General Chat on US Election

[H.R. Haldeman]

Mods can lock this thread if it's not wanted, but seems to me there are lots of interesting tidbits and discussion points every day that don't deserve a thread on their own, but might be of interest to the junkies. We could stick them in this thread, no?

To get the ball rolling, I noticed some stuff about endorsements today:


1. Ron Howard making an idiot of himself, but with charm, in Obama's name (with special appearance by the Fonze):
Ron Howard's Call To Action from Ron Howard and Henry Winkler


2. In the latest editorial endorsement headcount Obama leads almost 3 to 1, with the NYT today coming out for him, despite endorsing HRC in the primaries:
FRIDAY: Updated Endorsement Tally--Obama Leads 134-52, Picks up 'NYT' and 'Philly Daily News'

The Times keeps it simple: "This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership. Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities".
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/op...ml?ref=opinion


3. Another interesting endorsement, from Hitchens last week, who I knew would come to his senses in this election:
Vote Obama. McCain lacks the character and temperament to be president. And Palin is simply a disgrace. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine

...the piece includes a classic Hitch: "The most insulting thing that a politician can do is to compel you to ask yourself: "What does he take me for?" Precisely this question is provoked by the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin".


4. Final discussion point, how delicious is Tina Fey in the latest - and best - SNL skit yet?
Saturday Night Live - Update Thursday: Bush Endorsement - Video - NBC.com

Very IMO.

[cyberianpan]

Would suggest endorsements go on this thread.

[SIZE=2]From the Telegraph we have US election 2008: Top 25 turning points in the campaign: 1 - 12[/SIZE]

Actually I've noted the Telegraph to be one of the sharpest/best news sources on the election it beats most US papers!

cYp

[lostexpectation]

didn't realise biden was from that delaware that place is notorious, seems he's mr deregulation. :/

Biz-friendly Del. may lose if Biden wins - Victoria McGrane - Politico.com

Biz-friendly Del. may lose if Biden wins

[lostexpectation]

im surpirsed nobody mentioned the iran endorsement, the former iraninan press spokesman said he prefer obama because he's more 'honest and reasonable' then the 'impetuous Mccain', watch them to turn 'honest and reasonable' into a negative

[East Coast Elitist]

Sorry to drag down the discussion, but my favorite "doesn't deserve a thread of its own" thing from this week: John McCain's brother calls 911 (the emergency-only line) because he's annoyed at being stuck in traffic in the socialist fake America that is Northern Virginia:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y6_s3O5Bj0]YouTube - Joe McCain calls 911 about a traffic jam[/ame]

[PhoenixIreland]

East Coast that was priceless!
Me thinks RAGE runs in the genes!

They should lock that guy up with a gag in his mouth, last week he called the part of Virginia where McCain HQ and the Pentagon are located "communist country"

[PhoenixIreland]

Limbaugh has cracked Obamas super secret plan, the REAL reason he's visiting Hawaii, nothing to do with the dying grandmother, but to sort himself a fake birth cert to cover up that he wasn't born in the USA

Media Matters - Conservative media figures allege Obama's Hawaii trip is about discredited birth-certificate rumors, not his ailing grandmother

[cyberianpan]

Here's a good NYT article on how Florida is now in play, reminding that it is not all just about issues & character:

“He has the best political organization for a presidential campaign that I have ever seen here,” Tom Slade, a former state Republican chairman, said of Mr. Obama. “Bar none. He has run a phenomenally good campaign.”

cYp

[H.R. Haldeman]

Here's a good NYT article on how Florida is now in play, reminding that it is not all just about issues & character:

cYp

Something has struck me with this election that I'd never realised so clearly before: in a bizarre sense, the very best way to judge a candidate's readiness for the WH is how they manage and perform in the campaign.

A campaign seems so cynical, fluffy and transitory on the face of it, but in actual fact BO has been acting like a de-facto POTUS for 2 years now - talking to the public, confronting enemies, organising his bureacracy, appointing deputies, building consensus, selling ideas, budgeting, dealing with crisis etc.

It's weird how democracy so often gets it right even when it appears to be getting it wrong.

[lowtaxireland]

the whole thing lacks substance. what amuses me is how hard they try to make out that there are differences between them, when there are no fundamental differences at all. Obama wants to talk to Iran......but those talks were already started by Bush; they both plan to cut taxes in spite of the deficit and are both tight-lipped on where spending will be cut; they both voted for the patriot act; and they both support the bailout.
The big alleged difference is about the war in Iraq is meaningless in real terms- Obama wants a phased withdrawal and McCain reckons he could have most of the troops out by 2013. It defies belief that people seriously think that this election offers anything other than a choice between two candidates who in real terms differ marginally.