“According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain.”
ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper calls the latest video press release from the McCain campaign dishonest. In the ad, John McCain accuses Barack Obama of saying Iran is a ‘tiny’ country and ‘doesn’t pose a serious threat.’ This is false.
“And ultimately that direct engagement led to a series of measures that helped prevent nuclear war, and over time allowed the kind of opening that brought down the Berlin Wall,” Obama continued. “Now, that has to be the kind of approach that we take. You know, Iran, they spend one-one hundredth of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serio us threat to us, they wouldn’t stand a chance. And we should use that position of strength that we have to be bold enough to go ahead and listen. That doesn’t mean we agree with them on everything. We might not compromise on any issues, but at least we should find out other areas of potential common interest, and we can reduce some of the tensions that has caused us so many problems around the world.”
The false ad doesn’t actually “air” anywhere like several other videos released by the McCain campaign, but appears to be intended to get free media play from news programs.
Update: From Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan:
Jonathan Oberlander, Ph.D. wrote a recent article for the New England Journal of Medicine comparing the two health care proposals of John McCain and Barack Obama.
Key Elements of John McCain’s Plan
Key Elements of Barack Obama’s Plan
You can read the full article here: The Partisan Divide — The McCain and Obama Plans for U.S. Health Care Reform.
Dr. Oberlander is an associate professor of social medicine and of health policy and administration at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Whether you agree with his politics or not, this was definitely one of the most rousing speeches so far in the Democratic convention. It points out the many reasons why 80% of voters polled believe the country is on the wrong track.
You may be an Obamacan if…
1. You’re tired of special interests and lobbyists writing the federal government’s fiscal and foreign policies, and you want a candidate who passed the most comprehensive ethics reform bill since Watergate.
2. You want your government to be more transparent and open about how they spend our tax dollars. See the “Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008” - (S. 3077)
3. You make $250,000 or less and want a $2,200 tax-cut (McCain’s plan would only provides a $1,200 tax-cut for that range according to the independent group the Tax Policy Center).
4. You believe senior citizens drawing $50,000 or less per year in social security should not pay income taxes at all.
5. You don’t think the recent economic policies have been good for the country (McCain) and that we are just a nation of whiners (Phil Graham – McCain’s Chief Economic Adviser).
6. You believe that every American has the right to affordable health care.
7. You think we need a sound energy independence policy that won’t be written by oil companies who make record profits while we pay record prices for gas.
It’s time we all stopped believing the stereotypes and started getting the real facts about the candidates’ policies. In short, stop repeating talking points and start thinking for yourselves.
After the Democratic Convention in Denver, CO, Obama will have a bounce in poll numbers and support simply because he won’t have two opponents to contend with – and make no mistake, he does have two opponents. Although, the Clinton campaign is not technically contending for the Democratic nomination, Hillary has continued to loom in the hearts and minds of the main stream media (MSM), voters and the candidates. There are always talking-points, storylines or articles with at least undertones of “I bet Hillary would have a bigger lead on McCain”, “the Obama Campaign isn’t showing enough respect to the Clintons”, “Obama can’t win Hillary voters” and finally “Hillary got snubbed on the VP pick.” Regardless of who wins the presidential election in November, there will probably be Hillary Clinton bumper stickers with the slogan “What Would Hillary Clinton Do?”
The problem is not completely the MSM’s fault, though. For all the surface-level talk of Obama support from Hillary and her surrogates, she will finally make the definitive move for true Obama support by releasing her delegates to vote for him on Wednesday of convention week. I don’t fault the Clinton campaign for this and neither should other Obama supporters. Yes, it delays Obama being the undisputed decision-maker for the Democratic Party, but put yourselves in the shoes of Hillary and her supporters. If Obama had lost the primary, wouldn’t you demand that his issues of change in Washington be addressed by Hillary Clinton in a dramatic way?
This being said, Barack Obama’s leadership ability, which led him to become the Democratic presidential nominee, will be on display to the entire nation this week and specifically Thursday night when he speaks. He will have to show the country why the majority of Democrats, Independents and even some Republicans believe his policies will create a stronger, more prosperous America. He must talk about specifics like his middle-class tax cuts, closing corporate tax loopholes which make it cheaper to export U.S. jobs, healthcare, and his plan to create a renewable energy industry to reduce foreign oil dependency. But first, he must begin by unifying the party by slaying (hopefully with kindness and not by sword) the Clinton dragon which dominates the minds of the MSM and the voters.
Germaine Smith
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday that U.S. and Iraqi officials agree that timetables should be set for a U.S. troop withdrawal. However, a broader pact on future US-Iraq relations is still difficult.
In an interview with Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen of Politico, John McCain has trouble remembering how many houses he owns. I don’t think that’s the housing crisis most americans are dealing with.
McCain unsure how many houses he owns
This with other McCain statements like you should be considered rich only if you make $5 million or more, show him to be out of touch with most Americans. And Karl Rove calls Barack Obama the elitist?
1. First Presidential Debate:
* Date: September 26
* Site: University of Mississippi
* Topic: Foreign Policy & National Security
* Moderator: Jim Lehrer
* Staging: Podium debate
* Answer Format: The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment. After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment2. Vice Presidential Debate
* Date: October 2nd
* Site: Washington University (St. Louis)
* Moderator: Gwen Ifill
* Staging/Answer Format: To be resolved after both parties’ Vice Presidential nominees are selected.3. Second Presidential Debate
* Date: October 7
* Site: Belmont University (Nnashville)
* Moderator: Tom Brokaw
* Staging: Town Hall debate
* Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the internet). Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment. In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or internet), and not the moderator.4. Third Presidential Debate
* Date: October 15
* Site: Hofstra University
* Topic: Domestic and Economic policy
* Moderator: Bob Schieffer
* Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table
* Answer Format: Same as First Presidential Debate
* Closing Statements: At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90 second closing statement.
I’m not sure why anyone takes Jerome Corsi, author of Obama Nation, seriously.
Corsi has admitted publicly that the book is intended to “derail” the election of Barack Obama. Thus, proving he is not an unbiased, serious scholar, but rather someone who will distort facts and even outright lie to accomplish his goal. The media continues to state that the book is a NY Times Best Seller without noting the many falsehoods it presents as facts.
Media Matters and other organizations have all noted the many falsehoods within the book (ranging from year of the Obamas’ wedding to African citizenship laws).
Here is Obama’s “Unfit for Publication” reply to “Obama Nation”
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