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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (401888)	7/26/2008 6:17:02 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575517

Getting to Know You By BOB HERBERT The conventional wisdom in this radically unconventional presidential race is that the voters have to get to know Barack Obama better. That’s what this week’s overseas trip was about: to showcase the senator as a potential commander in chief and leader of U.S. foreign policy. According to this way of thinking, as voters see more of Mr. Obama and become more comfortable with him (assuming no major foul-ups along the way), his chances of getting elected will be enhanced. Maybe so. But what about the other guy? How much do voters really know about John McCain? Senator McCain crossed a line that he shouldn’t have this week when he said that Mr. Obama “would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.” It was a lousy comment, tantamount to calling Mr. Obama a traitor, and Senator McCain should apologize for it. But what we’ve learned over the years is that Mr. McCain is one of those guys who never has to pay much of a price for his missteps and foul-ups and bad behavior. Can you imagine the firestorm of outrage and criticism that would have descended on Senator Obama if he had made the kind of factual mistakes that John McCain has repeatedly made in this campaign? (Or if Senator Obama had had the temerity to even remotely suggest that John McCain would consider being disloyal to his country for political reasons?) We have a monumental double standard here. Mr. McCain has had trouble in his public comments distinguishing Sunnis from Shiites and had to be corrected in one stunningly embarrassing moment by his good friend Joe Lieberman. He has referred to a Iraq-Pakistan border when the two countries do not share a border. He declared on CBS that Iraq was the first major conflict after 9/11, apparently forgetting — at least for the moment — about the war in Afghanistan. In that same interview, he credited the so-called surge of U.S. forces in Iraq with bringing about the Anbar Awakening, a movement in which thousands of Sunnis turned on insurgents. He was wrong. The awakening preceded the surge. More important than these endless gaffes are matters that give us glimpses of the fundamental makeup of the man. A celebrated warrior as a young man, he has always believed that the war in Iraq can (and must) be won. As the author Elizabeth Drew has written: “He didn’t seem to seriously consider the huge costs of the war: financial, personal, diplomatic and to the reputation of the United States around the world.” He also felt we could have, and should have, won the war in Vietnam. “We lost in Vietnam,” said Mr. McCain in 2003, “because we lost the will to fight, because we did not understand the nature of the war we were fighting and because we limited the tools at our disposal.” The spirit of the warrior was on display in the famous incident in which Mr. McCain, with the insouciance of a veteran bomber pilot, sang “Bomb-bomb Iran” to the tune of “Barbara Ann” by the Beach Boys. No big deal. Just John being John. But then, we are already bogged down in two wars. And John is running for president. It’s hardly crazy to wonder. Part of the makeup of the man — apparently a significant part, according to many close observers — is his outsized temper. Mr. McCain’s temperament has long been a subject of fascination in Washington, and for some a matter of concern. He can be a nasty piece of work. (Truly nasty. He once told an extremely cruel joke about Chelsea Clinton — too cruel to repeat here.) If the McCain gaffes seem endless, so do the tales about his angry, profanity-laced eruptions. Senator Thad Cochran, a Mississippi Republican, said of Mr. McCain: “The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine.” Senator Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican, told Newsweek in 2000: “I decided I didn’t want this guy anywhere near a trigger.” Both senators have since endorsed Senator McCain’s presidential bid, but their initial complaints were part of a much larger constellation of concerns about the way Mr. McCain tends to treat people with whom he disagrees, and his frequently belligerent my-way-or-the-highway attitude. Senator McCain has acknowledged on various occasions that he has a short fuse and has at times made jokes about it. He told Larry King in 2006: “My anger did not help my campaign ... People don’t like angry candidates very much.” My guess is that most voters don’t see John McCain as an angry candidate, despite several very public lapses. The mythical John McCain is an affable, straight-talking, moderately conservative war hero who is an expert on foreign policy. Barack Obama is not the only candidate the voters need to know more about.

To: i-node who wrote (401888)	7/26/2008 8:14:18 AM
From: Taro	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575517

In Germany, politicians in front of large, shouting crowds evoke images that nobody wants to see repeated. As I said before, the Germans do have a soft spot for great orators. That's the scary part of it. Taro

To: i-node who wrote (401888)	7/26/2008 2:22:40 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575517

Obama accused of trying to win the election The liberal blogosphere was aflame today with new accusations that Sen. Barack Obama is trying to win the 2008 presidential election. Suspicions about Obama's true... By Andy Borowitz Syndicated Columnist The liberal blogosphere was aflame today with new accusations that Sen. Barack Obama is trying to win the 2008 presidential election. Suspicions about Obama's true motives have been building during the past few weeks, but not until today have the bloggers called him out for betraying the Democratic Party's losing tradition. "Barack Obama seems to be making a very calculated attempt to win more than 270 electoral votes," wrote liberal blogger Carol Foyler at LibDemWatch.com, a blog read by a half-dozen other liberal bloggers. "He must be stopped." But those comments were not nearly as strident as those of Tracy Klugian, whose blog LoseOn.org has backed unsuccessful Democratic candidates since 2000. "Increasingly, Barack Obama's message is becoming more accessible, appealing and, yes, potentially successful," he wrote. "Any Democrat who voted for Dukakis, Mondale or Kerry should regard this as a betrayal." Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said that he was "sympathetic" to the concerns of bloggers who worry that their nominee seems stubbornly bent on winning the election, but he warned them that the DNC's "hands are tied." "If Sen. Obama is really determined to win, I don't think any of us can talk him out of it," Dean said. Liberal bloggers said that they would be watching Obama's vice-presidential selection process "very closely" for signs that he is plotting toward a victory in November. "Barack Obama still has a chance to pick someone disastrous as a sign that he wants to lose this thing," Foyler wrote. "If not, he should brace himself for some really mean blog posts." seattletimes.nwsource.com

To: i-node who wrote (401888)	7/26/2008 4:22:58 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575517

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll Saturday, July 26, 2008 Email to a FriendAdvertisement The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that the bounce is continuing for Barack Obama. The presumptive Democratic nominee attracts 46% of the vote while John McCain earns 40%. When "leaners" are included, it’s Obama 49% and McCain 43%. Just four days ago, the candidates were tied at 46% (with leaners). Obama is viewed favorably by 57% of voters, McCain by 55%. Tracking Polls are released at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time each day. Rasmussen Markets data gives Obama a 63.2% chance of winning the White House. rasmussenreports.com