved me to see how connected this man was and is to the everyday person. How I could relate to him by more than race and gender.

The graciousness of Senator McCain's concession speech, the recognition and appreciation in President Bush's comments and the pride of blackness in Condi Rice's voice all showed that Barack Obama was right when he said we are all connected by something bigger than political affiliations, we are connected by a country, we are all children of God.

Everyone we spoke with that night gave a sense that anything is possible now. During the past 21 months of the campaign I remember "hope" being ridiculed as lacking in substance, but this night hope was something you could taste in the air. It was on every face. It was in the fact that 125,000 people of every ethnic background could gather together to celebrate in common cause and not have one negative incident occur.

Of course I thought of my children also. Two adopted Ethiopians, (one boy and girl) and one biracial biological daughter. The corny but real feeling that they might inherit an America that will judge them by the content of their character not by the color of their skin.

What Michelle Obama was vilified for saying in response to her husband's early success, "for the fist time, in a long time, I'm really proud of my country", was uttered by tens of thousands of Chicagoans that night and by millions of Americans . Its what I felt. Not just satisfaction in the victory of Barack Obama, but the knowledge that it took more than black votes to accomplish this highest of goals. It took millions of Americans including a considerable amount of white voters to accomplish this mandate. In the end proving that it was not about race, but about the two candidates and how they handled the issues and challenging situations they were faced with.

That was what I was most proud of. Not that we elected a black president, but that we elected the best candidate for the job, who happens to be black.


Tomorrow I will post a slideshow of photographs taken by me on my geeky groupy picture takin' palosa

Man Tagged

One of my two readers has tagged me. I feel honored. I felt honored as soon as my wife explained to me the importance of being tagged. Then I felt honored and important. I was tagged by this lady. Let's see, random facts, and 7 of them.

1. I was born with 6 fingers. On one hand. Unfortunately, a surgeon removed my extra finger just after I was born. I would have like to have kept it. I think it would have made me very interesting. I do not get to brag about this as often as I would like, because it does not come up in conversation easily.

2. The first time I visited with my mother in law we went for a walk. She lived in a very white, upper crust European neighborhood. The kind with tree lined streets, cobblestoned sidewalks, and lots of classy Europeans walking insane, and tiny little dogs. I lost my balance and fell on top of her. She was carrying groceries. I was holding a cigar that I was smoking. The groceries rolled all over the tree lined street. My mother in law broke her arm in 3 places. I am a big guy. I did not drop my cigar though. The classy Europeans and their little annoying dogs thought that I had mugged her. I could see it in their faces. My mother in law forgave me eventually and was mostly mad at me because I had ruined her golf game for the summer.

3.  I won an Emmy a long time ago. My wife dropped it during our move and it broke. She has not told me this yet. But I figured it out when I saw it in the back of her car. She tried to cover it up with some bags. She reads my blog once in a blue moon, so now she will know that I know. She will blame her sister.

4. I won a singing contest on a cruise liner once. I sang 'Someone to Watch over Me' and rocked the boat.

5. I have been trying to learn to speak Danish for over 7 years. I can only say 'the pink car is old'. This does not come up very often in conversation either. Danish is very difficult.

6. I was educated by Quakers for the first 8 years of schooling. And no, I did not wear those funky shoes with the big buckles.

7) As an 8 year old I looted a jar of peanut butter which I shared with my fellow 8 year old accomplis. As a result we both got very sick.

Words Matter..

Did you see McCain and Obama yucking it up at the Al Smith Dinner? I have to admit I had no idea who Al Smith was until I saw this on the news. Yeah, like you knew who he was. Anyway, I thought they were both very funny. Especially John McCain. It made it almost a shame that that John McCain didn't show more in this campaign. I never thought of Barack Obama being a funny but he pulled it off.

The television networks played the jokes all day long but the best part for me were Senator Obama's comments at the end about the people that were not as fortunate to be dress in white tie and tails.




I think that Governor Palin is a good communicator as well. She deliver the party line in a way that is understandable in a plain spoken way. Either way, eloquent or plain spoken words matter When you use them to accuse someone of being anti American, not like us, a terrorist. These words incite responses like "traitor" and "kill him."

Hopefully, words of compassion, empathy and unity can be just as powerful.

Is It Because He's Black

I have asked myself on more than one occasion if my support for Barack Obama would be different if he were not black. (For the purpose of this argument I am defining Obama as black, although he is biracial). That question was harder to answer at the outset of the campaign. As a black man, it was definitely satisfying to see an intelligent, articulate, young African American in the race. I still did not think that he would have a shot against the Clinton machine.

It was his winning overwhelmingly white Iowa that made me believe that he could have a chance. It was his loyalty to Rev. Jemimah Wright when it was not in his political best interest. How he took disaster and turned it into the opportunity to speak to Americans as adults about the subject of race. The way that he inspired people These are the reasons that Barack became more than an black candidate to me. He was not just a good black candidate for president, he was the best candidate for president who happened to be black.

In his endorsing of Obama Sunday on Meet The Press, Colin Powell admitted that part of the reason he was voting for Barack Obama was because of race. But that was not enough or he would have endorsed him long ago. He named a number of reasons from the narrowing perspective of the Republican party, to trivial nature of the McCain campaign. He spoke of Obama's intellectual curiosity and his reasoned judgment. The more you listened the more you saw his reason for condemning his party had less to do with race and more to do with sensibility.





Of course I will feel a great sense of pride, as a black man, should Obama win the election but I take even greater pride in the fact that he has proven he's more than a black candidate, but is the better man for the job.

It Should Be Over..

Wednesday night, I shot the 3rd presidential debate at Hofstra University on Long Island NY. They are really all the same for the media. You set up your gear to record the debate about 8 hours before it starts. Then you wait... The fun part is that companies like Budweiser set tents up where they have food and beer and cheesecake...its great. Especially the cheesecake.

Then the debate started. Its hard to follow what is going on because I have to listen to see if the sound I am recording is working and the video is good. Its only when I go back to the hotel that I can watch the replay of the debate and really pay attention to what was said. I thought to myself while watching it, that if this were a fight they would have stopped it.

I also thought it was appropriate that Senator Hillary Clinton was in the audience. To keep my boxing analogy going, she has to be the best political sparring partner in history. I doubt that Senator Obama would be the candidate we saw tonight without her and their more than 20 debates together.

On issue after issue Barack Obama displayed a grasp and knowledge that seemed presidential. He seemed simply, more comfortable in his own skin. Most of the pundits seemed to think that this was John McCain's best performance and maybe they're right. I am sort of in the tank for Obama, but what I saw was an angry and cynical old man. Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanual told us in an interview, that McCain reminded him tonight of the old man that screamed at the kid for hitting the baseball into his yard . Mr. Wilson from the Dennis The Menace Show is who he reminded me of.

I watched the replay on C-Span. They played the entire thing in a split screen where you had both candidates on the screen the whole time. This is a great way to watch something like this because you see both their reactions to what is said. McCain looked like he was trying to keep himself under control. He spent much too much time talking about things that don't really matter to people that are struggling to make it. For example, 60's radical William Ayers, the John Lewis statement regarding the violent turn the McCain/Palin rallies were taking. I don't believe that even Republicans and John McCain himself truly belive that Barack voted to not support infant children in the Illinois senate. But that is what Senator McCain spent most of his time on. He, John McCain, looked desperate. He looked like a man that knew he had lost the race.

Senator McCain commented repeatedly that Barack Obama was an eloquent speaker, like that meant nothing. But we interviewed many of the people who were in the debate audience and they said that this is what they liked the most about Obama. His clear responses to the questions being presented. One woman said that 8 years of a president who can't pronounce the word nuclear is enough.

The McCain campaign may think that their candidate landed some serious body blows to Senator Obama with "Joe the Plumber", a closet McCain supporter who confronted Barack Obama in Ohio over his inability to start his own plumbing business, under what would be Obama's tax plan. Or maybe the line about not being President Bush. "If you wanted to run against George Bush, you should have run 4 years ago." A good line but that's all it was.

I know it must be frustrating after fighting your way to the top of the Republican ticket. Rising from the political grave to leader of your party and come up against such a dynamic opponent. When I watched McCain in the split sceen, eyes blinking, temples flexing a tight grin or grimace on his face as he listened to Obama respond eloquently to questions and attacks. I was just wondering what he might be thinking. "Damn this guy is good" or 'this bastard is cleaning my clock".

John McCain had little to offer as far as substance and this presidential race should be over. If you get the opportunity and you did not watch the debate I urge you to watch it online or on the news replays. While these debates were a pain in the ass to cover as a news person their importance can't be understated. It is really the only time you see both of the major candidates on the same stage.

I believe that this is especially important in this election. There are many among the voting public that hold preconcieved notions in regards to race, culture and values. People need to see that Barack Obama is not scary or unintelligent. That his values are not radical or out of step. That he is cool, calm and thoughtful.

Maybe....

I noticed in a town hall rally, they used to be called meetings, but that was back when Senator McCain would actually attempt to discuss issues. Anyway, at this town hall rally in Wisconsin, John Sydney McCain was continuing to stir the pot of hot boiling anger among his faithful with questions about Senator Obama's judgment and character, I noticed that McCain looked uncomfortable. Stumbling through a slanderous diatribe against Senator Obama, eyes twitching nervously.

I would like to think that the Senator McCain was having a battle with his conscience. Maybe thinking, while hearing his supporters yell threats and insults toward his opponent, what the hell did I get myself into? What the hell am I doing? Maybe his memories of the 2000 Republican primary started creeping in. Back when the Bush campaign slandered him. When they spread rumors that his adoptive Indonesian daughter was a black child that he had fostered out of wedlock and implied that his captivity in Vietnam had left him unstable and unfit for office.

Or maybe, just maybe, he was realizing that this was no longer his campaign but the campaign of the people around him. That he was becoming a logo, a front man for all that he has said he despises about Washington politics. It could be that he was beginning to see that the presidency was slipping away and he didn't want to go out this way. The idea of confronting Senator Obama and accusing him of this BS to his face in a debate, as he promised a supporter he would, might have brought a moment of conscience. Or maybe he was awakening to the fact that the strategies these Carl Rove disciples, like Steve Schmidt, were devising was not only politically tone deaf and dumb but also a possible threat to Senator Obama's safety and ruinous to the McCain reputation.

So at another town hall rally late Friday, where one journalist characterized the audience members as "pitch fork wavers", he found his decency. He corrected a supporter by saying that Barack Obama was not an Arab and is not someone to be feared but a decent man who could be president.

I remember the other Senator McCain who supported comprehensive immigration reform and when racist comments about Hispanics were being said, Senator McCain reminded people during the Republican debates how many Hispanic names dawn the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. That we were all God's children. The way he spoke so forcefully and sincerely against torture in response to his then rival, Mitt Romney. He was the John McCain I liked despite myself. At least among the long boring list of Republicans running at the time. I wouldn't vote for him but I respected him.

But in running for presidency he began to comprise his stated principles. First it was his change on immigration to appeal to his Republican base, then the Bush tax cuts and downhill from there. I can't believe I'm writing this, but he stopped being the so called "Maverick." He allowed himself and his campaign to be kidnapped by people that have no clear strategy on the issues, no clear or consistent message and apparently no moral compass.

At the risk of repeating myself from other blog entries, I believe that the candidates campaigns are a microcosm of how their administration would work and how they would govern. Like an administration with training wheels and John Sydney McCain just fell off his bike.

Have You No Shame..

At the risk of sounding sexist toward both women and men, men usually don't let their women do their fighting for them. John McCain doesn't see it that way. First it was the Governor Six Pack and now his wife.

Cindy McCain using her son to express outrage over Barack Obama vote to not fund the troops,(by the way, the McCain's said they would not use their son, who was serving in Iraq, for political purposes). Senator Obama voted against the bill she is referencing because it didn't have a timeline for troop withdrawal. She neglected to mention that her husband voted to not fund the troops because the bill had a timeline in it.

On CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, former presidential advisor David Gergen said that we should give McCain credit for not bringing the rhetoric spewed at his political rallies and in his ads to the second debate. None of the questions asked by the audience or the moderator entailed anything concerning the character of either candidate. The questions had to do with health care and the wars and the economy.

McCain is smart enough to realize that slandering your opponent is great for the rallies of the faithful but to smear a man to his face takes conviction. Do you really think that John McCain believes what he is saying about Barack Obama? This is a sitting senator in the United States Congress that you are implying and out right saying is not "American".

Like George W. Bush squandered the goodwill towards the US following the attacks of September 11th 2001, John McCain is squandering the goodwill of a majority of the electorate.
At this rate people won't be remembering John McCain the war hero but John McCain the angry old man that sold his soul to be president.

Joe Six Pack?

A scary number of Americans voted for George W. Bush because he was the kinda guy you wanted to have a beer with. Since 2000 we have paid in more ways than one for the "every day guy", "Joe 6 pack" in the ultimate seat of power. What we should have learned when you put an average every day person in such a lofty position you get, in recent history, someone that is out their league. They are easily manipulated by the people around them, (Dick Cheney) who we did not vote for at least not directly.

These offices of President and Vice President require brilliance at best competence at the least. Barack Obama has shown that he is cool under pressure, not reactionary or impulsive. He was steady during the turmoil of the financial crisis while his opponent was all over the map. He has shown throughout this campaign that he has one of the most important qualities of a president, empathy and the innate ability to not only see how things are but also to look forward to how things might be in the future. Thoughtfulness from a president. What a concept.

Governor Palin in the one and only vice-presidential debate showed the ability to recite talking points but offer nothing of substance. She went nearly the whole debate without directly answering a question. Like I'm talking to you about baseball and all your answers are about football. In this day of 2 ground wars and a economic recession what should we be looking for in a potential leader is not style points or how many pieces of flair you have or how down home folksy you are. Not how good they look getting off Air Force One but how thoughtful they are. How calm they are in a crisis. How much do they really understand how their decision will effect you, "joe six pack" or you that hockey mom .

So Joe, I hope you are looking for someone that offers ideas and not just attacks on the opposition. Look to judgement shown in the campaign both in policy and in the running of their campaigns in making your decision. Remember if your at risk of losing your house or job, if your on the verge of bankruptcy because of health care issues if your wondering how to send your children to college to live a better life than your own, that its not about if the President is someone that you want to have a drink with but rather or not he can help you.

Dear Sen. Obama

Dear Senator Obama: I saw the debate last Saturday and thought you handled yourself well. When they got into finding Bin Ladin and what you would do if you knew where he was you gave the standard answer that you would kill him if you got the chance. Too often is sounds like that will cure the terrorism problem. It was actually Senator McCain that talked about needing the help of the people of Pakistan to capture or kill the infamous terrorist leader. Called it counter terrorism. While I believe that McCain sees this as only a strategy or means to an end, i wish you would have taken the opportunity to not only agree with this "strategy" but expand it to say helping people in despair is the number one too in fighting terrorism both Islamic and other violent.groups that mean us harm. As evidence you could have sited where America is revered. Like in many parts Africa where Americans are much admired for our help in HIV-AIDS and malaria prevention and eradication. It is of the few things that the Bush Administration can be proud of is their out reach in places like Rwanda. It has done more to keep Africa and America safer than the billions of dollars of military hardware we have give to countries like Ethiopia. You, Senator Obama, I know understand this. That to change our image in the world, the way we are perceived, is the best way to keep this country safe. I know that you because of who you are, have to appear to be just as tough as your elder Senator rival. But you have proven yourself to be also more thoughtful and wise. You have said in the past that you would tell America not only what it wants to hear but what it needs to hear. Now is your chance. Sincerely, Hope for the future