Quote of the day

"... I had to chuckle as I paged through The Way to Win for the first time since it was published in 2006. The book is about the blueprint for taking the White House and which politicians were positioning themselves for victory in 2008. I laughed because there was one name that did not appear anywhere in the book about the upcoming campaign, one name Halperin and Harris left out of the index: "Obama, Barack." "

 

Well said Eric.

 

To understand read this - http://mediamatters.org/columns/200810210005

 

 

ALERT - Republicans already trying to steal the election

When you go into the voting booth, be sure to get confirmation that who you actually select to vote, actually gets selected correctly.

 

This almost sounds like the opening to Treehouse of Horror XIX.

 

Some early W.Va. voters angry over switched votes

Jackson County touch-screens switched votes, 3 residents say

 

 

By Paul J. Nyden

Staff writer

At least three early voters in Jackson County had a hard time voting for candidates they want to win.

Virginia Matheney and Calvin Thomas said touch-screen machines in the county clerk's office in Ripley kept switching their votes from Democratic to Republican candidates.

"When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain," said Matheney, who lives in Kenna.

When she reported the problem, she said, the poll worker in charge "responded that everything was all right. It was just that the screen was sensitive and I was touching the screen too hard. She instructed me to use only my fingernail."

Even after she began using her fingernail, Matheney said, the problem persisted.

...

More details at http://wvgazette.com/News/200810170676?build=yes.

 

 

When people look back ...

... on this election, they'll probably ask what McCain did that caused him to tank with voters. To get all Russert-like -

 

• Some might say he really wasn't going to ever win - I've always suspected that he wasn't the right-wing's first choice.
  
• Some might say that it all went downhill when he picked Palin - for the longest time, I subscribed to this point.

But I suspect much of the analysis will look back at the economic problems that hit at the same time, and how McCain dealt with them.

 

This comment from Steve Benen sums this up nicely -

 

"The conventional wisdom has been that McCain dropped in the polls after the crisis began in earnest because voters' attention shifted to the economy, which is McCain's weakest point. That's largely true, but it's incomplete. McCain dropped because his response to the crisis has been ridiculous. This was an opportunity for McCain to not only show some leadership and a "steady hand," but also that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to the economy. He's failed miserably."

 

That being said, I do think there's a larger issue going on.

 

Part of it lies with the idea that the American public is finally seeing the American Right Wing (as housed in the current incarnation of the Republican Party) ideology for what it really is. All those years of scandals, fake issues are insignificant now. What I'm hoping is that this will be the start of the public finally realizing that the American Right should be kept far away from government. They are very good at getting into power, but running government is something that should be left to those who know how to govern for all, not use government as a vehicle to reward a select few.

 

 

Right-wing pundits upset over McCain and Palin ....

Here's one from David Brooks -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/08/david-brooks-sarah-palin_n_133001.html

Here's the thing -

All the polls, voter registration numbers, and momentum are moving towards Senator Obama and the Democratic Party for the coming election. I think Mr. Brooks is looking for someone else on the right-wing to blame besides Senator McCain. Choosing to direct his ire at Sarah Palin is not really going to really accomplish that (that is, if you assume that it was Senator McCain himself who picked Governor Palin as his running mate).

Further, where was he with this kind of piece when Governor Palin was introduced by Senator McCain? It was pretty obvious within an hour of announcing her that she wasn't qualified for any public office, let alone the one she currently occupies.

For that matter, where was he and perhaps others when George W. Bush was running for President back in 1999/2000?

This is why I don't have much respect for conservatives and their movement as it is these days. I can respect someone for having opinions (even if I disagree with them). But Mr. Brooks, and many other of his political stripe who apparently had these types of concerns about Bush, yet chose to keep quiet because they probably saw it as a chance for their movement to dominate all levels of government, as did much of the corporate media (even though we all know Al Gore won in 2000, as did Senator Kerry in 2004). They are now playing a game of CYA with their readers because the country has gone down the tubes thanks to Bush and his cronies, and voters are largely not buying into Senator McCain's ideas, campaign, or judgment (perhaps because it's really similar to Bush).

That these pundits knew and chose not to speak makes them hypocrites to be angry now. That's why I don't respect them.

I think the pending Obama election victory result will be the first salvo in the Republican Party civil war, fought between the three main factions (foreign policy hawks, corporate interests/lobbyists, and religious/social conservatives). These are I think some of the first sets of rumblings.

Pictures of a wedding

No, not mine again, but rather my brother's ...

 

Meet Sonia, my sister-in-law, and George at their engagement and wedding:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/georgejoseph.pattara0/GeorgeSoniaSMarriagePhotos

 

They got married in India some months back.

 

Enjoy!

American Vice-Presidential Debates

Vice-Presidential debates are primarily about one thing - they are a defacto-test of the candidate's judgment.
 
In a lot of cases, the picking of the VP is something a candidate must think long and hard about. Will the person complement them, not upstage them? Can the person play the role of attack-dog, but not serve to be an irritant? Can the person stay on message, but demonstrate personality and character? And most important, if something were to happen to the candidate, can this person pick up the mantle an carry on?
 
Watching the VP candidate debate last night, it's clear to be that each person selected validated all these points. That is, they truly represented the judgments of their respective candidates.
 
Watching Biden, it's clear he had spent a lot of time prepping, but it didn't visibly show. Why? Because he spent years, decades preparing. He was truly ready and he delivered a great performance. He was calm and clear. And he managed to expose Palin and McCain for the frauds that they are without being rude, weak, or mean to his opponent. He also spent a lot of time doing something Obama did in his debate with McCain; that is ask the viewer to think about the two sides' positions and compare what's going on today with what could happen tomorrow. On that note, Biden succeeded. And on a more higher level, he confirms Obama's judgment in picking the right person for the job.

 

Now all Obama and Biden need to do is stay focused, stay on track, and get voters registered and to the voting booths.
 
As for Palin - all about ambition, nothing else. Her sad fake routine (very reminiscent of Bush) will fool only the incredibly ignorant. One can hope that the country, having endured close to eight years of this with Bush, will learn from that mistake once and for all. Her lack of substance demonstrated she really should not be in public office at any level. And it confirmed one thing about McCain ...
 
Mitt Romney and Joe Lieberman must have said no.