Obama: All the Advantages of Clinton Without the Mess

First of all, let me say that I really admired Bill Clinton as a president. I thought that he did a great job for the country. His economic record was great and his determination not to let the Republicans get away with shutting down the government was remarkable. But, let's face it, the private sexual indiscretions that ended up being made public were embarrassing. Embarrassing not just to him, but to his family and to his supporters. Not only were they embarrassing, but they probably led to Al Gore losing the 2000 election and the horrors of the Bush years. I can't help but believe that his sexual hi-jinks caused enough voters in Florida to vote for Bush over Gore to have been the difference in 2000.

The advantages of Clinton were that he was brilliant, he was an incredible politician, he was intellectually curious, and he was able to articulate a vision of America that appealed to voters. The disadvantages were that he was undisciplined which led to the private, and not so private, sexual indiscretions mentioned above.

Now, Obama is also brilliant, he is also intellectually curious, and he has the ability to inspire Americans and to so ably articulate his vision. He is also politically intelligent. He may not have Clinton's ability to connect with Americans emotionally as Clinton, but he certainly showed that he has incredible political skills.

What he doesn't have is Clinton's lack of discipline . He is not going to be having an affair with an intern and humiliating his wife and family, not to mention embarrassing the rest of us. With Obama you get a lot of Clinton's strengths, but not his weaknesses. A lot of the benefits of Clinton without the mess.

How the Obama Effort in Medina County Paid Off

The headline of this article might seem a little strange given that Obama lost Medina County by 7184 votes. As far as the Obama campaign was concerned, though, it wasn't just the total spread between the candidates that mattered. What mattered was how the Obama campaign did in Ohio's counties compared to the Kerry campaign in 2004. Applying that standard, the Obama effort in Medina County paid off.

In 2004, George W. Bush got 48196 votes and John Kerry got 11924. The spread between Bush and Kerry was 11924. The total Medina County vote for the two candidates was 84468. In 2008 John McCain got 46829 and Barack Obama got 39645. As mentioned above, those figures meant that the spread between the two was 7184. The total Medina County vote for the two candidates was 86474.

This meant that on a higher total vote, Barack Obama reduced the GOP lead in Medina County by over 4000 votes. Medina County wasn't unique. In almost every "red" county, Barack Obama did better than John Kerry. This meant that when he got 60% of the vote in the eight largest Ohio counties, John McCain couldn't offset that vote with votes from smaller counties like Bush did in 2004. By fighting for every county, Barack Obama was able to carry Ohio.

Obama Wins Dixville Notch and Hartville's Location in N.H.

You know that you are obessing about an election when you get up at 3:00 am to check out whether Obama carried Dixville Notch in New Hampshire. Dixville Notch, and another little town, Hartville's Location, have a tradition of getting their voters out at midnight on Election Day to cast the first votes in the nation. By the way, when we say "little", we aren't kidding. The total votes cast this year in these two towns numbered 50.

So here I am at 3:00 am checking out the numbers. It turns out that Obama won both towns. In Dixville Notch he won by a vote of 15 to 6 and Hartville's Location by 17 to 10, for a total of 32 to 16. In Hartville's Location there were two write-in votes for Ron Paul. Ralph Nader was on the ballot in both locations, but got no votes.

Dixville Notch almost always votes Republican. In fact, since 1960, it has only gone Democrat for President one time, and that was in 1968. So, the fact that Obama won could mean something, or it might not mean a thing. In any event, there it is. You can read the whole article about Dixville Notch and Hartville's Location here.

Colin Powell Lays Out the Case for Obama on MTP

Colin Powell laid out the reasons why he is voting for Obama in a very straight forward manner. Check it out and if you know any voters who are undecided about who they are voting for, them the link to this video.

Cleveland Plain Dealer Endorses Barack Obama for President

The Cleveland Plain Dealer endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President. The PD posted the endorsement to its website on October 18, 2008 at 10:59 pm. It will appear in the Sunday, October 19, 2008 edition.

This is the lede sentence from the editorial: After eight years of George W. Bush, America needs a change in direction and a change in tone.

The editorial points out that Obama's election will demostrate to the world that America has changed course and that it can fulfill its ideals:

Obama has challenged Americans to dream and to hope, to be realistic in the face of great problems and to trust in one another. To minorities and other Americans on the margins, he offers living proof that this nation can fulfill its ideals. To the world, he offers quite literally a different face, one that embodies America's diversity and boundless opportunity.

Besides wanting a change of tone, the PD editorial board was not impressed with John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as VP, as shown by this quote:

Take his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. McCain seemed too caught up in the game-changing possibilities of teaming with a woman reformer to scratch the smiling surface. Had he, McCain might have realized that Palin is utterly unprepared for the job he offered -- let alone the one that might fall to her. His trust in her undermines our trust in him

You can read the rest of the endorsement editorial here.

Cindy McCain's 2007 Income: 4.1 Million

Well, you have to hand it to John McCain, he certainly hit the jackpot when he cheated on his first wife to get Cindy McCain. In 2007, her family business earned her 4.1 million dollars. She paid taxes of 1.1 million. That means she paid taxes at a percentage of less than 25%. No wonder Johnny Mac is working so hard to defeat Barack Obama, he does't want his wife to pay more in taxes.

The fact that Barack Obama's tax plan would raise his family's taxes and the fact that John McCain's tax plan would lower his family's taxes tells you all you need to know about the two men and their concern for others.

The Visible Campaign versus the Invisible Campaign

The late Congressman Donald Pease, who was a very good politician as well as a very good congressman, once said that candidates run two campaigns. One is the visible campaign and the other is the invisible campaign. While the visible campaign is important, the invisible campaign wins elections.

The visible campaign includes yardsigns, bumper stickers, billboards, and other visible media. The invisibile campaign includes things like door to door canvassing, telephone calls to voters, and direct mail. The visible campaign reassures your supporters that you are actively campaigning, the invisible campaign persuades voters to vote for you and not for your opponent.

Lately we have been receiving emails from Democrats concerned that there are not enough yard signs for Obama in Medina County. There is also a comment on this blog to that effect. Ironically, one of these messages came the same day as the largest meeting ever held in Medina County for a get out the vote effort was underway. That meeting was held by the Barack Obama Campaign for Change.

The Obama campaign has four full time staffers in Medina County. Just to give you an idea of how impressive that is, in 2004, Medina County shared one staffer with Wayne County.

The Obama campaign is not focused on yard signs, it is focused on persuading voters to vote for Obama. If you are concerned about this campaign, then sign up to work on the Obama campaign's get out the vote effort.

All this is not to say that in this election, yard signs aren't important. Voting for Barack Obama is a big step for a lot of voters, especially in a county like Medina County, which has about a 2-3% minority community. Showing your neighbors that you support Obama gives them the courage to also support Obama.

Having said that, however, putting up a yard sign is not as important as talking to your neighbors, your family members, your co-workers, and your friends about this election. It is not as important as canvassing a neighborhood, or making phone calls. Remember Congressman Pease's advice and get involved in the invisible campaign.

One Weird Political Pic

This photograph from Reuters taken after the third presidential debate has to be one of the strangest political photographs ever taken. We have been trying to come up with a caption for this picture, but all the ones we have come up with can't be put on a g-rated or even a pg-rated blog, so you will just have to use your own imagination.

Obama Campaign Takes McCain's "I'm not President Bush" and Runs With It

Politifact.com Goes After McCain on Obama-Ayers Link

Although the bogey-man de jour for the radical right and the McCain campaign seems to have shifted from William Ayers to ACORN, if you are looking for information to debunk the Obama-Ayers links, try this article from Politifact.com.

We especially like this quote from the article:

The campaign appears to have confused two different definitions of the word "radical." Clearly the invitation referred to "a considerable departure from the usual or traditional," rather than "advocating extreme measures to retain or restore a political state of affairs."

So not only are McCain's campaigners making unfounded attacks on Obama, but they aren't too bright.

Seen on Barn Near Applecreek, Ohio

A reader forwarded this photograph he received from a friend of his:

Dow Heads South for Fifth Day in Row

This is why the McCain campaign has come unglued over the last two weeks. The American economy is heading south, along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Americans are worried about their families' economic future. The "free-market" philosophy of the GOP, which McCain has been a part of ever since he became a politican, has no answers for what is happening.

That's why, during the presidential debate of October 7TH, McCain came out with this rather amazing idea of buying up all the bad mortgages in America and replacing them with government loans. Now, apparently, the recently passed bailout bill does give the President the authority to do just that, and maybe it is a great idea, but it is not a conservative, free market idea.

One of the interesting developments over the next few days will be to watch how conservatives react to this proposal. Our guess is that they won't like it one bit. It will further demoralize the base of the Republican Party, which was getting behind McCain because of Palin. Now, along comes McCain and suggests something that even the Democratic candidate running for President didn't suggest. Not something designed to appeal to the base.

Obama Ad Attacking McCain for McCain's Attack Ads

The Obama campaign runs an ad attacking McCain for going negative:

Obama Campaign Getting Ready to Use Keating Five Scandal Against McCain

Back during the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s, five United States Senators were found to have been influenced by Charles Keating, Keating was from Ohio and up to his eyeballs in the whole savings and loan mess. The Obama campaign is apparently getting ready to make this part of McCain's past part of the 2008 campaign, as the video below shows"



You can learn more about the Keating Five scandal here.

Columbus Dispatch Poll Has Obama Up by 7 In Ohio

The picture above is the headline on an article that appears on the Columbus Dispatch website. The article is about the results of a mail-in poll that was conducted in Ohio among likely voters. The poll shows that Obama is leading 49% to 42%. The last time the Dispatch reported on a poll that it took of likely voters, McCain led by one percentage point. That poll was conducted in mid-August, right before each party's national convention.

The internals of the poll are rather interesting. One is that if you look at the state's regions, the northwest and the northeast are where Obama is leading McCain. Another is that 18% of former Clinton supporters are backing McCain,66% of former Clinton supporters are backing Obama, and 14% of Clinton primary voters are undecided. Overall, Obama was getting the support of 84% of Democrats, McCain was getting 7% of Democrats, and 8% of Democrats were undecided. McCain is getting 90% of Republicans, Obama is getting 5% of Republicans, and 5% of Republicans were undecided. Since, however, Democratic identification ran 10% higher in this poll than Republican identification, Obama can afford to lose a higher percentage of his own party than McCain.

The Dispatch article points out that McCain, by pulling out of Michigan, means that Ohio becomes even more important to his chances. Likewise, if Obama can take Ohio, then the chances of McCain winning enough states to capture the 270 votes needed to win the electoral college are very slim, if not impossible.

Expect to see even more negative campaign ads from the McCain campaign here in Ohio. You know, the ads that a friend of ours refers to as "the Obama is going to come to your home and take your women" ads. In other words, once again we will see typical Republican bs on our TV screens. Given our economic problems here in Ohio, however, our betting is that it won't work.

Obama in Michigan: Job Loss is Un-American

New York Times Survey Finds McCain Seen as "Typical Republican"

This is the lead paragraph of a story from the New York Times dated September 17, 2008:

Despite an intense effort to distance himself from the way his party has done business in Washington, Senator John McCain is seen by voters as far less likely to bring change to Washington than Senator Barack Obama. He is widely viewed as a “typical Republican” who would continue or expand President Bush’s policies, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The graph above is from the Times article and you can see a bigger version of the graph by clicking on it. The whole Times article can be found here.

Pics from Medina Dem Party During Obama Acceptance Speech

Gallup Tracking Poll Analysis: White Woman Aren't Flocking to McCain

The Gallup polling organization released an analysis of their daily tracking poll which shows that, contrary to what the media is reporting, white women aren't flocking to the McCain-Palin ticket, at least not in the numbers the media is reporting.

What is interesting is that while Obama's support among white voters is close to what it was before he picked Biden, McCain's support has gone up. This apparently means that McCain is picking up support from white voters who were previously undecided, or at least that's what I think it means. You can draw your own conclusions from the table below:

Reader Submission Comparing McCain and Obama Tax Plans

Here is an article that a reader sent us. Check out the cool graphic in the article that illustrates the difference between the tax plans of Obama and McCain.

So Who's Middle Class?
by Hall Cary

If enacted, Obama and McCain tax plans will have radically different effects on the distribution of tax burdens in the United States. The Obama tax plan is progressive giving large tax breaks to those at the bottom of the income scale and raising taxes significantly on upper-income earners.

While McCain claims that his tax plan benefits middle-class families, his plan remains regressive. It’s regressive even when compared to a plan where 2001–06 Bush tax cuts are made permanent. It gives little tax relief to those at the bottom of the income scale but provides huge tax cuts to the wealthiest households. To see how the two plans will effect your income, check out the following chart.



Of interest also, according to the Tax Policy Center, the Obama Plan contributes $1 trillion more to the revenue stream than the McCain Plan. This revenue stream is of major concern what with the swelling of the National Debt under the Bush regime.

If you want to join McCain’s “middle-class”, I suggest that you follow his example and marry a millionaire.