03 July, 2008

Barack Obama: Change We Can Believe In

Memo to Barack Obama: Never use a preposition to end a sentence (or phrase) with.

But that's not really my point here.

The point is that I really like this slogan. I think it's  a great one for him.

Why?

Because I can definitely believe in change when it concerns Barack Obama.  You can guarantee that if he says something today with absolute certainty, that he'll change his opinion on it tomorrow.

And more and more people are starting to notice. Even Markos Moulitsas (of Daily Kos):

Maybe what looks like cowering to me is really part of that "moving to the center" stuff everyone keeps talking about. But there is a line between "moving to the center" and stabbing your allies in the back out of fear of being criticized. And, of late, he's been doing a lot of unecessary stabbing, betraying his claims of being a new kind of politician. Not that I ever bought it, but Obama is now clearly not looking much different than every other Democratic politician who has ever turned his or her back on the base

Expect more and more "politics as usual" from this "new kind of politician" as the campaign continues.

Barack Obama: Change We Can Believe In.

GOP Can Take White House and Congress - In 2008

I know what you're thinking.  He's lost his mind.

I didn't say they would.  Merely that they could.  Bear with me.

Certainly, the Republicans in Washington, D.C. have done very little to encourage such a belief.  To be honest, if the election were held today, I wouldn't vote for my own Republican Congressman. My Republican Senator isn't up for re-election this year, but if he were, and again, if the election were held today, he wouldn't be receiving my vote either.

So, just to make you certain that I am aware of the uphill battle Republicans face, let me lay it out for you:

  1. Attitudes like mine are not uncommon among the party base.
  2. The Democratic Party has a huge cash edge.
  3. Americans are focused on the economy, and that always helps the Democratic Party
  4. The War in Iraq (despite it's success), continues to be an albatross around the necks of Republicans
  5. George W. Bush's (R-USA) horrible poll numbers hurt can not be encouraging to Republicans either.

So, how can I possibly say that Republicans have a chance to win big in November?

To paraphrase James Carville and Bill Clinton:

It's the price of gas, stupid.

Let me play radio talk show host for a moment and give you a few carefully selected facts:

  1. 77 percent of Americans believe that the government is to blame for the high cost of gas.
  2. 74 percent of likely voters support oil drilling off the U.S. coast.
  3. 65 percent of Americans "reject spending even a penny more for gasoline in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions"
  4. 50 percent of Americans now support drilling in ANWR.
  5. A plurality (47 percent to 45 percent) now say that drilling is more important than conservation/regulation.

These are all issues where the Democratic Party in Congress is on the wrong side.  On the top three, the Democratic Party is overwhelmingly on the wrong side.  And you can expect the numbers for #4 and #5 to rise as the summer goes on if gas prices continue to rise.

This is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Republicans.

I've said before that they need a new version of the Contract with America.  Right now they can do a very simple one.  A contract with one and only one item.

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.

It's time to push the Democrats to the wall on this issue.  Let your Republican Congressmen, Senators, and Candidates know that you want them to "Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less."

I realize this blog has become sort of a one-trick pony lately with my endless discussions of gasoline and energy independence.  I'll repeat why:

It's the price of gas, stupid.

Now if the Republicans on Capitol Hill can only figure that out.

02 July, 2008

BlackFive Compares McCain and Obama's Character

From Jimbo's post today:

John McCain [(R-AZ)] was so loyal to the men he was imprisoned with he endured torture on their behalf.

Barack Obama [(D-IL)] associates with those who can help his career, and throws them right under the bus when they become inconvenient to his aspirations.

Yes, there are a lot of areas where John McCain and I are not in agreement (more on this in a future post), but there's no doubting his honor.  This was something that the left never understood about John Kerry (D-MA) and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. They nominated a "military man" and a "war hero", thinking that this would finally shut up all the people on the right who criticize the left's dedication to the military.  They also thought they'd have a strong weapon against George W. Bush's National Guard service.

The problem was they nominated a man without honor.  Honor is important in America. At least it is if you're not decidedly left-of-center. The Swift Vets made America question, not only whether John Kerry was in fact a "war hero", but also cast serious doubts about his "honor" (note that people who followed John Kerry's entire life never had any doubts on this matter).

Neither John McCain's honor or his war hero status can be debated.  Once again, the left doesn't get that. They think that if it was fair to criticize John  Kerry's service, then it's fair to criticize John McCain's.  Because there's no doubt that he was in a POW camp for 5 years, and little doubt that his behavior their was beyond reproach.  And, while all service, no matter how long or where is something we should honor and respect, it seems that there's likely a big difference between 5 years in a POW camp and 3 months on a boat.

Once again, the Democrats have followed a winning formula. The "war hero" thing didn't work for them so they've gone back to the "anti-war" candidate.  But they're sticking to their guns on the honor thing.  He's making it almost a daily event to throw someone else under the bus, Rev. Wright, the Trinity Church, and Samantha Power, just to name a few. By November, there may be so many people under Obama's bus that they need a bigger bus.

The only "change" in Obama's politics are the faces of those around him, as more and more "turnover" occurs in the name of political expediency. Is it worse to have these associations? Or worse  to dump them when the going gets rough?  Neither are good, but, as I've said before, I'd have more respect for the man if he stuck by his longtime friends.

More and more, the Obama campaign is showing itself to be "politics as usual".

Gas Prices

Found this online:

Of course, that's absolutely true, as I've noted here before.

However, the UFCW is missing part of the story, someone please let them know.

Price of gas in America in January, 2001 (George W. Bush (R-USA) takes office): $1.46.

Price of gas in America in January, 2007 (Democratic Party takes Congress): $2.31.

Things that make you go, "hmmm".

01 July, 2008

With This Groundswell Of Support...

...maybe I should run. This is how they got Fred Thompson, too.

Gotcha! :)

InstaPundit Comments On "Swift Boating"

A good comment on the "swift boating of John McCain" is here.

I must disagree with charges that McCain is being "Swift Boated." For this to be a "Swift Boating," people who stayed at the Hanoi Hilton would have to say that McCain was lying about what he did there -- or perhaps that his repeated claims that events there were "seared, seared" in his memory are false, and he was never actually there at all -- and those people would have to be telling the truth.

Or as a friend of mine puts it:

swift boat (v.i.): to tell the truth about a Democrat.

As Glenn would put it:  Heh.

Americans Blame Congress For High Gas Prices

And Americans are right. As I've detailed here, several times.

Consumer Reports has a survey which showed:

that 77 percent of consumers single out the government's failure to implement an effective energy policy as a root cause for high gas prices

Good, unfortunately:

75 percent of consumers blame oil companies; and 70 percent blame foreign oil producers.

I suppose this is the "blame everyone" philosophy.  Scratch that, it's the "blame everyone but myself" philosophy. If you're driving that huge SUV or never carpool to work when you easily could (I fit into the latter category), then you're partially to blame as well.  The Greens are right on that one.

Here's good news though:

When asked about actions the federal government could take to reduce fuel costs, 81 percent want to allow more drilling in the United States and offshore and 90 percent support increasing alternative energy development.

Wow, maybe someone could start a petition or something.

Or, even better, maybe one of the Presidential candidates could use this in his campaign.

Naaaaah.