Thread: McCain Still Has a lot of Work to do.

Seven battleground States will decide our Presidential election: Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. McCain needs to win five out of seven of these states if he is going to prevent Senator Obama from becoming the next President. President Bush carried Virginia in '00 and '04, but McCain and Obama are currently tied there. President Bush carried Ohio in '00 and '04, and McCain has only the slightest of leads. Bush carried Colorado in 00' and '04, and Obama has a small lead there. Gore won New Mexico in '00, but Bush carried it in '04, and Obama is sustaining a 4 point lead. Kerry won New Hampshire in '04, Bush carried it in '00, and Obama still leads there by .3 points. Bush carried Iowa in '04, Gore carried it in '00, and Obama has a sizable lead there. Democrats have carried Pennsylvania in the last two presidential elections, and Obama is sustaining a 5 point lead there.

What does this add up to? The Republicans are on a high right now after their convention, but Obama still dominates the Electoral College. The McCain campaign needs to make a huge push in the West and North East if they are going to stand any shot of winning, and unfortunately, McCain's excellent choice of Sarah Palin to fill out the ticket will not help in either of these areas. Palin may help McCain in Iowa and Virginia, but most likely not enough to deliver them on her own. McCain must make his case that he is a reformer and not even remotely close to President Bush.

This is going to be a difficult case to make, as the Obama campaign's entire strategy is to focus on McCain as Bush the Third. McCain will likely win any contest on Foreign Policy, however the economy is now in the spotlight and Americans have lost faith in Republican leadership. The Republicans have a lot of work to do if they are going to earn the forgiveness and sustain the faith of the American people.

Originally Posted by Burning Giraffe

The Republicans have a lot of work to do if they are going to earn the forgiveness and sustain the faith of the American people.

Yeah - and the FIRST piece of it, would be to go tell that idiot Bush to shove off.

If McCain doesn't do that, he's not going to win.

If McCain can't even stand up to Bush, how the hell's he gonna stand up to Putin?

If McCain cares so much about this country, let's see him EXPOSE Bush, just like he's promising to EXPOSE all the rest of the spenders.

Everyone already KNOWS Bush is an asshole, we just want to hear McCain actually SAY it.

If he doesn't SAY it, how are we supposed to trust him?

Originally Posted by nonsqtr

Yeah - and the FIRST piece of it, would be to go tell that idiot Bush to shove off.

If McCain doesn't do that, he's not going to win.

If McCain can't even stand up to Bush, how the hell's he gonna stand up to Putin?

If McCain cares so much about this country, let's see him EXPOSE Bush, just like he's promising to EXPOSE all the rest of the spenders.

Everyone already KNOWS Bush is an asshole, we just want to hear McCain actually SAY it.

If he doesn't SAY it, how are we supposed to trust him?

Yeah, McCain keeps dancing around the issue. He needs to be explicit. He shouldn't worry about offending the Republican Base by telling the truth. McCain needs to say something like,

"It is no secret that after the cold-hearted smear tactics employed by then Governor Bush in the 2000 Republican primaries, that my relationship with our President has been strained. But let's be honest. Under President Bush's watch and a Republican majority in the House and Senate, spending went out of control. Yes, we were at war. But a President is not only responsible for foreign policy. He must take an interest in domestic policy as well. After 9/11, President Bush abandoned Domestic policies all together. He signed everything the Congress sent him; and when he wanted to make a stand what did he do? He simply jots down his interpretation of what Congresses legislation means to him (source). I led the fight against the use of torture. We got legislation passed. President Bush then chose to reinterpret our policy of not torturing people at all, to only torturing people when he says it's OK. This is not the Republican politics of Reagan. This is not the politics of limited government, its the politics of LIMITLESS government! Now is the time to return the party to its core values".

That should do.

Originally Posted by nonsqtr

Yeah - and the FIRST piece of it, would be to go tell that idiot Bush to shove off.

If McCain doesn't do that, he's not going to win.

If McCain can't even stand up to Bush, how the hell's he gonna stand up to Putin?

If McCain cares so much about this country, let's see him EXPOSE Bush, just like he's promising to EXPOSE all the rest of the spenders.

Everyone already KNOWS Bush is an asshole, we just want to hear McCain actually SAY it.

If he doesn't SAY it, how are we supposed to trust him?

Great post - shame I couldn't green you for it...

Don't you think that hug will come back to haunt him?

But in any event, if he goes after Bush he will be in a great position to reach across the political divide. Only the most nut-case of Repugs still support Bush, and those will vote for palin anyway.

. I wonder if the Repug executive are still holding the puppet strings...

Originally Posted by Burning Giraffe

That should do.

Yes, that would be perfectly adequate.

Originally Posted by nonsqtr

Everyone already KNOWS Bush is an asshole, we just want to hear McCain actually SAY it.

Actually, the better informed among us do not know this, indeed, suspect it to be untrue, thank-you-so-very-much.

Originally Posted by nonsqtr

If he doesn't SAY it, how are we supposed to trust him?

By becoming informed, reading history, gaining insight into the labyrinth that is human nature, and thinking like a functional adult.

The same techniques, practices and knowledge will, of course, inform the well integrated individual that one should never have too much pure trust in a politician.

Almost the only way anyone could possibly vote for the major alternative to McCain, barring actual mental illness or an unfortunate seizure in the voting booth, is to live in a fantasy world where trust is established by the utterance of inspiring, yet insipid words. We call this "change rubes can believe in."

Originally Posted by Oftencold

Actually, the better informed among us do not know this, indeed, suspect it to be untrue, thank-you-so-very-much.


By becoming informed, reading history, gaining insight into the labyrinth that is human nature, and thinking like a functional adult.

The same techniques, practices and knowledge will, of course, inform the well integrated individual that one should never have too much pure trust in a politician.

Almost the only way anyone could possibly vote for the major alternative to McCain, barring actual mental illness or an unfortunate seizure in the voting booth, is to live in a fantasy world where trust is established by the utterance of inspiring, yet insipid words. We call this "change rubes can believe in."

So that's where the 30% approval rate is hiding. In Alaska.
You peeps need to come in out of the cold.

Originally Posted by Burning Giraffe

Yeah, McCain keeps dancing around the issue. He needs to be explicit. He shouldn't worry about offending the Republican Base by telling the truth. McCain needs to say something like,

"It is no secret that after the cold-hearted smear tactics employed by then Governor Bush in the 2000 Republican primaries, that my relationship with our President has been strained. But let's be honest. Under President Bush's watch and a Republican majority in the House and Senate, spending went out of control. Yes, we were at war. But a President is not only responsible for foreign policy. He must take an interest in domestic policy as well. After 9/11, President Bush abandoned Domestic policies all together. He signed everything the Congress sent him; and when he wanted to make a stand what did he do? He simply jots down his interpretation of what Congresses legislation means to him (source). I led the fight against the use of torture. We got legislation passed. President Bush then chose to reinterpret our policy of not torturing people at all, to only torturing people when he says it's OK. This is not the Republican politics of Reagan. This is not the politics of limited government, its the politics of LIMITLESS government! Now is the time to return the party to its core values".

That should do.

I agree 100%. If McCain says that, then he may actually deserve to win. But if he doesn't say something like that then he will be the same as Bush and he therefore shouldn't win.

If he is voted in without pushing aside neo-con philosophy then he will just continue it.

Just let the neo-conservatives vote for a third party fascist candidate, I have seen them...

Originally Posted by Oftencold

Actually, the better informed among us do not know this, indeed, suspect it to be untrue, thank-you-so-very-much.

Sorry, but, I'm not going to mince words on this one.

If YOU, personally, don't realize by now that George W Bush is an ASSHOLE, then you are BRAIN DEAD!!! Then you've been ASLEEP these past 8 years!!!

George W Bush, is the EPITOME of an asshole - the very DEFINITION of the word!!! He likes to grab the sphincter and NOT LET GO!!!

That m/f snatches people off the streets in sovereign countries, and ships them off to some shithole somewhere where they are GUARANTEED to be tortured.

I'm am very, very sorry, 'cause you sound like a nice (and smart) person, but it is no longer acceptable for any American to stand up for that clown.

That rotten bastard has RUINED this great country, in EVERY conceivable way.

I hope that asshole ROTS IN HELL. Now and forever.

And no, I don't like saying stuff like this. I am not "the angry left". I do not like raising points like this in a public forum. Being "hopping mad" about stuff like this, is NOT WHO I AM.

But, it is indeed, the condition in which I find myself TODAY, and it is ENTIRELY due to that asshole Bush and his activities during the last 8 years.

And I know a whole lot of OTHER people, who are in the exact same condition I am.

So, please, do try to get a clue on this one. It's IMPORTANT. The future of this great nation is at stake.

Originally Posted by Nerv14

I agree 100%. If McCain says that, then he may actually deserve to win. But if he doesn't say something like that then he will be the same as Bush and he therefore shouldn't win.

If he is voted in without pushing aside neo-con philosophy then he will just continue it.

Just let the neo-conservatives vote for a third party fascist candidate, I have seen them...

The Neo-Cons aren't finished yet. They still have tremendous influence in Congress and in Bureaucracy. That's one thing that I hope the next President does, whoever it is, is clean out all the Bush/Cheney people from the Bureaucracy. Fire em' all, regardless of how good of a job they've done. Get some people in there who are problem solvers. Because right now, the job of the next President is going to be to clean up our government. I'm not sure Obama or McCain are interested in this, but I hope, whichever is elected, that they'll at least try to bleed the government of its demons.