I don't have a chosen candidate I am just trying out for the part, as the fly on the wall. We are in good hands with ALL state and we should drink more tab water.:noball:

I find it telling that with hurricane Gustav, Republican candidate John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin are down south, in Mississippi, and Barack Obama is safely staying away from it in the midwest, going to Ohio and Michigan. It wasn't enough that McCain chose to suspend the majority of the events scheduled for the Republican convention, no, he then traveled down to where the hurricane is going to affect, to show his support to the people of Louisiana and Mississippi, while Obama stays safe up north, giving speeches about he is going to singlehandedly save the auto industry, before going back to Chicago to "monitor" the situation...The fact that McCain was willing to completely mess up the GOP convention, ensuring he doesn't get the same TV time as Obama did at the DNC, and then actually traveled to the area that is getting hit today really tells us all we really need to know about the leadership qualities of both candidates. One candidate runs to a disaster to try and help out, putting political concerns about his convention aside, while the other runs away from it.

McCain had better be there as it is on the record where he was the last time, remember this:http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/davidco...ake-not-ac.html

Look, I am glad to see that you have bought into the head game that McCain puppet makers are selling as McCain's campaign, just stop with the comparison bit as it is a bit disingenuous. :laugh:

Did you get the memo to pray for rain? Seem like it came a little to late, don't you think? :naughty:

(lol) Where were you last time? My point, McCain wasn't even considering the presidency at that time. Like any and all of us he was going on with life. Like the average America there was no responsibilty on his shoulders to do anything. I didn't fly down there to help. Did you? Most people I know didn't rush down there to do anything. More importantly where was our freshman senator,Obama,last time. Probably playing cards with the Washington good ole boys club. I also didn't fight in a war and become a P.O.W. for this country. McCain did. Did Obama? Frankly, I think if I were in McCain's shoes I might of said forget the code of conduct I'm going home. Put me on the next boat out,but he didn't. The thing you have to ask yourself is what would Obama/Biden do. Well let's look at it. Biden has already sold out his friend McCain for the chance at power. He has no integrity when he says in the presidential debates that McCain would make a great president and that Obama isn't ready. Oh but when he gets the nod for vice president his tune changes. hmm.... That right there shows the quality of a man. He's a sell out and can be bought.

Again, you miss the point, look at the picture and come up with a better respond, you are to easy!:rant:

You continue to spew out assumptions that do very little for your credibility! Why is that?:notlisten

No!! you are missing the point. Reread my whole statement. Your response was before I had a chance to finish the whole post. It all boils down to integrity.

Not only that, but it completely whitewashes over the simple facts that legally, Bush couldn't do anything about Katrina until after Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco requested aid...which she didn't do for over three days after the hurricane hit. There are laws that have to be observed, the President cannot send in the troops anywhere in the United States without being requested to do so. Mayor Ray Nagin blew it by not preparing New Orleans properly. Kathleen Blanco blew it next, by failing to request assistance from the Federal government in a timely manner. Its very easy to blame Bush for Katrina, but, the facts remain, he was powerless to do anything until requested to do so. If you want to blame the disaster that was FEMA for Katrina, blame former Governor Blanco. McCain was sharing a birthday cake with Bush...so what? He wasn't running for President then, and neither was Obama. (at least not officially). Both are running now, and you cannot change the simple fact that McCain went down to the area that is going to get hit, and Obama is staying away.

I think we are having communication problems because you are lying to yourself and believing your own lies. Your only purpose is to smear, it was not enough for you to state your outlook about McCain, I see where you are at. Sorry, come higher as that is so below both of us, well me anyway.:coffee:

"No!! you are missing the point. Reread my whole statement. Your response was before I had a chance to finish the whole post. It all boils down to integrity."

bigbadbrat, Have you read anything about McCain? Integrity is not a word you should use when describing McCain.:monkey:

If he ate cake when he wasn't running for president, how can you believe that this time he genuinely wants to help, and not just seem sympathetic to get an edge over Obama?

Yes, but so what? You yourself said in another post that he was "enjoying birthday cake with Bush" the last time around, and that there's nothing wrong with that because he wasn't running for president at the time. But do you honestly believe that if he weren't running for president right now that he would be down there helping the hurricane victims? I doubt it. It's just one more trick on an ever-growing list of election gimmicks. Sure, Obama should be embarrassed that he isn't down there, but no more so than McCain should be if he ever steps back and realizes how contrived this looks.

And do you really think that McCain lost any publicity by curtailing the GOP? In fact, I imagine that the amount of positive press that move received more than made up for the lost television time. And I doubt that that came as any surprise to him--I'm sure he knew that he wouldn't really be losing anything by cutting the GOP short.

EDIT:



Ahh... you beat me to it.

Even if you question his motives for going down there, he is there. Obama isn't. Where were the other Senators during Katrina? Did they visit either? What John McCain and Barack Obama did during Katrina is irrelevant to what they are doing during Gustav. If you notice, I merely pointed out that like McCain, Obama wasn't running for President during Katrina. If you will also notice, I never criticized Obama for not going down to Louisiana during Katrina. What each candidate did in 2005 for Katrina, when neither were running for President, is far less important than what they are doing now, in 2008, for Gustav.

If I accept your premise that McCain wouldn't be in Louisiana now, if he wasn't running for President, what does that say about Obama? He is running for President too, and STILL isn't down there. Surely, if we are to believe that it is nothing but a publicity stunt designed to generate goodwill, wouldn't that have occurred to the Obama camp too? Can you ever have too much good publicity? If its a PR stunt, Obama is an idiot for missing out on it. What better way could he have to blunt the criticism from the conservatives that he isn't qualified to lead, than to go down there and do something "Presidential"?

This is the first political debate forum i've read front page to last and I would have to agree that most of what has been said is a smear attempt. There are also a few inaccuracies i've noticed about each conventions schedules. McCain has been hanging around the midwest (he was in MN yesterday, although I know he heading south now) and Obama is in Denver today, which is not in the midwest. It bothers me a little bit that MCCain went to "support" the hurricane. It's obviously a publicity stunt. I agree with jhd, I highly doubt he'd be down there if he weren't running for president. I also don't think it's a very wise decision. I would be trying to reach the states that are either strong or leaning democrat instead of pulling stunts.

I think he did make a wise decision about his running mate though. She has a pretty good record and 80% approval rating in Alaska.

I just with we could have a president that would actually respresent the whole population and how it's changing, not just what it has been in the past. I'm not sure either will do that.

On a slightly unrelated note: had anyone heard the rumors (emphasis on the word rumor) about Sarah Palin, her oldest daughter, Bristol, and her youngest son, Trig, that were going around on the internet yesterday? If you're curious, click here. It's a pretty funny read.

Again, you are being disingenuous. I have read what Obama has put in place if things turn bad, however like everything that has been going on with conservatives as it relates to Obama, he is damn if he do and damn if he don't. You guys keep playing both side of the fence and fooling yourselves that no one is paying attention. I think that conservatives corrupts the meaning of all thing American so that they can have wiggle room to do what ever they feel necessary to manipulate the situation. Conservatives=manipulation/manipulators, plain and simply!:stick:

"On a slightly unrelated note: had anyone heard the rumors (emphasis on the word rumor) about Sarah Palin, her oldest daughter, Bristol, and her youngest son, Trig, that were going around on the internet yesterday? If you're curious, click here. It's a pretty funny read."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080901..._palin_daughter

I think this is going to be the year of reckoning! All that conservative morality has come home to roost and checkout the pass they give themselves. You can't make all this up! Can I get a God Damn, anyone?:1st

Are you bringing up a completely irrelevant point about MEN, again, UrisStar, c'mon...learn a new song, that one has been played out.

uris- I think that's politicians in general, not just conservatives.

No, you're absolutely right--Obama probably shot himself in the foot with this one. However, I still find it very insincere on McCain's part, and it would be naive of anyone to think that he's doing this solely out of the goodness of his heart.

On a side note, what exactly is he planning on doing down there? They've already evacuated and boarded up everything, and it's down to just stragglers and police and the coast guard at this point.

True ,Davious,neither candidates should be blamed for not going down to help with Katrina,but if you're gonna point a finger at McCain you must also note where was Obama during that time. It seems we have more of the same double standards which is typical of the liberal dems. That was my point in a prior post.

BigBadBrat, I think it's a little unfair to start spouting about "double standards." You want a double standard? Take a look at all of the Republicans crying out about how Obama isn't qualified to lead this country because he's just a senator and has no real executive experience. Now what about McCain? He's a senator too! And Palin? Sure, she's the governor of Alaska, but there are mayors all over the country who have to deal with more people in their cities on a daily basis than she has in her entire state.

And yes, perhaps Obama was a little less dashing and gallant for not immediately flying down south, but he's also being practical. His plan is to "[steer] clear of making a visit at this point to avoid diverting resources away from the preparations and relief efforts," and he also said that "if Hurricane Gustav wreaked havoc on the Gulf, he would tap his e-mail network of 2 million donors to seek help for the storm victims."

(I'm quoting this article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080831...usa_politics_dc)

So maybe he's biding his time, but he's doing so in a way that will allow him to wait and see what he can do to help, rather than just rushing in all gung-ho.

The problem with all this is that davious was the one that started with double standard, would you say that was typical conservative behavior? You two can't seem to stop manipulation this Thread. If you want to promote McCain/Palin, that is great, but you don't seem to be able to do that without trying to smear Obama. That is the whole of McCain campaign in a nutshell, he has nothing to offer the American people that is any different than what we've been dealing with the last eight years. I would run down and label all your double standards but saying that sums up McCain's campaign will cover it. Confussion is the word of the day!:confused:

Another thing why all the whining? Stop throwing stink bombs if you don't like them thrown back at you. You can't be a bully and a crybaby at the same time.:flame:

my thoughts exackly...thanks you! they are going to use this to their fullest! which is sick in itself.....You better believe though that Obama and camp are paying attention to this...but honestly, FEMA and Bushy are the ones who need to be taking care of it...in my opinion. I firmly believe the country is soo miffed at the republican part after the last 8 years it won't really do them a bit of good..and from what I have just read New Orleans didn't get fully hit by the hurricane which is great by the way, thanks god! you know what I think....McCain can't and won't top Obama's speech, he is not a public speaking type of person, says so himself....this was a great way out.

I wish you would make up your mind, jhd. You already said he should be embarrassed by not going down there, and now you are changing your story to say he is just being practical?

As to Alaska being small compared to some cities, so? Alaska is a state, isn't it? Does that mean you would automatically dismiss a Governor from a small state? Bill Clinton was governor of a state with less people than some cities too (AR has pop of about 2.8 million, less than NYC, LA or Chicago) yet, he became President. Further, George W. Bush was the Governor of a state with a large population (2nd in US, behind California)...would you state that automatically made him qualified? (I can't wait to see the responses to that)

Making the claim that being the Governor of a small state means you aren't qualified falsely implies the opposite, that if you are the Governor of a large state, you are. In some cases, you might be qualified. I believe Ronald Reagan, former Governor of California, largest state populationwise in the country, happened to be a great President, and a huge asset to the country. But, if you want to claim its the size of the state being governed that makes you qualified or not, I am sure that there are going to be plenty of people who will be glad to come up with counterexamples. And, as much as I hate pointing out the obvious, the Republican candidate with the least experience on their ticket is only running for Vice President, and the significantly more experienced candidate for President, while the Democratic candidate with the least experience is running for President of the United States, with the significantly more experienced candidate as Vice President. Slight difference there. If we accept the premise that inexperience = ineptitude and unqualifiedness, for the sake of the argument between a potential double standard with Obama and Palin, think about this. With Obama, we will have an inept, unqualified President from day one. With Palin, we might not ever need her to be an inept, unqualified President. So, its either a guaranteed President with no experience vs only a potential President with no experience.

In an earlier thread, I posed a question that nobody has actually answered yet...If you are going to have a question of experience on a Presidential ticket, is it better to have the inexperience on the top of the ticket, or on the bottom of the ticket? If the Democratic ticket were reversed, and it was Biden/Obama instead, Republicans wouldn't be able to complain about the experience angle. Republicans are going to continue to criticize Obama's lack of experience because he is the top of the ticket, not the bottom. There is a significant difference between being a newbie to Washington as President, and as a Vice President.

I would also ask how is it a double standard to point out that McCain became a member of the House of Representatives in 1982, and a US Senator in 1986, while Obama didn't become a member of the US Congress until 2005? You don't see that the difference in time spent in politics might mean one candidate may have learned a few things more than the other? If Joe Biden's lengthy term in the Senate didn't matter, because, he is after all, just a Senator, why did Obama choose him as his VP? Its not that Obama doesn't have experience because he is a Senator. Its because he has only been a US Senator for a couple of years, half of which was spent campaigning. Its the length of time, not the job itself. I have already stated earlier in this thread that Joe Biden is significantly more qualified to be President than Obama is as well...He, like McCain and Obama, is a Senator. But, like McCain, he has been there just a smidge longer than Obama has. So, if you are going to negate Obama's lack of experience as being relevant, then you can't at the same time use that argument against Sarah Palin as Vice President. In fact, if Biden wanted to joke about it, he could joke about McCain's lack of experience, having only gotten to Washington in 1982, after Biden had already been there for 9 years...

"If you are going to have a question of experience on a Presidential ticket, is it better to have the inexperience on the top of the ticket, or on the bottom of the ticket? If the Democratic ticket were reversed, and it was Biden/Obama instead, Republicans wouldn't be able to complain about the experience angle. Republicans are going to continue to criticize Obama's lack of experience because he is the top of the ticket, not the bottom. There is a significant difference between being a newbie to Washington as President, and as a Vice President."

You guys give yourselves more importance than you are really worth. Criticize away and hopefully in the end you would finally realize that the only party you guys run is the republican party, and you get a failing grade at that.:slow:

Well I think that experience in washington is non important to a point....just look at the last eight years! I'm an independent and the reasons I like Obama is because he is smart, intelligent and well spoken. He has walked the streets, he has been there...he can communicate and he is sensitive to others and their situations. That is what we need. Period. Obama wants to give the United States back to the United States and do something about our standing with other countries.....I'll tell you what, With Palin's lack of experience (she could easily become president if McCain falls over or his cancer comes back) then what? its a scary idea.

who exactly is "you guys"? And, what was the point of copying the entire question, if you weren't going to bother answering it?

I did, it is not that important because the republicans/you guys only run that party and should be cleaning out your own house.:slow: Did you know that is the party that dump on the USA and that with experience? What are you guys doing about it?:laugh: